Day 5 (Thursday, June 8)

I woke up ready for the road. It was 5:30 a.m. and I knew it was time to go continue chasing a dream.

The morning drive was good and I was able to see some cool sights. The above photo was taken at Nacogdoches, Texas -- the place where locals claim is the "Oldest Town in Texas".

A lot of places in Texas claim to be something, but there's all kinds of controversy. I really don't know, but since it was on a billboard...

It must be true!

Another funny thing about Texas is that there are a lot of city names that are the same like in other parts of the country. The above photo was taken in Atlanta, Texas. Ha.

There are Texas cities with names like Miami, Rome, Palestine, Paris and Pasadena. It's about time Texans admit they love trying to be like somewhere else.

I reached Texarkana area in the North East part of the state. That's where I crossed into Arkansas. With this I have now stepped on 18 states in the United States. Woohooo.

I drove for about seven and half hours before I decided to take a quick rest. I was also hungry so I decided to eat a little. I am feeling nostalgic of California, so I decided to get Carl's Jr. Oh wait, I forget, in this part of the country it's not called Carl's Jr. It's called Hardee's. Either way, it's burgers are still by far the best anywhere. Yum!

During my hour-long rest near Little Rock, Ar., I spotted something really cool. Today would have been Cookie's b-day. I feel extremely honored to have a sign from the heavens shine on me during her b-day. As I sat at the rest stop on mile 93 of Interstate-30 in Arkansas I spotted a car that parked next to me with the plates reading "Cookee." Now, if that's not a sign, I don't know what is.

I believe I have so much luck and stay safe because of all the angels that surround me. My grandfather is one of them. Jessica's best friend Lyssette is another one.

I spotted the Cookee car at a rest stop as I took about an hour to relax away from the road. It was cool being there, but I really wanted to keep on going. Once I hit the road I continued to see nice things. The above photo is of the bridge that crosses over the Arkansas River in Little Rock. Soon after I drove through the city I spotted the sign below. It was perfect for the collection of state signs with my favorite number 3.

Later, I came to the Tennessee State Line. However, I was unlucky to get a photo of the Welcome to Tennessee sign as I usually do. That's because the sign was on the bridge that crosses the Mississippi River and there was no stopping on the bridge. Boooo.

I did get a chance to look around in the Memphis visitors area where I saw Mr. Elvis Presley. I thought this guy was dead? He's not dead in Memphis, that's for sure.

I drove up Highway 51 toward the Kentucky border and I saw a pretty nice sunset. I had to get a shot of that. However, the only thing worth shooting in the foreground of the nice sunset was this U.S. Flag.

A few miles up the road in Covington, Tn., I saw this cool looking snow cone stand. It was pretty hot, so I had to stop by and get me a snow cone. Cotton Candy flavor! Yum!

The town had a military memorial with a jet and all.

Then a few miles up the road I came across the town of Ripley. I figured I should shoot a photo and show it to you. So that I can tell you "I've been to Ripley, believe it or not."

I am now sitting at a gas station in Missouri and I am pretty beat. I've driven 708 miles today and I am pretty beat. I am going to look for a place to sleep tonight and continue the journey early in the morning. But for now those are the photos from today.

Yesterday - Main - Tomorrow