Day 19: Lawrenceburg TN to Checotah, OK

Yeah! around 600 easy miles today; we had fun and spent about half the day on backroads and half on Interstate 40 (which will take us into Arizona in two days or so). We had wanted to stay at David Crockett state park last night but found it closed. Just as well, really as we holed up in a motel and got an early start today. Visited Mississippi briefly today. Caren was impressed with some cotton fields we saw so we stopped at the side of the road and picked up a little which had fallen out of trucks hauling it to market. Pretty cool. In Mississippi we saw miles of Kudzu-infestation; we saw some of that in N. Carolina and TN, as well. Kudzu is an invasive vine, not native to the US, and it likes the South. It's out-of-control and looks like something from a horror movie. We saw---literally----it climbing telephone and electric poles, engulfing abandoned houses and other structures, and killing trees. I hope folks find a way to control it. Then, as we crossed into Arkansas we stopped at a supermarket in a small town. There I snapped a photo of the rig next to ours in the parking lot. I'm uploading it to this post.  In addition to a lot of things named....wait for it...... BUFORD, we actually spotted a Billy Bob creek and Billy Bob road (photo attached). Now, for a little Okie humor......as we got close to Checotae (famous home of the 2005 American Idol, Carrie Underwood) we took a couple of photos. We're camped on a big lake called Eufala. Just before the lake we found a road with a peculiar name....see the photos for the rest of the story. And we saw some good scenery but I have to say Caren took up knitting again after a few miles of Arkansas. Tomorrow it's New Mexico....I hope.....

 Oh when them cotton balls get rotten, you can't  pick very much cotton (Credence Clearwater Revival)

 Kudzu, the vine that ate the South...

 It's confirmed. Billy Bob lives!

 More and more steeples. A bad day for construction, though; no new pics.

 An amazing shot captured by Caren as I'm busy driving.

 Look closely. It says......   "Lotawatah Rd."

 Eufala.   Now put it together, with the lake first.......      Eufala (in a) lotawatah.
And some may believe Oklahomans do not have a sense of humor!

No kidding; someone in Arkansas drove their lawn tractor to the shopping market; when we had finished our shopping and left, the rig had gone.