Back home....

Well, made it to Dallas around 1300 yesterday. Waited at the OC for Jessica to get there. j waited for her and I headed up to get Bandit. After I picked her up I headed home and met J and Jessica at the Wal Mart and we did a little grocery shopping. Finally made it home! Had a good evening and I went to bed around midnight. Justin and his girlfriend got here around 0130 I think.


So this morning we got up and exchanged presents. My belly is pierced and I got this really cool belly ring that is a semi! I will have to see if I can take a picture of it and post it on here. Also got a CD that I was wanting, some purfume/body shimmer stuff and a really soft robe from Victoria's Secret. Our big present to each other is going to be a really good camera. So we will get that later. Been a little busy out on the road to do much Christmas shopping. But since it is after Christmas, maybe we can get one on sale really really cheap!!

Update on Atlanta post - Good news

Well, I made the call. I got ahold of Julian. He isn't our normal contact, Tonya is, but she was out on vacation, and Julian and her are on the same team. Julian saved the day. I explained the deal to him and he realized that we were just sitting there in limbo. Well, he got on the ball and tried to figure something out. I was on the phone with him for about 10 minutes and then he said to let him work on it a little more and he would get back to me. We hung up, and I kid you not, it wasn't 3 minutes later when my Qualcomm beeped and it said we were being taken off that load and that they found a new load to keep us moving. It said that the new load info would follow shortly. Well, about 1 minute later, we got the load info on the Qualcomm and we were set. It was a load to Dallas which is PERFECT because that is where we needed to go. So.... way to go Julian!! YOU ROCK!!!!!

I am also excited because once we get back in town, we get to go pick Bandit up from our friends house! I have missed her so much! Only about 2 more months to go and then we will hopefully be in our own truck as Owner Operators so we can take her with us. Our friends Michelle and Stephanie have been alternating taking care of her. Stephanie for the most part, but Bandit goes over and visits Chewy at Michelle's once in a while. They have been AWESOME helping out with her since we decided to do this crazy thing called truck driving. :) But it won't be long and the 3 of us will be a family again. Now I just have to convince J that we need another small dog so that Bandit will have someone to keep her company while we are on the road. We will just have to wait and see how well that works out.......

Atlanta,GA

What a mess. Last night we got into Fairburn,GA and delivered our GP load. They had us bobtail back to the OC instead of taking an empty. I figure it is because Atlanta is such a small OC that there isn't a lot of room to park loaded trailers, let alone empty. So we head over here, and pull into the gate. While we were dropping our load, we got our next one. We were to pick up a relay here at the OC and take it to New Braunfels,TX. Keep in mind that we are supposed to be home tomorrow at 1800. I sent a message and asked them and they said we would be routed home after we delivered this load. It is only about 250 miles from Dallas, so I figured they would have us drop the load they just assigned us and then have us relay one to Dallas. Well, we get to the OC and find the trailer. We decide, since we are being lazy and it isn't due until the 29th at midnight, just like our previous load, that we will shut down till the morning and then head out. This morning rolls around and I am awakened by a LOUD thunder clap. Great... Get up, get dressed, run inside to the ladies room, and head over to hook up to the trailer. Get to it and remember it is high value so we drive over to the Estimator, which is where they keep the paperwork and king pin lock at this OC. J goes in to get the stuff and comes b ack empty handed. Hmmm this isn't looking good. He hops in and proceeds to tell me that the trailer we are supposed to pick up is showing TBO (bad trailer) and he was told all the product has to be unloaded from that trailer to another trailer. Unfortunately it isn't looking like that is going to happen today. From the looks of things, someone was trying to slide the tandems, and the passenger side of the trailer went into the 5th hole and the drivers side went into the 4th hole. Not sure how that happened, but it is all out of alignment. And it is obvious from just looking at it. The front tandem is crooked.

SO.....that was at 0930 this morning. I called our DBL who was going to notify our TP. I also notified our TP by Qualcomm and by voice mail and I still haven't heard anything back. It is now 1300 hours. Starting to get a little upset so I am going to call again. I don't mind sitting if I know it is because they are still trying to find us a load back to Dallas. But what I don't like is not hearing ANYTHING back from them. Not even a message that says "We are taking you off this load and trying to find you a load home. Will let you know as soon as we have something for you." At least then my message would have been acknowledged!

