Road Trip 2010 - Day 13 - Interrupted Journey

Highs and lows, ups and downs.

Anyone know whether Johnny Cash and June Carter were referring to Jackson, MS or Jackson, TN?

There was still vibration in my car, so I stayed in Jackson, MS last night.  This morning I went to another Volvo specialist, as the dealer couldn't fit me in until a week Tuesday.  The guys at Allen Enterprises were really nice, authentic southern folk, warm and friendly.  The mechanic not only re-balanced my tires and wheels, he had a quick look under the hood, and fortunately (potentially anyway, as you'll see) noticed the serpentine drive belt was cracking and could give way.  So I had them replace that as well, again thinking that better today than on the road to Guadalajara.  That must have been the reason I went there in the first place.

So, once that was done, I thought I'd grab a bite and head down to Nawlins.  By then it was raining pretty hard, and I couldn't get across the lanes to a restaurant, so I decided to drive up the road a bit and turn around. 

As I approached a train trestle, I saw the cars driving underneath kicking up serious rooster tails of water.  There were no cones or barriers visible, because they were all shoved over to the one side and lying flat, and only there in the pictures because I moved them back.

As I got closer, I could see that the water was easily more than a foot deep, and with my air intake down low, behind the bumper under the headlights, I thought it might not be such a good idea.  You don't want water sucked into a turbocharger that runs at well over 500 degrees.  So I stopped and waited for an opportunity to turn off to the right and go around.

I was only stopped for a few seconds before I heard a screeching noise.  I looked in my mirror and noticed this car coming up on me from behind, and though I tried to drive ahead to the right to get out of the way, he was going way too fast and BAM!

His car is a mess, but the damage to my car appears to be relatively minor. 

That is, if you consider a bumper, tail light, tailgate (fibreglass - who knew?), a brand new tire (less than 2,000km) and a hard-to-find wheel, and possibly some mechanical damage to be minor.  I just hope the structural integrity of the car isn't affected (and that the subwoofer still woofs).  I don't see any sheet metal distortion anywhere beyond the "crash zone", but the wheel looks to be on a weird angle, now that I look at the pictures. 

The good news is that I'm OK, and so is the fellow who hit me.  No airbags deployed, so nobody's car will be written off (I hope).

The bad news, other than the car is that I am in Jackson, MS for a week, possibly more.  I was supposed to be in Mexico by Monday, so unless I just leave my car here and fly to Guadalajara, I'll miss the bus trip.  I don't think my insurance will cover plane fare or an extended car rental. 

Then again, that might be better there than hanging around here.  If I do fly, I will have to carefully sort out my luggage situation, as I have too much crap to carry on a plane.

C'est la vie, eh?

Road Trip 2010 - Day 12

Hey folks; still here, still vertical.

I really am having a good time, despite computer and memory card issues, expensive repairs to my car thanks to damage from bad roads in Ohio and a wicked head & chest cold exacerbated or possibly brought on by all the *?!@$# cigarette smoke that is everywhere I go! I might as well start smoking again myself.

Oh yeah - almost forgot - the storm of the century brewing directly in the path I was going to take into Texas.  They're calling for a half-inch of freezing rain in Oklahoma, so I guess I'll go south to Louisiana after all.

However...

What I am seeing so clearly is that by going with the flow, I find myself where I'm supposed to be. 

For example - I got to meet BB King yesterday and more than a dozen other rhythm & blues greats, promoters and agents at the Bobby Blue Bland 80th birthday bash at Sam's Town Casino in Robinsonville, MS. 

If I hadn't been delayed in Memphis, I would have skipped that event and just gone on. 

After I picked up my car on Tuesday afternoon, I decided to drive to Sam's Town.  As it's a casino, it was only $40US a night for a deluxe King room. 

Wednesday morning I ran into Miss Angel, Lisa and Tim in the buffet.  I knew they were coming down for the show, but when I checked, the hotel had no record of them, even though they were registered guests.  Stupid computers.

After breakfast and a bunch of laughs, Tim, Lisa and I went to check out the ballroom.  I asked one of the setup crew about taking pictures at the show, and was recommended to a fellow named Julius.  Well, it turns out that this Julius is a promoter of blues events and the organizer of this show. 

I asked around and finally meet this guy.  He tells me they were just about to start a luncheon for Bobby Blue Bland in one of the meeting rooms, and wouldn't you know it, their photographer wasn't there.  And just guess who got to fill in.  See the pics.

When I got to the show, I realized I had forgotten my ticket in my room, and though I was told I would get a media pass, Julius was otherwise occupied.

