The Road Less Traveled

I've posted about this before.  It's something we do on Saturday afternoon.  We are very simple people and like simple things.  Our little Saturday afternoon excursion is so doggone enjoyable.  Here's what we do.  Long about 5 pm, we jump in the pickup truck, roll down the windows and being riding on country roads.  We don't have any set route or travel plans.  Like Jerry Jeff Walker sings, we just kind of let the truck "wander around."

We do have several rules.  First we listen to old time country or bluegrass music.  We both sing to the top of our lungs, especially to Montgomery Gentry's "Lucky Man" and "Amarillo Sky."  We drive very slow and try not to go over 25 or 30 miles per hour.  Oh from time to time someone will come behind us, but we pull over to the side and let them pass.  We are setting the pace here.

We try our darnedest to not drive on blacktop roads, if at all possible.  We put gravel in our travel.

We observe the sights and sounds around us that busy schedules might cause us to easily overlook.  Last trip we saw a coyote.  This trip we saw a rabbit.  I was telling Tricia about shooting the .22 rifle off the gully bridge at snakes and turtles.  We didn't have the rifle this trip, but we stopped nonetheless and saw an alligator lazily swimming in the muddy water.

Other than killing time, we have no agenda, no timetable, no deadline or due date.  Our destination, however, is Peto's.  Peto's is a gas station that sells, among other things, sausage, specialty meats, boudin, duck quesadillas, fried fish, cracklins and boudin balls.  The boudin balls are either spicy plain or stuffed with jalapenos and cheese.  We grab a couple of boudin balls for the road and eat them in the cab of the pickup.  Boudin balls are a special treat!  Now, it is not healthy - it's boudin (minus the casing) rolled into a ball, battered and deep fried.  Talk about good!

We never take the same road home.  We drive slowly by as the sun descends and see parties and crawfish boils going on at people's homes, kids riding four wheelers in the woods.  The pace of our truck as well as life in the country is slow and easy.  I mention to Tricia that you wouldn't imagine that busy I-10 is only a mile from where we are as the crow flies.  Hank Jr.'s "Family Tradition" comes on the radio and we sing along as we see an old truck in all its rusted glory parked on the side of a homeplace.

We take a turn on Dama Landry Road that we like.  The trees grow to meet one another, making a tunnel that we pass through.  One could easily be fooled into thinking we've stepped back in time.  The road dips down and we pass over flowing water.  

All in all we've made what is normally a ten minute trip last an hour and a half.  As we get ready to turn back into our driveway, the sun is dipping beneath the horizon as God paints the sky a dazzling array of colors.

As we pull into the driveway, my wife says, "What a great afternoon.  This is my favorite thing to do."  I must say I agree.  If you have a country road nearby, I highly recommend going out and letting your truck wander around on it.  There are adventures to be enjoyed by simple folk on the road less traveled.