My post yesterday generated some comments (thank y'all... I love them!)... one was from Mark and Teri (great birders we met in Maine a couple of years ago). Mark wrote that he's seen cattle trucks like I showed in my post... they were transporting cattle from other places (like this dry arid part of Texas) to greener pastures in Colorado. He went on to say that the trucks are pretty smelly. In other words, they stink.
(The photos in today's post don't have a thing to do with the post... just shots I took as I wandered around today)
The road I walk everyday. Thickets, shrubs, and spindly trees... everything has stickers and barbs.
That comment got me to thinking about that time Bill & I were driving Rt 90, not too far from the Gulf of Mexico. Not to be confused with I 90, Rt 90 runs below I 10, and kind of parallels it from Florida to.... heck, I don't know... at least through Texas. Anyway, we were mosey-ing along... saw all these feathers in the air and laying along the side of the road. Kind of looked like someone ahead of us was fluffing up a feather bed that had a big rip in it.
Cactus Wren... scolding me for getting too close.
Got on a little further.... hmmmm... looks like the whole darned chicken! Nope... hundreds of chickens! We were behind a chicken truck!
Don't know if you've ever heard that song by John Anderson ... Chicken Truck... but by the end of the song his truck was so covered in chicken... well, you know what... that he couldn't see. (of course I had to start singing that song... at least the words I could remember)
Old windmill at the nearby ranch house.
We knew enough to stay Waaaaay back.... the flying feathers were distraction enough... kind of like being in a blizzard. But, of course, there was more. I think I have photos of some big splats on our windshield... and those splats weren't feathers!
Needless to say, the aroma wasn't so great either. Kind of rivaled that RV park in Indianapolis that used to be a hog farm.
It wasn't a 4-lane road and it didn't have many places to pass. We sure were glad when that truck pulled off a few miles down the road!
Tiny flowers blooming along the road
Which leads right into another thought...
Have you ever driven behind a transport truck hauling hogs? Happens a lot when you're driving I 80 through Iowa... Pheweeee.......
Maybe I should take a survey to see what y'all think is the worst smelling vehicle to get stuck behind.
To me, animals can smell pretty bad, but a vehicle belching out diesel fumes is far worse.
Guess I should close with something more pleasant...
Last night's Sunset...
That's All For Today!
You always write such an enjoyable blog. Wish I could do half as well. Yes, there is something worse to drive behind. I was talking to a person who got stuck behind a dump truk hauling the innards and such from a slaughter house to (who knows where) a dump. They had to use the windshield wipers. Needless to say, there first stop was a car wash. Yuck!!
ReplyDeleteNow this post really stinks! ;)
ReplyDeleteDiesel fumes for me. Guess animal smells are just a part of my growing up. But we've never been behind an animal transport.
ReplyDeleteAlways enjoy your posts! And that sunset is amazingly beautiful!!
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in central Illinois, we were well acquainted with cattle, hog, chicken hauling trucks and they did smell bad, but there's nothing like sitting in traffic next to a garbage truck in the summer. Give me the animals every time.
ReplyDeleteWhere are you heading next after the gate job ends?
Have fun out there.
Years ago, we lived near a highway that led to the Campbell's Soup chicken processing plant where I worked. Not only was the road strewn with feathers, but occasionally a chicken would escape. My kids adopted a chicken that fell off the truck and kept it behind the shrubs in front of the house. The poor bird had a broken leg so they named it Hoppy. They fed it dry oatmeal and crumbs over the weekend. Then on Monday morning when they left the house to get on the school bus, the neighbor's dog came by and snatched up the chicken. They came running into the house screaming and crying, "King's got Hoppy!" I ran outside to see King disappearing down the block with the dead chicken hanging from his mouth. Happily, they got over it soon and never lost their enthusiasm for bringing home strays. Actually, even though they're now in their 50's, they still do that!
ReplyDeleteno ... but I've been behind a turnip wagon... not kidding. down on that border highway ~ Texas and Mexico ... jeeeeez ! can't remember.
ReplyDeleteanyway... a beat up truck with a wagaon with stuff that looked like turnips came in from Mexico. When the light changed ... I hurried to get a closer look... dang that looked like turnips dangling all over the place... reached it! ... hah! a damn turnip wagon ... man?
rode a chicken bus from Chihuahua, Mexico to El Paso in my worthless youth and let me tell you! chickens strapped in cages to the side of the bus? not good
We were on vacation with the kids years ago and pulled into a rest area at night to catch a few Zzzzs. We were pulling a travel trailer so pulled into a truck spot. Just got settled down when a cattle truck pulled in right next to us. It wasn't the smells that were so bad, it was the noise! After few hours of that, we gave up and drove on. As for driving behind trucks - they're not especially smelly, but I HATE driving behind OR beside log trucks. Never know when those loads are going to shift.
ReplyDeleteI like animal smells, so I'd vote for the diesel smells being the worst.
ReplyDelete