Truck Stop Love
Posted: December 4, 2013 Filed under: Foolishness | Tags: comedy, holiday travel, humor, love, postaweek, travel, truck stop 30 Comments
Truck Stop sign, Van Horn, Texas. I’ve never been to Van Horn, Texas. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Driving on the Thanksgiving holiday weekend is a brutal ordeal, one that shouldn’t be undertaken by the faint of heart. The weird mix of aggressive, sleep deprived drivers, truckers, and people who seem to be behind the wheel for the first time in their lives makes driving any distance dangerous and no fun. Only New Years Eve is a worse time to drive.
The road took its toll on me. Tired, hungry and needing to off-load the ocean of diet soda I’d finished, I pulled off the interstate and into a truck stop.
Truck stops are unusual places. The mix of truckers and vacationers makes for good people watching. The shops have all the things you’d expect in a business catering to interstate travelers and items that I suppose are important to have if you’re driving a giant truck. If you need it, you can get it at a truck stop
This truck stop was a zoo. Holiday traffic overwhelmed the place. There were lines at the fuel pumps and it was nearly impossible to find a parking spot. I got inside, expecting the line at the bathroom to be at least as bad as the lines outside. Fortunately, I was wrong.
Although I was desperate, and as happy as I was that there was no line at the men’s room, I paused before stepping in. Something caught my eye and made me reconsider my plan.
Thanksgiving marks the start of the Christmas holiday season. Not even truck stops are exempt from the seasonal decor requirement. Someone at the truck stop thought that, as part of the festive holiday decoration, this was a good idea –
Shower the people you love with love? (photo copyright – me)
The mix of signs got me to wondering if I really should go in. The need to relieve myself was intense, but I wasn’t in search of any sort of romantic entanglement. Desperation drove my decision to go in. I took care of my business, washed my hands and came back out.
Maybe you really can get whatever you’d need at a truck stop.
It might not be a good idea, but I suppose you could.
Blurt 
This made me laugh out loud: “The need to relieve myself was intense, but I wasn’t in search of any sort of romantic entanglement.”
I wasn’t looking for a commitment, I just needed to use the can.
Normally, these showers have hot water, but today’s special is Love!
Ethanol free love.
Highway showers?! Ick. Never in a million years.
Foot fungus and love. Is that so wrong, Betty?
And from this day forward, when I hear that song by Mr. Taylor, I’m going to picture you at a truck stop bathroom. =) =) =)
Just as James intended.
I’ve been thinking about him a lot recently. I haven’t seen him in years. Hope to catch a show this year.
I don’t know what to say.
It took me a couple days to get this far.
“Maybe you really can get whatever you’d need at a truck stop.”
If not there then surely you can at Alice’s restaurant
If only this place was that cool!
The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach? I guess not at a truck stop. At a truck stop you pick up love in the washroom THEN take it to dinner in the diner and then, back to the motel that’s next to the truck stop, where you can consummate that love with “Convoy” playing in the background.
Ha ha ha….Convoy. Surprisingly, C.W. McCall had no other hits.
Disturbingly, I know off the top of my head that was C.W. McCall.
Left over from Valentine’s Day. Kinda like the “Candy” in the parking lots…left-overs.
Ha ha…Candy. Subtle.
I think I locked Candy up a few times when I worked an area with a truck stop. Amazing how many truck drivers that dude fooled.
Truck stops are my favorite place to get coffee when I’m on the road. Prices are good and the variety is excellent. A T & A near me has a good dozen varieties.
“A T& A near me has a good dozen varieties.”
BWHAHAHAAAAA!!! I don’t know where you live, but all’s I can say is, we don’t *have* a “T & A” place quite THAT obvious here in The Tundra-guess it’s because it’s a helluva lot colder, huh?! Maybe it’s the zoning?! Or maybe we’re just too far off the circuit, so to speak?!
Help me out here, oma-
Nope, they’re all over down here. I don’t even remember what the letters stand for anymore. Well, I do, but I don’t as far as truck stops go.
OK, there was a typo there. it is TA truck stop:
http://www.tatravelcenters.com/
Many rest stops across the nation have showers also. I am always leary of these, but if you are traveling across country, sometimes clean is better than funk in enclosed spaces. This is especially true if you are traveling with teenagers.
There is a slightly skewed message with this one though. Trepidition would have followed me were I you.
I can see how they’d be a lifesaver for long haul drivers. I just feel better all over after a shower. But yeah, the idea of one at a truck stop weirds me out.
Ouch. It’s all so very wrong. Still, I’m thankful for the people who run these stops in some pretty desolate areas. But I never go looking for love in all the wrong places. Not any more, at least.
Yes! Those places where there is nothing, then a truck stop? Where do the workers come from? Maybe they get shipped in?
I wonder if “mens” is supposed to be a plural of “men”.
I was a little concerned about whether an ‘s was appropriate for making the plural men possessive. I looked it up – http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/english/2007/07/mens-or-mens.html
I have never seen a truck stop that offered a shower as part of the deal. It certainly seems like a good idea. Of course I’m with you on not looking for a relationship while taking care of my business.
Unfortunately I have no idea what the video is at the end. It hasn’t been made “available in my country”. It seems this is happening more and more lately. It is discouraging when when a lot of us have readers from all over the world.
I wonder what festive decoration was hanging under the sign for the Women’s Showers.
I remember traveling over Thanksgiving many years ago, when nothing was open. No food, no gas stations. Talk about brutal! At least now there are truck stops — though I wouldn’t be brave enough to bathe there, ha!
Hilarious, as always! I love your blog a ton so I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award 🙂
http://swivelfreely.wordpress.com/2013/12/09/awardingly/