Mr. Firebird's Large Car

Posted by Let*It*Be
The second pic looks like a scene from the southwest.

Yes, Ma'am.
Bittersweet Memories, history and family and the road.
I-40 Lupton, AZ.
Navajo trading post/truck stop.
Just west of the Arizona / New Mexico boarder.
The Grapes Of Wrath. I've driven down their trail of tears many times.

No Ma'am, I haven't had that opportunity.
Come to think of it, I've been all over the US, yet I've never really got see much
except what could be seen from the road. Really no time to sight see, I'm afraid. 😢
We just didn't have that luxury. 😢
I was what they call a Transcontinental Truck Driver. Coast to Coast
I one of the fastest drivers in the Clipper fleet in making my deliveries.
The scene in the small roadside cafe reminds me of a number of places we'd fuel up and eat
and go. Just like the driver lookin' at his watch... we had to keep our schedule.
I HAVE driven across the Hoover Dam, in fact, I have been down inside at the bottom of the Dam but
that was when I was a kid. I have sailed a sailboat on Lake Meade, though.... but..
that would be a freakish routing occurance in the truck in that we were down south
and were cuttin' corners for a delivery up to some place like Reno, NV.
Now, if I had a load out of say... Albuquerque, NM to Provo, UT, I then might have taken
that route. BUT... because of the mindset and nature of the job, I probably wouldn't have
seen much of Lake Powell.
Site-seeing would be one occurance and that was the Gettysburg Battlefield and the USS Constitution, in
Boston and the Binghampton Ferry on the Hudson in NJ.
Otherwise, those wheels constantly rolled almost 24/7. Site seeing was limited to truck stops, rest areas
breakdowns, origins and destinations. Very little time off.
When at a destination, if we were laid-over (delayed) we'd get motel rooms and sleep in comfy fresh beds.
No diesel chatter and disturbances. It got to be where your senses kinda went numb. Like a sailor on
a ship, once he disembarked his ship, he might walk or stand with a sway. For me, I could sit perfectly
still and the world was still moving. It would be like the walls were flying by me. Very strange but
it goes away after awhile. You almost sleep with one eye open, for road conditions, your body may
actually get airborne, like levitation in the sleeper. AC and Heater almost never worked so it was
wet rags and air vents. If that truck didn't have that airfoil on top of it, it would be toaster oven.
Sometimes, I would bake potatoes on the engine exhaust manifold. (not the stacks) That rig was a Cadillac
compared to what I was used to driving: Cabovers. They should never have been legal for team operation.
break down and have to wake the co-driver to jack the cab. Well.... anyway... sorry to get long in the toot

h
Sorry that was tooth, not toot.... although it's still fitting... lol.