There's No Place Like Home

We finally made it home after 3 months on the road. It has been a long haul trying to get here. We couldn't get any loads heading this way so we just decided to dead-head home from St. Louis. We arrived around 8 p.m. Friday night and had to call a wrecker out to jump the car and get it out of the driveway. We were so exhausted after that we called it a night. On Saturday morning we got up, went to the post office and collected our "bulk" mail and headed out to run some errands. The first one was to the beauty supply for some much-needed supplies. This was our first stop (even before the grocery store--some things are more important than food) and was closer than Meijer, which was our second stop. On the way home we decided to stop at Steak N' Shake for breakfast. It's been a while since I'd had breakfast there and they've added several new items to their menu. We had a Portobello and cheese skillet that was delicious. Definitely a keeper in our book! Now we hope to get a lot of things done while we're home including celebrating Christmas and birthdays.

It was wonderful to be able to worship this morning in our home church. The children and youth had their annual Christmas program and did a wonderful job. The decorations and sets for the program really set me in the Christmas mood. I came home, got out the holiday dishes, made dinner and then made my usual fudge. My party mix batch will be the next thing.

I think we will be finishing up our Christmas shopping tomorrow. I have to get 2 boxes ready to get in the mail. And then the wrapping begins. But I love all of it. Besides all of the hubbub it's time for renewal of meds, we both need new glasses and Ron has a terrible cold. Hopefully he will be over it before next weekend.

We are wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas season and the very best for the coming new year. Until next time . . . . . . . .

The Ping-Pong Effect

I realize it's been a few weeks since I last wrote on this blog. For that I'm sorry but sometimes it's so very difficult to have time to be at the computer. We have had several all-nighters and on our down time I usually can't think of anything to say. Imagine me not having any thing to say !! :)

We have been all over this half of the country-bouncing around, back and forth. I'm starting to feel very much like a ping-pong ball!

We've been having a few long weekends of down time which has helped me get quite a bit of crocheting done for 2 grand-nieces that are on the way. With the babies dresses and blankets out of the way the next projects are blankets for 2 grand=nephews that didn't get one from my mom before she passed away. She had started making blankets for all of her great-grandchildren and I guess it is falling to me to continue the tradition. I will also continue making the dresses for the girls. So far I've done 4 of them, all in different colors, unique to each little girl. Pink, lavender, mint green and butter yellow. I do enjoy keeping my hands busy and it helps the miles go faster. I'm also still knitting the socks. I have one about 3/4 finished and one more to go. Hopefully they will be done in time for next Christmas!

We have been on the road for so long this time that we are starting to get a little looney. A week or so ago we went in to take a shower and had about 20 people in line ahead of us. UUGGGHHHH!!!!! The procedure goes as follows: Ron scans his truckstop card at the kiosk, gets a shower ticket, takes it to the cashier so he can get me one, brings mine back to me and then we wait to be assigned a shower. The screen said we had a 38 minute wait and counting. While I played a game on my phone Ron walked around looking at stuff. He came back to me and asked what number in line I had. I thought this was strange since he had the next number from mine. I asked him why and he got a very sheepish look on his face as he explained: He threw his ticket away! WHAT?? He was cleaning out some receipts from his pockets and threw it away with them. As I waited I watched as he looked through the trash and one of the employees helped him finally get a new ticket. He didn't think it was so funny but I thought it was hilarious. I took him to a bench and made him sit down until we got our assignments. We had to wait a total of 75 minutes and it was one of the best showers in a while. I really do think we NEED to get home soon.

We are planning to go home this weekend, sink or swim. The holiday season is going full swing and I have been able to do some shopping. I have dinner planned and some of the goodies I want to make are on the list. We have so much to get done while there. I need my physical done, we both need new glasses, the lease is up on our car so that needs turned in as well as buying a new one. Caleb's birthday is January 2 so birthday plans are also on the agenda. I just hope we can get most of it done in the two weeks we're there.

We wish everyone a wonderful season. Until next time . . . . . . . . . . . . .

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We are celebrating in Elkton, Maryland this weekend and heading for Georgia Monday morning. The weather today is just beautiful--mild and sunny. After several days of rain this is a very welcome relief. Today I am thankful for a wonderful husband that loves me, a very loving family, a boatload of friends, and I'm grateful for the many blessings given me by God! I'm also thankful for all the military for the freedoms afforded me by their sacrifices. May God bless them all.

We just returned from having Thanksgiving dinner at Cracker Barrel. Fabulous! We got turkey, ham, dressing, sweet potato casserole, cranberry relish, green beans, carrots, biscuits, corn bread muffins, beverage, and pumpkin steusel pie for a grand total of $8.99. The portions were so filling that we had to bring the pie home for later. I feel as if I just got back from my mother's table. You all know that feeling!

We are hoping to get to Florida after Georgia if possible. We'd like to see Ron's sister for a day or two before trying to head toward home. We are planning to be home the last two weeks of the year. It seems forever since we've been there. This has been the longest time out for us since we started this job. We left home on September 15. If anyone had told me I'd be living in 100 inches of space I would have probably died laughing. But that is exactly what we're doing and pretty much liking it. I only wish we had just a little more storage space. I've been buying a few gifts and having a hard time finding a safe place for them. Not for much longer though. Thank goodness.

Wherever you are for this Thanksgiving Day enjoy it fully, try not to overdose on football, try not to overstuff on the wonderful food and most importantly, don't forget to give thanks for your blessings and other's sacrifices for our freedoms. Until next time . . . . . . . . . . . .

Courageous

We had the opportunity to go see the new movie "Courageous" last night. I've read the book rec ently and loved it. The movie followed the book very well although did not include all of the characters, details or subplots. Those would have made the movie at least two hours longer. The main plot was how good a job were these men doing at being fathers. We laughed, cried and had every emotion in between. If anyone wants to see a thought-provoking movie as well as be entertained this is the movie to see, even if you're not a parent. Just wonderful!

We will be leaving Denver in a couple of hours to get our load and head for Texas, delivery around noon tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will be a little warmer there. This morning had frost on the hood, 31 degrees, puffs of breath, and blindingly bright sunshine. In other words: beautiful but cold! Must go now so we can eat before we have to leave. Until next time . . . . . . .

Greetings from Denver

Hello, we're trying to keep thawed out and warm in Denver. We've had our first taste of winter: we arrived in the middle of a blizzard and have had all the winter we want for the entire season. Fortunately we brought our heavy coats and boots with us but forgot gloves. Our boots are in the back of the truck but the padlock on the doors was frozen solid. I guess we won't wear out the boots any time soon that way. Ron bought a small can of de-icer and after about 3 hrs. we were able to get the lock off. By that time the sun had come out and the roads were all clear. So the boots stay in the back for now. We did learn to keep the lock off unless we have a load. The weather was so bad that our load was scheduled to land in Colorado Springs but was diverted to Denver, making us drive back to Denver, pick up and then drive back to south of Colorado Springs to deliver. The good part was that the day turned out to be really beautiful and sunny. Today is another great day for weather which is wonderful. We don't pick up our next load until Saturday and deliver in Texas on Sunday. I certainly hope it's a little warmer down there.

I read a great book last week---COURAGEOUS---and it was absolutely wonderful. I know it's a movie that is playing at the theaters right now but we don't get a chance to go to movies too often and trying to find a place to park this truck presents some challenges. We had the time last weekend but it was playing 38 miles away and that is a little too far to drive off-duty. The story was compelling and thought-provoking for any parent regardless how old our children are. The book brings all emotions to the surface (so does the movie according to my sister) and I sat with the Kleenex box next to me most of the time. It definitely is a MUST---book and/or movie---for everyone.

