Missouri and Back in 2 Days

We made it down to St. Louis from Winona, MN in 7.5 hours. We attended a funeral the next morning and made it back to Winona in 8 hours. I’m exhausted, as is Aditi who did most of the driving because I’m a wuss about driving the Pathfinder. I don’t like being that high off the ground. It’s like vertigo or something. Anyway, we saw gas prices below $2!. Of course, I ran off in the morning and forgot my suit, so I had to spend all the money we saved on gas on a new suit. And with my taste in fabrics and cuts, I ended up going a little over budget in order to get something that I might actually wear again. Which effectively killed any chance we had of getting a nice meal on the way home. And of course I had to have it tailored, same-day on a Sunday night, but fortunately found a retired tailor in South County in Kirkwood who did the job for about $30. That was nice.

Truck stops are always a mystery to me. My uncle was a trucker for a couple of decades, so I have kind of an inside scoop on truckers and the whole story behind the lifestyle. But there’s something about the aesthetic that never gets old for me. Truck stop signage doesn’t usually seem haphazardly designed. It seems like someone has developed a vernacular that appeals specifically to the personality type that can handle days and weeks on the road, eating crappy food and doing unimaginable things in bathroom stalls. We saw an oil tanker that stated, in very large letters, that “Jesus is the Reason”. For what, specifically, I’m still unsure, but I assume that he’s the reason for petroleum, referencing I Heart Huckabees as my source.

I also discovered the smallest bathroom I’ve ever encountered, which was actually convenient because you could flush the toilet and wash your hands before you ever got off the seat. I could reach everything in the room from my porcelain throne, including the lock on the door. I could see myself in the mirror, which is always a little disconcerting because I tend to make ridiculous faces on the john after a day of eating Combos and drinking Red Bull.

Anyway, it’s nice to be back.