Closer to Home

So we made it home for a weekend at the end of July...just to make it to Cheyenne Frontier Days. We go every year and had got tickets to go see Sugarland on the 30th. It was an awesome show and we really enjoyed the 4 days out of the truck. But 4 days go by quickly and it was time to get back into Dorothy and be on our way. First stop Fort Collins, Budweiser....load going to LA. Beer is not my favorite load, not to mention I never have liked beer, I know, there is probably something seriously wrong with me, but I never have taken a liking to it. It is also always a heavy load, at least 44,000 lbs. Anyway to make a long story short, our alternator went out before we could even make it out of Colorado, so we spent the night in Wheat Ridge and had it all fixed...this just kinda comes with the job. But we eventually made it to LA. Along I-70 from Colorado into Utah is a beautiful canyon...rocks again. Rocks and bridges, love them!

On an earlier trip we had to stop in Evanston, WY to pick up a part that controlled our airbags. Snowy and Sergeant were more than happy to show us around the shop and guard our truck while we got the part put on the tractor.

While fueling the truck in Wheat Ridge, we saw and met the driver of the Inferno Rocket truck. This truck runs on jet fuel and goes about 200 miles per hour. They were doing a demo in Colorado and were going to burn up a car with the jet of the engines. Sounded pretty cool! We were personally invited, but had to get the beer LA. Dedication, thats all I have to say on that one.

Mid Summer in Portland & Crabcakes

Finally got to take a trip to Portland without any rain. What a beautiful state. It isn't as green as it usually is in the summer, but they have had a shortage of rain...hasn't rained since the 4th ofJuly weekend. Here are some great shots from Interstate 84 heading west towards Portland. These are all shots of the Columbia River and Mount Hood.

We also took that oh so lovely trip to

New Jersey this past week. It was 104 degrees with 80 percent humidity...still don't get the appeal to live here. However,

we did get a scheduled stop in Maryland and got to try some AMAZING crabcakes. Kudos to Sara Harker, the fabulous person who suggested we go to G & M's restaurant to partake. Being a native she knew exactly where to go. The cakes were the best I have ever had and Jeff had a pasta dish with various seafood that was fantastic as well. On the must mention list though, the cream of crab soup...cream and crab...how can you screw that up? It was a great lunch and a nice treat. We would definately re-visit this place. Maryland and Deleware are very pretty an

d would like to take some time there are well to explore further. Somehow they frown on semi-trucks in touristy locations, not to mention its not on our route and Watkins Shepard probably wouldn't like the sight-seeing out of route either. But, they are on our list for places to visit later.

We have to go drive to Phoenix now from LA tonight and be back here tomorrow for another load. Talk to you all soon.

Been a While

Night sky in NM....I need a tripod

Sorry it's been so long. We have been so busy running back and forth across the country that I haven't had the time to update you all on what we have been doing. Not that I am complaining about the miles, they have been great. We just rolled over 700,000 on our truck and am proud to say that we put 100,000 on them ourselves. Last week we were in Missoula, MT and they offered us a newer truck. We looked at it, but it was two years newer than ours and only had 40,000 less miles on it. We love our truck and don't want to trade it, as long they keep fixing her we will be driving Dorothy!

Travel and see the world....well, we fell for it!

Our schedule is working great and we are not half as tired as we used to be. It is becoming more of a routine, which Miss non-spontaneous is loving! The job is spontaneous enough, I don't need kaos thrown into the mix. We have only missed 6 states now. Mostly, way north-east and also ND. Not sure if we are missing much in ND, but would like to see the north-east. We have been as far east as NY, which frankly is a pain in the butt to drive a truck in. The east is pretty, but the roads back there are very narrow and not made for big trucks and the bridges can make you duck every now and then when you go under a 13'8" one.

Dorothy looks good at the beach.

We got to back to Jacksonville with the same load, but this time we were a bit smarter. We have a client who takes from 6 - 8 hours to unload the trailer. The nearest truck stop is 15 miles away and the beach is 12, which offers the same amenities as a truck stop I might add, so I guess you all know which one we chose. We found the perfect spot to park the truck and spent the day at Jacksonville Beach. It was AWESOME. Finally after at least 24 days of going back and forth across this beautiful country and not 1 day to relax, we had a much-needed day-off (it was really only about 8 hours, but it felt like a full day of leisure). We went back and picked up the empty trailer and were back in Dalton, GA the next morning to pick up our next load.

Jacksonville Beach, FL

Have been eating mostly in the truck lately since we have been going so much, We have perfected several dishes out of our crock pot that have been really good. We also have had the opportunity to find a fantastic mexican market when we are are in LA. It has wonderful fresh produce for cheap and a deli that serves every dish you would find in a mexican restaurant, served up hot for under $6. They also have pork that already has the Al Pastor seasoning on it in the meat dept., great for throwing in the crockpot an having a yummy, warm dinner. I know you were all concerned about our withdrawal from Chubby's, but no worries, we are still keeping the mexican food tradition alive in our truck.

