Alabama

Wednesday came and it was back out there, on the road again. This trip would be short and sweet. The company needed us to make a special delivery of electronic goods and appliances. A small army of my company's trucks descended on a massive warehouse, south of Atlanta to take goods everywhere. You would have thought I was transporting blocks of gold with the level of security in this place. There was a gate with guards letting one truck at a time though, and only if their paperwork checked out. And...you weren't getting out, until all the paperwork was scrutinized. They pasted sealed load tape all over the back of my truck and clamped a door seal along with my padlocks. No peeking! But, ha! I have a camera inside my cargo hold trained on what is loaded :-) Actually, there are three video cameras on board. One on the right side to cover my blind spot and one on the back, so I can see the loading dock come up while backing. The ordeal lasted for an hour and a half. Ordeal, yeah right. I'm actually very happy to be doing this.

This wouldn't be a long trip, because the plan is for me to get a new truck. This one was coming out of service. I need to get the new one from the other side of town and then I'm scheduled to take it to company HQ for inspection and labeling in Ohio early next week. This one will be a Freightliner and the condo cab is supposed to be bigger.

My destination was Birmingham, Alabama. It doesn't get any easier or quicker from Atlanta. I always like going to Alabama. Every time, I manage to have some sort of pleasant exchange with an Alabaman. Alabama is much laid back compared to Georgia...at least metro Atlanta. Southern charm lives here. Most of the locals I meet are a bright and sunny people, and ready to talk about anything, anytime, anywhere. I cruised into the Flying J just north of B-ham about 9:20pm. I grabbed a two for one pizza deal with a juicy juice red Hawaiian Punch. One of the waitresses from the restaurant was sitting at the next table. I smiled and said hello and she proudly announced in her thick heart of Dixie accent that I needed to try the freshest catfish ever. She held her hands about two feet apart to demonstrate the size of a monstrous sea urchin with a big grin. I replied that I would indeed shoot for some catfish the next day. A fish as big as she described would HAVE to be shot :-0

It was a breezy and pleasant night with an almost full moon in the sky..and time for the obligatory puff on the Medco Birchwood. I discovered a young black and white cat in the bushes near the entrance. Her coloring made her look like a little cow, the way the black part of her fur was arranged like a jersey heifer. She looked like she was having fun pawing at a cricket. I want to bring all the cats home, but this one needed to stay here.

A goateed fellow driver sat down at the round wooden picnic table where I was stationed and proceeded to opine that all the world's problems were because of Obama. Well, I guess after 8 years of blaming Bush for everything from one side, now the other has the opportunity. I was too tired to agree, or disagree. I was in a state of ambivalence. He went on his merry way after figuring out that he wasn't going to get much of a response from me. Besides, my congressman, Rep. John Linder, wrote and introduced HR 25, The Fair Tax initiative. That would have been way too much discussion for this poor tired soul.

The next morning was a perfect Alabama morning for July. The day was still breezy and sunny to perfection. Now it was time to dump off the gold bars on Florence Street.

Mission accomplished. It now was time to head up I-59 to Chattanooga and dump off the truck and gets a rental car back to Dallas, GA. I love going up 59. It's Alabama at its best. The scenery offers rolling hills and some good size eastern mountains, especially around Ft. Payne, the home of the musical group Alabama. I stopped around noontime just north of Weiss Lake for a leg stretch and some lunch at a small BP with a terrific little restaurant. Greeting me from behind the counter was a smiling Persian fellow telling me he had the freshest catfish for lunch! My chance was at hand. I said, I've been dreaming of catfish all day and that would be great. He offered me his spiced steak fries and promised to fry up a fresh batch, just for me. I sat at a booth table and ate the tasty fries, waiting for Alabama’s finest. After about 10 minutes he proudly presented a plate of perfectly battered, spiced and fried catfish. It was out of this world. Today, I am a better person for having had my lunch there. It was the pinnacle of my trip.

I said goodbye to my truck in Chattanooga and ended up at the Hertz rental counter at the airport in Chattanooga. Ms Poteet was helpful and put me into a zippy Toyota Rav 4 for the jaunt home. I got in the car and it was just in time for the Braves and Rockies in Denver. Don Sutton and Mark Lemke serenaded me home on Project 9-6-1 with an always knowledgeable account of the play by play. There's nothing more relaxing to me that listening to baseball on the radio, especially Braves baseball. Our commentators are the best.

Almost at the homestead, Streisy texted me and said "where r u?" I almost replied, "Im here, up the street", when better sense overcame me and I just hit speed dial for her and actually talked to her. That younger generation, text maniacs!

I grabbed a few necessary bags and made my way in to the gathering cats. It took a little while, but even sleepy head Louie came out with a wildly wagging tail. Today, I'm home again 'till the next trip. Word around the company is that it is getting very busy out there...especially on the east coast. A trip to Maine right now, would hit the sweet spot.