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[abefroman329]

My wife's best friend from college lives in Hot Springs Village and both of her parents are unwell (and probably need in-home care), so we packed up the essentials and drove south starting around 2 pm on Saturday.  Had dinner at a Denny's in Effingham, IL and spent the night at a very nice Holiday Inn in Blytheville, AR.  On Sunday morning, we picked up our complimentary breakfasts from the Perkins attached to the hotel (and boy, was it a lot of good food for free) and drove the rest of the way to HSV.

Nothing exciting to report as far as the journey goes - we opted for the fastest route, which was I-57 to I-55 to I-40 to I-30.  The stretch of I-40 between West Memphis and Little Rock was surprisingly congested, especially for a Sunday, and I'm surprised it's only two lanes in each direction.

Our 3.5-year-old son did very well on what was the longest road trip he's taken to date (when he was a newborn, he couldn't ride in the car for more than 20 minutes without screaming bloody murder, so this is real progress).

Stay tuned for more updates!

[hbelkins]

Was that a better option than staying on US 60 to Poplar Bluff, then taking US 67 south to Little Rock? Seems to me that enough of US 67 is four lanes now that it would be preferable to going due south to Memphis and then due west. It's the hypotenuse of a right triangle, after all. 

[abefroman329]

Was that a better option than staying on US 60 to Poplar Bluff, then taking US 67 south to Little Rock?

According to Google Maps, yes (possibly because rural speed limits on Interstates in Arkansas are now 75), but I'll consider that route for the trip home.

[hbelkins]

I did this once, on a trip to Oklahoma (took US 60 from Paducah to Sikeston, then I-55 to I-40) but the intent was to get clinches of both routes in Arkansas.

[Road Hog]

Was that a better option than staying on US 60 to Poplar Bluff, then taking US 67 south to Little Rock?

According to Google Maps, yes (possibly because rural speed limits on Interstates in Arkansas are now 75), but I'll consider that route for the trip home.

The 75 speed limit does you a fat lot of good when you're stuck in a never-ending convoy going 60.

[abefroman329]

UPDATE

I, uh, flew home yesterday afternoon.  I was supposed to fly home through DFW and then, for some reason, American gave me the option to fly home on a non-stop.  My wife is trying to figure out the best way home for her and our son, with the winter weather potentially affecting the entire route home.

[MikieTimT]

I-40 between Little Rock and Memphis is perpetually congested with truck traffic, so 75MPH is the exception rather than the rule.  Google Maps isn't trustworthy in many places in Arkansas for travel times.  US-67 up to Poplar Bluff is likely to be a more consistent travel time than I-40 will be, although I-55 is generally free flowing.  US-67 is mostly 75MPH now once you get out of the LR metro all the way up to Walnut Ridge as well since it's Future I-57.