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08 April 2006 - Saturday |
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Up at 6:00 am departed
the campground by 7:00 am. Delighted
that we finally were able to get on with the new day without having to lose
several hours to an early distraction we drove back to Interstate 459 where
we filled up with gas. Breakfast was
at a Waffle House where we sat at the counter and were entertained by the
cook who couldn’t get his grill set the way he wanted, and our waitress who
being a somewhat large woman had to bob and weave a bit as she worked in the
cramped space allocated. Although we
listened to their ongoing conversations we couldn’t understand much of what
was discussed because of the deep-south Alabama accents. We could detect the
cook’s displeasure with his grill, which was probably the reason why our
greasy eggs were runny, and the meal was half eaten before the bacon and
sausage arrived. Oh well, the grilled
potatoes and coffee were good though.
Following breakfast we thought it would be a good idea to troll for an
Internet hot spot we could use to check our email. We drove around until we found one at a McDonald’s where $2.95
purchased two hours of Internet time.
We then read and responded to our email all while seated within the
comfort of the van. This event combined
with our breakfast eventually accounted for another daily diversion that would
not really get us on the It wasn’t long before
we had left Alabama behind. Somewhere
in Eastern Mississippi we discovered that we had been in the Central time
zone since we left Tennessee the day before.
Therefore we reset all clocks and watches back an hour. By 1:00 pm we had crossed the Mississippi
River at Vicksburg and into the state of
Louisiana. Just west of Monroe we exited the interstate to
eat some lunch. We found a place next
to a small county church to park off the road and made sandwiches with the
last of our turkey and cheese. Just
as we were starting to eat we heard a lawn mower and along came a fellow
cutting grass. He was wearing a tee
shirt with the Confederate battle flag on it. He kind of eyed the van up and down as he went along cutting
grass so Fred got out and waved to him and he waved back. He never stopped the mower to talk to ask
us what why we were parked there.
After we finished eating Tom opened his window and shouted a thank-you
to a teenager who was sitting on the steps of the church |
and as we departed we waved again the man on the mower who again
waved back. We felt good about the
good will with which both parties presented at this encounter. When we were about 80
miles east of Shreveport we called our Cousin Savannah Jordan as we had
planned on stopping to visit her on our way west. She figured that we were only about 160 miles from her home in
Frankston, Texas so she invited us to drive in directly and stay the night at
her place. Further down the road we
pulled into a rest stop and just as we were leaving a man tapped on Fred’s
passenger side door and asked us for money to purchase some gasoline. Apparently he was traveling west to the
Dallas area and had lost his wallet at a stop back in Monroe. We looked him over and saw his new truck
and believed his story so Fred lent him $20.00. He took Fred’s address and
promised to repay the loan when he reached home. For the next few miles we both reflected on how we would have
reacted if the same thing had happened to us, and we both agreed that it
would be very difficult but necessary to also beg for some money from
skeptical strangers. Today was by far our
longest day of driving in both time and miles. We had started the day near Birmingham, Alabama, and ended it
in Texas after driving the width of both Mississippi and Louisiana a distance
of nearly 600 miles. Upon entering east Texas we decided to exit Interstate
20 at Kilgore then drive over to Tyler on Route 31. Going through Kilgore we quickly lost our way and as Fred was
driving he headed on into the country where we took a series of back roads to
Savannah’s home near Frankston. When we arrived
Savannah introduced us to her husband Mike, son Kevin and daughter-in-law
Cindy. After spending some time
getting
Tom with Savannah & Mike Jordan acquainted and looking at the van Kevin and Cindy departed. Soon after the four of us sat down to a delicious
dinner of baked chicken, mashed potatoes, salad, and rolls. We topped it all off with some peach pie
for dessert. We certainly appreciated
out first home-cooked meal since leaving home. After dinner we discussed our common genealogy with Savannah
until about 10:00 pm whereupon two very weary travelers headed for the van
and a good nights sleep. |
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