Fayetteville Day 1 - Woo Pig Sooie
Trip Start
Jan 31, 2010
1
158
185
Trip End
Aug 03, 2010
Where I stayed
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Our journey began with us travelling along Interstate 44 until we reached the town of Rolla. Here we couldn’t resist the temptation to visit the local Waffle House to sample some of their world famous waffles. After breakfast I drove around the corner to fill up at a gas station where the employees fill it up for you. This took me by surprise as I bounced out of my car to be greeted by a man who looked like he had just fallen out of a Z Z Top convention. Upon seeing him, I uttered the words “So what happens now?” which for some reason caused Amy to burst out laughing and shocked the man I questioned into muttering that it was his job to fill up the tank for us. Feeling awkward about this scenario, I then took it upon myself to have a wander around the forecourt whilst he filled the tank.
With the car fully fueled we then made our way further along Interstate 44 where we occasionally joined route 66 to check out some of the small towns we passed on route. Our next stop was a small town called Lebanon which sounded quite interesting. Only after a small look around the only interesting thing we noticed was a KFC buffet, a bail bond office just like on the TV programme Dog the Bounty Hunter and some local college kids attempting to wash cars in order to raise money for Summer Break. However this wasn’t a good enough reason to stay any longer so we made a quick exit back onto the freeway and then route 66 in the direction of a small town called Carthage.
Carthage was a pretty cool little town situated just to the west of Springfield, Missouri which seemed to be built around a big courthouse. Here we popped in several of the local antique shops which was a little bit like walking around a museum except that you could purchase any of the items. It was whilst we were in one of these shops that we got speaking to the owner. It turned out he was quite knowledgeable about the local area as he proudly informed me that the reason that the courthouse was so grand and artistically built was that the building was solely built out of material from the local quarry. As we left the antique shop, we then headed across the road to a local diner which was filled with route 66 memorabilia. Here we enjoyed a couple of huge milkshakes in a booth carved out of an old pink Cadillac.
With time now moving on, we decided to get back on the road for the last 100 miles into Fayetteville. The last part of our journey was only notable for a mass downpour that virtually brought us to a stand still on the freeway but we managed to keep going at snails pace until the rain cleared. As the evening approached we managed to find our motel with surprising ease especially when compared to the day before. Having checked in we then headed out to a Chinese buffet restaurant before visiting the local Walmart for a good rummage. It also gave me a great opportunity to try on some baseball gear, just to briefly look like a real American. From here it was back to our hotel for an early night ahead of our trip into deepest darkest Arkansas in the morning, Woo Pig Sooie.
