Day 2- 11/13/12

I'm now safely back home and the Mrs is in Philly. On the last trip, I blogged at night as there was not much else to do on the road alone. For this trip, I was with my wife whom I do not see on a regular basis; so, we spent our time going to entertainment and having meals together. Really mundane things until you consider the professional separation. That being said, my updates are now occurring after the fact. I'll have to figure out a way to accomplish both (although Jenn has indicated she does not wish to again spend that much time inside the cab of any vehicle anytime soon).

So we begin now with Day 2 photos and captions.

 



 I had hoped we would make it to Tuscaloosa by the conclusion of Day1, but that was a bit ambitious given just how long it takes to drive south through Virginia alone. We did make it to Alabama, but not quite far enough. We were about an hour or so from Tuscaloosa. After resting up, we did make it to campus. This is the truck parked at the backside of the stadium.

 I don't like to take pictures of just inanimate objects or things (unless we are talking about the truck, in which case I take plenty); so, I was asking Jenn to stand in front of various things and point to them. I just like a picture better when there's a person in them. Ordinarily, my wife does not just go around pointing at things. In fact, it took a fair amount of imploring on my part to get her to humor me on this trip.

 Sometimes we get passers-by to take the photos; other times I can find something nearby of appropriate height and just set the timer. It was a lot better having a companion on this trip. We made it to the bookstore, but unfortunately there were no Cheerleading T-shirts. In fact, aside from Virginia Tech, this would prove to be the theme for the entire trip.

 We got the Mississippi crossing. You can see the top of the Farmers Jack mounted to the hood in this shot, as I had the camera perched on top of it to get both of us in the shot.

This trip marked the debut of the swing-out tire carrier. I literally finished it the day before the trip. The paint job had time to cure overnight. I was mounting the license plate and figuring out how to strap down the jerry cans 10 minutes before departure on Day 1. I modified the ratchet tie-down positioning somewhere in Mississippi as I noticed one of the anchor points deflected some when I really cranked down on it. The cans are worth considerably more than the contents; I did NOT want to lose those cans. I got a combination bike chain looped through the carrying handles and affixed to one of the vertical supports for the tire bracket to secure against theft of the cans. If someone really wanted to go through the trouble of siphoning off my gas, they can have at it. I had thought about making some sort of bracket that could span across the lids and be locked with a padlock. I had seen a few design concepts which looked promising. I then realized that my main fuel tank is not locked. So why bother with the extra machining to secure 5 gallons, when 20 gallons is just as vulnerable in the main tank?!

 We stopped in Jackson, Mississippi. Wikipedia (I think) said that this was the tallest building in Jackson. So I took a picture of it when I saw it.

 I asked Jenn to play Peek-a-Boo for the camera. She was feeling a bit playful I suppose and obliged.

 The man who took this photo for us initially asked me for a can of Fix-a-Flat. Well, he first asked me about the Zombie Response Team. After I explained, he then asked about the Fix-a-Flat. I guess if one appears to be as prepared as I appear to be, you think them a likely candidate for random supplies a la Pep Boys or something. So we got into a conversation about how the modern vehicles increasingly come with TPMS sensors which are damaged by spray-patching products as an explanation of why I didn't have any. He then bummed like 5 dollars off of me while explaining that he was not a bum but needed to secure a repair to his vehicle after having driven his mother-in-law into town. At the very top of this sign, there is like a top hat emblem and the words "Elite". I had hoped to have them captured in this photo, but he failed to get it. I don't mind random conversations with strangers, but I get leery of unsolicited attention while on travel and with my wife; I decided to leave well enough alone, get my camera, and go into the restaurant.

 This artifact was mounted on the interior of the restaurant describing the 50 year plus history of the restaurant. It is located on the same block as the city government building.

 I wanted my truck to pose for a picture. That is all.

 We made it to Louisiana not long after our brief lunch time stop in Jackson. This sign was off to the side of the road just beyond an overpass that spanned across some rather marshy looking terrain. The Wetlands caption thus seemed appropriate. I was glad to be able to again get a good shot of the Welcome sign. On the Utah trip, it seemed many of the signs were in the mid-span of a bridge or in an area with no shoulder. We were very fortunate to have pretty good access to almost all of the signs. There was maybe one where the combination of it being dark and the road being under construction that we opted to forego for safety considerations.

 Jenn hiking back to the truck.

