Friday, July 23, 2010

Livin' On Tulsa Time



That would be me and Eric, him metaphorically and me in real-time.  Nine hours and 45 minutes on the road... 561 miles... with one stop at Starbucks and two at McDonald's for coffee.  And one Helluva lot more stops at rest areas along the way than I used to make; I think I'm gonna buy a Motorman's Friend for my next trip.

Not much to report, other than...
Oh I am sleeping under strange strange skies
Just another mad mad day on the road
My dreams is fading down the railway line
I'm just about a moonlight mile on down the road
That's the World's Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band describing my feelings exactly.  

And now a few observations from the road...

(1)  The recession has hit the billboard industry HARD.  I saw more danged "this space for rent" billboards (in one form or another) in Indiana and Illinois than I saw actual advertising.  I found that pretty weird.

(2)  Driving through St. Louis during the noon hour, listening to the radio, and the deejay comes on and says it's 121 degrees in St. Louis.  Say WHAT?  He was talking about the heat index, obviously, but he never read the real (ambient) temperature.  Tomorrow is supposed to be worse, at 123.  Zowie.

(3)  It's hot in Tulsa, too... 92 degrees, 58% relative humidity, heat index of 103.  There's an extreme heat warning in effect until 2200 hrs tonight.

(4)  I got the LAST beer at the front desk when I checked in.  This does not bode well for the customer satisfaction survey results.  Not at ALL.  The lone saving grace is it's a bottle of Sammy Adams' Honey Porter.  Thank The Deity At Hand it wasn't a Bud Light; otherwise we'd have gone shopping immediately.  Still might.

This is my last night on the road... home tomorrow afternoon.  I can hardly wait.

7 comments:

  1. Home, home, home!!! :) :)

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  2. It's always nice to get away; and getting home is even better.

    I'm with you.

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  3. Will the next song be a George Strait - "Amarillo by Morning" or how about "West Texas Highway" by Lyle Lovett?

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  4. BNSF, Cherokee Sub Division. Been there. Done that.

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  5. "Out in the west Texas town of El Paso . . . . "?

    You'd think bilboards would be a good bang-for-the-buck deal, wouldn't you?

    May your rest stops be few and your time on the road over soon! (My father in law used to carry a coffee can!)

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  6. Kath & Kris: Yes indeedy!

    Lou: I was too tired to pick a song for today's post but those are good suggestions. Except it was "Amarillo By Noon," or shortly thereafter.

    Glenn: You've been EVERYWHERE!

    Moogie: I agree with ya about the billboard thing, which is why I was amazed and mystified. There were HUNDREDS of vacant billboards. And my rest stops were fewer... prolly coz the coffee consumption was down, too. ;-)

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  7. Pretty Much. Especially in the BNSF System!

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