Day 1: Lonoke^H^H^H^H^H^HLittle Rock, AR

We pulled out of the Starbucks parking lot in Oak Ridge about 7:18 on the morning of Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 2011.

(The symbol "^H" means or , so the title is a silly way of saying this was going to be about Lonoke, Arkansas, but we wound up staying in Little Rock instead.)

We had heavy fog most of the way to Nashville. After that, the fog lifted but the sky remained overcast.

We saw a license plate "DUNN 4". I wondered whether it was to be interpreted as the fourth vehicle of a Dunn family, or whether the owner of the car felt done for, or what. I was reminded of the Dewey Dunn family.

At a rest stop in Tennessee, a young fellow was mopping the floor in the men's room. When I thanked him for keeping it clean for us, he gestured to his ear like he didn't hear me. I repeated the message and he gave me a thumbs up gesture, again without speaking. I think he was not able to hear or speak, but we communicated.

I looked up the average gas prices for the states we're visiting on this trip:

• Tennessee: $3.109
• Arkansas: $3.155
• Oklahoma: $3.076
• Texas: $3.101
• New Mexico: $3.003
• Arizona: $3.232
• California: $3.704

As we were driving along around lunch time, we got to talking about how the Cracker Barrel was not near the hotel in Lonoke, where we had a reservation, but in Little Rock.  Karen suggested calling the Cracker Barrel and asking whether there are any hotels near them. I tried that and learned that there are a Residence Inn and a Fairfield Inn right behind the restaurant. I asked if the person at Cracker Barrel could give me the number of the Fairfield Inn. They could and they did. I called the Fairfield Inn and asked about a vacancy for the night. They could and they did. So we wound up canceling the reservation in Lonoke and going on to Little Rock. It let us have convenient access to the Cracker Barrel and (theoretically) made the next day's drive shorter (but more about that in its place...)

This evening, in Cracker Barrel, I saw a sign that could be purchased that said: "Parents for sale. Buy one, get one free." I got the laugh for free. :)