So that is what I am doing today. Hanging out in the truck waiting on a load. Fun fun fun.... :)

North Carolina and a small rant....

Last night we spent the night at the OC in Carlisle,PA. We got there around 1700, grabbed some dinner and did laundry. I hit the sack around 2030. I was so tired! So I was lazy today and got up at 0630. We grabbed a shower and breakfast and I headed out at 0830. We know that when we deliver this load, which isn't due until midnight tomorrow, that we will only have time for our load back to Dallas for our TAH, so there isn't any real reason to push it. I ran 471 miles today and that left J with just about 300 or a little less I think.

Right now we are coming into Charlotte,NC. Traffic has been horrible. It has been stop and go from Statesville,NC down to Charlotte. That is almost 40 miles. I really don't know why SB is so bad. Well, by now, rush hour is starting, but an hour and a half ago when we started it wasn't. He has driven 41 miles in that hour and a half. Dang..... Anyway, our plan is to fuel up here and grab dinner. We are hoping by the time we get done that rush hour traffic will have thinned out some and we can actually make some progress. Figure we will deliver between 2100-2200 tonight.

Also, I just wanted to say that a driver with Gainey Transport really pissed me off today. We both got stuck behind some slow traffic. As soon as possible, I put my blinker on to pass. He pulled out, and I had my blinker on, and he didn't let me over. He kept on going and passed us both. Now, this may not seem like a big deal to you if you don't drive a truck. But there is this thing called courtesy that most truck drivers have. We know what it is like to be stuck behind traffic, and to have our blinker on trying to pass, and 30 4 wheelers keep passing. KNOWING that we have our blinker on and want to get over. We get this crap all day long. As a truck driver, I let another truck driver in front of me, hell, I will let a 4 wheeler in front of me, because I am courteous. But this SHIT, either had his head up his ass, or was just a dick. So I got on the CB and told him, "Thanks Gainey, appreciate it" in the best smart ass voice I could muster. I don't think he had his CB on, but I felt better. Figured that was better than flipping him off......

Back on the road

Well, Christmas and our 34 hour restart are over and we are back on the road. We had a nice time staying at the hotel. Christmas Eve found us eating pizza and hot wings from Domino's and Christmas Eve found us eating burgers and chicken. All from places that deliver because we couldn't go anywhere since we were on a restart and couldn't use the truck. But it was a nice break and we made the most out of it.

Got up this morning and didh't have a load at 0600 when we said we would be available. Finally got one around 0900 I think. Picking up in Easton,PA and delivering to Fairburn,GA. YES!! Down south and out of the snow!! Also, puts us in a good place to get back home on the 29th for our TAH. So we are happy. Right now we are pulling into Carlisle to fuel and do some laundry. Probably pull out in the morning since we only have about 700 miles to go and we can get that done easily tomorrow. Load has until midnight day after tomorrow to be delivered so we are good.

Merry Christmas! And a little story....

Not much going on today. We are just sitting in the hotel chillin out. But I wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

I did want to tell you about something that happened day before yesterday that was really cool. I had been driving across Iowa and pulled into the Pilot at Exit 284 to see what the weather was going to do. I pulled in and found a spot then spun around so I could straight line back into the spot. Backed in with no problem, set the brake and hit the high idle. I had been running with my CB on which is something I don't normally do. But the roads were so bad that I had it on in hopes of hearing whether or not the roads were gonna get any better or not. So as we were sitting there, a guy came on the CB and said he had a message for that lady Schneider driver that pulled in. He was talking about me. He continued on to tell a story about how, 25 years ago when he started driving, he came upon a female driving a semi. They were in California I think he said and it was bad weather. He said she was a petite woman, from what the could tell when he passed her. Maybe 5'2" and 130 lbs. She was going slow and had her hazards on. When he went around her, he got her on the CB and asked her what a little old gal like her was doing driving a big truck. She told him that her father or husband (I don't remember which) drove the truck for the coal mines and they were unable to drive the truck because of an accident, so she took up driving the truck to support the family. This driver said that when he saw her and she explained why she was driving, it changed his views of women in this industry. He said that right then and there he realized that anything a man could do, a woman could also do. He said that since then he has had the utmost respect for women that drive a truck in a male dominated industry. Then he proceeded to tell me good luck, God bless and to be careful out on those roads because they were bad. I told him thank you so much and that I wished more male drivers felt that way. He said he was heading out and that he was in a black Pete and when he pulled out, I told him to take care, then he was gone. It was one of those moments where I just felt really good. He made my day. I do wish that people were as tolerant as he is when it comes to women drivers, but overall, I have had good experiences.

