Day 1: To Memphis

As is normal on day one of one of these road trips, I pushed hard to get out a bit, to get past places we can go to easily. So today was 600 miles to Memphis. It began going up US 59 to Lufkin, and then east into the woods. The route took me to Shreveport and then north into Arkansas on US and state highways. 20 miles of interstate east of Shreveport and about 95 miles of I-40 into Memphis were the only travel on the “18 Wheeler Highway System”.

Great start with a Texas breakfast at Whataburger.

Since I was on my way to Memphis, seeing this in Center, TX was a good sign!

I was impressed by how nice and how busy and alive the town square of Center was. The curbs and sidewalks were new and the square was larger than most towns that size. I especially noticed this after passing through a few other east Texas towns today that didn’t look as good.

I was surprised how large downtown Shreveport was. I drove around for about 30 minutes. It was fairly active, with areas that had some government buildings being the busiest. Much of it was past it’s prime, like this place. I saw a few shakey characters come out of that door below the exit sign.

This old theater in downtown Shreveport was a surprise to see, and a view of what once was going on there.

Moon’s General Store in north Louisiana. I went in to check it out and bought a water. I think I got the baseline treatment that is properly due an outsider.

This place was just across the border in Junction City, Arkansas. As I do with these open stands, I asked the guy running it if I could take a photo. Like all of them, he said ok. And like all of them, he quickly ducked out of sight. I didn’t get a chance to ask him how business was.

When I saw this place I almost had to squint to figure out what it was, and if it was even open for business? I walked up to check it out and figured I should order something. It was run by two old ladies, one who looked 105 and the other one looked about 90. I bought a fountain Coke for $1. El Dorado, AR.

I almost missed this, but it caught my eye as I drove past. The town is not much at all (pop 515 in 2020). They had a tiny commemorative monument to Johnny’s birth in the town.

This scene was in the rural Arkansas.

This was around the corner of the building from the last photo. The drive in Arkansas was very peaceful. I thought this place was closed - until and customer drove up!

Somewhere in rural Arkansas…

Old growth forest - Arkansas delta. The farmland was flat and looked great as the sun was setting.

Stuttgart, AR. This looks like a good place to eat. A bunch of activity around here at the end of the day.