9/4/09

Do you ever think about the meanings of words? At some point in your life, I'm sure, you must have realized that the notion of a Merriam-Webster definition for everything is more fantasy than reality. While we would like to think that our language is black and white, I think we're endlessly stuck in the shades of gray.

After waking this morning and checking the truck over, I headed eastward along I-80. I stopped at the next Bosselman's along the way, in Wood River, and topped off my fuel tanks. I (begrudgingly) grabbed some lunch and headed back out. No PB&J at that location either. Peckerheads.

I had roughly 1,000 miles to cover between last night's stop and Tuesday morning's consignee, so a 250 miles per day pace would do the trick. My first 250 miles today got me to the western part of Iowa, so I grabbed my directory and checked to see where I could park for the night. There were a few stops listed between Omaha and Des Moines. There was also... wait for it... a Bosselman's in Altoona. Yeah, I stayed on the road for an extra hour and a half. I was determined to get my damn sandwich. So what word do we apply here?

Obsessed? I don't know. To me, that would apply better to ex-girlfriends and the like. Stubborn? My mother likes to resort to that one, but I remain unconvinced. Pitiful? You could certainly apply this to various aspects of my character and easily include my interest in peanut butter and jelly. I'm still not sure that this is the way to go though. I prefer 'determined.' I win, suckers!

Since I've now satisfied the first objective of this trip across the heartland, the next will be to find a place to kick back and watch some football tomorrow. The western part of Illinois is pretty rural in nature, so I don't think I should have too much trouble finding a motel with truck parking. Then a couple more easy days of driving should be followed by a trip home. Beauty.