So I just wanted to share that with anyone that reads this. It is feels good to be commended for doing your job by a complete stranger. Where ever he is, I hope he has a wonderful Christmas and many more safe travels.

Christmas in Newark,NJ

What a crazy few days! After we made it through Wyoming, J made it to just east of Omaha,NE and he had clear roads. Then I took over and drove from there to our first destination in Chicago. From Des Moines,IA to Walcott,IA which is roughly 175 miles, I counted 112 cars off of the road from the ice and snow. It was horrible, yet again, but I made it through. Then after we left Chicago, J was driving. There was a huge storm up on the great lakes causing gale force winds (according to the National Weather Service) and we were blown ALL over the road. We stopped for the night in Youngstown,OH. J was worn out. Then I got up and drove us the last 400 miles to finish delivering. I contacted support shift and they contacted the consignee and told them when we would be in. She said that they would wait until we got there. I was worried about it because it is Christmas Eve and was afraid that they would be closing early. We got there at 1530 which is when I said we would get there and there was NO ONE there. ARGH!! So I call in again, and they tell me someone should be there at 1600 to unload us and if they don't show up by 1630 that we should just drop the trailer. About 10 minutes later we get a message telling us to go ahead and drop the trailer and leave so that is what we do.

From there we head to the Kearny drop lot to try to figure out what we are going to do. We had thought about renting a car but it was too late to do that. All the cars were already rented when we called places. So we decided to get a hotel. I used our handy dandy GPS "Maggie" to locate a hotel, and here we sit, at the Courtyard by Marriott Newark Liberty International Airport location. Not the place we imagined spending Christmas, it is better. We knew we would be on the road and figured we would be driving. However the way things worked out, we ran out of hours and had to do a restart so it worked out perfectly! We have a nice hotel, had dinner delivered and have a king size bed to sleep in tonight. So I would say if we can't be home with family, then this is a pretty good alternative.

Laramie,Wyoming

I have never been so happy to stop in my life! I got up this morning at 0400 and by 0415 I was on the road. No side effects to the 5-hour energy I am happy to report. :) Anyway, I was about 40 miles west of the Utah border. So I took off. Small mountains on that side of Utah, then it goes flat as a pancake until you reach Salt Lake City. At that point it started to snow on me but it was only a few flurries and it stopped. Made it through SLC then up to Parley's Summit I go. That was a pretty steep drive. Going up and coming back down. Then comes the fun part. Enter Montana. 10 hours of driving, 1 hour on duty, and I only made 540 miles today. Coming across Wyoming SUCKED!!! More so than Sacramento traffic. High wind advisory. Gusts up to 65 mph, blowing snow creating white out conditions, 3 wrecks (one EB and two WB) for a total of 6 fatalities. I am WORN OUT!! Of course, now that I made it here, it is Joe's turn to drive, and no snow blowing and the roads are now clear. Just my luck.

So that was my day today. I am really happy it is over and done with. Reports are that the rest of Montana and Nebraska are all clear so J should have a good easy shift.

Sacramento

Now we are in Sacramento. But first, let me tell you about today.

J gets us to a truck stop last night 21 miles from destination. So we pull over and get about 4 hours good non moving sleep. I felt great when I woke up. So I run in and go to the restroom and come back and start getting my log book started for the day. I also take a 5 Hour Energy. I don't know how people feel about these, but they are all natural with vitamins and have the equivalent of 2 cups of coffee. Some of the others stuff out there has ephedrine or whatever it is called, but these don't. Anyway, every morning I drink one when I get up because I don't drink coffee on the road or I woud be stopping at every rest area to pee! Well, it says you can feel fushed and your skin may tingle because of the large amount of B-12, but the side effects have never effected me. Until this morning I guess. I seriously started feeling really bad. VERY flushed, dizzy, my arms felt numb, I was nauseous and my stomach was instantly upset. J was asking what he could do and honestly, I wasn't sure, because I had never had that kind of reaction to this stuff. And I drink one EVERY day. After I felt like I could walk, J got me back into the bathroom and after a few minutes I felt better. After about 20 minutes from the time I drank it, I was feeling normal again. So I take off for the consignee who is just down the road. I get about 11 miles down the road and I have to pull over again. I get out and I am throwing up on the side of the road. Stomach is cramping, but no where to go to the bathroom. About 10 minutes later, it passes and then I am fine again. I go ahead and make it to the consignee and I don't have any problems after that. So that was my morning. It was just really wierd. I don't know if it was a bad bottle of the stuff or what, but I am glad that is over with!

