At the dock at 6:30.   They don’t open until 7 but another trucker came around and told us that the farmers market had coffee so we walked over there and got a biscuit and coffee for Greg and a muffin and Diet Coke for me.   Now the gate is open and we are ready to go in and hopefully get unloaded in good time.

Got unloaded in about an hour which is fantastic.   Now on our way to Auburndale, Florida to the Coca Cola distribution center.

We tried to hook up with Gregory or Johnnie on the way through but couldn’t get the timing right.   We have to be in Cheyenne by Saturday so need to get on the road.   Sorry guys!   Will try again next time.

We had to get a trailer washout after we dropped our load off and the closest one was in Haines City.    Can’t have any possibility of meat in the trailer when picking up orange juice or whatever.

Got our load of 42,000 pounds of orange juice and lemonade.   Heading north.

It amazes me every time we go through this part of Florida, around Gainesville and Ocala, all the beautiful horse farms.   There are cows too but dozens of horses with big fences and houses like Kentucky.   So beautiful.

It’s a gorgeous night.  70 degrees with a light breeze.  We walked over and got a shower and just mozied back to the truck to eat dinner.

Yummy dinner if I do pat myself on the back.  LOL.  We had chicken and dumplings tonight and they were so good.   I had the chicken and chicken broth in the crock pot since about 10 o’clock this morning and then threw some canned biscuits in while we took our shower.   So good!

Well, bellies are full so we are going to rest a bit and get on the road early.   Long trip ahead of us.

DG:  In the land that Mickey built.  Lots of new construction on International Drive.  The hotel where I used to work is still there, but I don’t think they use the pool bar anymore.  Last time I was there was the 48th Daytona 500 won by number 48 Jimmy Johnson.  Cousin John, Gregory and myself went for the two days of racing.  Saturday was warm so no need for coats or jackets.  Sunday we were scrambling for something to keep us warm.  Rainy and cold.  It was a good time in spite of the weather.

Speaking of good weather, this was really one beautiful day here in sunny Florida.  I will appreciate it more as we head north and not so warm climates.

Looking forward to the long trip.  Those are so much better than a bunch of short ones that eat up your clock and don’t pay as well.  Annie has the truck kitchen tuned in and the meals are only getting better.  If she starts making deserts we’re in serious trouble.

Precious is doing fine.  She rides in her basket and looks out her little window when she is not sleeping.  The bumps and the noise don’t seem to bother her.  She is eating well also, getting the scraps of our delicious meals and even the turkey and ham from our lunch sandwiches.

For those that have not tried it, there is a brand of turkey and ham that we now call our favorite and guess what, it is made right there in Kentucky.  It is called Kentucky Legend and if you haven’t tried it I encourage you to do so.  Very good ham and turkey and you can get it sliced or not sliced.

Okay, going to go get some copies made of my trip sheets and then off to bed.  Early day tomorrow with lots of road time, which means lots of time for me in the seat.  There’s a part of me that’s never going to be the same after all this.

Good night and God bless.

Good morning Georgia.   7 am and headed to our first stop.

Passed a fairground area with the sign out front saying Rattlesnake roundup.   Apparently it’s a big thing here in Georgia.   They catch between 300-600 rattlesnakes and the redneck with the biggest, heaviest or most gets a prize.   There is even a Miss Rattlesnake competition.    I did mention we were in Georgia, right?    Apparently we just missed this years event.   Shucks!    If they catch that many snakes a year and have for many years, imagine how many rattlesnakes there would be around here if they didn’t do this.   Scary thought!

http://www.claxtonevanschamber.com/events/rattlesnakefestival.html

http://m.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/geography-environment/rattlesnake-roundups

Well, this has been a day of sitting.   Our next appointment is for in the morning at 7 am in Jacksonville.   Got in about noon and went to the place anyway hoping they could take us early but they said no unless we paid the overtime for the staff to unload it at the whopping price of $350 so here we sit.   Took a big long nap now going to get a bite to eat before we go back to sleep.   Guess we needed a break after all.

It seems weird to be in Florida but not close enough to my babies to go see them.  Boo hoo.    It’s been a gorgeous day though.

