Well, woke up to a beautiful blanket of snow. It looks like we got about 4 inches. It is beautiful to look at but not much fun to drive in so we are going to head out early this morning so we can go slow and take our time.   At least we are headed to Florida today so the weather should improve greatly as we go.

Getting through Tennessee sure was difficult. It took us 30 minutes just to get down off the mountain due to roads and only able to go 35 miles an hour because of the weight of the truck. It sure is beautiful though.  I took a lot of pictures of the snow in the trees even though I’m sure you all are tired of looking at it.  We went along the same road we went on before where you are in Tennessee then Georgia then Tennessee then Georgia all within just a few miles.

The first part of Georgia was snowy and we saw two bad accidents where trucks had turned over. They said there was a lot of black ice this morning but thankfully we missed it. By the time we got to Atlanta the roads are clear.   Of course the traffic around Atlanta was fun as usual.

We made it to Florida as it was starting to get dark. But at least we made it to Florida! We are stopping at the Walmart distribution center in Macclenny Florida and then we will find a place to stop for the night so we can finish our load tomorrow and then go see my babies!  These Walmart distribution centers are huge! They are set out in the middle of nowhere and are acres in size. There are hundreds of trailers in the parking lot and over 100 docks. We are to pull into dock 136 if that gives you any kind of idea as to how big they are. We have a truck load of chicken that will find its way into area Walmarts soon.

After being in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois and Kansas, I can’t believe we have 55° weather. I have my window down for the first time.

Mary, you will appreciate this. Greg now has a Bluetooth earpiece for his phone to use while driving.   He may find it on the side of the road somewhere if I get the ssshhhhh and pointing to his ear again.  LOL.   He will just start talking and I think he is talking to me so I try to answer him and get the hand gesture.   Oh boy!

Driver: My version of the sight upon awakening; woke up to a cold, slushy mess.  I guess beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.

Out of the cold and into the warm sunshine of sunny Florida.  God certainly loves the people of Florida because he gives them year around sunshine.  Ahhhhh!!!!  For the first time in weeks I was able to go outside without my toboggan on.  That is a relief I cannot describe.  Just look at the pictures of snow and ice below and you will get a sense of how happy I am to be out of that mess.  Then scroll to the bottom and presto, green grass and sunshine.  Hallelujah.

Then there was the three hours at the loading dock to unload maybe one third of a trailer.  The words of the instructor during orientation keeps playing in my head during these long waits, and I quote, “Trans Am don’t sit at docks more than two hours”.  I would like to bring him with me for a couple of weeks.  I don’t think I have sat less than two hours for loading and unloading.  The only time we have been able to get in and out is a drop and hook, and that’s only when your loaded trailer is waiting on you.  It happens.

So, with the three hour wait at the dock, my 14 hour clock ran out which means, legally I’m done.  Can’t move, can’t do paperwork, can’t do email.  Stupid right.  Well, someone did realize this could be a problem so there is an exception in the law called Safe Haven, Mandate to leave property.  This is just for situations like this.  You’re at a shipper or consignee and you run out of time.  You can’t stay there, gotta go, so you log “on” and select Safe Haven, etc. and legally you can drive to find a safe place to park.  How far you can go, I don’t know, but we had to go about 17 miles to finally find a parking place and a small out of the way truck stop.  Two of the previous truck stops we drove through were slam full.  Guys were on the side of the road and Annie kept wanting me to pull in next to or behind one of these guys, but it just didn’t feel right so I checked my trucker app and found this place.

So there you have it.  Bad weather, good weather, legal issues, all in a day’s work.

Good night and God bless.

Nice

Bet you are glad thats not the road to your house!

Finally! Green grass!