I'm a person that can't just sit while going down the road if I'm not driving. My hands must be doing something. I read books by the dozen, I've made 2 sets of gowns, bonnets and blankets for great-nieces, a great-nephew on the way to make a blanket for, placemats for our kitchen and now I'm undertaking something I've never attempted before. I'm knitting myself a pair of socks! If you've ever tried to make a pair you know what I'm going through. They will be great when they are done. At the rate I'm going they should be ready for NEXT winter! :) I've never used knitting needles so small nor yarn so thin. The pattern is a nice ribbed design, the yarn is self-striping and simple but I am having to use 4 double-tipped needles for the first time and I'm also teaching myself how to knit European style which is moving along faster than regular knitting with a more even tension on the yarn. I guess I just like a good challenge to keep my hands and mind busy while we cruise on down the road.

We've both had minor colds the past week or so and I'm asking for prayers for a healthy winter and safe travels for us this season. We're not sure when we'll be home (we've been out since the third week of September) and are hoping to get a load heading that way soon. Until next time . . . . . . . . . .

Rock N' Roll

Here we are in Louisville, Ky after making our way from Ohio to Maryland to Pennsylvania to Virginia back to Pennsylvania to Ohio and finally to layover in Louisville. All since Monday afteroon. We've done the miles, gone through some hard rain and some mighty high winds along the way. We even went rockin' n rollin' at the truckstop and never moved the tires an inch. Maybe God decided that we needed to be lulled to sleep a little. He did a great job! :)

The weather is starting to turn and I'm not ready. The peak season of leaf-turning in the Poconos is past. Going through there we saw some color but also a lot of bare trees. The wind was so cold that we had to buy Ron a couple of flannel shirts to keep him warm. I'm trying to hold out so I can get my winter clothes from home. IT'S WAY TOO EARLY.

Things seem to be a little slow for business right now and we don't get too many back-to-back runs without sitting for a day or two. Not to worry--if things get too tight we can eat at McDonald's for dinner fairly cheap--thanks to FREE medium fries from their Monopoly game. I think we have tickets for 5 of them and I got a free breakfast sandwich this morning. Life is good.

We will need to get home sometime-the lease is coming up on our car and we will need to make a change. Ron has been looking online for what's new and upcoming. We have seen a couple of models that were interesting but time will tell what really "trips our triggers".

I hope that all is well with everyone and that time will march on softly for you. Until next time . . . . . . . .

I'm Back!!!

I can't believe it's been 10 days since I posted anything new. We have been so busy since we left home--3 cross-country runs in a row and then a necessary 2 days down time near San Jose, Ca. We were able to stay at the same truckstop as before and visit PeaSoup Andersen's restaurant. We were also able to revisit the Los Banos UM Church. We've been there so many times that people are starting to recognize us. Ron thinks they're getting ready to ask us to membership classes. :)

We are now in Las Vegas for the second time in 3 days. We pick up our load around noon tomorrow and head out for delivery in Florida on Monday morning. We hope to be able to visit with Ron's sister and brother-in-law while we're there.

We have satellite radio in the truck and our car (which is a blessing on the road) and Ron has gotten me hooked on Southern Gospel Music. We listen exclusively to the station "Enlighten" and hear a wonderful variety of music. They play oldies, contemporary, new, soloes, quartets, groups, you name it. They also air programs like Gospel Greats, Bill Gaither's Homecoming, and guest shows like Daniel Britt & Friends. Over all I love the music but once in a while I hear one that will set my teeth on edge. At these times, usually an oldie with a very prominent twang, all my vocal instruction slams to the front of my brain. Case in point: holding a very long note or chord on the letter R. This is also usually done at a decibel level or two above normal range.

But most often the music is music to live by and relates to everyone listening= the Love and Grace of God and Jesus Christ.

I recommend this station to all lovers of music. It can be found on Sirius/XM radio on channel 18. Try it, you'll like it. Give it a chance to grow on you. I did and love it. Until next time . . . . .

On the Road Again . . .and again . . . and again

We were home for a week dealing with truck issues. We've gone into a different truck, a little heavier in the front, bigger sleeper, same size box. After spending a day in the shop in Ft. Wayne and getting everything packed into the sleeper, we were finally ready to leave. Our first load came 30 minutes later with a pick-up in Crane, In. south of Indianapolis and took us to Yuma, Arizona. Being a priority load we had to drive straight through. Thank goodness we had most of today to relax and acquaint ourselves with our new "pad".

This truck has a hardwood floor, hot and cold water, microwave, DirecTv in motion, 14 cabinets and a full size refrigerator. But in getting the fridge we had to give up our double closet. Our new closet is only about 6 inches wide. We have our coats and church clothes hanging with the computer in the bottom. No room for anything else.

We still haven't been able to get to my niece's house in Tucson. We are laying over in Phoenix--so close yet so far away. We leave in the morning to take a load to Joplin, Mo. We'll get to see how they are recovering from the horrendous tornado. Until next time . . . . . .

A Long Weekend

Thank you one and all for the travel prayers last week. We made it to Delaware unscathed right behind Hurricane Irene. We didn't see any destruction at all. God is so good!

We've been all over the place since then-Pennsylvania, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Alabama, Tennessee, back to Indiana and then we head to New Jersey. I just wish we could do some of the driving during the day instead of all night long. On our days off I feel like a new baby with my days and nights mixed up.

We have been working at FedEx Custom Critical for an entire year now. Amazing how time flies when you're having fun! Haha. If someone had told me a few years ago that I would be driving over the road I would have laughed in their faces. But here I am, and there and here and there, and back again. And I'm loving it. Of course having my hubby with me really helps.

I hope everyone enjoys a wonderful, safe, long weekend and that the weather is 100% cooperative. Until next time . . . . . .

Larry's Pizza and Hurricane Irene

We did some traveling from Texas to Arkansas and back a couple of times this week. We got to have dinner with my sister, Lori, on Tuesday and Thursday. It was great to see her again and too bad that her husband was working nights this week. Sorry, James. Lori took us to a unique pizza place on Tuesday. It's called Larry's Pizza and is a total buffet 3 days a week. What makes it unique is that they walk around with the fresh pizzas to each table and ask if you'd like a slice. They have every combination under the sun. The usuals as well as loaded baked potato, chicken alfredo, buffalo wing, taco, and they will take special orders. One little boy at the next table ordered cheese with chopped dill pickles. Too bizarre for me to taste! They also have dessert pizzas: bavarian cream, blueberry bavarian, blueberry or apple or cherry pie, and peanut butter chocolate chip. I'm sure there are more but that's all we saw or tasted. I said that this chain needs to go up north. Lori told me that the owner opened one near Detroit. My response was "Not that far north!"

I'm asking for prayers for everyone dealing with hurricane Irene. Ron and I will be traveling from Memphis to New Castle, Delaware and must be there by Monday morning. We're hoping to avoid most of the storm and that she has moved on before we get there. After that we will head back to the Midwest.

Just one more little gem before I go. Ron is trying to devise a new way of driving-in neutral! He will release the parking brake and step on the gas, going nowhere but gunning the engine. He does this at least once every couple of days. The other day we were fueling up and as we were leaving he did it again. I started laughing and told him I wish he would perfect this because if he could find a way to go uphill in neutral we could retire to the Smokies! Until next time . . . . . . . .

IT'S HOT-HOT-HOT

We are in Dallas and have been for the weekend. It is so hot here with no relief in sight. Yesterday we went to Denny's for dinner and had to park in the back 40 in the only available spot. We walked to the restaurant and had a delicious meal in the cool comfort. After eating I told Ron that he had to go get the truck and come up front to pick me up because I burned too easily and the heat felt like I was on fire even in a breeze. All I wanted to do was stay in the truck for the rest of the time. Opening the door is like having a blast furnace in your face.

