So my journey to the FAA academy has begun. I made it out to Little Rock today, and tomorrow I will drive the last ~340 miles to my home away from home for four months.

I woke up at 5am today, tossed the last few things in the car (laptop and camera) and kissed my wife goodbye and was out the door by 5:30. I said a short prayer, then wished Georgia goodbye for at least the next 4 months, assuming the house doesn't sell while I'm away.

There was a little more traffic than I was expecting getting to I-20, but nowhere near what it would be like in another couple of hours. As light as traffic was, I was able to do 75-80 mph just about the entire way to Leeds, AL, where I stopped for a Chick-Fil-A biscuit (yummy!) Because of the time change, the time on the clock there was a scant 45 minutes after I left (6:10am CDT) but in fact I had been driving for about an hour and a half at that point.

Birmingham came and went, and before I knew it, I was in Mississippi. I fueled up just east of Tupelo, then took a reprieve from interstate driving to do a little railfanning. This has been another one of my hobbies for the last 8 years or so, although I have become a bit disolusioned with the Class 1 (classification for our country's largest railroads) operations, and specifically seeked out two smaller shortlines, the Mississippi Tennesee Railroad and the Mississippi Central. This actually worked out well, because had I just driven on to Memphis, I would have probably have gotten there at close to 10 local time. When I got to Memphis, I ran into a traffic jam, caused by, ironically enough, a 18 wheeler hauling railroad car axles. The first few had not been secured very well and had shifted, striking the rear of the cab and one ended up in the middle of the road. To avoid the traffic, I took a small detour that took me by Memphis Center, where I will be after I finish the academy.

So I ended up at my intermediate destination, Jim Neely's Interstate Barbeque right around noon, and sat down to a plate of delicious chopped pork. I think I am still full from that lunch, nearly 9 hours later!

My original plan was to stay the night in Memphis, but it was only about 1 pm local time, and I was still in the mood to drive, so I decided to head to Little Rock, AR to help shorten tomorrow's drive. While Arkansas is every bit as flat as I thought it was (I only encountered one real hill in 120 miles) it isn't as bleak as I had envisioned it. What was neat were watching the crop dusters in full force! I saw no fewer than 4 Air Tractors and Thrush aerial applicators (as they are properly called) swooping around applying fertilizers and pesticides to the numerous farms alongside I-40. I caught one taking off from Carlisle Municipal, about 25 miles to the east of here, and making a quick turn to the left, swooping over the interstate maybe a scant 50' above my car. Pretty neat!

Well, that's today's trip...let's see what the rest of the drive is like tomorrow.