Day 0

Here we are leaving the homestead - grass cut, toys put away, cleaned for the guests who will be using  the house during our absence.

 Saying goodbyes to our neighbors. We will miss you! (checking for stow-aways)

 Our first day was a highway day from Chattanooga to Memphis. We took the back way mostly along highway 72 through Alabama. It was a long day with lots of miles.

 Lunch...

 on the side of the highway. A good chance to stretch our legs.

Arriving in Memphis, we met our friend Paul Norman who works in inner-city Memphis. He is the boys dorm parent at The Neighborhood School. He works with poor refugee kids living and going to school in Memphis. It was great to get a tour of the school and see how he serves in Memphis. Sorry about the photo pulled from the internet; we have to get better at taking pictures. Thanks for the awesome breakfast, Paul!

 Paul put us in touch with Mike Shaw, another Covenant College grad who works at Advance Memphis. He and the gracious staff let us sleep in one of the classrooms in their facility.

 Our first night was very urban.

 A rather interesting start for the many nights of camping laying ahead of us.

 Day 1:

After an awesome breakfast with Paul in Memphis we headed in to Arkansas.

 And finally found some gravel as we entered the Ozark National Forest.

 The small side trail we drove down to find camping.

 Our first night of camping...

 and everyone seems to be enjoying it.

 Day 2:

We stayed on gravel almost the entire day. No rain during the night. No animals other than some deer and squirrels. We all slept very well.

 This is how Bailey spends most of his time in the car - his head sticking out the back window and not missing anything. Later in Oklahoma and Colorado he would warn me of approaching motorcycles or trucks that I didn't see.

 Views from White Oak Mountain in Arkansas. The terrain was very similar to what you would find in Chattanooga but much more rural.

 We drove "roads" like these for hours through Arkansas. You can tell that the normal traffic they get is from ATVs.

The co-driver/navigator.

 First time in four wheel drive. We drove a rocky creek bed through a small valley. Still in Arkansas.

 Dukes of Hazard style!

 One of many water crossings in Arkansas. All but one were quite shallow.

 Swimming in Mill Creek.

 More tight trails and water crossings. Navigation was pretty tricking through here. There were many trails throughout and we had a hard time believing that some of the trails we were on actually went anywhere.

 Gas in Arkansas. Just in time too!

 The Oark General Store. The new owners Brian and Regan were so friendly. We ate some delicious chocolate pie and they pointed us toward a camping spot for the night.

 Second night camping in Arkansas. The bugs loved the pretty girls at this campsite. It was chilly camping here but very nice.

 Day two's stats. That's slow progress! We're never going to make it across the country if we don't speed things up somewhere. But we really enjoyed the trails and secluded feelings of Arkansas. The few people we met were really friendly and helpful.