Anne, Michael and Linda

What makes a trucker stop at a particular truck stop?

The reasons are as many and as varied as the truckers themselves. Ask 100 truckers what their favorite stop is and chances are you'll get 100 different answers.

Choices.

Good food in the cold country.

In spite of a growling trend toward large truckstop/travel centers many independent truckstops (both old-timers and newcomers) consistently attract customers and keep them coming back. Quite often it's the food, but it can be the coffee, the location, the prices, the personalities who work there, or just something a little out of the ordinary that makes truckers pull off the highway and park their rigs.

TIGER, TIGER.

The Tiger Truck Stop in Gross Tete, LA gets its name from the tigers that have always lived on its premises. Truckers and other travelers regularly stop to visit the big cats. Students and faculty from nearby Louisiana State University take a special interest in these live mascots, but LSU is not the reason the tigers are there.

Truckstop owner Mike Sandlin told Land Line that his dad owned and operated truckstops in the Southwest and he and his brother literally grew up in the business. As adults they naturally went into the family business.

Mike's brother, Wendell was a Leo and loved big cats and decided to call a truckstop he planned to open in Houston the Tiger Truckstop.Wendell decided to carry the tiger theme one step further and purchased a pair of cubs to keep on the premises. However, due to zoning regulations, Leo had to abandon his plans. So instead of staring at Wen's Tiger Truck Stop in Houston, the two cubs traveled to Grosse Tete thirteen years ago to be the star attractions at Mike's Tiger Truck Stop.

"We've taken a lot of heat from a few animal rights' activists that say our tigers ought to be out in the wild," Mike told Land Line." But we really love these cats and take the very best care of them we can. Some people have told us our cats look like they get better care than cats at a lot of the zoos. They're reproducing well, and that says a lot about the care they get."

The original tigers, Rainbow (a Siberian tiger) and Toby (a Bengal Siberian mixed-breed) became proud parents of their fourth litter of cubs early this spring. Also residing at the truckstop is another female Siberian tiger named Sophia Mike traded a breeder one of Rainbow's cubs for Sophia almost five years ago.

The tigers are not the only drawing card the truckstop has. "We're famous for our red beans and rice," says Mike. "We also specialize in smoked sausage, alligator sausage, jambalaya, and crawfish 'etoufee."

OOIDA Foundation's Siebert, whose very first truck Stop, vouches for the jambalaya. "Good Cajun food is supposed to clear your sinuses and make your sinuses and make your eyes water, but I believe this was the first time I ever saw my fingernails sweat."

Trucker's Appreciation Day