Now, on to the rest of the day. I made it to the consignee only 15 minutes late, due to the stop on the side of the road, so that wasn't bad. Got unloaded and headed up to French Camp,CA to drop the empty trailer off there. Then I headed down to South San Francisco,CA to to pick up the current load we have. It has two stops. One in Wood Dale,IL and the other in Elizabeth,NJ. The one in Illinois is a live unload on Sunday morning and the other is a live unload on Monday morning. We will see if we can make it in time. It is gonna be tight, but we will probably make it. We always do......

So it is 1730 and we are in Sacramento headed east. That was my fun day. I am tired and ready for bed now.

Sitting at a Pilot...

....in the fuel aisle here at Lake Havasu City x8 on I-40 and it is a complete goat rope. All these trucks aren't fueling, but they haven't pulled up either. I don't know if it is a problem with the pumps or if people are just being asses and not pulling up.

Anyway, appointment time at 0600 tomorrow and we have 521 miles to go and it is only 1700 hours. Piece of cake. And that delivery time is Pacific and we are on Central time.

Today I drove 590 miles. I'm pooped. We were trying to make it to where we could get there are the end of J's shift so that we could get some non moving sleep before the appointment time in the morning. Looks like we will make it.

So nothing really new. Hopefully we will go back to Texas with a load. It is a good road, either I-10 or I-40 and we can make good time.

More later....

Back to California....

I got up this morning at 0330, which is entirely too early and took over driving since we had a FedEx load and it was time critical. They figured we would arrive at 1530 hours and we made it there at 1330 hours. YES!! And that is on top of stopping in Fontana that I mentioned yesterday, so we had a good run. I did have a problem with the empty trailer I picked up though. The door was warped and I couldn't get it shut. I felt bad, but I had to wake up J and have him help me. Not to mention that the yard guy dropped the trailer litterally 6 inches from the other trailer so I couldn't even close the door. I had to back up for him to shut it because they were so close that I couldn't pull forward or the doors of the trailers would have gotten tangled up. Idiot people that park those trailers should know better. They do, but they figure they aren't their trailers so they don't care. They are just lazy.

At around 1230 today we got our next load assignment. We had to pick up an empty trailer at FedEx and take it to the Dallas OC then pick up a relay going to Tracy,CA which is on I-5 near Sacramento. That rocked because we were wanting to go to the OC for a shower so it worked out perfectly. Of course when we got to Dallas OC trucks were backed up onto the frontage road because so many trucks were there and they were getting gas. So we bypassed the fuel lanes and just came inside. And once we got inside we had to wait about an hour for a shower. They only have 4 showers there and they were full and then there were 6 people in front of us. We just decided to eat in the cafeteria since we were going to have to wait. So much for eating good, but I didn't totally blow it. I had the enchiladas and really only at them. Barely touched the rice and beans.

That is what we did today. We are currently in Dallas/Fort Worth traffic trying to get out of here but it is 1800 hrs and traffic is a mess. We have to be in Tracy,CA at 0600 day after tomorrow for a live unload so we gotta book to make it on time. But that will give us 3061 paid miles is just three days. Not bad.....

Headed to Fort Worth,Texas

Thankfully this morning we woke up and had another load. It was FedEx again but this one was delivering to Fort Worth,TX instead of Shawnee,KS. So went through the same routine as yesterday. Got up, got a shower, found our empty trailer at Fontana, headed over and picked up the load and thank goodness this one wasn't cancelled! So we headed out and stopped back by the OC real quick to grab some food and then we were off. We have to maintain an average of 47.5 mph per their contract or it is a service failure and the clock starts when we depart the shipper. So we are actually behind since we stopped at the OC for food. It doesn't matter that we weren't moving, the fact is that we left the shipper so all that time stopped, about 45 minutes, went against our average. Anywho, we will make it up. Right now it is 1745 hours, and we have right at 1100 miles to go. I told them we would be there by 150o tomorrow afternoon. I actually thing we will make it sooner than that. Of course that means that we aren't stopping for non moving sleep tonight like we normally do. And that sucks! It means I have to be up and in the drivers seat and driving by 0330, if I get up at 0300. But we said that we were going to run hard to make up for some lost money being broke down, I just didn't mean right off the bat! LOL!!

