"It's Twice as Nice"

Dear Texarkana,

Hi. How are you? Oh, wait, actually, I probably shouldn't ask you that question. Because Dad asked that question to the lady behind the counter at the liquor store and after ignoring him for a moment she finally replied, "Evuhryone's jes fahn aroun' here, far's I know." Uh, okay. So no more asking people in Arkansas how they're doing, because it apparently makes them suspicious. Got it. [Yes, he actually was buying a bottle of gin so we could make pre-dinner drinks in the hotel room].
Here's the thing, Texarkana. You have no cell phone service. Or at least, you don't have cell phone service that my phone or Dad's phone can access. That's a little bit ridiculous, that a town that's big enough to have a Pier One AND a Bed, Bath, and Beyond doesn't have cell phone service. So I guess everyone around here does a lot of home decorating but doesn't care much about having conversations or sending text messages. Alright, whatever.
But the thing is, Texarkana, if you don't offer cell phone service, how are your citizens supposed to know where to meet each other for dinner? I mean, you have an Olive Garden AND a Carino's. And a Cracker Barrel and a Red Lobster, and don't forget Hooters. That's a lot of generic options, Texarkana.
Also, two La Quinta's right across the highway from each other is sort of overkill, wouldn't you say?
So yeah, Texarkana. I would say that I'm sort of glad to be getting out of here at 8:00 tomorrow morning, except that I'm not exactly optimistic that the rest of Arkansas will be much better. Maybe it will at least be pretty? It could be pretty. I like scenery.
Hey, at least the motel room is cool and quiet enough, so you got something right.
Take care,
*A*

P.S.-I drove alllllll day on Saturday but then got to spend the rest of the weekend in my old college town. I got to spend some time with several of my best friends from college who still live in the area, and it was a great weekend. I'm so glad I decided to stop over there for a couple of nights. When I was with my girl friends it was like we'd never missed a beat. It could have been any night of our junior/senior year of college. I had so much fun. Even though it has been more than two years since I graduated, it still feels a little weird to think of college with feelings of nostalgia. My old college home doesn't feel like home at all anymore (unlike the town where I was raised, which somehow still feels pretty much like home even though it has been years since it actually was home) but there are SO many memories there. It was interesting being back for the weekend. I hadn't actually seen the college campus or hit any of the old bars or anything since I visited in December of '06, so it has been a while. It was simultaneously nice to be back and yet even nicer to know that I have managed to successfully progress to another phase of my life. I loved college. Loved it. Unlike high school--which I actually pretty much enjoyed at the time, too--I would even go back to college and do it all (well, almost all of it) again if I could. I was that happy in college. And yet I'm glad to be on to different things now.
Now that I'm actually on the road, I'm feeling much more optimistic about everything. I think it's possible that there are some pretty good adventures coming up in my life. Heck, even this roadtrip is an adventure of sorts. It's just that if I ever have to do this particular adventure again, I think I'll leave out the Texarkana bit.