Enjoyed the ride (and the reflections). Three notes / side trips:

The Jonathan Richman universe is clear and consistent, but it's also complex and profound, closer in spirit to Blake and Wordsworth (though not in a self-conscious literary way) than to the Velvet Underground. I'm glad you discovered his music beyond the proto-punk opening.

Van Dyke Parks' album "Discover America" has a bit of a bus theme (and numerous other themes).

I visited Colllinsville about 10-15 years ago. My wife and I were looking for a lost dog, and we had heard that people sold dogs at the local trade days flea market (there were lots of dogs and other animals in small cages there--not ours but she returned home a few weeks later). It was late fall at the flea market, and vendors of various junky wares huddled over fires or kerosene stoves. The smoky, gray atmosphere reminded me more of Mongolia than the most rural Alabama environs. If your riding companion had gotten stuck in Collinsville, he might not have gotten out.