Snowy Silver
We drove right through Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri on Friday, 13th without one smidgen of storms. We were told over and over that we’d be heading into them any minute but were blessed by not having hardly any misting on the windshield at all. What we didn’t anticipate was the wind! It was so strong by the time we were deep into Missouri that I knew we couldn’t put up the pop-up. So, plan B was put into action.
Plan B, you ask? It’s pulling into at a truck stop for the night. Now those of you who have never “traveled” with me before don’t know about my newly found love of truck stops… Flying J’s, Loves and, as of last night, TA (not T & A!). I made friends with employees at many a truck stop on my first Great Adventure 2009. My first (first always is the most memorable) was when I had to leave Oklahoma in the middle of the night because of a storm. I found myself driving when I shouldn’t have (in Kansas) because I was too tired, it was too dark and there was way too much construction. As fate would have it, I-70 in Kansas was being “stimulated” with some of that new money being printed. But, before they could improved I-70, the DOT had to narrow it down from a divided four lane into two lanes (one coming and one going) all on one side of the old highway. Adding insult to injury, DOT then placed concrete barriers on the outside and inside of these two lanes which left absolutely no emergency lane or wiggle room. The only thing between you and the oncoming traffic was this temporary concrete barrier… you know the ones I’m talking about. Anyway, there was nowhere to go but forward.
After about three hours of driving this way, I saw a faint glimmer of a light in the far off distance. Could it be some form of civilization? Could it be a house? Anything was going to be an improvement. Low and behold, there it was. My first Flying J. I pulled into that truck stop and kissed the ground. When I walked into the front of the store I was met with the most remarkable, friendly welcoming. Wow! How absolutely wonderful that was. They told me to pull over to the side marked “for cars only” and take a little nap; they’d look out for me. And, you know what? I knew they would and I did. It changed my life. Ever since then, when I’m in a bind, I pull into one of my beloved truck stops, make myself known to the people (mostly women) behind the cash register, go to my car and take a nap without a worry in the world.
There are things to do like put up those sun guards on the windshield, park under one of their street lights preferably in line with the cash register window and make sure you’ve made friends with everyone you see there. You always have to be careful.
So, this time it was those Kansas cross winds that got me. Most of the highway stimulus money had already been spent so I guess they cranked up some of those wind turbines to welcome me to the state! I don’t know how people can make a living farming because of the constant winds. Seems like the wind would just blow all the seeds away to Siberia. Every stop I made going through that amazing state, I commented as to blustery-ness of the day. I was told that this was a “calm” day. Hmmmmph. Not by my books. I, literally, fought the steering wheel for many hours today. So much so that it dropped my gas mileage from 18.5 mpg to 13.5 mpg. With gas prices at the pump pushing $4.00, I wasn’t too pleased.
We finally pulled into Boulder, Colorado today around 4:30 P.M. and my family and I have had the best time getting all caught up with hugs and news. I’ll post some pictures tomorrow when I’m not so tired.
Good night all.
from a Friend 