Ferndale,WA

I'M BACK!!!! Did you guys miss me? I feel like all I have been doing on here lately, when I post, is to apologize for not being on here. I told J yesterday that he just had to remind me to get on here and start blogging again. I really enjoy it. Things have been so crazy for us lately with other stuff that I just haven't been on here. I have gotten e-mails from some of you and Iwant you to know I really appreciate the concern. I sometimes forget that I actually have people that read this and follow me and may start to worry when I don't post. :) I will try to do better from here on out.

We have had so much going on that I don't even know where to begin. I guess I will start with what is going on now and work my way back. Right now we are in Ferndale,WA taking a night off. Last Monday we left Clackamas,OR and picked up in Yakima,WA. We delivered that load to Norfolk,VA and then went to Miami,FL and picked up a load that we delivered yesterday to Blaine,WA. That load was actually going to Canada but we dropped it with a driver that was able to go to Canada. So in this past week we have travelled 7500 miles. We were worn out when we delivered yesterday so we decided it was time for a night out of the truck. The last day we took a week off was two weeks ago, so we were overdue.

On our way up to Blaine,WA we had to drive through Nashville,TN and deal with the torrential rains that they were having this past week. I am sure that everyone has seen the news coverage of the flooding. I am also sure you saw the picture of I-24 in Antioch just south of Nashville where all the cars and trucks were submerged and where the portable building was floating down the road. What a mess! Well, we drove right through that. When we got to that part of I-24, traffic was stopped because of water over the road. Several cars had tried to cross and stalled out. Some of the drivers of the stalled vehicles got out and were helping each other push the cars out of the way. By this time, the water was about 3 feet deep and about 500 feet across. There were 3 other semi trucks in front of us. When they got one of the cars out of the way and cleared a path for us we decided to attempt to cross it. We only had two choices. Try to cross, or end up on the news with the other vehicles. The water was just rising too fast. So the first truck took off, then the second, then the third and then us. We were pushing water with our hood and water was coming up over the wheel welds. That is some deep water. Thank God that our trucks sit up higher and our engines are higher so we didn't stall out. We managed to make it through and then got the heck out of dodge. Looking back I wish that we had maybe stayed to help some of the other people. But then again, other people were out helping and there is no way that we could have known how bad it was going to get.

The next time we have off will be at the end of May. Our anniversary, thirteen years, is at the end of May. So we will spend a nice romantic week off working on our boat in Atlanta. LOL! We are hoping to get the top deck rebuilt and then get it comletely dried in and get an exterior put on. We aren't sure what to use on the exterior though. Ideally we would use the filon panels that are used on boats and RV's, but at a cost of close to $7500 that is out of the question. We are looking at aluminum because it is weatherproof and can be painted. Plus, I don't want seams on the exterior. We just need to find a manufacturer so that we can get sheets of aluminum that we can cut down to fit. But I am having a problem finding those places. What we need is something that we can get in any length but with a height of about 6 feet. Anyone have any suggestions?

I got to thinking that we have been driving now for three years. By the time that we finish our lease it will be four years. I can honestly say that we have enjoyed 99.9% of the time we have been driving. Of course that .01% of the time we didn't enjoy would have been the times that we have had to drive in the snow, throw chains, deal with extremely high winds and other extreme weather conditions. All in all, it has been a very enjoyable experience. But we are thinking that we will not drive any more once this lease is up. We are missing having a normal schedule, sleeping in the same bed and eating home cooking. We are looking at what our next adventure is going to be after this last year is over in the truck. We are currently looking at going to massage therapy school. We have been thinking of that for a while. We have decided that we really don't want to work for someone else after being our own boss the last few years. So our plan right now is to get the boat finished before our lease is up. Then we will go to school and then probably work for someone for maybe a year. At that point we are wanting to open our own spa. Something small with maybe 4-6 massage rooms. Our son's girlfriend is a massage therapist and she wants to come work for us. So we are hoping we can start a small spa and kind of keep it as a family business. We shall see, but that is what we are looking at now. We are actually really excited about it. :)

But, until then, I will continue to keep you updated with our adventures and I will continue to vent when need be! Like having to drive through the worst wind yesterday that I have driven through since we have been driving. They were even talking about it on the news this morning. So until I post next time, take care out there!