Oct 18, 2009 -- Horn Lake, MS to Atlanta, GA

We arose to a sunny day and were in good spirits.  Today, we would arrive home.  We drove southeast on US 78 through Tupelo, MS, and crossed the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (the "Tenn-Tom"):

About 15 miles further, we crossed into Alabama.  Had to get the obligatory picture of the sign:

The countryside told us we were nearing home.  We were in the low foothills of the Appalachian Mountains:

We drove through Birmingham, AL, and were soon  in Georgia:

The Atlanta skyline was a welcome sight.  It was about 5:30 pm:

It is interesting that as one approaches Atlanta on any of the six Interstate highways, there is a point where the city's skyline is visible on the horizon.  That's a piece of trivia for you.

We arrived home safe and sound, glad and yet sad to be there.  We had enjoyed a wonderful adventure doing what we love -- traveling by car and boat.  We figured our trip covered over 7000 miles and it took us 34 days.

Oct 17, 2009 -- Bentonville, AR to Horn Lake, MS

The original store of Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart is on the square in downtown Bentonville, AR.  It has been converted to a visitor's center and museum.  We decided it would be fun to go visit the facility.  This is what it looks like from outside:

The museum was very interesting, with newspaper clippings, photographs and aritfacts from "Mr. Sam's" life.  He was certainly an unusual man and quite an entrepreneur!  Visiting the museum was a lot of fun.

However, the road beckoned.  We headed out of town and soon were in the Ozark Mountains.  The fall colors were just starting to show and the soft-looking mountains were an interesting contrast to the Cascades and Rockies:

We knew we were back in the south because we saw pine trees, cotton growing and kudzu vines.  It seemed so much like home.

Later in the afternoon we arrived at the bridge over the Mississippi River.  Please forgive the quality of our picture, but we just had to get a picture:

We were now in Tennessee on the edge of Memphis:

We skirted south around Memphis, into Mississippi, and stopped at our motel in Horn Lake, MS, a suburb of Memphis.  This was planned to be our last night on the road.