The first sound I heard this morning was rain beating on the parking lot. The weather station projected all day and got it right this time. I wanted to stay on US17 but Savannah routes you to I95 and that is where the trouble began. Going fast was going to destroy the tarp and the trucks hauling by did destroy the tarp. I took the first exit when I saw the first flaps flying out next to me. There was nothing but country at that exit and it was starting to lightning so I sat there and finished my coffee. Finally I had to bite the bullet and go out to tidy up enough to drive. My new maximum speed was 35mph with the flashers on even though traffic was low to none. Finally I saw an abandoned country store building with a crumbling carport that looked better than nothing. Before I could back under it I saw a light inside and thought maybe I should knock so as not to get my head blown off and sure enough there were two people inside. This is where the humor was about to begin. The woman was behind a counter with her husband sitting beside a wall heater but the noise of 20-30 roof leak collection pans caused me to yell my parking request. He nodded yes and didn’t kill me one bit. When I turned the truck off I realized there was no way to get out without walking in a shin deep puddle. That nice morning shower had now expired but at least I had landed somewhere and I was so happy and yappy. I talked to those people as if I worked there and even caught the man glance at his wife like maybe I was a little crazy. He asked if I was from Alabama because that is what the truck tags say. I gave him some options to pick from because my insurance is from North Carolina and my license shows Virginia. When it was time to leave his wife offered up a roll of plastic and the man stepped in to the shin deep to offer a hand. At first I couldn’t find my knife but he went after some scissors. When I did dig up my knife it worked great and I wanted to show him the blade but one look at me approaching him maybe didn’t paint the best picture because he almost fell in the water while backpedaling. I felt terrible but we laughed about it later. Most people are so nice. I wish I could have stayed longer and I probably should have because my approach to Palatka was floods and tornado touchdowns. Too much to write here.
Today’s best signs:
- We sell dead people’s stuff
- Shakes wok and roll