Westward Expansion

DATELINE: OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, 5:15 p.m. CST

Miles Today: 381

How about this? Two updates in one day! (Don't miss this morning's report, below.) Since I caught up on a lot in that earlier update, this one'll be nice 'n short. And I'll answer reader dennis the accompanist's deer-in-headlights question, too. So let's get right to my workday.

Picking up from where I left off this morning, I headed down the road to my pickup in Jacksonville, AR. 'Twas a smallish company, number-of-loading-docks-wise, but they had a huge lot and getting my truck lined up to back into the dock was easy. The loading process went nice and smooth, and I was on my way in about 45 minutes.

I made a stop about 1-1/2 hours later at a Flying J en route so I could get cleaned up. I hadn't had a chance for a shower the previous couple of mornings, and my pickup this morning had a gravel lot, so I was feeling dusty and grungy, and my face was scratchy. There was a waiting list for the showers, so I ambled over to their restaurant area and grabbed a slice of pizza. (Most Flying Js have pizza counters under the name of "Pepperoni's". Some also have "Magic Dragon" Chinese food stands, too.) My number for the shower was called just as I was finishing my slice (Hawaiian--ham and pineapple) in a burst of good timing.

All cleaned up, I was back rolling westward. Another 90 minutes later I reached the Fort Smith area and pulled into our Van Buren terminal to get some diesel in my tanks. After that, I just made my way over here to OKC, which was my goal for the day, about halfway on my journey to the Texas panhandle. I intended to stop at a Flying J here (not the one where I usually stop in this city; that one is a bit out of my route) that is on the company fuel network list. However, as I was reaching the designated exit, I noticed there's a TA at the same exit, and it has a Popeye's Chicken. 'Nuff said; I parked at the TA. I've already had my chicken dinner, too--as I was ordering at the counter I realized that I was getting shaky from hunger, another burst of good timing. And now I'm here telling y'all about it.

Tomorrow I'll hit the FJ for some more fuel before continuing my trek into the as-yet-unexplored-by-me west. I'm looking forward to seeing some new country, and will stop somewhere near Lubbock for the night (not a lot of truck stops in that area in my directory).

Now on to Dennis' query, "Have you had any encounters of the deer kind?"

First, Dennis, let me say I'm glad your run-in didn't cause any injuries or damage. Such accidents can be very catastrophic, and not just for the deer. Good to read that you're OK. As for my experiences, I have had one or two instances where I've had to jam on the brakes. A particular one I remember vividly was along I-71 in northern Kentucky at night back while I was driving with my trainer. In that instance, I caught sight of some dusky shapes in the middle of the road, and as I neared the shapes resolved into deer. Fortunately, they decided in time that they didn't want grill marks on their hides, so they lept out of the way. Other than that time, I really haven't had any deer problems. I've seen them along the side of the highway at times, and a couple of times recently some with antlers (though not very big racks). But no other close calls or actual hits. (Bugs are another matter. I've euthanized them by the thousands.)

And that's this evening's report. Check back tomorrow for some western OK/northern TX news. Thanks for pointing your browser here. Drop me a question and/or comment, and keep right on truckin'.