We are picking up a load this evening and heading out for a morning delivery in Houston. Hopefully we will be getting out of this "oven" and heading for someplace cooler soon. This kind of heat can certainly make a person lazy!

We did our usual socializing Saturday at Walmart. What a crowd! Then I discovered that Texas, as well as a few other states, offers TAX-FREE back to school sales. No wonder there were people everywhere. It's too bad that Indiana doesn't offer such a thing. They offer no sales tax on school supplies as well as school clothing for a limited time. Texas has a 3-day weekend and Ron told me that Florida holds the sale for a week. How wonderful for the working class and single parents.

We watched a delightful movie on Saturday night on the gmc channel(gospel music channel). The movie title is "Trinity Goodheart". It's a story of broken families trying to be brought together by a young girl. It was sponsored by Focus on the Family and was just a touching story that we highly recommend. Since we're still sharing this computer I better close and let Ron have his turn. Until next time . . . . . . . .

Vacation's Over

I know I've been a little lax on this blog lately. It's not because I've forgotten, it's just that we have been so busy while we've been off this week. The testing on the truck box was very enlightening (our first time) and also a success. Yay! What a proceedure! First you start the reefer at 3 p.m. and leave, come back at 9 a.m. the next morning, adjust the settings and leave, come back at 11 p.m. that night, adjust the settings again and leave, come back at 1 p.m. the next afternoon, shut everything down, remove the equipment and you are done. That's the first part. Now we get a temp-controlled run over 6 hours long and run one more test and we are cleared for the next 18 months. At that point we start all over again with it. Fun, huh?
After we finished in Ohio that Friday we came home for a week. It was time to check out a few things. We had our garage torn down and a new slab poured for a carport. We lost our only tree during one of the great storms of the summer. The place sure doesn't look the same. I almost drove past it coming from the store. It's amazing how much we depend on our landmarks to locate places. Besides a quick trip to the doctor we had the contractor over to discuss the finishing of the driveway, the landscaper came to make plans when the driveway is done, and we had a roofer over for an estimate. Oh, the joys of being a homeowner!!
We spent the weekend in Lafayette for a family gathering at an aunt's house. All six children from my dad's family were there, along with spouses, some of the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Two days of fun and craziness. There is always a theme (this year was wild, wild west), a talent show, and tons of great food. That's just Saturday, on Sunday there is more great food and loads of silliness, usually by the adults. Aunt Doris kept repeating "We are just a normal family!" NOT !! Normal is boring. We had a wonderful time and came home exhausted without even trying. Now we're waiting to hear from dispatch for our next load because it's time to get back to work. The truck is loaded and time is awastin'. So until next time . . . . . .

New Experiences

Hi everyone, we are in Uniontown, Ohio for the second night while the truck undergoes a routine testing for the refrigeration box. The only drawback is that periodically we have to go back to it and reset the temps. This started Wednesday at 3 p.m., we had to change it at 9 a.m. this morning, and Ron is going at 11 p.m tonight for the last change. Tomorrow we shut it off at 1 p.m. and turn in our paperwork. Hopefully everything will be in order. After that we are heading for home for about 10 days. Yea! This is the second night in a motel with a real bed and room to move around, not to mention a daily shower! And we are driving a Kia Sedona minivan as our rental. I'm not sure I feel right about driving around in a regular vehicle!

I had to have my DOT physical today. This is something I have to do every year to keep my CDL license valid. Lucky Ron only has to do it every two years. Ah, well! I went to a clinic this morning and ended up taking a nap there. Because it was a different place and doctor my blood pressure was a little elevated so after the exam they had me lay back and shut the lights down. In a while all was well again and the bp was back to normal. In the meantime Ron was about to send in the cavalry to look for me.

The weather has been a bit milder the last couple of days and I, for one, am truly grateful! It's been partly cloudy and dry here in Ohio. This is good here because we are battling traffic from the World Golf Championship here. We were just lucky to get a room because out of 6 motels I called only Super 8 had two nights available. Someone was looking out for us. Until next time . . . . . . . .

A Weekend of Much-Needed R & R

We are back in Indiana for a 3-day weekend but not close enough to go home. We're in Evansville waiting for a pickup on Tuesday morning. That load will take us near Columbus, Ohio which is a good thing because we need to be in Green, Oh. on Wednesday morning so the truck can undergo a routine test on the reefer box. As soon as the testing is done we are going home for a much needed rest until after a family reunion in Lafayette the following weekend.

I want to wish my dad a belated 80th birthday. It was yesterday and we didn't stop the truck until after 10:00 to eat dinner and get to bed. I did talk to him on the phone at least. Happy Birthday, Dad. We love you.

This has been a very tiring week, physically and emotionally. We have had to try to keep in the midwest area because of the testing next week. Consequently we've had a bunch of little short runs that will run a person ragged. The hot, humid weather isn't helping much. The rain only makes it more humid and when I open the truck door it feels like a blast furnace. Ron says it's been storming during the night a couple of times but I never heard a thing. Either he's dreaming it or I'm doing my best sleeping through it all. :)

I have a few more things to take care of on the computer so I better get busy. Ron likes to have his turn on it once in a while. We are seriously considering buying a notebook so he can do his thing at the same time as me. If he's playing a game or surfing I could wait for hours for him to finish so I get a chance. So, until next time . . . . . .

47 Out of 48

We have made it to Vermont, making it 47 of the continental 48 states. Maine is still out there just waiting for us. On the way to our pick up we were guided by Tom (gps) and brought to a ferry crossing to get from New York to Vermont. We were a little skeptical but willing to give it a try. We paid our fare and drove onto the ferry along with about a dozen cars. We happened to make it to the last crossing of the day. The ride was smooth, water like glass and the sun was setting behind us. ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL !!! We didn't come back the same way. Darn!

In my last blog I mentioned how busy we were the previous week. I did some calculations and discovered we had logged over 6,000 miles in one week. No wonder we were so exhausted. This week was a little slower but not much. We are now spending the weekend in Bordentown, New Jersey. We do have a load out of Philadelphia Monday morning that will bring us to Columbus, Ohio.

I don't know about you but I am tired of all the heat. No matter where we go, north-south-east-west there is nothing but hot, hot, hot! We had a nasty thunderstorm yesterday afternoon that made no difference in themperature or humidity. The wind did a little rock-n-roll number with the truck which was a welcome to our naptime since we had been driving all night before.

P.S. The rest areas in Vermont shut down after dark and don't open until after sun up. We learned that lesson the hard way. Fortunately we found a small 24 hr. truck stop not too long after and spent the night there. Until next time . . . . . . . . .

TGIF

Thank Goodness It's Friday !!!! It has been an even crazier week than last week and I didn't think that was possible. We left California last Friday evening, arrived in New Jersey Monday morning, picked up in Pennsylvania, then to Tennessee, on to Alabama, then Georgia and delivered today in Upstate New York. It had to be well over 5,000 miles just this week. Whew !

And to top it all off, Ron caught a terrible cold. Summer colds are the worst and his is no exception. He's been doctoring with everything and we have the next 2 days off because we ran out of weekly hours (We each started with 70 and now have 5 & 10 respectively so must be off over 34 straight hours to reset) so maybe he can get caught up on some much needed rest. One thing that is helping is something I read in an email. I made him rub Vicks VapoRub on the soles of his feet. I read that it stops coughing at night. Guess What---IT REALLY WORKS !!!!!!

I must tell you about the latest "Tom, the GPS Guy" episode. Yesterday morning as we were going to our pick up, a load of weapons, and were following Tom's directions and thought he led us astray. I checked the Qualcomm in the truck and the local directions from our dispatch was exactly the same as Tom's. Let me just say that in the middle of Farmer's Market the only weapons were rotten fruit and veggies! After asking directions from Market security we finally made it to our pickup about 20 miles later. It seems the street we needed stops and picks up quite a distance away. Always a learning experience! Until next time . . . . . . .

