Woke up to a bit of ice on parking lot and truck. Temp said 24 with snow showers coming later this afternoon. Greg had to scrape his mirrors this morning. He is not a happy camper in the snow and ice.

Precious refused to come out from under the blankets this morning. Not that I can blame her.

Lots of farm land again today it looks like. I’m looking forward to Oklahoma. I’ve never been there before.

The weather got worse as we went along for a while.  Ohio was a mess.   We had a lot of snow and wind.   The roads werent slick though.  Just tough to see, especially on my side for some reason.  Of course if it had to be a side hard to see through I’m glad it was mine, not Greg’s.   My wiper blade decided to freeze up so all I saw for miles was just icy windshield.   We had to stop and get gas (excuse me) FUEL, and Greg cleaned the windshields and wipers really good and put on some de-icer.  I could finally see again.

Once we got to Indiana it was clear again.   Still freezing cold but at least no snow.  It hasn’t been above 24 I don’t think for days along our route.   It’s the type of cold that just bites any exposed skin.   My face feels numb just walking from the parking lot in to the store.

We got stuck for about an hour and a half due to an accident on 70W around Richmond Indiana.   We never saw the wreck, thank goodness, but traffic was stopped on both sides of the highway.    We almost saw another wreck when a truck pulled on to the ramp to get on to the highway and I assume finally noticed the traffic was stopped so he decided to back off the on ramp, and almost plowed in to a car that had pulled up behind it.   Big truck/little car.  It wouldn’t have been pretty but the car finally go his attention and he stopped.   I think it scared the guy in the car because he got out and looked at the front of his car just to make sure he wasn’t hit.

Greg decided after about an hour and twenty minutes that he was going to close his eyes for a few minutes since we were in park and weren’t going anywhere.  I swear, the second he got his pillow and laid his head back the traffic started moving.   I couldn’t have timed that better if I had tried.

We have had a change in plans due to the 3 1/2 hour load time yesterday and the wreck today.  We are not going to make our 5 am drop off time so they routed us to East St. Louis, which is technically in Illinois, not Missouri, but we will wait here until we hear from them in the morning about what to do.   They are trying to reschedule the drop off time.   Greg’s clock is about up for the day anyway so it’s not too much wasted time.   We took advantage of the extra time and finally did laundry.    Household chores don’t stop just because you are in a truck.   Still have to clean, dust, sweep, take out the trash, do laundry, fix meals, just the house is really really small.   Doesn’t take too long which is nice.

We are parked in a Flying J tonight across the river from the Arch.  I have a couple of pictures from tonight but will try to get some better ones in the morning.   The last time we came through here I couldn’t even see it, it was so foggy.

Greg’s turn:  Drive by the clock, live by the clock.  Just tell me where to go and when to be there.  Talk about a loss of freedom.  Imagine being told when to rest and for how long. Just because a few knuckleheads in the past tried to drive when they shouldn’t have, probably had some very bad wrecks, ruined it for the rest of it.  It still hasn’t stopped drivers from driving past their capabilities.  Just fed up with the whole clock thing.

So, yes, we had more snow.  Icy mirrors when I woke up because it rained all night and then froze.  Luckily the big mirrors have heaters but the little convex mirrors don’t.  Not to worry, I bought a bottle of de-icer weeks ago in anticipation of just such an occasion.

Well, I sprayed some on the icy mirror, waited a few minutes and then attempted to wipe off the ice.  Nothing.  Tried again.  Same result.  Now I read the label.  You have to scrape the ice first so that the de-icer can penetrate.  Well, what’s the point.  If you have to scrape it you don’t need the de-icer.  I didn’t have an ice scraper.  Threw mine away when we moved to Florida.  Never wanted to own another one.  What to do.  Then I remembered times in the past when I needed an ice scraper and didn’t have one.  Driver’s license.  Or credit card.  Both work the same.  So I scraped at the ice, roughing up the surface and sprayed again.  Still nothing.  This was some serious ice.  Oh well, the ice was still on the mirror but is was clear now and i could see through it so off we go.  Wipers still icy.  My side would clean and the washer fluid would come out on my side, but not on Annie’s side.  Not a serious problem, but I like a clear field of vision.  Next truck stop, next idea.  Every truck stop has buckets of windshield cleaner at the fuel pumps and long handled scrubbers and squeegees.  The problem is that that scrubber and that bucket contain the contaminants of every truck windshield that came before you.  Idea.  I got out my trusty bottle of de-icer, turned on my wipers and stood there spraying my windshield letting the wipers do the work.  Presto.  Cleanest windshield I’ve had in days.

So we’re in East St. Louis, taking my 10 hour break which gets eaten up with showering and doing laundry, and putting everything away, and having dinner, so not really a 10 hour break if you know what I mean.  But it fulfills some bureaucrat’s idea of what a human being needs to be refreshed enough to guide an 80,000 pound missile 60-70 miles per hour down a crowded highway with dozens of cars around him driven by people whose only training was a semester of high school driver’s ed.  Kind of scary when you think about it.  Anyway, Annie says time to turn in.  She looks after me.  Somebody’s got to.   Good night y’all.

Do you think Precious looks stressed? Worried all this traveling may be bothering her. LOL

Fed ex main terminal is in Indianapolis.

Too funny. Couldn’t pass up getting this picture in Illinois.

St. Louis Arch. Gateway to the West.