Oh, coming into Arizona from California I had to pull into the scales and they were checking everyones log books. I wasn't worried because I knew my logs are legal, but it still makes you nervous. And I had never been inspected before so it was all new. But they didn't have me pull in. I just pulled up and they asked for my log book and permit book. So I handed them both out the window. Then the Trooper took it to a little table and thumbed through the log book and another lady (not sure if she was a trooper or what) looked at my permit book and they were done. The Trooper handed them back to me and said "Good job! Have a safe trip." That was nice of him. I can only imagine the drivers that log loose leaf and the pain that is to check. Our log books are in book form and the pages are perforated so we tear out the original and send to Green Bay and we keep the copy for our records and per DOT. But it is over and I passed and didn't even pee my pants, so it was a good day. :)

That's all for now. I'm going to log out and hit the sack. Gotta be up early so I can deliver this on time by the end of my shift tomorrow!

Fontana,CA

Well, we are doing a 34 hour restart here in Fontana. Now, I know you are wondering why we are shut down doing a restart when we haven't really done shit in the last week. Well, here is my story.......

So J gets us into Fontana around midnight last night. Give or take... He unhooks the trailer and parks the truck. We unhook the trailer in case the person that is picking up the relay shows up. So we pull around and get some sleep. I had us showing available at 0400 California time. So at 0400 I get up and check the Qualcomm and we have a load. Cool. We are supposed to pick up in Anaheim and deliver in Shawnee,KS. It is a FedEx load that is expedited and we have until 1500 hours to pick it up. So we go ahead and get up and come inside for a shower. Then we head out to the truck and get in and pull around to the fuel aisle and fill up. Then we realize that it is 0600 (we had to wait a while to get a shower) so we decide to park and grab some breakfast real quick since the cafeteria opens at 0600 and they have GREAT food here. In we go. I had an awesome breakfast burrito. They really make the best ones here. And I swear the tortilla they use is the size of a large pizza and is simply huge when it is rolled up. Oh, and excellent salsa. Anyway, so we finish up and head outside and get in the truck. When I get in the truck and start it, I see that we have a new message. I read it and it says that our load has been cancelled because FedEx didn't have enough for the load. That seems kind of funny because isn't FedEx usually overnight or 2 day? And I would think if they had anything, that it would need to go. But, I suppose if they didn't have enough for a full load they probably gave it to an LTL (less than loaded) carrier and put it in a smaller trailer. Well, now what? So J goes back to sleep since he was woke up in the middle of his sleep to take a shower. Finally another 4 hours go by and we still don't have a load. At this point, technically, if I had been on duty, my shift would have been over in 3 hours. So I made a decision to send in another Mac 18 (our availability) and change it to tomorrow morning at 0400 local time. This way, we both have our 34 hour restart and we won't have to stop during the week to take it. Because we would have had to stop during the week. And it didn't make any sense to be down today and then a whole extra day during the week. We may as well take advantage of it now and then we can hit it hard in the morning and run all week. That way we can have a decent check next week. Because basically they have SUCKED this past few weeks since we have been broke down so much. Now I have to pray that we get a load tomorrow so we can get some miles!!!

Since you know I am trying to eat better, I only thought it was fair that I fess up to the patty melt and half an order of fries I had today at lunch. BUT, to redeem myself, I had a chef salad for supper. So see, I am trying....

Terrible sweet tooth

Usually I don't crave anything sweet, but right now I want something sweet so bad! I don't know what my deal is. Actually, I think I do know what the deal is. We have been eating in the truck the last 4 days, with the exception of McDonalds yesterday of which I ate healthy, and I think I am just craving something that I am trying to avoid. My ass is going to continue getting bigger if we keep eating all that fried, fattening truck stop food and fast food. I think to remedy the problem I am going to make a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich and have some milk. Not extremely healthy, but I could make a worse choice I guess. Plus it is something I have in the truck and we won't have to stop anywhere.