California

Well, we are still in San Jose. It's been almost a week here including the 4th (without fireworks). It's very hot here. Some days hotter than others. Today is a milder one with temperatures in the high eighties. I think it was triple digits over the weekend. I wish we could get a load that takes us out of here. The landscape and freeways are becoming way too familiar. We have been doing some local runs that aren't paying too bad but not like a cross country run. I'm ready for a change of scenery.

We did have a little fun yesterday at lunchtime. We were across the street from the truckstop, eating at Wendy's (they have the most wonderful Berry Almond Chicken Salad) when we looked out the window and saw the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile pulling in. The drivers had stopped for lunch too. It seems they travel the Southwest doing promotionals and were just passing through. As we walked out with the drivers behind us I was able to snap a quick picture with my phone. It's really a pretty cool thing. Ron said he checked out the job once and discovered that the drivers must hold an associate's degree in business and public relations. Just to drive a weird looking vehicle?

Well, I feel like my brain is becoming stagnant with so little to do while waiting. This seems to be a rather slow week and I hope it picks up soon. Until next time . . . . . . . . .

Back to Work

We are spending the holiday weekend in San Jose, California. We were here for Memorial Day also. We had lunch today at Pea Soup Andersen's across the street. Food was great again. It's been a crazy hectic week after a week at home. But we had to come back to work to get some rest from all the chaos of putting together a yard sale. Now, that's work! We had a four-family sale in our back yard. It rained all week until noon on Friday. We opened at noon and ran all day on Saturday. It was fun but tiring. When it was all over, we loaded everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING) left over and took it to Goodwill. Ron said that he was taking nothing back into the house once it came out. I guess he meant it.

We started this week out by going to Kalamazoo, Mi. for a load to Pennsylvania, then on to Memphis and finally here in California. We delivered our long load yesterday and did a small local run this morning. Now it's time to give the truck a little rest. It's been on the go 24 hrs ever since leaving South Bend. Plus the fact that both of us have TB (tired buns)!! :)

It looks like we will have to wait until Tuesday to get a load out of here. So, we wait! Until next time . . . . . . . . .

Back Home Again

We finally made it back home to Indiana this afternoon. It's the first time home since Easter and all I can say is "it's about time!" We've been doing pretty well but this past week has been a bit of a nightmare. Trying to get standard maintenance done on the reefer was bordering on horrendous. If we found a dealer in the area, they were either too busy or would only do it in the early morning. All of them work on a first come, first serve basis and if we had a delivery in the morning it was too late by the time we could get there. Finally on Thursday we found a dealer and got it done in Memphis. After getting this done we were able to head to our layover destination of Louisville, Ky. We had a load going to Columbus, Oh. that would have gotten us home on Monday in the wee hours. Ron has a doctor appointment on Monday afternoon so this would work our perfect. Three hours later we had to turn that assignment back in because the customer changed the delivery time for the third time. This time from Sunday afternoon to Monday morning--too late to keep the dr. appointment. At least we are here now.

We were on US 31 almost to the bypass when Tom, the GPS guy, spoke up. He has the habit of telling us the ENTIRE name on a street when we need to turn. As we approached the turn Tom started in: Slide right on US 20 byp, US 31, Niles, Mi, Michigan City, airport. This is what the big sign looks like, but what Tom says is really: "Slide right on US 20 byp (byp, not bypass); US 31; Niles, Miles; Michigan City airport" He repeats this 3 times until we make the turn. What he said didn't register with me until the 2nd time. When Tom said Niles, Miles the 3rd time I lost it. I laughed until I had tears running down my face. Where do they get these people? I was still giggling at dinner. Thank you, Rand McNally, for my laugh of the day!
Until next time . . . . . . .

Happy 1st Anniversary, Ron

Today is our 1st anniversary and I can't believe it's here already. This year has gone by so quickly. We are spending the night in Massachusetts. After a small shopping spree for the both of us we had dinner at Outback Steak House in Southington, Connecticut before moving on to Massachusetts. We have a load here in the morning going to Pennsylvania. It's been a very busy week for us. Last weekend was in Dallas. Since leaving there we've been to Louisiana, Nebraska, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts and all other states in between to get to these states. Most of our loads were straight through and no time to pull over---hence the wait for this entry.

A few observations I've made: The east coast, primarily New England, seems to have a thing about not liking truckers. They all want our cargo but want nothing to do with the rest of us. There is no parking for any trucks anywhere. TA, Petro, Pilot, Flying J, and Love's are the major truckstops in the country. Our locator book found 1 Pilot in Massachusetts. That's all--only 1. Nothing else. And it was totally out of our way! We are spending the night at a service plaza on the turnpike where parking is allowed only next to the curb with room for about 6 trucks. We were lucky enough to get a spot as someone else was leaving. We even tried to go to Walmart to get a few supplies and had to park in the back area by their loading docks. Upon leaving there we saw the police watching the lot and traffic. It seems that Walmart's policy of allowing trucks to park in their lots is making a turn-around. The newer stores have made their lots so that large trucks cannot get into them and so many are posting no parking signs. Others will allow only 2 hour parking--just long enough to shop.

Another one is the no littering signs. We've all seen them and every state has them with a fine posted on the sign. Usually the fine runs anywhere from $100 to $1,000. I have seen a fine of $5,000. I think this is all well and good because I happen to love the beauty of nature and hate to see it spoiled by all the trash along the highways. Can anyone tell me where Connecticut gets its littering fine from? It has the most unusual fine I've seen so far: $219. Where in the world did they come up with that figure? I guess it takes all kinds to make this wonderful world of ours go round!

I guess that's all for now. Until next time . . . . . .

Memorial Day Weekend

We were able to find a church with enough parking for the truck in Los Banos, Ca. With the time difference we were in services at 1:00 p.m. There was a special feature dedicated to the men and women of the armed forces. In the display was a quote that really struck home: All gave some; some gave all! This was transposed over a picture of Arlington Cemetary. Very effective! Be sure to thank a service person or veteran today.

We are spending this holiday weekend in San Jose, California. The weather has been beautiful sunshine but very windy. Today is also quite cool, enough to wear a jacket. Across the street from the truckstop is a Danish restaurant--Pea Soup Andersen's. The building is a huge chalet with a large windmill that truly works. They boast the fact that they use the most peas in their soup than any other restaurant in the country. It's made vegetarian with cups of bacon bits, chopped ham, green onions, shredded cheese and croutons served on the side. You can order by the cup, bowl or have it served in a fresh bread bowl. The bread removed from the bowl is toasted and served with the soup to be used for dipping. I must say that is was absolutely delicious, bowl and all! They also have a bakery, banquet room, lounge, coffee shop and gift shop. Ron found a book about the origin of hymns so we are going back later for another meal and to get the book. What a neat discovery in an area that is pretty barren!

Yesterday after church we went to Walmart and then for dinner at a Carl's Jr. fast food place. We had seen them but never been to one. The food was really good for a quick stop. They offer the usual as well as some unique items. The one I had was a low-carb combo meal. It was a burger with the works served wrapped in large lettuce leaves instead of a bun. It came with a side salad of considerable size and a drink(I had unsweet iced tea). Ron had a guacamole bacon burger meal with fries and a drink. It's a good thing we walked from Walmart because we were so full that we had to work off some of it. :)

We have been enjoying the different cuisines whenever we get the chance and have found success with most places. We get a load in South San Francisco tomorrow and deliver in Albuquerque, NM on Wednesday afternoon. Perhaps we will find some interesting places there. Until next time . . . . . . .

