ATL-LA-ATL Road Trip Day 2 – Memphis to Tulsa

Art Prints

My trip out of Memphis started on Interstate 40 now which meant trucks trucks trucks, mostly of the tandem Fed-Ex variety but they were not the only big rigs on the super slab. (I may have listened to “Convoy” once too often on the trip). The first stop was Little Rock once I could get into the rocking-chair for a few minutes. However, due to no fault of the trucks, but just an awful stretch of terribly maintained road, I had my first and only vehicle issue of the trip, a “lovely” rock chip in my windshield. It’s OK, that can be patched.

Big stop of the day was the Museum of Discovery in Little Rock. I was expecting more of an adult science museum but this was really targeted toward the younger set. I did get to see a nice tornado simulation there, and having been through a tornado while living in Wichita I give it a 8 out of 10 for pucker-factor accuracy. The big draw at the museum for me was a large Tesla Coil, but was off-line for repairs awaiting the Tesla Coil expert. That’s OK, I’ll catch a few more as I go along.

I enjoyed the remainder of my couple of hours in LR. I had a nice stroll around the riverfront area. They, not surprisingly call it the Are-can-saw River there, but in Wichita I learned it was really the Are-Kansas river. I liked seeing streetcars running along, a cool feature which I am kicking myself for not taking a few minutes to ride. I had hoped to spend a few minutes at The Clinton Library but it was not open due to COVID, I settled for a ride by.

On this trip I really wanted to be committed to seeing the strange and unusual roadside attractions, you know, things you see on billboards along the highway like “The Thing” along I-10 in Arizona. I did try to hit two, one was a Submarine off the turnpike in Oklahoma and another was a train station on the eastside of Arkansas but no both were closed, so an early arrival in Tulsa allowed for dinner and a trip downtown to see the Route 66 display.

Take a look at the picture above as just one example of the beautiful area the city has created from an original US-66 road bridge and plaza. I’m making several pictures available for purchase from this trip. Click on the image above to get info on pricing.

Trip Milestone – Tulsa was the northernmost city on the route. GPS says 36.14 Deg N.

TikTok Archive – No Luck On Roadside Stops | Day 2 Recap