I could have given up, or snuck in, but decided to play it properly.  As the show was about to start, I approached one of the security guys and told him my story.  He looked at me and looked at my cameras, said "You look like you know what you're doing", and let me in. See the pics.

So, add a smile or two, a cup of politeness and handful of respect, a dash of good timing and a pinch of blarney (can be substituted with hutzpah).  What a recipe.

Gotta run so l can beat the weather.  There's a foot of snow in Flagstaff, AZ.  I hope it melts before I get there.

Road Trip 2010 - Day 10

Not much to say today.  After major $$$ repairing the car, I still need to find three replacement wheels.  Perhaps I should have waited until the infrastructure stimulus money had been spent on the roads in Ohio.  Maybe it's a sneaky way to get money to the car repair shops.

When I walked in, the guys at Smisco Volvo Repair were taking a break or waiting for parts or whatever, and were laughing so hard - watching The Trailer Park Boys movie.  Oh, that Canadian humour...

Also, a bit of clarification - here are the nurses from Arkansas that I was referring to in my last post -

The other two were hanging with a fellow who had to be in his 70's.  I patted him on the back and said "God bless you, man, God bless you."  I have a feeling he bought all four.  Tee-hee-hee...

Road Trip 2010 - Day 9

Day 9?  Can it be Tuesday already?  If it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium!

But it's not.  Still Memphis, still not much more to share.  In the words of Tweety Bird, "I been sick, you know."  I picked up something somewhere (sore throat, headache, sneezing and coughing), but it sure ain't through human contact.  Not much of that, other than squeezing through crowds.  Mind you, the Daddy Long Legs crew, in addition to being insane, are great huggers.  I miss them, and the laughs.  I need a haircut.

My car was not happy, and is being repaired as we speak.  Bad pavement in southern Ohio did in the right front suspension.  Oh well.  Not appreciated, but not unexpected, and way better that it kacked now than somewhere on the road to Guadalajara.

Aside from Beale Street and the Orpheum Theater, I haven't been to a single tourist attraction.  I've spent most of my time sleeping or sitting in a garage waiting room.  Not sure I can get anywhere today either, but I'd rather do those things with other people (but I might just have to interject myself into an existing crowd).  We'll see.

I hopefully dodged a potential bullet earlier today, but may have put others in the path.  I was approached by a person who asked for some change, and by doing so, invoked the wrath of दादी or maybe دادی۔ (grandmother in Hindi or Urdu).  The folks who own the hotel where I was staying have worked hard to clean up not only the hotel but the area, and stupid me goes and possibly undoes it.  A rather significant case of "No good deed goes unpunished."  I hope I didn't mess things up too badly.  The good news, if there is any, is that I only had Canadian cash, so the hassle of exchange might deter future interactions.

Bottom line - Message received, loud and clear.  No more Mr. Nice Guy.

Anyway, my coffee is almost done, and I have to get over to see wazzup with my car.  If it's fixed, I can return the rental and get on with things; if not, I'll have to make plans for staying again tonight.  Somewhere different, however.

I may head toward Jackson, Mississippi or drive across the bridge to Arkansas The two nurses I met the other night live there, and it shouldn't be too hard to find them (Uh, rrigghhtt...).

More soon.

OK, here are some pics:

Road Trip - Day Something

OK, it's Saturday night around 6 p.m.  The Solo/Duo act finals are done - Matt Andersen from New Brunswick won, hands down.

Oh - sorry for no posts or contact.  No payphones, no Internet access, corrupted memory (cards and gray/grey matter), late nights (mornings) and yeah, yeah, yeah, boo hoo hoo, your story has touched my heart.

Seriously, I thought it would be busy, but I had no idea.  Ya gotta come down here.  I think I would enjoy being here longer, though it would be tough to earn a living.  There is so much talent, and not just musical.

The band finals start at 7:30 tonight, so I have to get ready for that.  Unfortunately, our bands didn't place, but trust me, they blew the walls out.  I will be posting pics and video as soon as I have a bit of time to collect my thoughts and go through what I've been able to capture.

It's time to go to the Orpheum Theater - yes, that one.

See y'all later, eh?

Road Trip 2010 - Day 4

Off to a slow start; I guess I needed the sleep.  Housekeeping is banging on the door every few minutes; I should let her out.

I drove downtown again, but by some strange twist, it's turned into a city, so off I went to Memphis.  It's pouring rain, so there's not too much to shoot. 

The drive was uneventful, and for the most part, a lot like secondary roads in Ontario.  Lots of trees and fall leaves lining the roads, but not as picturesque as Kentucky. 

Road Trip 2010 - Day 3 Part 3

Just pics this time...