A Louisiana Ghost Town...

Ruddock. Well, Ruddock used to be a small, but booming lumber town located about 25 or 30 miles Northwest of New Orleans. It's no longer small...or booming...it's gone. In 1915, long before they began to name hurricanes, a massive one hit south Louisiana..and Ruddock took a hard hit. She was flooded out and only five residents of Ruddock survived the storm. She was never rebuilt. There is only a boat launch, and an exit sign in remembrance. Ruddock... a Deep South, American Ghost Town.

Just a cool photo...

Here's a photo of Jeff and the street lamp. He was getting ready to record another Christian video for Youtube...see the video camera? We were on the banks of the Mighty Mississippi that day...it was a beautiful day in Louhooooosiana!!

Early Morning Beauty For The Trucker...

A Beautiful sky... What a blessing for the trucker and any traveler, whether headed to another state to drop a load or headed down the road to your job. Early morning serenity...Ahhhhhh.

My Favorite All American Football Pro....

This is Jeff, my husband. He played his little heart out last Saturday with the semi-pro football team he coaches. He doesn't usually play, but they were short lineman for this game, so... He did great, and at 45 years old to boot!

Peaceful.....

My Favorite All American Trucker!

What Keeps This Country Going Is....

American Truckers rolling 18 on American Highways and Byways! Keep on truckin'!

Eastbound and Down!

Man, oh, man, Highways, interstates, trucks, road signs...Woo Hoo!!! Breaker 1-9, Breaker 1-9...Come on back breaker! That's a big 10-4 good Buddy!

For sale?? ...Sad.

This is the For Sale sign we found this morning when we stopped to take pictures of the old Airline Motors Restaurant in LaPlace, LA. This place is a classic! It opened nearly 70 years ago and also had an Esso station. Thankfully I had the chance to go in and eat here many, many years ago. I wish I could buy the place...I would if I could. well, This is just very sad..this is a piece of America and who knows what will happen to her. We love you, Airline Motors!

Oh, If you scroll down, you can see pictures of her now and many years ago. Also on the "Diners" post there is an old B/W shot of her from the 40's or 50's.

Classic Old Signs

I love old signs....I think they are a huge part of "Real America". As my husband and I drive around town making our deliveries I am always on the look out for neat signs, classic signs. What I don't understand is I'm finding that a lot of very old businesses are replacing there classic pieces of Americana for modern day signage. I find this to be very disappointing. Sometimes I'll think about an old sign and go to take a piture..and it's gone, replaced by something with zero character. This is very sad to me. I just don't get why someone would get rid of something so classic as an original old sign. I guess it's just the world we live in. I, myself, will always treasure these old classics and will capture them with my camera, every chance I get!

Trains and Ships....

I love trains and ships....especially freight trains and cargo ships! I love the way they look, the way they sound, I love everything about them. I often wonder where they've been and where they're going, what they've heard and what they've seen..what they could tell us if they could talk. My husband and I live two blocks from the train in our town. We get to see it and hear it all the time.
When I was a kid, my cousins, brother, and I used to stay at my grandparents house a lot...in the middle of the night we'd hear the trains from one end of the city and the ships from the other end on the Mississippi River. I'll never forget that..whenever I hear trains or ships I think of those days when I was a young kid at my Maw Maw and Paw Paw's house. Those sights and sounds are incredibly nostalgic for me. Trains and ships say AMERICA to me! In the pictures that go along with this post you see ADM tankers and the Doric Glory on the Mississippi River in New Orleans

The U.S. Farm Report...The Town and Country Journal

The Town and Country Journal and the U.S. Farm Report are two things that have always captivated and intrigued me. As a kid, oh I guess around 6 years old, I remember setting my alarm clock to wake me at 4:30am so I could watch the Town and Country Journal followed by the U.S. Farm Report. It was one of my favorite things to watch ...and still is. I still sometimes get up at that same time on Sunday mornings to watch the show. There's something about watching a show about American farming, farming news...even farming commercials, and life in "Small Town America", at that time of the morning that is just...I don't know, I can't explain it..I just love it! It wouldn't be the same if it came on at any other time of day. There's not a whole lot more to say about it other than, if you get a chance to watch, give it a try...you may fall in love with like I did at 6 years old. It just brings about a feeling..I'm not sure what it is but it's very good and nostalgic...somehow.

The Spirit of '76...what happened??

