I saw a sticker for sale at the Love Truck Stop. On it, it was written “Without Trucks, America Stops.” How true that is.
There’s a certain brotherhood/microculture whatever you want to call it – of truckers. The communication process happens through the virtual CB radios….or in person at truck stops. Its also unfortunate that most of America wasn’t made for these trucks. Then again, it probably is the best or all the restaurants would be 5 acres. Property values would be pretty high.
I had heard that RV sometimes use Walmart parking lots to sleep at. But unfortunately many times these parking lots specifically say “No semis,” so it isn’t much use to us.
These truck stops…many are like microcities. Giving you anything you could think of needing during a cross country trip. I was amazed at the amount of phones at those places. Several small rooms just for talking on the phone. I would have thought cell phones would have made these obsolete. Not so. Many cell phone companies offer local coverage, while roaming rates are outrageous, unless you havea nationwide plan. So phone cards and truck stop telephones are the best deal.
I had a plan to take pictures of people at these truck stops. Such as the people behind the counter. But I decided not to after arriving at the first truck stop in Kentucky. There were two women behind the counter and a creepy guy sitting on a stool watching my every move nearby. I figured if I took pictures inside the place, they would have thought I was casing out the place.
Actually manuvering around the semi was interesting. Many times I thought we’d clip the curve, but Jim knew what he was doing. The first time we pulled out of the Disaster Relief parking lot, I thought we had clipped the fire hydrant on the other side of the road. But we didn’t. Never had a problem hitting anything.
Springfield? Somehow that’ll always be the city the Simpsons live in. Such a generic sounding city. Nondescript. Yet this Springfield was the largest city within miles. A regional metropolis. And before this trip I didn’t know too much about it. After the trip, I still don’t know too much about it. I checked out the church’s webpage. Seems like a great church. People seemed pretty involved to arrive at 7PM on a Monday night to unload a truck.
We passed though towns in Kentucky…like Lovelaceville, Cunningham, Bardwell….I did see the church of Christ in Bardwell. And I found its webpage.
In Missouri, we drove though towns like Van Buren, Birch Tree, Mountain View…places like that. Litterally in the middle of nowhere – Halfway between Springfield and Poplar Bluff. Where did these people do their shopping? What did they do for a living?
We made good time back to Nashville. The night before we did drive about 2 hours east of Springfield before stopping at the hotel, so we did make up a little time coming back.