Exit 47

It is Sunday afternoon. We head northeast on highway 59 from Houston, planning to spend the night in Shreveport and bag the high point first thing in the morning. Our idea is to find a hotel on the east side of town to minimize driving time. The drive through the piney woods of East Texas is beautiful and relaxing after the mad minutes of car repair, packing, and saying goodbyes. At first, near Houston, the properties we pass are decrepit, with rusting piles of junk everywhere. There is no evidence of new building or economic renewal. It is a rough time here, and probably everywhere in our country. A conversation on the merits and derivations of creedal and liturgical religions keeps us going, and the dense woods are beautiful... Livingston, Lufkin, Nacogdoches, Carthage all quickly pass into our rear view mirror, and as we pass into Louisiana the sun begins to set. On the west side of Shreveport there are hotels in profusion, alongside casinos and restaurants, and our stomachs tell us to stop, but the east side of Shreveport is our plan. As we pass Barkley AFB we notice that the city has abruptly stopped, along with its amenities. Ouch. We keep driving. Minden looks hopeful and sure enough there are billboards for a Holiday Inn Express. A friendly clerk checks us in and gives us a map with directions to the shopping and restaurants of Minden. In the back of my mind I am thinking, "A map... this could be confusing." But off we go. We make a right, then another right, then come to a state road, where we make a U-turn. Then we realize we should have turned right at the state road, and make another U-turn, and a proper right. Not so bad. There's a Burger King, McDonald's, Wendy's and Subway. Woohoo! Choices. I pass by the Burger King, which looks suspiciously dilapidated, but Turner sounds off from the back, that a Cheddar/Jalapeno Steakhouse Burger is just the thing. He also insists that drive thru is the only option. So it is, even though the line is several cars long. Not looking good. The moment we pull in line, another car pulls behind us. Now for a personal record for all of us. We spend nearly 20 minutes in the drive thru line before we even get to the intercom. Thinking the consolation will be burgers and shakes, we stick it out, despite the temptation to drive over the curb and head to the next place. At last we get to the intercom. "Sorry sir, the shake machine is broken." Should have known. Several minutes later we have our burger bag in hand, and Rene' asks if there are four burgers. I feel around and I could swear there are four, so we hang a right and head back to the hotel. Rene' exclaims, "There are only 3 burgers in here!" It's well after 8. We decide to split one and drive back to the Holiday Inn without confronting the hapless Burger King drive thru commander. About when we are concluding the burger discussion, I look up, and it is clear to me that we are lost, driving down a country road with no habitation in sight. Checking the compass, we are heading east. Wait, there's a freeway access sign... I-20. We'll just jump on and head east back to the hotel. On we go. Hmmm. Nope, the hotel is at exit 47. We're at exit 52 and rapidly heading for the Atlantic Coast. Oi. Next exit, reverse direction. Finally the hotel. At least an hour after we started out for "fast" food. Exit 47. Believe it or not, we four all took it in good humor, and laughed our way through the ordeal. "Fast" food.