Each night including the night before I left I would write down the directions to our next stop.  I wish I had kept all of those notes. It was a wonder I could actually follow them the next day with confidence. I don’t have the luxury of GPS in my car and I do not have mobile internet. I refuse to pay for data on my cell. Why would one, when everywhere has WiFi. It also gave me a sense of where I was and the road ahead. Now as you can tell if you have read the past posts, it seems I get lost a fair bit. All part of being on the road I say to Seven. Not always are maps correct. I was using Google Maps which helped guide me and it was pretty straightforward until the directions I had written suddenly became redundant. Road closures, detours and trucks. So many trucks. Then try circumventing around a large city that you do not know in the pouring rain not able to see anything in front of you with people weaving in and out of lanes because they “know” the roads, they are the dangerous ones. And then the trucks. So many trucks. I was holding onto the steering wheel tightly and by the time I stopped I thought my shoulders were about ready to seize up permanently.  We have a big dislike for cities.

Day three was from St Louis, Missouri to Fort Smith Arkansas. The landscape in Arkansas was amazing. A lot of the highway was empty and suddenly I think I am in a scene from Deliverance. Strange where your mind takes you. Seriously, there was a scenic route that I would have loved to take but we only had so many hours of daylight driving and I did not need to get lost in those hills as breath-taking as they were.

We upgraded to Best Western in Fort Smith because there is no Red Roof Inn. Cost me extra for Seven but he is definitely worth it.  At Red Roof you do not pay for your dog. It was great, they gave me room right beside an exit door which made it very easy to take Seven out for pee and poo time. But it did not matter because tonight was special. I had arranged to meet with a fellow animal advocate for dinner and some wine. Lynn was fabulous. she brought one of her rescues, darling Sasha

along for the evening too which was great for Seven. Lynn brought the wine which was fabulous, wine always surpasses beer which we manged to consume all of it and I am not telling how many bottles. And she bought dinner which I inhaled. Now how awesome is that. We talked for hours about so many things that are forefront in our minds daily – the welfare of animals in the world, it was liking meeting up with a long lost friend. We could have continued for hours more, but I was on a mission, I needed sleep for the next day on the highway. One day Lynn, we shall meet again, I am sure of it.

One last pee for Seven, one last drink of the fabulous cream licquer Lynn left before I wrote my directions for the next day.

Over and out, the end of day three.