Unplanned Detour through Missouri

And have determined that I am too old for physical labor! After unloading all of those boxes yesterday, I can barely move my arms over my head, or straighten them out, and climbing in and out of the truck is pure torture! Guess that is a sure sign that I need to get in shape!

Today went well up until about 1445 hours. I was cruising south on Hwy 71 in Missouri when they detour us off of the road. Apparently there had been some heavy rains and flooding and the highway was shut down because of water over the road. So I turn and follow another semi and there is a line of cars behind me. Well, semi turns on a county road behind some other cars so we all follow ASSUMING they know where they are going. Hell NO they don't. So we are going WB from Hwy 71 and they all turn right, which is SB, so that is the way we are going. We, myself and the vehicles behind me) follow for about 5 miles. At this point, I lose sight of the semi and other traffic because the speed limit is 55 and I am doing about 50-60, depending, because this is a county road, BARELY wide enough for two semis to pass each other and when one does pass, one of the tandems is in the dirt. So we come to a T intersection. Decision time. I can't go straight because I can see water over the road about 100 yards up. If I go right, that is away from the highway and there is a rise so I can't see if the other vehicles went that way. So I go left knowing that I am running parallel to Hwy 71 and need to go back left to get to it. Well, about 100 yards down, I see a sign that says "Road closed to thru traffic" WTF?? So I put my hazards on and stop, truck behind me is stopped about 50 yds behind me because he sees the sign also. A Chevy comes around and passes us and keeps going, then comes right back and tells us we can't go that way because the water is about 4 FEET over the road. Just fucking great!! The Chevy guy and his wife have a map out and they tell us that if we turn around and follow the road we are on the other direction (which would have been to take a right at the intersection) that it would take us to Hwy 43 which runs into Joplin on the North side and will take us back to I-44. SO.... There is a property along the road on the south side of the road (our right) that has a driveway big enough to use to turn around. But it we back into it, it will be blindside. So the other driver behind me backs up WAY past that drive way and then I back up past the driveway. Then I pull in to the drive and can back out and back to the drivers side. So I get turned around, and am now facing the other driver. I keep backing up and give him room to pull in to the drive way and then back out. Now, he is in front and I am following him. And he BARELY made that turn around because he has a really nice extended sleeper. He did an awesome job of getting it turned around. So luckily we stick together for another 7-8 miles down this road until we come to Hwy 43 and we tell each other thanks and to be safe out there. NOW, you want to hear the moral of this story? If you are ever forced to take a detour in an area you don't know because a POLICE OFFICER/FIRE FIGHTER tells you the road is closed, stop in the middle of traffic, get a pen and paper, and have him or her tell you how the fuck to get where you need to go since they are the ones rerouting you!!!