Instead of taking the conventional route to Texas via I-35 through Oklahoma City, I decided to take U.S. 71 down through Missouri and Arkansas. My first stop was Joplin, MO, where I got my firsthand look at the devastation from last year's tragic tornado there. The rebuilding process has been gradual, but very slow, given the massive scope of the damage inflicted on this town, including Mercy Medical Center, which suffered a direct hit during the storm. It remains largely unchanged in almost a year (the storm struck on May 22, last year) as the staff continues to operate out of temporary facilities and mobile CT and MR units. However, it's about the only structure that even remained upright within about a two-mile radius. I wish these folks well in their on-going recovery efforts...
This would be Sam Walton's first retail store in downtown Bentonville, AR. It now houses a Walmart museum (which, surprisingly, they don't charge any money to enter), and the company's rather unimpressive corporate headquarters is located about a mile away. Rather ironic that the original store is festooned in Target's colors. [NOTE: I've been dying to use the word 'festooned' for a while now...
This is the video board at Razorbacks Stadium at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. I'm not real crazy about MU moving to the SEC, but Missouri fans do have a nice new road trip option when the Tigers play down yonder--probably about a three-and-a-half hour drive from Columbia. I've been lobbying for years for Arkansas to join the Big 12, but ain't no way that's going to happen...
Just like Kansas CIty, Texarkana has a State Line Road dividing it. That's Arkansas on the left and Texas on the right, and the courthouse smack dab in the middle in this photo. [Note the bug crap already accumulating on my windshield, after just six hours on the road] Fortunately, I didn't encounter Sheriff Buford T. Justice lurking around town whilst I passed thru...
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