Travails Along I-44

Over the last couple days, I have received emails and read the bus's blog about travels in the rain across our beloved I-44 between Tulsa, OK and Springfield, MO. I have been a bit out of sorts to relate my experiences but accept please this.

I guess during the times BBBob lived in Tulsa and thejeepjunkie lived down in the Texas Panhandle, I was down in the Sunshine State trying to find myself.

Ironically, still looking.

Alas, I digress.

It sounds like a windy, rainy drive from Tulsa to the Queen City of the Ozarks is less fun than being a Tina Faye lookalike today.

But the one drive I was a part of, along a portion of this highway, was, quite possibly, just as harrowing. I should point out that the original Haven Lee Farm, mentioned many times in this blog, was located along I-44 about 1/2 way between Joplin and Springfield, so I was familiar with, at least a part of the Missouri portion of this journey. Albeit, certainly more geographically diverse and, often, less tumultuous than the Flatlands of East Oklahoma.

However, prior to the commencement of the recounting of this adventure, I am obligated to point out my admiration of my older brother Jim, affectionately known, around these parts as the bus. The bus and I seem to find similar humorous things around these tubes, including this, which I had in my library but couldn't figure out the context for posting, until I found this down toward the Complaint Department Manager's old stomping ground, but then it was too late. Then, one night I was surfing around the net and looking at old NASCAR stuff on the tubes and found this video,

which, when I awoke the following morning, I found the bus had already posted on his blog.

Oh well, BBBob, the bus, and thehorsefarmer will always kick me around. Luckily, I have thejeepjunkie. Yeah, right.

I will tell you this though, and, if you don't agree, reevaluate your thinking, the bus has a tremendous political insight. Hoping it carries him far.

Okay, all that aside, the reason I mention this. If you took a look at the bus's blog about traveling I-44 and looked at what is called a "long car", you saw the lime green truck he included in a sidebar. Look at the photo of this "long car" I have in my library. Not the same truck as the sleeper is of different dimensions, but, to you, bus, I appreciate your taste.

I spotted this some time ago in a SuperWalMart lot in Sl-Ocala. Yahoo!!

So, now, to attempt to steer these ramblings back toward the Travails, vs. the Travels of I-44.

thejeepjunkie and I, for a time, worked in the Young American Conservation Corps, a hold over from the Great Depression as an attempt to employ those "unemployable" types. Basically, a government program to perform work but to pay sub-minimum wages. It worked, for a while.

What we did was clear forests, plant trees, clear habitat for endangered species and general forestry duties in the Quachiata National Forest, down just south of Mena, Arkansas.

Now, this was about a five hour trip, each way, and we always tried to get back to the Queen City 2 or 3 times a month. After all, the woods are okay, if you like that sort of thing. After Haven Lee Farm, we want some excitement. One of the things this old man remembers after 30 years, is seeing an early '60's yellow VW panel bus, with a set of barn doors on each side, sitting in a field, less that 40 yards from the highway. Yet, another, missed opportunity.

So, the, as he would be known in the years to come, jeepjunkie and I got jobs down that way to, basically, do every thing we had done down on the farm. As we were "farm boys", we tended to be given leadership positions, and usually made the most of that.

One time was when a potential snowstorm was headed across Texas and Oklahoma, the week prior to the Thanksgiving weekend. We cajoled our way into an early release and took off up Highway 71 toward Joplin, in this old bug, the ownership of which is still a point of contention between thejeepjunkie and I.

So, having been given "leave", we took off. No concerns. This is a German engineered vehicle, capable of any trecherous conditions. What? A Texas Snowstorm? An Oklahoma Windstorm? Hell, we were 19 or 20, we can survive anything.

Ed and I did decide, however, we would stick to Hwy 71 up to I-44 and cut across that superhighway to the Queen City. Remember, Counters, this was pre-Wal-Mart days, there were no Interstates in northwest Arkansas. US ALT 71 was the best highway in the area.

So, we hit I-44, just as the worst of the storm was arriving. We decided, in our infinite wisdom, we should fill up with petrol. Which we did.

Got out to the "Open Highway", I-44, to find ourselves behind about 30 motorists, following a snowplow.

But with a full tank of gas.

Well, we knew we could travel faster than that snowplow and beat this storm back to the Ozarks, less than 60 miles away.

So we passed that snowplow and carried on about our way.

Til the blizzard came. Yeah, a blizzard. Never since that day, nearly 30 years ago, have I, nor thejeepjunkie, seen such snow.

We are driving along I-44, following the ruts of the vehicles ahead of us and suddenly, it got away from me. We ended up in a snow bank toward the median. Ed and I jump out and try to lift the front end out.

No luck, remember, we got a full tank of gas.

Luckily, a couple of other hoons came by in some 4WD vehicle and yanked us out and we got back on the road.

Only to become "high centered" in the middle of I-44. We were stuck in the middle of the travel lanes of the interstate

and looking nothing like this sweety, but in the same style car.

No one around. And, as some of you know, these are not known as the best marque for their heaters, while sitting still.

We sat there for a few minutes until headlights showed up behind us. Luckily, we still had tail lights and that snowplow, with those 30 cars following, did not plow us over. That driver, who I am sure was smirking to beat the devil, just drove around us.

Once those cars passed up by, we got out, lifted the old bug over and followed them to the Queen City of the Ozarks, arriving just as dawn was cresting.

I will tell you this, there are few things more beautiful than a snow covered landscape, whether rural or urban, with no human markings of any type upon them.

I will always remember driving along Sunshine, the absolute first vehicle to drive along that street, east of Glenstone and that long, straight stretch eastward.

But would I do it again?

Yeah, probably. Depends if thejeepjunkie would come along.