Blind Leading the Blind

Greetings from Akron, Ohio

We arrived here this noon in readiness for a class tomorrow morning at the FedEx Custom Critical office in Green, Ohio. We have been trying to get here for over a month but was never able to get planning to get a load here. We finally got a load to Cleveland Monday and decided to take today off so we could make the class.

We spent the night at a truckstop between Cleveland and here, got up, showered and after breakfast headed out for the Walmart that we usually stay at while conducting business here. First off, you should know that we haven't been here in more than six months. Plus we were coming in from a direction we never have before. Ron had programmed "Tom, the GPS guy" for the office. I programmed the truck GPS for Walmart. (We have a Walmart atlas that lists all Walmart addresses.) We got there and discovered it was the wrong store. So I set in a different Walmart--the only other one in Canton. Guess what! Still the wrong one. Back to the atlas. I found one in North Canton and programmed that in. No dice again! 3 Walmarts and nothing looked familiar. We ended up driving to the office and going from there. Once we got to the office it took only 5 minutes to drive to correct Walmart. Who knew that the address for this one is Akron? The office is in Green, 1 Walmart in Akron, 1 in North Canton, and 2 in Canton. All 5 locations are in a 10 mile radius. Why would we be confused or lost? We should have been here no later than 10:30! Maybe it's a good thing we took the day off. We don't need this much help getting lost! :)

Life is sooo entertaining when you live in a 96" sleeper truck 24-7 with your spouse. We agree that it's a good thing we like each other because life is sure interesting and getting better all the time. Until next time . . . . . . .

Weather Changes

We have just arrived in Ann Arbor. We will be getting our load in Michigan on Monday afternoon and delivering in Ohio Monday evening. We left El Paso last Monday evening, Texarkana Wednesday, Delaware Thursday, New York, Friday. We are looking forward to some necessary catch-up rest. We need to be in Ohio for a class on Wednesday so we're taking Tuesday off. Hopefully this is the last class for a while. I think that from then on it's just renewal sessions.

The stretch of country let us view a myriad of changes in the weather. Southern Texas is in the middle of a drought of enormous size while the Mississippi river continues to rise and flood. We encountered perfect weather in the eastern part of the country. However today has presented a total day of clouds and rain. In the past week we have gone from 110 degrees in El Paso to a chilling, damp, windy, wet 50 here in Ann Arbor. We can't change it, so why complain? It is what it is.

My dad and my brother are driving home from my sister's in Arkansas today. I hope they don't have much trouble with the rain. Last Saturday I-40 was under water. Thank goodness it has opened up now. I'll be glad to see Dad again. He's been in Texas for the winter and gone for the last 6 months. Ron and I are hoping to make it home for Father's Day. I'd even settle for being home for just the day.

Well, I've pretty much run down now. Ron is finishing the laundry while I get this posted. We will probably watch a little tv and hit the sack for a decent night's sleep. We hope to find a close church in the morning since the truckstop doesn't have a ministry here. Then do a little shopping and relax. Sounds like a definite plan!!! Until next time . . . . . . . .

Belated Mother's Day

Here I am, a day late and a dollar short! :) Happy belated Mother's Day to all mothers out there. I spent mine in El Paso, Texas first sitting at the Kenworth dealer getting some work done on the truck and then at the Petro truck stop for good dinner, complete with live music. All the ladies got a carnation corsage, 2 chocolate-covered strawberries and a gift card for 20% off our next visit. I also got a call from my daughter in the morning, from my father in the afternoon and from my grandson in the evening. What a way to stretch out a great day!

We've been in El Paso since Friday morning. Talk about hot--our truck thermometer said 110 degrees on Saturday afternoon. On the way in to the delivery point in the wee hours of the morning, I was driving when I saw digital signs that said: EXTREME WILDFIRE DANGER. It just about freaked me out. We haven't seen anything but the conditions are there. It is so dry here that the palm trees are withering. A sad sight to see!

While we wait for another load opportunity I must share one more restroom story that happened this morning at the Petro. After breakfast I walked into the "loo" only to see a man washing his glasses and brushing his teeth in the WOMEN's restroom. I turned around and told one of the employees. She walked in to set him straight but said he wasn't there. I walked back in to see his boots under a stall door. Out I went again and found the same employee. After telling her what I'd seen she contacted the manager and together they went in. In the meantime another woman went in--she's the only one the manager found in there. The mysterious man must have exited while I was getting help! As we were leaving the building I told Ron that they must think I'm really the strange one! Aaahhhh well, such is life on the road!

Such are the ramblings for today. Until later . . . . . .

Arkansas Waters

We're sitting in West Memphis, Arkansas as I write this. We had a load from Rock Island, Illinois that we had to deliver in Pine Bluff, Arkansas this morning at 8:30. We picked up at 2 p.m. yesterday and had to drive straight through. We were worried because we were going to have several hours to sit before delivery. And I mean 5 or 6 hrs. with someone always awake and on watch. We knew Arkansas had had lots of rain and storms but we had NO idea of how much.

We started out just fine. I drove my shift so Ron could get some sleep for his shift. After a very late dinner in the truck I took the sleeper berth for my turn at slumber. About 4 hrs. later I was rudely awakened by Tom, the GPS guy, saying we were on ALABAMA, AR 115. In my sleep- induced state all I heard was Alabama-115! I don't think I ever got up to the front so fast in my life. I thought Ron took a wrong turn and was 3 states out of the way! We were off course but only because US-67 was flooded.

I know how detours are posted in Indiana and a few other states but this was my first encounter with them in Arkansas. Ron told me that US-67/US-62 had a huge barricade erected with a sign for the detour and an arrow. He made the turn and that was the last sign he ever saw about that detour. HUH??? Where do we go from there? He was trying to find his way when Tom spoke with those awful words. Who knew that part of Arkansas had a street named Alabama? As we kept trying to locate a decent road we kept getting routed back to 67. After a few miles it would be flooded again and another detour. Tom programmed us on a route that ended with a dead end ahead and only a dirt lane with low branches on the right. Another turn-around for us. We found a station, pulled in and grabbed the atlas. Finally figuring how to get to Pine Bluff we started out again. Guess what---another flood out on 67. This time a police officer pulled up just as we turned around and told us how to get around it all. Finally, a cop when you need one!

All of this detouring took about 3 hours and I can only thank God for those extra hours. We only had to sit for about an hour and a half. After delivery we were sent here to W. Memphis. The amount of water all over Arkansas is staggering. Exits were closed and water was up to the edges of the roads. We had intended to stay at the TA truck stop but their gas pumps and tanks were underwater as well as most of their parking lots. Needless to say we moved on. The sun was out most of the day and I'm praying that it made a significant advance toward receding the water. This was definitely one for the memory book!

After this we head for St. Louis and then on to El Paso. No grass growing under our wheels!
Until next time . . . . .

God's Blessings

On the road again! We were able to spend Holy Week and Easter at home with family and friends. We were also able to get the back doors replaced and a new rear deck put on the house. I just wish we had enough time to rest from that. Ron says next time we wait a few more days so we can get caught up on the rest we needed. It didn't help that all the runs so far this week have been all-nighters. AAhhh, this, too, shall pass!

One of the best things that happened while we were home was that we got to spend time with our grandson, Caleb. He told me on the phone that I probably would not recognize him when I see him because he has gotten a whole lot taller! It's hard to believe he's 8 yrs. old already and in the 2nd grade. He thinks and talks about 15 years older. But I suppose all kids are that way. He's the biggest drawback to this job. It's been hard not having him around almost every day.

Another blessing we've received this week has been safe travels! I'm going to ask everyone to keep us in your prayers for travel mercies while we're on this job. On Wednesday we were traveling from a delivery in Anniston, Alabama, where we had already sit out a severe thunderstorm in the morning. Talk about "rockin' & rollin' "! We drove through Alabama and Mississippi to Memphis, Tennessee for our next pick-up. After much hard rain, black clouds and high wind we were settling in at a truck stop for the layover time when we turned on the tv and saw the devastation that occurred a mere 2 hours (at most) after we'd driven through there. This morning we heard the death toll has reached over 200 for Alabama alone. This is the first really bad weather we've had on the road since we started in September. God's blessings and grace continue to amaze me!

