past Nashville (Nashville, TN!) with a friend to pick up some chickens
she wanted. 1,300 miles plus a few pleasant hours of chicken-catching
and poultry-chitchat PLUS an actual real night's sleep at a motel from
7PM Friday until 6AM Sunday when we unloaded the birds in the breaking
dawn.
The sordid history of the grueling trip can be traced in Monday's bank
statement:
DATE 08-04
CRACKER BARREL #58SEVIERVILLE
DATE 08-03
CRACKER BARREL # 1STATESVILLE
(Is the first Cracker Barrel really in Statesville? Or is their
numbering scheme arbitrary?)
DATE 08-04
WAFFLE HOUSE#10421KNOXVILLE
Note to self: roadtrips are bad for healthy eating. My friend did
bring lots of healthy snacks, but why eat lovely dates when you can
scarf down soft peppermint sticks? OK, actually I ate both dates and
peppermints.
Fun stuff: I saw exactly one sign for the 2008 presidential election -
it was for Ron Paul. I listened to an entire audiobook (albeit an
abridgment) in one drive. I was in a van for about 24 hours with
another woman and (for half the time) over 30 chickens and I did not
get into an argument (came close when bitching about Clinton's
warmongering, but fortunately something interrupted my blossoming
rant). I broke my promise to Bill not to return with poultry and came
back with an adorable trio of Nankin bantams. I spent Sunday settling
in the Nankins and finding a 'good home in the country' (yes, really!)
for my evil Sumatra rooster that I wasn't getting along with.
I'll try to post pictures tonight or ... well, you know, soonish.
¶ 9:31 AM
