For all you Johnny Cash fans out there, you might recognize those lyrics … for everyone else, I’m here to tell you that they ARE actually lyrics! 🙂
I left Fort Worth on a Monday morning (… now THAT sounds like a lyric!), beginning my many miles journey home again. First stop along the way: Jackson, Mississippi.
Interstate 20, with which I bonded, brought me past Dallas, a mere 30 miles away, and I planned to stop for lunch in Shreveport, Louisiana, right on the Louisiana / Texas border.
Lulu & I missed the “Welcome to …” sign … DANG! I realized that, when you travel east to west, the exit numbers are descending, so it was really obvious when one is approaching a state line driving in that direction. When traveling west to east, you must have pre-knowledge of exit numbers, or hope for the best. (Did you know that there are 635 exits on I-20 in Texas???) Subsequently, this was the best we could do upon entering Louisiana:
We made it to our lunch destination, a funky little lunch counter place called Straun’s. Whoever Mr. Straun is, he sure had some interesting DECORATING ideas. LOL
This is one of several wall murals in Straun’s main dining room. I’ve never taken any hallucinogenic drugs, but Straun’s gave me an idea of what it must be like. LOL Food was fine, though, and I was on my way again.
I stopped again for fuel a little while later, and gained one of my BEST “on the road” stories. I was always trying to find a magnet from wherever I stopped to add to my collection. I didn’t actually take a picture of the cashier inside this Shell station, but here’s a cartoon that comes close:
Here’s how the conversation went:
(as I walked in) Clerk: Do you know the zip code for Arcadia?
(I look around to see to whom she’s speaking — it’s only me)
Me: Do _I_ know? ::chuckle:: No, sorry.
Clerk: ::mumbles some numbers under her breath::
Me: (after glancing around) Do you have any magnets?
Clerk: No, Ma’am, we sure don’t. ::beat:: We have some KNIVES and some THROWIN’ STARS, if yer interested.
Me: Haha! … No, thanks.
Clerk: We’ve got some UNSHARPENED throwin’ stars, if you’re interested in something for a child.
Me: (LOL) No, no, I’m all set on the throwin’ stars.
Stopped for a bathroom break not too much later, and had to laugh at the name of the rest stop:
“Tallulah” is what I’ve named my GPS. LOL (Who knew that there’s a Tallulah, Louisiana??) And … good news! Got my “Louisiana” magnet here. 🙂
We got to the Mississippi line before 3 PM, and then arrived at the Jackson, MS Marriot by around 5.
I didn’t even poke my nose out the door until the following morning, and it was VERY NICE … except for one thing: I ordered breakfast to be delivered at 8:15 AM the following morning, BUT I got a knock on the door, and heard “Room Service” the next day at ::drumroll:: _6_:15 AM. UGH! It woke me up out of a dead sleep, and I didn’t have my wits about me to send it back. They wound up comping the breakfast for the inconvenience … I was just wishing I could have recouped that lost 2 hours of sleep!! LOL
Off the next morning! Next stop: Rhymes with Flat Santa! LOL