morrilton

wow. what can i say. i'm a little freaked out. i made pretty good time today, despite a slow start yesterday, putting my car in park on 66 at 2.30 in the afternoon for no apparent good reason, and then running into a truly impressive storm somewhere in the middle of virginia that once again put me in park on a highway. and now. i'm in morrilton. arkansas.

i pulled off at about 8. im not a huge fan of driving after dark, and i did put in 11 hours today. i tried four hotels before finding one wedged between a liquor store, gun store and the highway that wasn't completely full of white chevy trucks and sold out. sold out? morrilton? apparently the boiler broke down at the paper mill, so every able-bodied boiler cleaner from the surrounding states is here to clean and fix it. i've never seen so many MEN in one place at a time, and definately never so many mullets. they're draped off the backs of trucks and over the railings of every motel in the area. i really don't know what to think of it. i'm not sure if i'm amused or scared out of my wits. perhaps a little of both.

i'm staying at yet another fine establishment, the Scottish Inn, run by another indian dude, and likely given the "it's getting dark, you're alone, obviously tired and the next town isnt for another 30 miles" price. it's not nearly as much fun staying skeezy places when you pay too much for them. but hey, i got internet.