by Pa Rock
Road Warrior
(I like parades so much that today I joined in two. I guess you might call them Rocky Macy's pre-Thanksgiving Day parades!)
Rosie and I are in Kansas City after a fairly eventful four-plus-hour-ride from West Plains. Normally these long road trips are dull, but today offered lots of diversions and things to think about along the way.
We stopped at Sonic for breakfast on the way out of town because Rosie loves their bacon and egg Breakfast Toaster sandwiches, and I got a Route 44 unsweet tea to wash down my part of the sandwich. Then, just. about 7:00 a.m. as we were pulling out onto Interstate 63 to head north, we immediately came upon two lanes of slowed traffic with flashing emergency lights up at the head of each column of the unexpected traffic snarl. There also seemed to be some school buses in amongst the emergency vehicles.
But both lanes kept moving behind the emergency vehicles which were also moving. I chose the inside lane and puttered along anxious to see what type of carnage lay ahead. About that time I began noticing that some of the cars had signs painted in their windows which were boasting about the local high school football team - the West Plains Zizzers. Still puttering along I remembered that the team had won its District championship last week and were now headed to a competitive clash at the state level.
About two miles out of town the emergency vehicles crossed over tot the southbound lanes and headed back to town. The two police cars and two fire engines that had been escorting the local heroes on the start of their day-trip to Webster Groves (St. Louis area), Missouri, were heading home now that their charges were safely on the way. Some of the other cars turned and went home as well, but not me and Rosie. We eventually ended up in a little knot of civilian traffic between bus number two and bus number three. Our place in the parade lasted until the three buses turned off twenty-five miles later near Cabool and headed north while Rosie and I veered west toward Springfield.
The Zizzers are scheduled to compete in the Class 4-A quarter finals at 1:00 p.m. today. Go, Zizzers!
Fifty miles later around the little berg of Diggins, Missouri, we passed a horse-drawn cart being driven by a little old Amish man and woman who were draped in their standard heavy black wool. The Percheron pulling the cart was about the size of a fully tricked-out Ford F-150 - but not as fast!
As we circled Springfield on the bypass we came upon a Missouri State Highway Patrolman who had a motorist pulled over, not in itself an unusual site. But not only had the trooper pulled the poor fellow over, he also had him outside of his vehicle and walking toward the patrol car - and he was in handcuffs! Rosie and I would both love to know the rest of that story!
North of Springfield as we were approaching Collins, Missouri, we had another close encounter with the highway patrol. We had joined in a caravan of two other vehicles - the first of which was a faded red mini-van with Florida plates that was being driven by a person whom I suspected was a drug runner. The second car was a white sedan that was obvously filled with a family of Baptists who were out practicing driving the route that they would take to church tomorrow. Rosie and I were bringing up the rear, listening to Chuck Berry pumped up so loudly that the guy in the car that just pulled up behind us could have probably been tapping his non-gas-pedal foot to "Maybelline." The fourth driver was . . .you guessed it . . . an on-duty highway patrolman!
The four cars in our parade crept along at the speed limit for five miles or so until the patrolman suddenly hit the gas and pulled out to pass me. I assumed there must be an upcoming doughnut shop and that he would lap the entire group, but instead he pulled back in after passing me and hit his lights. He proceeded to pull over the Baptists in the sedan - and I assume the bust was important because no sooner had he stopped than he swung his car door open and hit the ground headed toward the sedan. Rosie and I really wanted to know what that was about, but we figured John Law might not appreciate us pulling over to watch!
We stopped in Clinton, Missouri, for a bathroom break and a drink. The quickstop was crowded, primarily with young men wearing cammos who were buying cases of beer. This is the second week of Missouri's firearms deer season, and those sporting hunters like to give the deer an advantage by hunting while drunk. Guns and booze and camouflage clothing - now that's what I call having a good time in the woods!
(I remember years ago when I lived in Mountain View, Missouri, one of the local liquor stores would make huge pyramids of cases of beer in the front window with big signs that read "Deer Hunter Special." Another story that I remember from my days in Mountain View occurred when a drunken patron at a local saloon got disturbed about something and went out to his truck and retrieved his chainsaw - which he fired up before walking back into the bar! There were no injuries or fatalities, but the joint did close early that afternoon. Chainsaws and beer must be almost as much fun as guns and beer!)
But I digress.
We are in Kansas City now, unpacked and relaxing. Tim and I will go to Costco this afternoon while his family is at a swimming party, and tomorrow evening we will all enjoy a staged production "A Christmas Carol" at the University of Missouri Kansas City campus. It will be the third year in a row that we will have attended this annual event.
Grandson Boone is reportedly coming to my house for Thanksgiving - and I am very anxious to see him.
Happy holidays and drive safely as you head out for Thanksgiving - especially if you are driving in Missouri. Our highway patrolmen take their jobs seriously!