We will be traveling to Illinois this weekend and then on to Arkansas the first of the week. Only the Lord knows where to after that! All we can count on is being together and taking it one day at a time. Thanks for letting me ramble. Until next time . . . . .

A Much-needed Home Rest

It's been a while since posting my last blog. We have been home for a week now and could have been enjoying it much better had the weather cooperated! But we have been able to accomplish a few things around the house.
We hired someone to build a new back porch/deck for us. We bought and arranged for installation of 2 new back doors. Arranged for lawn service while we're gone. And today Robyn and I organized the attic in preparation for a huge yard sale whenever we manage to get home again.
Since we eat out a lot on the road I decided that some genuine home cooking was in order this week. Ron has been really enjoying all the great foods. I've cooked things I haven't made in a long time and made some great desserts to go with them--pecan pie, pineapple upside down cake, ice cream. Yummy!! Maybe it's a good thing we don't get home but once in a great while :)
We also had to do a little business with the Post Office this week. Besides mailing a couple of packages we got a PO Box. With us gone for such long periods at a time we felt it safer to get a po box so we didn't have to worry about our mail. What a process! The worst part is informing EVERYONE about an address change. Took us about 2 days and I hope I haven't forgotten anyone.
We want to wish everyone a very blessed Easter. It's been wonderful to be able to attend all Holy week services at home this week. It doesn't get any better than that! And add the fact that the Easter Bunny is making several trips to our house this weekend: the doors on Saturday and the deck on Monday. Too bad we can't enjoy them much since we have to pick up a load in Ft. Wayne by 8 a.m. Monday. AAAhhhhhh, such is life. Until later . . . . .

Visitations

Greetings from a very wet Memphis! It started raining in earnest about 30 minutes ago. At least it waited until we got back to the truck stop after making our delivery. We had a load that delivered along with 2 other trucks the size of ours. We all had the same time and helped each other unload and uncrate all the freight. Talk about work! That dock was warm and very humid. It took us about 2 hours in all to complete the assignment. If you can visualize the type of hair I have, expand the volume about 3 times. Now add the curl, waves and fuzz. That's me at the moment. We have been so very fortunate being able to visit friends and family while on our many travels. Ron's sister, Donna, lives with her husband near Tampa, Fl. We have been able to visit with them twice--once before Christmas for only an hour (they brought us breakfast while we waited for a load) and again exactly two months later for a long weekend. It was wonderful to see them and spend time enjoying each other's company. The thing is that Donna was feeling a little lonely to see her brother and prayed that God would send us down there. Four hours later we called to say we had a load and were coming down. She has decided that she'll pray that every couple of months or so and see what happens! We've been to see my sister, Lori, and her husband on several occasions, including one time while my dad was there visiting on his way to Texas for the winter. Twice some friends of theirs came along to dinner. I hadn't seen them in several years and it was a great time for them to get to know Ron. (We do seem to get to their part of Arkansas a lot.) Once we had to take the truck in to be repaired and had to spend the night out of the truck. Again God seemed to be coming through. The repair shop was only about 3 miles from some friends. Bless their hearts for opening their home and offering their guest room to us, even though they were in turmoil getting ready to leave in 3 days for the Holy Land. Thanks a lot, Colleen and Randy. I'm sorry this post has taken so long to get on. I wrote the first half Monday afternoon, we got a load that had to start immediately, and have just finished the second one. We are in Norfolk, Virginia spending the night while waiting for a load at the same place we delivered this morning. We will then head to deliver in Jacksonville, North Carolina. The weather has been rainy with sun today. Lots of flooding all over the country. April needs to stop the showers! Thanks for letting me ramble. Until later . . . . .

Modern Technology

Sorry it's been a while but we have been continuously busy. Our recent runs have been start- to-finish, non-stop, all-nighters. I haven't been on the computer since Sunday. We left Arkansas, went to Kansas, Oklahoma, Alabama and back to Arkansas, where we will again have dinner with my sister and her husband. This is great! In the morning we head to Texas, then Tennessee. Still hoping to get home for Easter week.

Having gotten caught up reading other blogs, I discovered that my friend Kevin was experiencing the same problem this week that I was planning to write about: GPS . Kevin, I totally sympathize! These little gems are marvelous most of the time, but don't bet the house on them.

For the first 6 months on this job we had our Qualcomm. This is the device, installed by FedEx and most other trucking firms, which allows communications between drivers and dispatchers, utilizes electronic logs instead of paper log books and has truck-routing GPS. Most of the time she is right on the money. Usually the only problem is she gets us to the front door and we have to find the loading docks on our own. Then there are the times when she gets us to the church but not the right pew! Sometimes she is on the wrong side of the street or around the block. One time we were in a rather remote area on a major interstate, following the given directions when she announced we could find our destination straight ahead--the middle of a 4-lane interstate in the middle of nowhere. We resorted to the old fashioned method of stopping and asking for directions.

A couple of months ago we brought our GPS from the car with us to use for finding local attractions: stores, movies, church, etc. This was a great help in those searches. We began to set both for loads and were being entertained by the differences in directions. Of course, we had to remember that the small one wasn't programmed for trucks. On one particular run neither one could find our destination. We ended up in the middle of the night on a country road that a truck of any size bigger than a pickup had no business being on. This was when my country upbringing came into good use. We managed to get turned around and out of there. Can you believe the road they said was correct was only a gate to a cow pasture! After this experience we bought a new GPS for trucks.

I wrote a little about this experience a while ago. Ron loves his new toy with one exception: we had to retire Samantha because her voice and attitude were much too snippy for us. We now have Tom to guide us along with the Qualcomm. His attitude is very laid back--he tells us to "slide right" or "slide left" onto the next road. His voice is pretty soothing too. Of course, I think maybe they could use Sam Elliott or James Earl Jones for the voice and I'd be more than happy to follow those directions.

One problem they both seem to occasionally have is the hiccups. By this I mean that they show us in one spot and the road off to either side and inform us that this route is not approved and to recalculate when we have been in a straight line for miles and not turned. Maybe the signal got blocked or maybe it's sunspots. Sometimes I think there are just too many streets congregated together, like in NYC, and they get confused. Who knows? But if we just keep on as we were they eventually get back on the right path, thank goodness.

Yesterday we encountered a problem that could have been potentially disastrous as far as deadlines and loads are concerned. Our Qualcomm went out. I happened to look up to see a message stating that is was shutting down. We cannot shut it down manually and it is ALWAYS on when the truck is running. Just as I was trying to figure it out the screen went totally black. I tried calling dispatch but evidently this was a system failure and everyone else was doing the same thing because I was on hold for the longest time. Before I could talk to anyone the system came back up and was restored to the exact location we were at. No explanation whatsoever. Isn't modern technology wonderful?!!!!

Thanks for listening to my ramblings. Until next time . . . . . .