Right now we are about to pass through Tucson,AZ headed to Fontana,CA (basically Los Angeles, it's a suburb). J will get us in around 0100 but I put us available at 0400 their time which is 0600 our time. That will give me time to grab a shower at the OC before we get a load. I am hoping that we don't get a load until around 0600 or so their time so that the cafeteria there will be open and we can get some salads from them. They make the best and freshest salads of anywhere and I love them!

Unfortunately we are going to end this week with 3009 miles. It sucks, but we didn't get a load until Thursday afternoon since our truck was in the shop for maintenance and cutoff is tomorrow at 1700 hours. And last week we only had 2306 because we only had the one run from Oregon to Milwaukee,WI. But we have the truck back now and we are ready to roll. We better get some serious miles this week!!

I guess I am off to make me a pb&j sandwich now....

Back to Sunny California

FINALLY!! Well, we delivered last in Hatiesburg,MS then drove over to New Orleans,LA and picked up a load of coffee at Proctor & Gamble and are now headed to Los Angeles,CA with it. Did you know that in New Orleans there is a NASA Center? It is litterally at the end of the block from P&G. Very cool. I may have known that there was a NASA there and had just forgotten but it was cool to drive by.

Yesterday was a horrible day for sleep for both of us. After we picked up at P&G, we headed to the nearest Pilot which was about 30 miles away. We had to scale the load since it was 42,120 lbs. Didn't have to slide the tandems so that worked out great. Then we called it a night and parked there. I was up yesterday at 0500, drove all day till 1530, took a nap from about 2000-2200 and that was all the sleep I got. Between trying to find the delivery in Hattiesburg, and the CRAPPY state of I-10, sleep was just out of the question. And since I was awake still at 0145 when we got to the Pilot, there was no way I was going to get up and drive at 0300. So I got up at 0830, yes, I slept in. Hit the road about 0915 and made it 300 miles to the Pilot in Baytown where we showered, ate, fueled up and bought a new coax cable and antennae for the CB. Then J installed it and it seems to be working better now. It is turned all the way down at the moment, but we were actually able to hear, so that makes us think we were right when we were thinking it was a problem with the coax.

Oh, and I have been trying to eat better. We ate at McDonalds today because I was too hungry to wait until after we showered to cook something and we had to wait for the shower. So I got a grilled chicken sandwich and only ate half the bun, a side salad with low cal Italian and a small diet coke. So I thought that was pretty good for eating out. Of course, a little while ago we were hungry again, so I warmed up a bowl of chili and made us a frito pie. But I had about a 1/4 of the can of chili and I gave the rest to J so I didn't really eat that much.

We are about at a rest area so I'm gonna run in and go to the ladies room and then hit the sack while J continues to drive. I'll post more tomorrow.

Called consignee last night to ask about the 1530 delivery by time. They told us they are just short staffed on afternoon shift and like to have loads in by 1530 but if the arrive after it is no biggie. Since he said that, and it isn't a big deal if it is later, and since we weren't going to make it on time anyway, we went ahead and stopped for about 3 hours last night. After coming off a few days in the hotel, it is hard the first day back out to get your body adjusted. J didn't drive but to Normal,IL last night and I hit the road at 0600. We just switched down here in Mississippi and he has about 225 miles to go. We should get there around 2100.

While we switched drivers we also ate dinner. Bought us each a side salad at the W. Memphis OC and in the cooker we cooked some Steak strips (like fajita meat) and some black eyed peas. YUMMY!!

Not much really going on today so I'll leave it at that!

Back on the road!

Hopefully this will be the last time we are shut down for a while. We are ready to get some miles after doing practically nothing the last three weeks. Well, actually almost a month.

So got the truck back today from the shop and we are now on our way to Reedsburg,WI for a liveload that is going to Hattisburg,MS. Of course we have to pick up by 2100 hrs and deliver by 1530 tomorrow. That isn't going to happen. As soon as they get us loaded we will see what time it is and then send in a Mac 29 with new delivery time. I just don't see it happening.

Had a good time last night at Karaoke there at the hotel. I'm not a Vodka drinker, but the waitress made me a lime Vodka with lemonade and it was pretty darn good. So I enjoyed a couple of those. We got up this morning and checked out of the hotel and came to the OC and got laundry done also. Thought I would thrown that immensely interesting tidbit in there for ya. Also went to Walmart and restocked on things in the truck so we have groceries and are going to be eating in the truck as much as we can. Tonight I am cooking Sausage links flavored with apple and stuffed with cheese, along with green beans and steamed onions and bell peppers. We will see how that turns out in the cooker when we get stopped and are getting loaded. I think it should be done by then and that will be a good time to eat.

