Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

Reporting this evening – on the road – from Uninc De Soto Parish, LA. I’m headed to Sainte-Anne-Des-Plaines Quebec with a load of lumber. Now that’s a mouthful. It’s nice to be hauling something out of the country for a change. Today is Veteran’s Day, but I don’t know any OTR truckers that are taking the day off. Much of our oh-so-hard-working Federal government, many banks, etc. are shut down. The Fortune 500 lumber company that I loaded at is, obviously, also open. Working or not, I just want to thank all the truckers who are veterans who helped preserve our freedom in order that we can be the greatest country on the planet. And as my son reminded me, for all the Marine vets who are truckers – Semper Fi.

After spending 5 hours waiting to load and another 90 minutes waiting to get into the tarp “shack” to secure the wood, I was hot, tired and hungry. If you’re truck’n round Louisiana – especially I-49 – you know there’s not much there. I know of two “kind-of” truck stops – a small one at exit 177 and the other larger one at exit 186, called the Relay Station. Nighttime in Louisiana, when the warm daytime weather mixes with the cold night air of November, smells funny-like. Do you know what I mean? Have you experienced the smell? Mix the odor from a septic and a propane tank and what you have is the unique Louisiana smell of the bayou. I’d sing you something Cajun here, but I just don’t know anything entertaining, and my French isn’t that good.

But, that’s Louisiana and I love it. Along with Alabama and some parts of Florida, Louisiana is one of my favorite States in the country. I love the people, and most importantly, I love the food. And the best thing for a tired hungry OTR truck driver to eat “here” is – catfish. One of the ugliest fish around, but ooo so good. And the Relay Station cooks it up right. I love jambalaya and gumbo too, but given the choice, I must have catfish. As Justin Wilson used to say: “Whoooo Boy!” Tonight’s meal was done up right. $8.99 for 6 catfish filets that melt in your mouth. On the plate along side the filets are hush puppies, slaw and fries. I take a 1/2 inch piece of the catfish on my fork and dip it into the slaw juice. No tartar sauce – never. A large icy glass of Diet Coke and I gu-ran-teee whooo boy – dr-eye-va you is gonna be in Lew-si-ana heaven. And when you leave the place, you is gonna be m-eye-tee happy.

Now all I have to do is figure out where the heck Sainte-Anne-Des-Plaines is and what’s the best way to get there. I’ll leave it up to my carrier to deal with the broker and see that I get through. I’ve never been to French Canada before, so this gonna be an adventure. An adventure truck’n style. I had to dead head over here from Dallas since there is apparently no freight there. Whatever, it’s a 250 miles paid dead head plus wherever the miles are from Natchitoches to Quebec. By the way, FYI, before I close this post, the Relay Station is a great place to park, eat and, if you’re into it, gamble. I would not shower here and I don’t think there’s a shower down at exit 177. The place doesn’t look like much from the outside, but be brave and go in. The walls are filled with all sorts of dead and mounted critters, deer, wild boar and “other” things.

Photo credit: http://media.photobucket.com/image/picture%20of%20catfish/jayzee19/catfish.jpg