How about that for an enticing title? Actually, I'm in the midst of a trip from Alabama to visit my son in Texas, then back to visit my daughter in Tennessee, then back to Alabama. I just noticed today that I've been on all four of the southern East-West Interstates, so decided that would be an appropriate title. What I've got to say has very little to do with the Interstates, but one has to have a title.
I remember back in about Chapter 9 or so, I travelled I-10 and I-40 the same day and thought it was unusual enough to merit mentioning. In the last few days, I've been on those two plus I-20 and the very short (Little Rock to Dallas) I-30. If you're travelling East-West and have a choice, take the more Northern I-40 route. Crossing Louisiana and East Texas, I-10 is terrible. It's extremely bumpy, full of patches, and not a road you'd like to ride. I-20 is slightly better, but still rather rough. I-30 and I-40 are really smooth compared to the lower two. Add-on -- I-40 is a little rough East of Little Rock, but gets better as you get on into Tennessee. BIG CHALLENGE: Following I-40 thru Nashville -- it splits at least 5 times.
Topics that I'm going to talk about include: Smart cars, Overnighting at Walmart, Alphabet cities game, Grand Casino Coushatta in Louisiana, Modem hookups at campgrounds, Wild birds in the kitchen, and Edsels. If none of these interest you, there's no point in reading further.
Wild Birds in the Kitchen: One of the most amazing parts of this trip was the sparrow family in my son's kitchen. He lives near a small East Texas town and has forest all around his home, so wild life abounds. Due to a complicated set of circumstances, he leaves his porch door open all day. Last spring, a couple of birds came in and tried to build a nest in his living room. He says that he threw the nest out several times, but they persisted so he let them go ahead. Eventually, little birds came along, hopped out of the nest, and he helped them get outside and fly away. This year, the same two birds came back and built a nest in the kitchen. To the right are some views of the nest. CLICK ANY PICTURE TO GET A LARGER VIEW. At the end of this section, you'll find a link to the whole set of bird pictures.
First picture is long shot -- see the nest at the top right of the curtain? The other three are close-ups. If you click and look at the larger view, you can actually spot the eyes beaks, etc.
When he told me on the phone, I was somewhat skeptical. Birds living in the kitchen? .. hmmm .. Well, when I got there, I saw it for myself. Three little birds in the nest and Mom and Pop going in and out all day with worms and bugs for the kiddies. First Mom comes in, feeds the kids, and goes out. Then Dad comes in, feeds the kids, and goes back out .... all day long. At night, Mom comes in and stays with the kids, while Dad stays outside and guards -- or whatever Dads do outside all night.
On my last night there, four of us were sitting around the kitchen table playing cards. The babies were chirping real loud and both Mom and Dad were outside .. also chirping. About 7:00 or so, little birds started to jump out of the nest. One went behind the refrigerator, one behind the stove, another behind the stove ... Finally, one by one, we caught them all, took them carefully outside, and watched them fly away ... REALLY AMAZING! They were about as big as your thumb, with little tiny feet and wings. I caught one and it was holding my finger so tightly I thought I wouldn't be able to get it off when I got outside. Once there, however, he/she jumped off and flew zooming across the yard. It amazes me that those little balls of fuzz have the strength and instinct to take off like that so soon after coming out of the nest. We all hope they're getting along okay.
Final Topic -- Edsels: Not much to say. Somewhere East of Monroe, Louisiana, I stopped for gas and noticed an Edsel for sale. Asking price was $5500 OBO. Took some pictures, since I hadn't seen an Edsel out in the wild for quite some time and it was in really good shape. At the campground in Monroe, I asked the young lady behind the desk if she knew what an Edsel was -- nope. Just one more of those high points of history that are fading from the memories of our children as time goes on. Of course, she might not know who Elvis is either, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.
Well, time to head for Tennessee. Check me later!
Smart Cars: As I came past Tuscaloosa, Alabama, I saw some signs advertising the tour at the Mercedes plant. I stopped by and learned they're not open on Sunday, but while there I noticed some Smart Cars in the show window. We had seen these in Europe and thought they were really great-looking little cars, but have never heard of them in America. They're so small, I've actually seen them parked aimed at the curb instead of parallel-parked and they barely stuck out in the road at all. I'd thought when I saw them that they'd make great tow-cars. Now I'm wondering if they're being sold in the U.S. I'm trying to check into it -- will let you know what I learn. It'll be interesting to find out what they'll sell for here -- I think they were about $10,000 in Europe. That's a Smart Car on the right.
Overnighting at Walmart: Before I left on this trip, I decided that I'd try staying at Walmarts the whole way to see how that worked out. As you may know, Walmart put the word out a couple of years ago that RVs and 18-wheelers could park at Walmart Super-Centers as long as there were no problems with the city they resided in. Since then, I understand several others have followed suit, like Target. Well, my first night was in Jackson, Mississippi and I found a local Super-Center. I learned two things -- firstly, even though I had learned this a year or so ago when I tried the Walmart thing in Cleveland Tennessee, I once again was reminded how HOT it is without air conditioning. We'd been having a cold spell, so I thought it wouldn't be a problem -- WRONG! The second thing was that the 18-wheelers running their engines all night are real bothersome if you're trying to sleep with all the windows open. It occurred to me that motorhomes with generators might get along okay, because they could keep their windows closed and run the air conditioner. However, it also occurred to me that the generator burns about a gallon an hour, so an overnight would burn about $10-12 in gas. Might as well stay in a campground! I've been camping with Passport America for $7-10 all across the country.
Alphabet Cities Game: Coming out of Huntsville, I noticed a road sign for a city whose name started with an A, then Birmingham and Cullman -- I began to wonder how far I'd have to go to see signs for cities starting with all the letters in the alphabet. I even thought I might take a picture of each sign, but decided against that after trying one. Anyway, by the time I got to Tuscaloosa, I'd seen signs with names starting with 18 letters of the alphabet. By the end of the day, I'd seen all but I, O, X, and Z. It really went much faster than I expected. The following day, I passed Industry, Louisiana (yay) and some Texas town that started with O -- leaving only X and Z. After several more days of travel, I still don't have those two. Anybody know where I can find an X or Z city?
Grand Casino Coushatta in Louisiana: My son had never been to a casino, so I agreed to take him to one and show him how to lose his money. We went to the Grand Casino just outside of Kinder in southern Louisiana. I was pleasantly surprised to find a Passport America park there, so it only cost $27 for three nights. The casino has a great campground, great buffets, friendly dealers, and 2-cent slots. I'd recommend it to anyone interesting in visiting a new casino.
Modem Hookups at Campgrounds: The Grand Casino campground also has a nice phone setup for computerized travellers in the office, which I've noticed is becoming much more popular recently. The Shilo campground in Monroe, Louisiana (also Passport America) also had a nice phone hookup, as does the one I'm in now in Little Rock, Arkansas. Guess I need to update my Internet on the Road pages to note that most (?) campgrounds are now modem-friendly? I don't really know how to determine how popular it is, other than to check each campground that I stay in.
38. A Short Trip on I-10, I-20, I-30, & I-40
My Travel Log
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