Train’s Great Western Adventure Travel Blog

June 25, 2008 – Day 1

Jonesboro, AR to Abilene, KS ~ approximately 540miles driven.

Left work early around 3:30 p.m. to gas up the car and get ice for the cooler. When I arrive, Jen, Parker, and Emma all seem anxious to get on the road. But not as anxious as me. I crammed all of our luggage into the vehicle as well as the family and we were on the road by 4:17 p.m. Emma did well in her first long journey, sleeping a lot. The rest of us were sore from sitting. The only thing to report from day one was that my first experience with the GPS system was a positive one. It rerouted us in Springfield, MO after we had to detour due to an accident. Oh, and Kansas is still the most boring state. They do have some interesting signs though. The most interesting sign of the day was definitely the billboard advertising “The Museum of Independent Telephony”.

We also learned that Dwight D. Eisenhower was born in Abilene, KS. We stopped at a McDonalds in Willow Springs, MO for supper and the America’s Best Value Inn The toeless squirrel attacking the America's Best Value Inn sign

at $56.00 a night was a decent stay. We originally hadn’t planned on stopping in Kansas, but at 2 in the morning I was tired and had enough of the scenery. We used the GPS to find a hotel and a phone number in Abilene and booked it on the road. Score another one for the GPS. We awoke early and packed, getting a package of donuts and orange juice for breakfast before hitting the road around 9am.

Total of 10 hours on the road for the first day and three states.

Emma has the breakfast of champions