DG:  Finally, back in Florida.  I swear the sun seemed to brighten by several degrees as we crossed the state line.  We actually had the air conditioning on for the first time, I think, this year. Of course it’s only March so that’s not all that unusual.

Took Precious for a nice long walk in the grass and she didn’t hurry to get back in the truck. She’s such a funny dog.

Dinner in the restaurant tonight. We took a nap, woke up hungry and didn’t feel like cooking.  Well, not as good as truck/home cooking, but fills the hole.

Gonna get plenty of rest before our next trip. Hope it’s a long one.

Well, sitting here thinking I had something more to say but I guess not.

Good night and God bless.

Over two months now.  Time has really gone by fast.

Greg is still up talking about the Kentucky game.   Figure I am going to hear about it all day. LOL

Stopped at the TA in Nashville.  Been here many times already and was really hoping we could take another route but so glad we stopped this am.   Ran in to one of God’s Angels behind the counter.   This little old lady who said she was 79 years old and had been working there for 33 years.   She was the happiest, smilingest person I think I have ever met.   She was talking about how she works every Sunday and talked to her pastor about it because she didn’t want to miss church but he told her God had her right where he wanted her.  She said she tells everyone to have a blessed day and she said even the nastiest trucker will say thank you.   She has several pins on her jacket that said 50 on them and when we asked her about them she said her truckers take good care of her.  That’s points for all the wonderful comment cards that she has gotten over the years.  50 for every 50 pin.   She had to have had 15 or 20 of them.   She said sometimes she will start talking about The Lord and others will join in and they will have a little church service right there at the counter.  She said too that sometimes a trucker will try to get nasty with her and she says when that happens 4 or 5 other truckers will come up behind him and say you don’t talk to her like that.   They all call her Granny.  So glad we stopped in this am and now I have a good reason to come back through Nashville again.

Sign on the bathroom door.  Only in Nashville probably.

Got the soup on for tonight.  Used the rest of the beef roast and some veggies and it’s been cooking for a couple of hours already.   By the time we stop in about three more hours it should be yummy!!

We drove through Alabama and in to Georgia this afternoon.   Finally stopped at a Kangaroo truck stop about 30 minutes from our stop.   We cant be there until 8 am so going to stop and rest a good bit tonight.

A lot of the trees are starting to bud out in Alabama and Georgia.    All the different greens of the buds are showing.  Next time we come through there will probably be leaves.    The azaleas and Dogwood trees are blooming and so is the wisteria (one of my favorites). Its amazing to see the wisteria climbing all the way up to the top of the pine trees in some spots.  We had them in North Carolina when we lived there and it was a joy to see in the spring.  All that pretty purple and the smell.  Wonderful!

So much green down here.  Its beautiful, especially after all the snow and ice we have been through this winter.    Several peanut farms here in Georgia as well as some other fields that will be bringing you watermelons and cantaloupes in the summer.    They have already started tilling up the ground.

We ate our vegetable beef soup tonight and my, it was delicious.   I get so tired of fast food places so every time we get to eat homemade it just tastes so much better.   We need to make more of an effort to get to a Walmart more often.   Most of the time we don’t go because its late or we are tired or in a hurry.

After we drop off part of our load tomorrow we are heading to Jacksonville, Florida to drop the rest of if off.   Not sure where to after that yet.

DG:  A rocket in a rest area.  Only in Alabama.  They have a space center here you know.

On to Cairo, GA in the morning, then to Florida.  It is so good to be in some warm weather for a change.

Beef stew was delicious.  Barely any left over.  Maybe enough for lunch tomorrow.

Listened to the Louisville, Michigan State game on the radio.  Was hoping Louisville would beat them so we could have an all Kentucky final.  Yes, I am that confident UK is going to be in the final, and they are going to win it.  Number 9.  So fine.  Write it down cause it’s coming around.  Poet and know it.

This job is all about timing.  Adjusting speed to conserve fuel when possible, but getting to your next stop on time with time on your clock.  Cars, well their drivers in particular, are really getting to annoy me.  How many times can someone get away with coming up on the right side, on the shoulder, just to get around a truck without getting squished?  What’s wrong with passing on the left anyway? Are they really in that big of a hurry?  And the driver who slows to 45 in a 70 zone to look at an accident that’s on the other side of the highway.  AAARRRGGGHHH!!  There needs to be more intense driver training.