Truck Stops

It's been another hectic week for us. We left Dallas Monday afternoon, delivered in Arkansas Tuesday morning, picked up in Mississippi Tuesday afternoon, delivered in Virginia Wednesday morning, picked up in Virginia Wednesday afternoon, delivered in Alabama Thursday morning and ended up in Arkansas Thursday evening. We did enjoy a wonderful dinner at Applebee's in El Dorado, Ar. with my sister Lori and some friends of hers. We are now spending the weekend in North Little Rock. We do have a load ready for Monday so this will be a time to catch up on some much needed rest. We are staying at the Petro truck stop. We've been here a few times and like it. There are several chain truck stops all over the country along the major interstates. TA TravelCenters also own Petro. Most of these have full service restaurants as well as convenience stores. Pilot truckstops own Flying J. Pilot has fast food restaurants while Flying J has Denny's restaurants. Love's is a stand alone chain and has fast food services. They also have convenience stores. All of these chains have showers and laundry facilities, thus making life on the road a little bit more bearable. Some have driver's lounges with cable tv and others have actual movie theatres in them. And some offer Sunday church services along with during-the-week chapel. The way most of them work is: when we buy fuel we accumulate points and showers. When we acquire 1000 points we are allowed $10 free food in the restaurants. One shower point for the driver and the co-driver is free. If you have no shower points the charge is $10 per person. They're pretty nice and are cleaned after each shower. Thank goodness!! Laundry facilities are usually $2 per load--washer and dryer. It allows us to get through another week! The convenient stores carry anything you could possibly want (for a price). Everything from pop, coffee, milk to food, clothing, office supplies, small truck parts (light bulbs, fuses, plugs,antennas), electronics (tv's, radios, gps, cb's), dvds, cd's, coolers, appliances (12 volt). The TA and Petro truckstops also have 24 hr. garage service that can come in very handy if you have some sort of breakdown. All of them have car parking as well as truck parking. All of them except Pilot have RV parking and most allow us to use the rv parking since we are a straight truck. I love that because it's usually closer to the door and facilities. Most convenient for the occasional middle of the night stroll to the facilities! If you decide to take a trip on the road you might consider using the services of truck stops. Some are set in beautiful surroundings and most are around when a stop is in order. Whether it be for gas, restroom, food or store needs. Thanks for taking the time to join me on the road. Until next time. . . .

Lazy Day Weekend

Well, we're still in Dallas, Tx. Got here Thursday and waited until afternoon Friday before getting a load for another destination. The only problem is that it doesn't pick up until Monday late afternoon. That means a long, lazy weekend in Dallas. A chance to get caught up on a few things like sleep, laundry, showers, grocery shopping, post office, etc. It's just a wonderful feeling to be able to go to bed and NOT set the alarm for a couple days in a row.

I've been playing on the computer and getting some reading done. We bought a new toy for Ron and he's having a ball playing with it. We got a gps for the truck that has all the latest features available--points of interest, truck routes, construction zones, traffic delays and more. I'm not that familiar with it yet but he seems to love it. He can even program different voices. Right now the voice belongs to Samantha. She seems to have an attitude problem. We tried her out on the way to the post office this morning and Ron said he may have to delete Sam and add Tom if her attitude doesn't change.

When we leave here we have about a 4 hour drive to our pick up and then another 5 hours to the delivery point--a fairly short run for us. The problem lies in the fact that we pick up at 5 in the afternoon and don't deliver until 7 in the morning. So we will have to find a place to lay over. If we get held up a little late during delivery (it happens a lot here) we may be able to have lunch with my sister Lori. Our delivery is about 20 miles from her in Arkansas. One thing about this new job--we've seen family more this past few months than in the past few years. LOVE IT!!

If the sun stays out a while longer I may get a picture of the outside of the truck. If I do I'll post it for you. We get stares all the time. Until next time we'll keep dodging!!!

Rest Areas

Well, no grass has been growing under us again this week! We had breakfast in St. Louis on Monday, in New York City on Tuesday and in Waco, Texas this morning. What a trip to New York! We drove down 5th Ave., Madison Ave., Broadway, and got to see Central Park. Of course there wasn't much to see at 4:45 a.m. By the time we left though, the sun had come out.

I feel that it is my duty to inform everyone, now that travel time is approaching, about the curiosities of interstate rest areas. In the short time I've been on the road I think I have accumulated enough experience to be an expert on the subject!

I've discovered if you are planning to drive though Rhode Island, don't go at night. The rest area washrooms are locked from 10:00 pm. until 7:30 a.m. Doesn't Mother Nature visit during the night there? And be careful in Alabama! The first time I was ever in that state--they shut the water off in my face at the door. Can you believe that? The attendant locked the door in my face and told me she didn't shut it off--all while I was dancing in front of her.

And watch out for the states that are upgrading their rest areas. In southern Illinois they have them shut down for renovations. It would make sense to shut every other one but NNNOOOOO- they have 2 or 3 in a row closed with no forewarning. That is definitely a hardship, especially when the distances between areas are anywere from 15 to 112 miles. Now deal with that!

I've saved the best for last. The most intriguing rest area I've seen so far is the one in Idaho that time forgot! We were in the middle of absolutely nowhere with about 3 more hours on the road when "the urge" announced itself. We pulled up, I looked around because the place looked like it had been deserted with the ghost towns of the old west. Ron announced that "he didn't have to go". Of course not! As I walked up to the door that looked like it was ready to fall off its hinges I saw a sign on the outside stating "These premises are under video surveillance!" Now, do I or don't I? Sometimes men have it so easy! I walked in only because I didn't have any other choice, and found a stainless steel commode, about a dozen rolls of TP in various stages all on one rod with 3 padlocks, and the oldest scuzziest sink I have ever seen with no running water. At least the toilet flushed! After that experience I wanted to take a long bath in my hand sanitizer!

I promise to have a better subject next time. I hope you got some insight into my life on the road. Thanks for sharing my ramblings.

Our New Home

Greetings from St. Louis! We are here for the weekend and enjoying some much needed down time. We will pick up Monday a.m. for a return trip to New York City. We have some mixed feelings about this trip. The delivery is Tuesday a.m. We are hoping to arrive before rush hour, the streets and traffic are still going to be horrendous. Hopefully, with good weather the scenery will make it all worth while!

I've been playing with this machine and have downloaded pictures of our home-away-from-home. Here are a few of them. When you walk into the sleeper section on the right side is the closet area. An upper cabinet with a picture frame (Robyn & Caleb taken just before our wedding and some beautiful scenery I took on some of our trips west.) on the wall to add a touch of personality. The table is at the rear of the berth with windows on either side. The bed is the back wall. It pulls down when we need it and the table folds automatically with it. Very conveniet. The sink has running cold water, a fairly large counter space (check out the crock pot) with a window that is now covered (cold when I took the pics), and a light. Above the sink area is the microwave with a grilling element and next to it is the tv. Yes, we do have satellite Directv in motion. I can watch as we go down the road! And if you look closely you can see one of my favorite features--Mood Lighting! It circles the ceiling on 3 sides. It's great for movie nights when we can't get tv or nothing else good is on.

We are able to manage quite well so far with laundromats at the truck stops and occasional trips to Walmart for our other necessities. We bought a separate GPS in order to find locations of stores, churches, attractions in the area. We've been able to see a few movies, find churches for Sundays (providing they have parking space for the truck) and eat at some great restaurants. Now you can imagine how we are living. We do miss family and friends. Coming home has taken on a whole new meaning! Thanks for sharing.

46th State

We have made it to state #46--New Hampshire! It's very pretty so far. We are along the New Hampshire/Maine border and settled in at the local TA truckstop for the night. In the morning we pick up in Massachusetts and deliver Friday a.m. in St. Louis, Mo. Still no grass growing under us. We had a little snow this morning and rain most of the day. Ron said it's a good thing we had the day off until morning because he is a "fair weather driver" and can't deal with all the precipitation!

After dinner in the truckstop diner we walked around just to see if there was anything different than any other stop. I FOUND POSTCARDS!!!! A few days ago I wrote about the difficulty in finding postcards for Robyn. Well, I found New Hampshire and Maine so I bought one of each for her. I know we haven't been actually in Maine yet but we don't know when we may get back to this area so I decided not to take a chance. Call it a bonus. Robyn was thrilled when I talked to her earlier.