I-70, Utah

We got our routing changed and don't run the 40 as much as we did earlier this year, but now are taking 70. It has been nice to go through Denver, but can be such a tease. We have had the opportunity to have lunch with one of our boys a couple times, but then its back on the road and on our way. Most of our runs consist of LA to FL, NJ, MI, WV, NC or GA. Then from the east we usually run north and south for a couple of days. Sometimes OH or MI and then back down the GA to pick up another load to go out to either WA or OR. Then we get dispatched south to go back to LA. WA and OR are beautiful in the spring and summer, but the drive all the way down the 5 is a long one. It is over 1,000 miles and you can only drive 55 in OR and CA. When you cross over the border from OR to CA the first exit is 796....and then it goes backwards from there down to 1 in San Diego. Thats a lot of one highway in just one state. But when we go across TX to FL its 847 miles all in one state, which is all on I-10. There is usually a pretty good celebration after we cross the TX-LA border. Not that we don't like TX, but after a day and half and still being in the same state, it just doesn't feel like progress!

Pushy seagull in OR

We have met some more interesting people in the last few months. Trucking never has a shortage of colorful folk. We got to stay at a truck stop in Portland, OR called Jubitz one night. We went to see a movie and had dinner. It was like date night, I think I remember that. It was funny to watch a movie with everyone in the theatre being truckers as well. They also had jacuzzi tubs in with the showers and that was so luxurious to take a bubble bath that night. We both slept like babies.

Until next time....thanks for tuning in and enjoy the summer, I know we are.

More Randomness

This is a the biggest Jesus I have ever seen. It is in Ohio along the Interstate 75 and is as tall as a 10 story building. It is really cool looking whether you are a religious person or not.

We finally got the opportunity to drive down to Florida. Here is a pic of the Florabama ocean . Did not see any oil, but I hear it is not looking good for this coast.

This is the Tennesse River which we have probably passed at least 8 times so far. Very pretty and I got to catch it on a nice clear day.

Our loads are always ready at about midnight or after coming out of California. This week we had the opportunity to start our run during the day. This is a pic of the CA/AZ border just after Needles. We have passed this probably 10 times since we have started driving and this was the first opportunity to see it in daylight. The only thing I knew about the bridge we crossed over before was that the speed limit changed from 55 to 65 (which is a great thing!) But who knew how pretty it was...now we do!

I have finally found the last thing to put on our bucket list. While driving through Indiana I saw a sign for: The Vacuum Cleaner Museum. No, I'm not kidding...this really exists. First of all, before I offend anyone, who in the hell would want to go to a vacuum cleaner museum? I just don't think I will run out of things to do before I die before I make it to this museum.

We spent my birthday in Dalton, GA...out of the truck in a hotel room with a king size bed that wasn't moving. It was fantastic! Thanks for all of the birthday wishes from everyone. I forgot my phone charger in the truck so by the time I got back to my phone for our load out to Ohio at midnight I got all of your messages. We went to Western Sizzler for a free birthday meal, it was yummy. I guess I am old cause resting and eating was just fine with me :o )

Random Photos

Both of these are of the Grapevine in California. This is a pass you must cross when coming from northern California to Los Angeles.

This is a cool tree that grows everywhere in souther cal. It looks like a Dr. Suess tree

This is a beautiful hybrid

number that we found in Port of Vancouver, WA

Mount Shasta Lake in Northern California.

Paper Plant in Washington State

Okay, for all of you printing geeks. We got to pick up paper rolls from the Warehauser Paper Mill and it was so cool. I really am a nerd. From being in the printing industry and then seeing where the paper is made and how it is made was so interesting. This was in Longview, WA which is a port of entry. Before you could even pick up your load you had to show ID and testify that you had no drugs, firearms or liquor in your truck...we passed by the way. We got a map with directions on how to get to the proper building, all winding through logs, wood chips and other buildings that who knows what happened in there. We got our paper rolls and were headed for Quebecore. People were looking at me wierd when I was taking these pics in amazement, so I hope you enjoy them.

Is that like the coolest thing you have ever seen before? I think that is pretty crazy that they take your entire truck and turn it 90 degrees and empty it...kinda like an "E" ride at Disneyland.

It Never Fails

Jeff and I seem to have a knack for being at the wrong place at the wrong time or we get lucky and hit everything when it isn't busy or crazy....well these last two weeks have been on the wrong place, wrong time mode. We ended up in Tennessee for the most rain they have had in their history, 20" in 2 days. The floods were incredible and the stories we heard from local people are truly sad and heartwarming. I have a few pics, but our job was to stay on high ground and make sure our load was safe, so we didn't get too close to downtown Nashville. We were about 25 miles SE of there when we decided it wasn't safe to be driving any further. We pulled into a truck stop to check the weather on the TV and it was incredible. Tornado warnings, Flash flood warning

s and the Interstate 24 we were traveling on was closed about 12 miles up the road....okay, so that part did swing us to the lucky side. Some truckers were not so lucky. They were parked at the TA right in the heart of Nashville. The water got so high that boats had to start coming in to rescue drivers because the water rose so quickly it started coming into the cab through the windows...it was that high. The Cumberlin River rose to 48' in the heart of the city. We waited out the storm for 2 days and finally decided according to the chatter on the CB and TV reports that we should try to make our way over to Interstate 40. Well, other people had this same idea!

It was like a parking lot...no literally a parking lot. These trucks had been lined up on the road for the last 24 hours waiting for the interstate to re-open. There were about 4 - 5 rivers that cross under the 40, but at that time they were flowing over the 40, so it

was probably a really good thing that the highway was shut down. Nashville is a hard place to be stuck. There isn't a simple alternative route to take and heading NW or just West for that matter....Nashville is the hub that every truck has to come through.