Oops! Where, did the time go? The last few weeks have been a blur of learning visas and checking things off my list of stuff to do before I go to Mexico. Next Friday is the big day, provided I get everything done between now and then. I’m afraid the last few weeks haven’t been very blog worthy considering they have been eaten by Congen homework and pre-departure planning. I remember last November when I had an endless stretch of gap days and was trying desperately to fill them. Oh I wish I had know then…. I could have been using that time to do all the consultations that I desperately tried to cram in last week. I did manage to get a bunch of them done. I’m still in a bit of disbelief that a week from now I’m really going to hop in a car and drive down to Mexico. It’s been on the horizon for so long and I’ve been training for this job for months, it’s hard to believe my time at FSI is actually ending. I am ready to actually start working though.
The grand plan at the moment is to drive from DC to Memphis and stop at Graceland to get my fill of tackiness. Then on through Arkansas. If I have time I may stop at the Clinton Library in Little Rock and then drive the width of Texas over on to El Paso. It’s supposed to take about 4 and a half days. I think I’m going to leave Friday evening and try to put in a half day of driving then but we shall see how it goes. If there is internet I will update from the road. I’m looking forward to the road trip since I’ve never been to Tennessee, Arkansas or Texas. Between now and then there is a lot of preparation to be done including the pack-out which I have been dreading since I joined.
Ooh, ooh! You’re going through my Ancestral Homeland! Memphis – if you have to go to Graceland, I understand… but be sure to get lunch at the Rendezvous downtown before you cross the river. Or go to Rum Boogie on Beale Street and 3rd, the home of the blues. If you’ve got the spare time, a stop at the Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis is totally worthwhile – devoted to craft metalwork, with an expectedly awesome giftshop. The Gibson Guitar Factory and the National Civil Rights Museum are also great… but I think I just added 2 extra days to your road trip. Sorry about that.
The road across Arkansas sadly doesn’t show you the prettier parts of the state. (I40/I30, if you’re going through Dallas, although the route through the panhandle of Texas and New Mexico is really pretty in a desolate sort of way.) There is plenty of pretty in Arkansas, I promise; it’s just not on the interstate! If you want another day trip, taking an hour detour off I-30 to Hot Springs (the oldest National Park in America, located entirely in a town that’s been settled since Hernando de Soto first stopped by) is definitely worthwhile.
Safe travels!!