I see and hear some interesting tings when I'm on the road. People, places, and sights that just sometimes defy description. I see wrecks, natural disasters, crimes, personal conflicts, and just plain silly stuff on a regular basis.
One common sight for me in truckstops is the guy who's wearing a cowboy hat and tennis shoes. Ummm, sorry, those two just do not go together. I get a good laugh every time I see this. I laugh at them and the guys wearing driving gloves. Obvious rookies.
Running up 59 in Texas, I passed a place with the lettering "Arnolds Discount Caskets". I did a double take on that one. I have to admit that's the first time I had run across a discount casket dealer. Who, exactly, shops here?
I stopped at a place in Oklahoma that sells knives from just about every major knife maker in the world. I bought myself a nice Buck fixed blade while I was there. Hey, truckstop parking lots can be very dangerous places at 2:00am (I have a scar to prove it).
I see various and sundry dry goods dealers, flea markets, and tourist traps along my routes. Some of them look to be quite interestig, some are hardly worth stopping for, but sonehow they all remain in business year after year.
I see various road kill as I ride along, deer, coyote, and fox mostly, but sometimes more unusual animals like horses, cattle, and bears. Today while riding through south Florida I happened upon a road sign that read "Panther Crossing Next 16 Miles". Now there's a sign you don't see every day.
Speaking of signs, there are are some rather unusual street signs one runs across here and there. There is one in a town in Arizona that reads " Bucket of Blood Street". That'll make ya stop and think. There are other odd street names like "Shades of Death Road" in NJ near Ghost Lake. Other names such as "Psycho Path", and "Divorce Court" just make you chuckle as you pass by.
But all in all, the most memorable sights as I ride around this country are the natural ones. The beautiful mountain ranges of the northwast, the praires of the midwest, the rolling hills to be found in many parts of the country, and the deserts of the southwest all make me glad to be able to make my living just riding around and enjoying what this country has to offer and being a paid tourist.
I meet all sorts of people out on the road from the kindest and most gentile to the roughest and most vulgar, and honestly I love them all. I wouldn't trade my job for anything.