Take a good look at this picture. I don't really know the history of this particular painting except that it's portrayed during the American Revolution...obviously during 1776..A wonderful year, by the way. What I see when I look at this picture is determination, perserverence, victory, endurance...it's a scene that says..."Nothing will keep us down!" Here you have three guys during a battle...they're tired, injured and at risk of death but what do they do???..they keep on going! They will not give up or give in...they have a job to do and a country to fight for. What's happened to this kind of spirit? ..the Spirit of '76? Now a days we have the spirit of the "wimp" in our government..everyone is so worried about offending someone else...what happened to "we'll do whatever we have to do to protect our country and see that we keep our American way of life...the American dream"? I don't know, just seems like we're more about political correctness than doing what is RIGHT and TRUE and DECENT. The Spirit of '76 would be apalled and disgraced if they could see their America now..the country they fought for, the country that stole their hearts, the country they died for. Now a days we have a government who is more concerned with how much power and money they can aquire..sad, very sad. No one's worried about the people who make this country great...the blue collar workers, the soldiers,... but they're worried about things like..."how much money and power can we can we have if we give up America as we know it, as she was supposed to be, to form a North American Union"? "Let's give her up because we're SELFISH!!" It makes me sick! Our Fore Fathers would be dismayed and ashamed to know what their wonderful America has become and is becoming. We need to fight for her once again just like the Spirit of '76..only this time we're fighting our own government and big business...a real shame, a terrible shame.

Come on America...I know there are those of you out there like me with that same spirit..The Spirit of '76...let's fight for our Land of the Free and Home of the Brave!

New England and her lighthouses..This runs parallel with the Old Farmer's Almanac

I have always been fascinated with New England and her lighthouses. I love lighthouses in general but there's something uniquely special about the ones of New England. I suppose it has a lot to with the fact that New England itself is intriguing all on it's own. First let's talk about the role she played in our American history. The Pilgrims first set foot on Plymoth Rock and it goes from there....the 13 Colonies, the American Revolution, Paul Revere ("The British are coming, the British are coming!"), The shot heard 'round the world, The decleration of Independence, the Boston Tea Party,...Our Founding Fathers...and the list goes on and on. The history alone is enough to intrigue anyone. The other thing about New England, for me, is what I would consider her soul (if a region could have a soul). It's the feel of her land, her way of life, her weather, her coast... her people.

There's something about the thought of a crisp Autumn evening in New England with a slight wind blowing and the beautiful orange and red leaves falling to the ground as I walk down a country road and come upon and old steepled church, or an early winter morning before the sun comes up at the harbor, getting ready for a trip out on the ocean for some fishing, with a foghorn and a bouy in the distance, that gives me a feeling of comfort and a strange sense of nostalgia....which is odd because I've never been to New England. It's somewhere that I would love to visit and at the same time, somewhere that if I do visit, will my idea of what she must be like be disappointed? I don't know, but for now, I'll continue thinking of her as I do and reminiscing back to a time that I've never experienced except through things such as the Old Farmer's Almanac.

Her Lighthouses are something speacial. They are those wonderful beacons of the sea. They are beautiful to look at and also to listen too. If I could, I think I'd have a fog horn and a Fresnel lens on the roof of our house..the neighbors might not like it but I sure would.

I've never seen a New England lighthouse up close and in "person" but I can imagine what it must be like. Standing there in the Autumn chill just staring at these wonderfully nostalgic pillars of navigation.....just imagine what they've done, how many ships they've guided along that New England coast. Just thinking about the music that is made with those amazing foghorns as the lens lights up the fog in the night, as together, they bring ships around the rocks gives me a chill and a warmth all at the same time. Am I strange?...I don't think so, I just love a place that I've never been and things that I've never seen.

Diner Food???...YUM!

Oh boy, what can I say about diner food except that it's yummy? Well, a lot! Oh man, Diner food is just that, diner food. It's classic comfort food at it's best. It can make us feel all warm and cozy inside by bringing back memories of our past...even a past that we may not have had but wished we had. It evokes a time long gone....decades past when workers and teenagers, couples, famlies and friends would stop at the diner for dinner, lunch, breakfast, or just to have a hot cup of coffee and talk about what happened during their day. Ok, let's get to the actual food! Well, when most of us think of diners, we think of burgers and fries, meatloaf and mashed potaoes, pancakes and sausage, eggs, bacon and grits....oh, I'm getting hungry now! Oops, let's not forget the milkshakes and sodas! There's just something about diner food that says AMERICA...it says Blue Collar, it's says hard work...not only for the ones eating it but for the ones making and serving it. Diner food just has a way of bringing us back to our mom's kitchen when we were kids and the smell of homemade pie waiting for us. Ahhh, diner food...ya gotta love it..who wouldn't??