I'm hoping to get to the pictures this weekend and maybe get them loaded onto the site. It's too hard trying to work on the computer while the truck is moving. I tried it and it just doesn't work for me. Especially with all the other issues I have with this darned thing! And a lot of our loads lately have been straight through runs going all night. Have faith, I will get them done!.

I need to go now. It's going to be an early morning tomorrow and a longer night to get to St. Louis. Thanks for reading, I hope you are enjoying.

Contrary Computers

Greetings from North Carolina,
The weather here is great for spring already. We've seen white, lt. pink, rose, lavender and yellow trees in bloom and several colors of daffodils in yards since arriving this morning. BEAUTIFUL !!!

I've decided to write about my biggest pet peeve since being on the road: Contrary Computers! My pc at home is wonderful. Ron's laptop, which is what we have in the truck, HATES me. While reading my email it will trash several before I can get them open. While scrolling down, it will delete. While typing a message or this blog some letters will not print or the cursor will jump to some obscure place on the page, sometimes even in the middle of another sentence and continue from there. There have been times when it will lock Ron out of his email. (Maybe it's not just me!) Whatever the reason, this machine seems to have a mind of its own. I have found though, that using the wireless mouse is a big help.

So, if you find that you simply can't make sense out of a word or sentence you might read here, don't blame me---IT'S THE CONTRARY COMPUTER !!!!!

I'm closing here today. We are on the way to a pick-up and then heading for New Hampshire. I just hope the groundhog didn't lie about an early spring up there. Thanks for reading my ramblings. p.s. I'm working on pictures.

We Have Survived

Has anyone been to New York City lately? What a ride! We delivered on Saturday morning so traffic wasn't too bad. That was the good part. Getting thee was another story! I thought the roads in Illinois and Indiana were bad but New York has them beat hands down. With potholes big enough to swallow the whole truck I'm amazed anything is still intact. Trying to dodge the holes and drive around all the construction to the ultimate in concentration and skill, especially while competing with the NY taxi drivers. I've decided to try to get buttons for us that read: I have survived the streets of New York! We can now say that we have been to Queens and I have a new respect for the casts of all the Law & Order series.

So, today is a totally lazy day for us. The past 2 weeks have been long with trips from Michigan to Utah to West Virginia to Pennsylvania to Connecticut to Michigan (again) to New York to New Jersey and tomorrow to Virginia. The past few days we've seen a lot of rain, a little snow and some flooding. I have no idea what I'd do if I were to evacuate my home because of flooding. After seeing houses with water half way up the door I can only pray that these people find the help and provisions they need to cope with the coming days.

I've been asked to show some pictures of the inside of the sleeper berth. I'll try but I'm still trying to figure out some of these things. I'm taking pictures today and will try to post them in the next day or 2. I have gotten some really wonderful pictures of glorious sunrises in Colorado, sunsets in Utah and snow-capped mountains in the Rockies. We saw some beautiful ice crystals glistening on the bare branches in New York but, naturally, the camera was not in reach. Even though the weather hasn't been too bad for us we are looking forward to warmer stuff. The trip to West Virginia was during a snow storm and the customer said it was just a little spring snow. I don't want to be there during the winter! The only real winter weather we encountered was driving to Dallas the day before the Superbowl. 2 inches of ice on the major highway from Louisiana to Dallas. It seemed to take forever and not a salt or sand truck in sight the entire way. Texas could learn a thing or two from the midwestern states.

I've been thinking about different subjects to talk about and have come up with a few to get me going in the next week or two. I hope to keep you all entertained as well as keeping this journal for my own sake. Thanks for taking an interest.

Postcards

Have you tried to buy picture postcards lately? My daughter Robyn collects them. I thought that maybe she hit on the one souvenir that wouldn't break the bank to take back to her. Boy, was I mistaken! The cost is still very inexpensive by today's standards ranging in price from 25 to 59 cents each. The problem is that unless you are in a tourist shop they are almost impossible to find. We have been in 45 of the continental 48 states and have gotten fewer than 20 cards for her.

When we got married we got some advice to mail ourselves a postcard while on our honeymoon. This is a way to have a record of when and where we've been and to keep it with the vacation pictures to identify with years later. What are we to do if we don't vacation in a popular tourist area?

We've found most of them at major truckstops and a few is some small shops. Most chains don't carry them at all. Cracker Barrel would be an ideal sight but no luck. And I was very disheartened to be told that when Pilot Truckstops merged with Flying J cases of postcards were simply tossed into the trash. Why? They don't have an expiration date and the clerk said people have been asking for them. I guess the higher-ups just don't want to be bothered. In the meantime we keep toodlin' down the road and I keep my eyes pealed for those colorful little cards that have become so elusive.

Thanks for sharing my ramblings.

Too Much Info

How many people know absolutely everything about you and your life? I don't think I want to know! After enduring the hiring process and finding our way along the highway and company procedures we were handed applications for Department of Defense clearances, one for each of us. One application is about the size and thickness of a magazine. They wanted a history of jobs, addresses, a listing of friends, total list of relatives, you name it. So while we were home for a weekend we set about filling them out-Ron on his laptop and me on my desktop. After a day and a half we finished. Now we had to go online and repeat the entire process from the paper ones. Once each section was finished the site let us know if all was in order before moving on to the next. If we were to print them out mine would be 47 pages and Ron's 68. We then waited! My clearance came through in 2 weeks but Ron's took 6-7. Then we had to get TWIC cards (transportation worker identification card) in order to be able to do government loads in and out of ports and military bases. If we have to get any more cards I will have to get a bigger wallet to carry them. Add to this ID cards made at individual company sites so that we can load and unload. These cards are good for one year so we have to keep them also. Ron said that now the feds know more about us than we do. Scary isn't it!

After all of this we were able to go back to the company base in Green, Ohio for a 2-day class in the next level of the job--White Glove. Included in this was training on explosives and radioactive materials. We are now certified to "blow and glow"! This is a promotion of sorts. We learned how to deal with art loads, escorted loads, government surveillance loads, etc. A job is a job with all the ups and downs but we are thoroughly enjoying ourselves. Isn't that what life is all about? Thanks for sharing with me.

On The Road Again

Just a little background info to start with. Ron and I were married on June 12, 2010 after being single a combined total of 31 years. Since school was out and I didn't drive summer school I was able to ride with him in his semi from the first day after the honeymoon. I loved it! We stayed mainly in the midwest and were home on weekends. LIfe definitely is different from an 18-wheeler view. It wasn't too bad--an electric cooler, electronic logbooks, satellite radio, twin bunks (but we never used the upper one). I took along books, electronic games, crocheting & knitting and learned that I could get used to this. As the summer wore down I realized that I had to go back to driving the school bus soon and Ron would have to go out on his own with the company informing him that he wouldn't get home for a few weeks at a time. Definitely NOT the lifestyle for newlyweds.
A week before school started we were offered the chance to drive a straight truck for FedEx Custom Critical and be on the road together. After much soul searching and prayer we took the job. Changing jobs was no easy thing. We both needed new DOT physicals, I had to get my haz-mat endorsement on my driver's license, drug tests, background checks, the works. Our first day was September 1, 2010 with 3 days of training in Ohio and then straight out on our first load. And that is the start of an adventure of a lifetime!
Now we are on the road for weeks (sometimes months) at a time and home is in a sleeper berth. It's not bad really. We have a refrigerator, microwave with a griller, table and benches, full size bed, 2 closets, a sink with running water, lots of cabinet space and directv in motion so I can watch tv while he drives! I have also brought a small crock pot, toaster, and a small George Foreman grill. All the creature comforts except a bathroom. Not to worry! I have a built-in travel agent that always manages to find a parking place at most rest areas and truck stops. In these first few months we have been in 45 of the continental 48 states. More on that next time. Thanks for letting me share with you.