I made it to Little Rock around 5:00 this afternoon. On the way down I-55 in AR there was a fatality accident that shut down the interstate and backed up traffic. Luckily I was able to use my handy dandy GPS to route myself around it pretty easily without losing much time at all.

I do enjoy the fact that our technology has reached a point where things like navigation and communication are quite easy for anyone. Just a few button presses and one can navigate anywhere around the world, or be talking with anyone around the world. It truly is amazing.

I took a breaak in IL last night. I parked at a small truck stop and walked over to the little pub and grill next door for a bite of dinner and a few adult beverages. Naturally I took along my little backpack that contains my knitting so I could work on the sweater a bit while I relaxed and enjoyed some of the old ways where one makes something with their hands and actually talks with people in person over a couple of cold ones.

The sweater is coming along quite well. The body is finished now and I am working on a sleeve. Considering the limited amount of knitting time I have while on the road I really am surprised at how quickly it has knit up.

While sitting in the pub working on the sleeve and chatting with the folks there, including the owner of the joint, I got quite a few compliments on the sweater. A couple of people looked at it and then at me and I could see they were having a hard time connecting the two, which I found quite amusing. Everyone who asked about it or commented on it truly seemed to like it, so I guess I'm not doing too bad a job of it.

One fellow from Norway who, with his friend, are over here doing a driving tour of old Route 66, was especially fond of the sweater and commented that he thought it was a shame fewer people in his country were knitting beautiful things these days. He was quite enjoyable to talk with and had a lot of questions for me once he learned I am a long haul trucker. I gave him a few tips on places and things to see along his route and filled him in on how to use the 511 system with his cell phone to get the latest information on road conditions in each state.

He told me he was an English teacher back in Norway which explained why his English was so good. He had a heavy accent but his grasp of the language was very good even if he wasn't totally up on some of our regional expressions and slang. He was also quite interested in trying out a number of American whiskies.  He really liked good old Jack Daniels. LOL

I've had my dinner here in Little Rock and am settled into my truck for the evening. I have a couple of new DVDs to watch, a sseaater to knit, a bottle of Gatorade, and my laptop so I'm pretty much set for the night.