A bit of a frustrating day, but I may have made the best decision twice. Once was a based on whether to drive or wait on standby in Dallas. The other was accidentally missing Highway 43 and taking 63 instead. (Not sure which is better. GPS initially wanted me to use 43. Looking at the map again, I think I actually like staying on 69 longer as it becomes 31 as a better route).
Flight between Jackson and Dallas took off at 6:30 AM. Normally this flight takes anywhere between 45 min and 1 hour 15 mins. Because of a weather pattern, flight took 2 hours. Unfortunately for me, the Fort Smith to Dallas flight was scheduled to leave at 8:45 AM. After getting off the plane and getting my plane side luggage it was about 8:40 AM. Well, the flight had already closed down. Another nugget, the flight left from B39 and the JAN-DFW flight was deplaned from B38. I was the fourth person in line for those that missed. I think the total count of those that missed was between 8 and 12. The best option I had was to get on the standby list for the 12:50 PM flight a little bit later. I decided that I would take my first drive between Dallas and Fort Smith instead of waiting for a maybe. Getting the rental car worked out pretty smoothly. The drive was quite the journey. I had trouble getting into the correct lane a couple of times and missed about 4 or 5 turns that I should have taken. I think I saw more than 20 cow pastures in Oklahoma. It seemed every Oklahoma town had a sign that pointed to their cemetery. Saw two turtles in the middle of the road. Saw 1 dog running in the street. And a bird pretty much dived into the windshield of the rental car. I was diverted from part of the route by a sign that said high water made the road undriveable. The next suggestion was a dirt road (Roso Road). I decided to stay on the paved road (Bache Road) instead to let the GPS give me its next suggestion.
In the end, the flight at 12:50 did not leave Dallas until 2:00 PM. It landed at 3:00 PM and I made it into Fort Smith at 3:00 PM as well. Best case scenario worked out. I felt the drive was the better guarantee on getting back into town at a reasonable time. It yielded the same results compared to me waiting at the terminal to see if I would have made it onto the 12:50 PM flight (if I made it onto that flight).
Rental Car: Toyota Yaris
Looking at the map, I think I accidentally took the better route. Flooding might have disrupted the suggested route. I got off Highway 69 at 63. I got on 270 at its origin. 270 (as of right now) ends up becoming 540 in Fort Smith. (I noted earlier that I like staying on 69 as it becomes 31 better than the other two routes).