That's all for now.....

Still in Green Bay

Well, I hope that the maintenance they are doing on our truck is top notch considering the time they are keeping it from us. Tonight we are spending the 3rd night in the hotel, and hopefully the last. Not that I mind sleeping in a big comfortable king size bed, but this bed isn't making me any money. Wait, that didn't sound right. Well, you know what I mean.

Not much else to report. I did notice in the hotel bar that they have Karaoke tonight. At least we will have something to do tonight that will be fun!

Update time!

Craig and Diane, yeah, we must have been right behind you guys! I hope you made it to Florida ok. Boy, am I jealous!! :)

Well, let me tell you what happened with us. Sorry it is a little late, but better late than never! So I thought I had a good idea when I decided to stop for the night in Ontario,OR. Got up the next morning and it was dry outside. YES!! So I head out and get about 50 miles down the road, and BAM, there is the storm. It sure didn't move very fast during the night. I drove for about 50-60 miles in snow and ice. Top speed was about 40 low end about 30. It wasn't a lot of fun! We make it in to Jerome,ID and stop at a Flying J and I check the weather on the computer, mainly wanting to check out interstate conditions. weather.com works great for this. Well, I-70, I-80 and I-90 weren't looking very good. I-70 and I-80 were showing red, caution, I-90 was showing orange, possible problems, and I-94 was showing green, good. So we decided to head up I-15 and go back through Butte,MT and head east on I-94 from there and go through North Dakota, Minnesota and into Wisconsin that way. It was about 200 miles or so out of route, but it was so worth it. Road was dry all of the way, and if it wasn't dry, it was just wet from precipitation, but no snow packed or ice packed roads. It made the trip much more enjoyable.

We delivered to Miller Brewing yesterday and from there got a message for us to get an empty from Miller and then drive up to Green Bay for our PM's that we are overdue on. So we got in here about 1830 last night and got the truck in line for the shop. They are stacked up with trucks in the shop, and even though we are a team, there is just so much to do to our truck that they are saying it won't be ready until Wednesday afternoon at the earliest. That has been our luck lately! But we knew we were going to be down at least one night getting this done and we are just going with the flow. This HAS to be done. And once they get it done, there isn't any reason that we should be shut back down, so we will hit it hard once we get out there.

So last night and tonight we are in Green Bay hanging out at the Howard Johnson's. This is actually a pretty cool place. Indoor pool, indoor minature golf, restaurant and bar on premis. Nice....

Snow, snow, snow - I'm jinxed!!

FINALLY got a load around 1400 hours yesterday. Bobtailed 430 miles to Twin Falls,ID to pick up an empty and then 186 miles to Vale,OR to pick up our load of minerals. We are delivering to Milwaukee,WI. I guess they really are not understanding me when I say I want somewhere WARM!!! LOL!!

So we head out yesterday afternoon and get into Twin Falls,ID around midnight. Pick up the trailer and head back to the I-84 where there is an AMBEST Truck Stop. Since it was only 196 miles to pick up and we had until 1500 hrs today, we stopped there for the night. It was raining, about 30 degrees outside so it was getting slick, and just plain hard to see on the blacktop. So we got up around 0530 and headed in for a shower. The clerk was really nice and they actually had some of the best showers we have been to. HUGE shower. I'm talking 3 people could have taken a shower at once, there was a radio and hair dryer in there. And it was CLEAN!! I'm sure some of you have stopped there before, but we haven't been out this direction yet so it was really nice to find that little place. OH, and at midnight, there was still tons of parking. We practically parked right by the door. Also, this place has XS gloves in womens sizes! NO ONE that I have found carries those so I bought a couple pair. Who knew goat skin was so soft??

