Deeper in the south....

Have spent the past two days driving through Texas and Louisiana.  Love Texas (saw two cars with Oregon Duck stickers -- sweet!!).  Not sure about Louisiana yet, although i did see a dead alligator on the side of the highway, which was pretty awesome.  Very muggy here outside of Baton Rouge, complete with flash lightening and rain storm.  Temp about 88.  Cooler than Texas, but much stickier.

All i know about Louisiana is that my Ducks are going to whup' up on them LSU Tigers on Sept. 3!!  Chip's gonna bring some pain to those sons o' mothers.  I don't go claiming that while i'm here, though....  Discretion somehow seems important.

Anyway, you just have to love truck stops in the south.  Three ole' boys were sitting near my table having the most retarded discussions about what the President's actual "job" is, the history of the interstate system and what cops can and cannot cite you for (according to them, if the cop can't show you the LAW you are breaking he or she can't cite you.  Oh, brother....)

These guys -- complete with thick accents, greasy hands, ball caps and at least one of them sporting BOTH suspenders and a belt -- couldn't have fit the stereotype of a southern truck driver better if you had taken out an advertisement.  Gotta say, they really matched the tee shirt i saw the other day: "You mess with me, you mess with the WHOLE trailer park!"  Other truck drivers were actually laughing at them.

Tomorrow i go a little deeper south, nudging a tad into Mississippi before turning around with a load bound for Laredo, TX.  OK, this next part is not for the consumption of children:  Supposedly, lots of truckers cross the border at Laredo for extracurricular "activities".  They even run shuttle vans back and forth across the border for the purpose.  This is one truck driver who doesn't intend to keep up the tradition, however.  Tattoos, yes.   Hookers, no.  Down, Charley, down boy!

Have a MAJOR tooth ache.  It's been killing me for three days.  I think it's a cracked molar, because i had the same thing on the other side.  They put a crown on that one and it fixed right up.  However, this time i have no insurance, so not sure what i'm going to do.  So far i just keep eating the advil, but that will only last so long.  Really need to figure something out here....:-(

WAY ahead of schedule for my Louisiana Walmart run, so am killing time parked about 10 miles away at a truck stop.   Alarm set for 4:30 am.

Hope everyone had a fun Fourth.  I didn't see a single sparkler....

Stay safe.

KWA