It's not what you don't know...

30 OCTOBER 2013, 19:30
Sitting in a truck stop in East Tennessee, watching the other trucks go by.

Quite a few of them, really. It's only about seven, local time, and even in winter, most truck stops don't fill up until about eight. And yet here I am, in the second-to-last spot (as of when I arrived, that is). Five minutes later and I would have been wandering the night, watching my drive-time clock blink toward zero. I gave myself less than an hour to find a space. Plenty of them at this time of night, right?

That's twice this trip I've gotten in trouble that way. And I've only been on this trip for two days.

I left Laredo, Texas with this load yesterday, and more or less drove all day. (That is likely to be a habit with this load--two thousand miles or so to cover in less than four days. But I digress...) As the clock wound down, I headed confidently toward an exit near the Arkansas border. There I would find a truck stop listed in my handy pocket guide, find my proper place, and relax. No worries.

When I reached the exit, all was darkness. As I slowed and strained my eyes, I did see the sign. But the sign was not lit. As I came down the ramp I saw the store and the fuel pumps. Dark. To the right was a building that was lit, but what could it be?

Well, the clock was ticking. I kept going.

Past the silent fuel pumps lay the parking lot. Not fenced off, I was pleased to see. And a dozen other trucks already parked there. And the lit building was the restaurant.

Apparently, the truck stop had died, but the restaurant had lived. Usually it's the other way around. Next morning I figured out why. Breakfast was good. And well attended. Score one for local clientèle.

But my handy little book was out of date. And that could have gotten me in real trouble. And tonight I almost do it again, because I got cocky about the time.
I've got to be more careful.

(Oh, all right, you got me. I had a backup plan both times--at least two more truck stops within twenty minutes. Gimme a break, willya? I'm tryin' to draw a moral here...)