In Indiana

[lydamorehouse]

After spending the night in LaCrosse, Shawn and I drove to Indiana today. It was a long and lesuirely drive. As Shawn continually pointed it out, we only had to arrive by Sunday at 2 pm (for the funeral,) and, well, it's not like there was any reason to rush. We stopped at an "Iron Skillet" (not, sadly the "Iron Chef") for a sit down meal, which was fairly unremarkable except that they offered buscuits and gravy a rare treat for a Northern girl like me. For some reason, they had a monitor on the wall in the front seating area that showed order numbers when they came up. I watched number 11 pop up and then after a few minutes it started blinking. Then after a few more minutes the flashing got more frantic. I told Shawn I was convinced that it was our order wilting under the heat lamp, although it turned out we were 32. Food was good. Nothing to write home about, but good road fare.

We don't usually take that much time out of the trip, but I just didn't want to do a McMeal. I was feeling adventurous enough to try the "Iron Skillet" with its trucker-sized portions, but we did have to turn away from "Grubb's Steaks" which one of the highway signs pointed us to a few miles earlier, because, as Shawn put it, as we pulled up to this rickety looking shack two and a half miles from the highway, you could almost hear the Deliverance style banjo music playing in the deserted parking lot. Do you ever wonder if you narrowly avoided being the beginning of a horror movie? We certainly did.

Anyway, the point is, we've arrived safely (and wireless is working.)

Comments

Glad you avoided becoming a Twilight Zone episode.

[plaidder.livejournal.com]

We are where we always are, should any or all of you need a break at some point.

Good luck,

The Plaid Adder

[holy-toledo.livejournal.com]

I've become more careful about road-side stops. I once saw a sign for a McDonalds as I was driving to Ohio. One of those that shows a gas station, a Starbucks, etc. Well, it didn't say that if I exited where I did, I'd be in Gary, Indiana.

I have never before seen a drive-through window with double-plated glass.

-Mel

[swords-and-pens.livejournal.com]

Oh, come on! Some of the greatest food finds (or at least greatest stories) come from the scary restaurants.

[shenjanno.livejournal.com]

This one time, my girlfriend and I were driving back over night from Chicago and we stopped at this rest stop and there was a pick up with a camper parked in the lot.

There didn't appear to be anyone around or in the rest stop itself, but the camper back was wide open and it appeared to be filled to the brim with Pet Carriers, all of which looked like they were stuffed with trash bag wrapped bundles of various sizes. And some how even worse, a few of the pet carriers were stacked up near the back end of the pick-up on the concrete as if they had been unloading and were then interrupted.

So...
A. What the hell was in all those pet carriers?
B. Why was the truck sitting alone, seemingly in the middle of being off loaded, at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere?
C. Where was the owner?
D. Why did I still get out and go pee? (I had to go really badly.)

Then, a year or so later, another rest stop, in northern minnesota this time, but still in the middle of the night and as I lingered in the lobby waiting for my girlfriend to finish, (who only let us stop because SHE had to go reall bad this time, the memory of the Pet Carriers still fresh in her mind) the janitor was leaning on his mop at one end, chatting on his cell phone, he's an old guy and the only part of the conversation I catch as I'm waiting is: "Yeah, its sad... apparently she'd been cut into a bunch of pieces when they found her..."

WHAT??????

So, long story short... I can take a hint, no more rest stops in the middle of the night. Plus, I gave it some thought and "I really, really had to pee." would make a terrible epitaph.