Roooooad and Highway Signs....I can't get enough!

Let's see, the Road Sign, the Highway sign....what more could we want to look at as we travel the highways and byways of the good 'ol U S of A?? They are our highway navigators....they are the lighthouses of the road...they keep us going in the right direction, along the right path..they get us where we want to be. To me, there's something very comforting about a highway sign. They make me feel, well.....good. They bring thoughts of the open road, truckers, small towns, big cities, old diners, truck stops, good food, and places that have long since gone away..towns and establishments alike. I can't seem to find all the right words on how they make me feel, Like I said, they just make me feel....good... and nostalgic. I love to look at all of them, from interstate signs to highways, to junctions to spurs, to rural roads. They make me feel ......oh, I don't know. Good.

The Old Farmer's Almanac...a definitive piece of Americana

The Original Old Farmer's Almanac is a classic in Americana. I know for me personally, I've been reading the Almanac every year for about the last 20 years or so. It was started back in 1792 and has been going strong every year, ever since. I don't know how anyone could not enjoy the Farmer's Almanac. It's chock full of all kinds of interesting stuff. From folklore to recipes to American history to gardening tips....even the ads have a sense of nostalgia. Something about American farming and weather predictions and when to plant your crops...even things like Apple Corers for sale..I don't know, can't explain it but it leaves me with a sense of comfort and days of old. Sometimes it makes me want to be standing on a pier on the coast of Massachusetts, watching the fog roll in with the Gordon's Fisherman at 4:00am....temperature about 35 degrees with a very slight rain whipping through the wind, and Bouys chiming in the distance. Or a crisp Autumn morning before the sun comes up or an evening in October with pumpkins for sale in abundance everywhere I go....oh I could go on and on...*sigh*. Ahhhhh, the things an imagination can do. If you get a chance, pick up an Old Farmer's Almanac and curl up in your pajama's with a nice hot cup of tea, wrapped up in a warm fleece throw,(the Almanac comes out in the Fall) just before bedtime and read from cover to cover...you won't regret it. "Thank you" to everyone who helps keep the Almanac coming each year!

Truck Stops...can't roll without 'em!

Truck Stops...An oasis for the American Trucker. Truck Stops are so very vital to drivers...without them the trucker slowly comes to a halt. The Driver needs these Beacons so he/she can grab a bite to eat, take a shower, fuel up, have conversation, get a good nights sleep...even get fed with the Word of God... Many truck stops have chapels with men and women of God preaching the Word. As a friend of mine put it, "truck stops are like going to Disneyland"...that is if you're fascinated by trucks, truckers, truck stops, and the freedom of the road like we are....and frankly, they're just flat out cool! Thank you to everyone who works to make the Truckers life just a little easier...Thanks to every employee of every Petro, TA, Flying J, Bosselman, Pilot, Brother's, Domino, Conoco, and every other truck stop all the way down to the "Mom and Pops"...THANK YOU for what you do! Keep on Truckin'!

Sadly, Most Have Forgotten What This Country was founded on....

Diners...Mmmmmm!

Hmmmmm, the classic American Diner...A part of our American culture that will never completely fade away. What can we say about the Diner? Well, the food is cheap and comforting, the waitresses are smiling and friendly...and always ready to give out free advice...but the Diner is more than this, it's an American Institution! It's something that can never be taken out of our hearts. The Diner is a place of escape, release, friendship, fellowship, conversation, and warmth...it's a place that we love and hold near and dear. "Thank you" to everyone who has ever worked hard to make our visit to a Diner a memorable and tasty one!

The American Trucker

Ahhhhh, the American Trucker...an Icon of the open road, an American classic....a Legend. This country needs it's Truckers like a Diner needs a good Cheeseburger....you can't have one without the other. Without 18 rollin' from coast to coast this county would come to a screeching halt! It would be like pullin' the Jake Brake on America....STOP! We need our Truckers....they are a force we cannot live without. They are vital to the American Dream....They are, America! "Thank you" to the Truckers, who keep 18 and America rollin'!

Made In America