Road Warrior
(I like parades so much that today I joined in two. I guess you might call them Rocky Macy's pre-Thanksgiving Day parades!)
Rosie and I are in Kansas City after a fairly eventful four-plus-hour-ride from West Plains. Normally these long road trips are dull, but today offered lots of diversions and things to think about along the way.
We stopped at Sonic for breakfast on the way out of town because Rosie loves their bacon and egg Breakfast Toaster sandwiches, and I got a Route 44 unsweet tea to wash down my part of the sandwich. Then, just. about 7:00 a.m. as we were pulling out onto Interstate 63 to head north, we immediately came upon two lanes of slowed traffic with flashing emergency lights up at the head of each column of the unexpected traffic snarl. There also seemed to be some school buses in amongst the emergency vehicles.
But both lanes kept moving behind the emergency vehicles which were also moving. I chose the inside lane and puttered along anxious to see what type of carnage lay ahead. About that time I began noticing that some of the cars had signs painted in their windows which were boasting about the local high school football team - the West Plains Zizzers. Still puttering along I remembered that the team had won its District championship last week and were now headed to a competitive clash at the state level.
About two miles out of town the emergency vehicles crossed over tot the southbound lanes and headed back to town. The two police cars and two fire engines that had been escorting the local heroes on the start of their day-trip to Webster Groves (St. Louis area), Missouri, were heading home now that their charges were safely on the way. Some of the other cars turned and went home as well, but not me and Rosie. We eventually ended up in a little knot of civilian traffic between bus number two and bus number three. Our place in the parade lasted until the three buses turned off twenty-five miles later near Cabool and headed north while Rosie and I veered west toward Springfield.
The Zizzers are scheduled to compete in the Class 4-A quarter finals at 1:00 p.m. today. Go, Zizzers!
Fifty miles later around the little berg of Diggins, Missouri, we passed a horse-drawn cart being driven by a little old Amish man and woman who were draped in their standard heavy black wool. The Percheron pulling the cart was about the size of a fully tricked-out Ford F-150 - but not as fast!
As we circled Springfield on the bypass we came upon a Missouri State Highway Patrolman who had a motorist pulled over, not in itself an unusual site. But not only had the trooper pulled the poor fellow over, he also had him outside of his vehicle and walking toward the patrol car - and he was in handcuffs! Rosie and I would both love to know the rest of that story!
North of Springfield as we were approaching Collins, Missouri, we had another close encounter with the highway patrol. We had joined in a caravan of two other vehicles - the first of which was a faded red mini-van with Florida plates that was being driven by a person whom I suspected was a drug runner. The second car was a white sedan that was obvously filled with a family of Baptists who were out practicing driving the route that they would take to church tomorrow. Rosie and I were bringing up the rear, listening to Chuck Berry pumped up so loudly that the guy in the car that just pulled up behind us could have probably been tapping his non-gas-pedal foot to "Maybelline." The fourth driver was . . .you guessed it . . . an on-duty highway patrolman!
The four cars in our parade crept along at the speed limit for five miles or so until the patrolman suddenly hit the gas and pulled out to pass me. I assumed there must be an upcoming doughnut shop and that he would lap the entire group, but instead he pulled back in after passing me and hit his lights. He proceeded to pull over the Baptists in the sedan - and I assume the bust was important because no sooner had he stopped than he swung his car door open and hit the ground headed toward the sedan. Rosie and I really wanted to know what that was about, but we figured John Law might not appreciate us pulling over to watch!
We stopped in Clinton, Missouri, for a bathroom break and a drink. The quickstop was crowded, primarily with young men wearing cammos who were buying cases of beer. This is the second week of Missouri's firearms deer season, and those sporting hunters like to give the deer an advantage by hunting while drunk. Guns and booze and camouflage clothing - now that's what I call having a good time in the woods!
(I remember years ago when I lived in Mountain View, Missouri, one of the local liquor stores would make huge pyramids of cases of beer in the front window with big signs that read "Deer Hunter Special." Another story that I remember from my days in Mountain View occurred when a drunken patron at a local saloon got disturbed about something and went out to his truck and retrieved his chainsaw - which he fired up before walking back into the bar! There were no injuries or fatalities, but the joint did close early that afternoon. Chainsaws and beer must be almost as much fun as guns and beer!)
But I digress.
We are in Kansas City now, unpacked and relaxing. Tim and I will go to Costco this afternoon while his family is at a swimming party, and tomorrow evening we will all enjoy a staged production "A Christmas Carol" at the University of Missouri Kansas City campus. It will be the third year in a row that we will have attended this annual event.
Grandson Boone is reportedly coming to my house for Thanksgiving - and I am very anxious to see him.
Happy holidays and drive safely as you head out for Thanksgiving - especially if you are driving in Missouri. Our highway patrolmen take their jobs seriously!
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