 What follows is a series of photos intended to make Sean Mignano jealous. Sean actually introduced me to the series Duck Dynasty. I do not have cable and do not regularly watch any sort of reality programming even when it is available. Anyway, I was over his house for some reason, and he and his wife put the program on. And I'll admit, it is pretty entertaining. I asked him where in Louisiana these guys were based, as I knew by this time that I'd be travelling through the state on the way to the Grand Canyon. As it turned out, Monroe, Louisiana was right along the route (20 if I recall), that we were taking westbound. It took a little convincing of Jenn to merit the slight diversion into a town she's never heard of regarding a show she's never seen on the off chance that the stars might be present. But once she had looked into it a bit on the iPad, she acquiesced and away we went.

 Trying to get Jenn to get me, my truck, and their tractor trailer all in the same frame.

 I took over the camera duties here.

 Jenn didn't understand why I insisted on wearing the Tech shirt in Mississippi.

 One of the episodes that I watched features the guys trying to flood the loading dock to make a pond. This random truck showed up to actually like conduct business or something as I was framing up the shot. Well, I guess in later episodes they realize it was a dumb idea as there was no sign of the ducks or the pooled water. I had really hoped that they kept the pond and I could maybe feed some ducks.

 Another camper. It must be Willy's.

 Then there were random built-up trucks out there. There was also a Jeep that was lifted. While we were in the store, people were taking pictures of my truck as they thought it might have also been Willy's. They were disappointed to see me get into it. Jenn said they should have known based on the Maryland tags.

 The inside portion is just a gift shop. There's a warehouse area but it was very dark and no one appeared to be in there making any duck calls. There were no tours. There were plenty of people inside though clamoring over merchandise and making phone calls like, "Dude, we are actually HERE. No...no, I don't see them, but what do you think _____would want us to get?"

 Shreveport, LA was our next stop. They have a really nice casino and outlet shopping district that seems to be one of those best-kept secrets. Maybe it was low key due to it being a week night. I had originally wanted to go to New Orleans; Jenn had previously been and wasn't interested in the additional driving. Turns out it was a good call on her part. We would not have arrived to the Grand Canyon until much later. This was a nice, pleasant surprise.

 I was glad to have taken down the rack and cargo basket. One of the first areas to park was a garage across from the El Dorado casino. It turns out it had great clearance (maybe 7-foot), but garages nonetheless give me a little anxiety due to the suspension and body lifts on the truck. The outlet area was all surface parking and was accessible via a bridge. If you are super-lifted, you'll have no problem visiting that area.

 We didn't do any gambling. My limited funds were going to gas, and Jenn's was covering lodging for nights where she didn't much want to sleep in the truck. I had brought gear for camping, but the weather had been a bit unseasonal. Rainy first day, unseasonably cold days in places where we were expecting mild temperatures...etc.

 When they finish the construction in this area, it will be really nice.

 In the parking garage. Random, I know.

 I now want to visit every Bass Pro Shops location. A lot of the time, they seem to pop up at points where I'm trying to maintain the itinerary which doesn't afford the opportunity to stop. Jenn has admitted that she'll either sit quietly or try to avert my attention to something else until after we've safely passed the exit to go to them. I'm not mad at her for that; I do the same thing when we pass an outlet mall and I notice they have a Coach store. "Hey babe, can you look ahead to see what we can do in El Paso?" The sneakiness works both ways.

 I noticed this place just prior to the bridge that crosses over to the Outlet area. The Blind Tiger. Seemed interesting. We went in and I learned the history of the term which dates back to the days of Prohibition. Look it up and see what explanation you come up with.

 Pretty cool artwork on the menu. I ordered my first ever platter of Etouffe. I got the crawdaddy etouffe which was delicious as a side to accompany my Blind Tiger burger which is a traditional hamburger but then it had a slice of Canadian bacon and some other ingredients that temporarily caused my heart to fibrillate...in a good way.

 From there we made it into Texas. Again, I had lofty goals of trying to make it to Midland by nightfall. Well, it was well past nightfall before we even hit the border, let alone 3/4 of the way across the great state of Texas.

Further complicating things, I think this was the night that my stomach was not cooperating...at all. That's probably why the camera work stopped at this point too. We made slow progress through Texas through the night. We crashed somewhere roadside and then Jenn took over some driving in the morning, which you'll see in Day 3. But at least we got to Texas.