Bessemer City,NC

OMG! You will not believe the last two nights that we, or rather I should say, I have had. Ok, lets start with Sunday night.

So Sunday afternoon, I take over driving in Clines Corners,NM. Got a good nights (days) sleep so I am feeling good. I am cruising along making good time. Told J that I would make 600 miles. Actually only got 597 because of where the Flying J was that we stopped at. Pissed me off because I wanted the 600. I should have just passed the exit and taken the next one and came back to it so I could say I made 600. LOL! Anyway, like I said, I am cruising along, kicking some ass on miles. Made it the rest of the way through New Mexico on I-40, made it across Texas and now I am in Oklahoma. Ok, we know these Okies are crazy, but boy, let me tell you what. I make it to mile marker 112 where I am jamming out, singing at the top of my lungs (thank goodness J sleeps like a log) dancing in my seat when I see headlights that appear to be in my lane. Well, that gets my attention. Now you know when you are coming around a curve and the traffic across the highway going the opposite direction looks like it is in your lane? Well I thought for a split second that was what I was seeing. Until I see the car up ahead of me, oh about 300 yards, slam on his brakes and head for the shoulder. Well Hell!! That car is definitely NOT on the other side of the highway and definitely IS going the wrong way. Shit. So I let up off the gas and start hitting the brakes. I am watching him wondering if he is drunk or just maybe confused. Whomever it is appears to be driving straight and not swerving, but you can never tell. I keep heading for the shoulder and REALLY hugging that white line, waiting, just waiting, for the second that I have to jerk the steering wheel. See, I didn't want to hit the rumble strips if I didn't have too. For one thing, it would wake J up. And the second reason is because if the person driving the car coming towards me IS drunk, drunk drivers tend to follow lights. Have you noticed how many drunks hit cops that have people pulled over? It is because they are attracted to the lights. So I didn't want to make any sudden moves if I didn't have to. At this point, I had not gotten on the CB yet because I wanted to have both hands on the steering wheel incase he did something stupid. He makes it past me and I am all over that CB because looking in my rear view mirror, there are two trucks and one is passing the other coming directly at that other car. I don't know what happened, or if there was a wreck, but I say one go towards the shoulder and get back on the road, so I think it was ok. But damn that scared the hell out of me!

Made it to Checotah,OK (home of Carrie Underwood American Idol 2005.....according to the sign coming into town) and we stopped at the Flying J and grabbed a shower and hit the road again. I hit the sack because it was J's turn to drive.

Fast forward to 1500 hours and we are in Lebanon,TN at the Pilot. I get up and hit the drivers seat and we are off. I only have about 360 miles to go to destination. But we know it is going to be the longest part because TN and SC and NC have some hills and windy roads. I cruise through Knoxville and pass the I-81 and I-40 split and it gets dark. Of course it gets dark when I hit the mountains! So we are still on I-40 and I am driving along the stretch where it is really windy. If you drive, or know this area, then you know maximum truck speed is 50, and that is even too fast at times. AND it says no trucks in the left lane for over 20 miles. They have re-surfaced this area so the road is pitch black with the new stripes on the road. I am in front going about 45 and there is probably 15 trucks behind me. I know they have to be pissed because I am going so slow, but screw them. :) I don't drive fast at night on roads that I am not real familiar with, especially when there are so many curves. I have driven that several times before and I don't even go that fast during the day. Ok, so I am cruising along, and there is a concrete divider between the east and westbound lanes. I see something out of the corner of my eye jump over the divider. For a split second I thought it was a dog because of the shape. I knew right off it wasn't a deer. So I let off the accelerator for a second and that is when it ran in front of me and I actually saw what it was. It was a freaking BEAR!!!! I said HOLY SHIT out loud, to no one in particular, because I couldn't believe a BEAR just ran across the road in front of me. I am talking less than 20 yards in front of me. There was no doubt that it was a bear. Unbelievable!! I wanted to wake J up so bad, but it wouldn't have done any good because the bear was already gone! But when I told him later, he couldn't believe it either and thought it was cool. He said "Nothing ever happens to me at night when I am driving. I don't see anything cool!" I told him to be glad because the bear was cool, but the car was NOT cool that was coming at me!

Well I made it into our destination and am parked waiting to get unloaded in the morning. They don't start unloading until 0600. Would have been nice if I had known that and I wouldn't have pushed it through the mountains. They told me I had a 0100 appt. On the bright side, since this load was originally supposed to be here yesterday morning, we will be put ahead of the other two trucks that are already here because they need this product first before whatever is on their truck. It sucks and I would hate to be them, because I wouldn't be happy if I was on the other end, but it happens and I am just glad I am getting the good end of the deal this time.

TruckingTiger, I waved at every Prime I passed! Maybe it was dark when we crossed paths.

Mark, I didn't read that until it was too late! We probably passed you! I will write down your truck number also so I can keep an eye out for you!

That has been our exciting two days. Don't know where we will be headed next. Won't know that until we finish with this load. Holler at yall later!