Cumulative Miles Driven: 1337

The drive from Pensacola, Florida to Little Rock in Arkansas was around 520 miles by the time we had had a few diversions off the booked route as we passed through the states of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. We set off at around 0630 after an early breakfast and arrived twelve hours later after stops in Mobile, Alabama for morning coffee and Jackson, Mississippi for lunch. It was a fairly long drive and fortunately one of only two 500 plus mile driving days that we have planned on this trip.

Arkansas is the home of Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the USA, and also now houses the Presidential Library in Little Rock the state capital. We were not really sure what to expect but actually the modern building that houses the library is far more than a rack of books and our visit lasted around four hours. Having watched the 'orientation film' which provided a six or seven minute life story of Bill Clinton we joined an enthusiastically led tour of the building and exhibits. There was so much to take in about his life since being born as William Jefferson Blythe (his father died shortly before he was born and his mother re-married when he was young and thus he became a Clinton), to his meeting Hillary, becoming the youngest ever state governor through to his presidency years and beyond. It really was interesting as was chatting to our guide and fellow group members.

The building also houses a rather good restaurant which seemed to be far better than the prices being charged suggested. It really was a classy looking place but our soup and a sandwich was just $8.00 each which is what you might expect to pay in any of the chain restaurants stateside for something similar. We rounded the early afternoon off with a walk around downtown Little Rock and took a trip (or ride as they would say here) on the River Rail Trolley (or tram as we Brits would say) that linked Little Rock with North Little Rock. The trolley was free of charge presumably as it was a public holiday marking Martin Luther King Day in the USA.

Prior to returning to our cheap and cheerful Super 8 motel in North Little Rock we drove out to the 'Big Dam Bridge' or maybe it was the 'Dam Big Bridge' or even the 'Big Bridge Dam' . . . . . anyway the bridge is the longest purpose built pedestrian/cycle bridge in the USA spanning the Arkansas River about eight miles from downtown. The bridge is part of a fourteen mile cycle and walking route that seemed popular with runners, cyclists and walkers alike and hopefully it will help promote a healthy and active lifestyle.

We finished our time in Little Rock at The Outback Steakhouse which provides a vaguely Australian theme to a fairly standard American steakhouse experience. Being just a few hundred metres from our motel it saved driving and it was actually very good providing options for sides other than french fries for us to choose from.

Tomorrow we move on to Oklahoma City which will see us visit our second new state of the trip (and by that we mean Oklahoma) after getting Arkansas underlined in the USA spotters jotter. Other than the Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh, we will hopefully have much to learn about when we get to our next stop.