Headed out and got to the pick up location right at high noon. I ended up taking the scenic route and was wondering if I had missed something. But I got there all the same. We were live loaded and were in and out of there in an hour. Impressive. When we left we stopped at the DOT scale house, that was un-manned, but the digital scales were working, and weighed the load. Had to move the trailer from the 5th hole to the 7th hole and now we are all set to go and legal.
Did I mention that it started snowing on us while I was getting loaded? What is it with me and snow? Well, stop at the Pilot up on I-84 in Ontario and look at the weather on the laptop. There are some really pretty colors on that radar. I-80 appears to be a complete mess. So we decided to park here and start again in the morning. This load is not high value and not expedited and we have until Tuesday night at midnight to deliver so we are going to let that storm that is hitting the midwest get a little further ahead of us.

That is our story. If anyone is in Ontario,OR come by and say hi to us. We're parked on the north side of the building right across from Sizzler!

Luck is not with us!!

What did we wake up to this morning? SNOW!!! We just can't catch a break. LOL!! Go with the flow....go with the flow.... That is my mantra right now. :) It is coming down like crazy right now. The parking lot here is like an ice skating rink. Really really icy. The road in front of the Flying J is packed and icy also. Not sure what the interstate looks like. I am hoping they have it plowed and sand out. If it keeps this up, we will be stuck here even longer. There is just no way we will be getting any traction without a trailer. Bobtailing we will be all over the road. Right now it is just a waiting game. We were available at 0600 this morning and we still don't have a load and it is about 0945. When we went in to eat breakfast I called in to make sure we were showing available, and we are, so we will just wait and see what happens.

I guess for the time being I will kill some time playing on the computer and see what happens. I'll update later if we get out of here and let everyone know what is going on.

Pumpkin Sweet Pumpkin

Ahhh it is so nice to be back home again. Well, not really "home", but in our travelling home. I am already sleepy because the vibration of the truck just lulls me to sleep!

So here is what is going on. We got up this morning and headed out of Salt Lake City. Stopped at some little place called CJ's, which is next to a Pilot but I don't remember the exit but it was north of the city, and had a wonderful breakfast there. Then we headed north again. Stopped at a casino up in Idaho. Played for about an hour and came out about $8 ahead. Of course we stopped at the gas station next door on the way out and got some aspirin and a coke and blew our whole $8 in winnings. Finally decided we better hightail it on into Belgrade,MT. Rolled in here about 1720 and headed first to the small airport. We needed to see if we could bobtail to the airport to drop the car off or if we had to drop it off and get a taxi to the hotel. No low clearances or restrictions so we headed over to pick the truck up. It was so nice seeing her again. So we loaded up, went and dropped the car off and came back to the Flying J which is by the Freightliner dealership and will be spending the night here in the truck. We are available at 0600 in the am and will head out then. Already ran into the restaurant, Bair's, and had some supper and lost $30 in the little casino. Figured I could afford to lose a little since I had such an outstanding winning at the previous casino. :)

So this is where we sit at the moment. In the morning we will find out where they are sending us. From the looks of things, there isn't much freight at all here in Montana so I have a feeling we will be bobtailing several hundred miles to find a load. That is fine with me as long as the weather stays good tonight and the roads stay clear. I certainly don't want to bobtail in the snow.

Thanks to everyone who has been keeping up with us and our travels. We appreciate it and are back on the road now so hopefully we will have new tales to tell you in the near future! Stay safe out there!

Getting ready to head back out

Right now we are spending the night in Salt Lake City,UT. We have a rental car and are headed back to Belgrade to pick up our truck that is ready and waiting on us. We came up through utah instead of Colorado because of the storms heading towards Colorado from the north and all the high winds. Plus this also enabled us to stop in Pagosa Springs,CO and see J's family and then to stop in Moab,UT and see a girl I used to work with when I was with the police department. It was great seeing her and she looked great. It was also nice to see the family as we were passing through. Tomorrow we will get up pretty early and head back out again. We have about 500 miles to go but we aren't pushing it. They don't have us available until Thursday morning, and after driving a truck, it is just IMPOSSIBLE to sleep in a car. Especially since they gave us a Chrysler Sebring CONVERTIBLE to drive back to Montana. They didn't have any SUV's for one-way rental and this car was the only thing front wheel drive that they had. I figured I want front wheel drive if I can't get a 4 wheel drive SUV since they are supposed to be having more snow up in Montana right now. Also, after being off for about 2 weeks, we have so much crap, that the car is full, trunk and back seat, because we took a lot of stuff out of the truck and with us.

So that is what is going on with us. Ready to get back to work but we are really hoping they send us back south where the weather is better!!