Okay, how are you today?  Thanks for letting me vent.

Trucking is a world all to it’s own.  Unlike any other profession, we are alone out here.  Our only contact is other truckers, truck stop clerks and the company people we talk to on the phone.  Yes, there is the CB, but that’s filled with such profanity these days it is hard to listen to and I only turn it on to get information regarding a wreck ahead or weather conditions.  I remember when my dad first got a CB, he had one at the house and one in the car, the FCC prohibited profanity over the airways.  You also had to take a test and get a license for one.  I guess somebody complained it was messing with their First Amendment rights not to be able to say what they wanted, and I agree with that, but I also feel that people should display some degree of decency when communicating in this way.  Guess I’m a little old fashioned that way.

All in all we are still having a good time.  It gets pretty silly in the truck sometimes as there is no one here but Annie and me and we do get off on some tangents once in a while.  That’s what the incident in Missouri was all about that I hinted at a few days ago.  She went blubber mouthed on me and just started blubbering out of the blue.  So that’s when I started laughing and said somewhere in the middle of Missouri on day 56 Annie lost it.  She recovered fine and has maintained a degree of normalcy since so no need to worry.  I, on the other hand, well, do I need say more?  I don’t think so.

Going to make an early day of it tomorrow.  Get to our stop early, so we look good, then wait while the hourly employees take their good sweet time getting to us and getting us unloaded. Why is it everyone but me in these scenarios is getting paid but me while I wait?

All is good.  Good night and God Bless.

Cold!   Woke up to 17 degrees this morning.  Brrrrrrr.  Sun is shining though so it should warm up pretty soon.  Plus we are headed south.

Good thing we parked at Walmart last night.   Forgot a couple things and had to get back in before we left.   I didn’t have potatoes or onions.   Hard to make a roast without those!

I finally decided to give the Nuwave oven a chance.   I kept meaning to but the crock pot is so handy but clean up can be difficult because we have to take it in to the truck stop to wash and it seems they have tiny sinks.  So I bought some of those baking bags and going to try that in the oven and see how it goes.  I did bagels in it this morning and they were good and toasty.  Put the roast in around lunchtime so we could have it for dinner.   Pretty good.  I would have liked to have had it a bit more tender but next its going in soup so it will have time.

We went through Louisville, Kentucky tonight before we stopped in Glendale, Kentucky.  Got several pictures driving through.  Sorry UK fans.  I know there was some Cardinal pictures in there.

DG:  UK WON!!!!!! What else is there to say.  WOW!  What a game.  Last minute win for the Wildcats.  I can breath now.  Annie is making fun of me cause I get so wrapped up in the game.  Whew.  Good game but don’t like them that close.  All is right with the world now.

Came through a little town in Michigan named Marshall, see pic below.  I did this by mistake as I missed my exit on the interstate and when at the next exit there was a sign saying emergency route to south 69.  I figured that was a cut through so instead of backtracking on the interstate I turned right and headed through town.  Glad I did.  Very interesting architecture.  As it turns out this little hamlet is one of the nations largest national historic landmark districts with over 850 buildings on the registry.  Population 7000+.  That’s a well maintained city.

Then on to Louisville.  Lots of highway construction.  Can’t wait to see what the new bridge is going to look like.  The pillars are like nothing I have ever seen before.

So on to Georgia tomorrow and warmer weather.  It was really cold in Michigan.  There were still big piles of snow in places.

Well, got hamburger to deliver Monday so better get some sleep, got a long drive tomorrow.

Good night and God bless.

Woke up to Greg going – “oh no!  It’s snowing!”   Just a few flakes so far but it is pretty cold and the forecast says cold coming down and going all the way south to Georgia.  10 to 15 degrees below average.  And we are going north to Michigan.  Looks like I’ll have to get my boots back out.    We are headed to Plainwell, Michigan for meat to take to Georgia.  

Finally able to do laundry last night.   I’ve been in sweats for two days. LOL 

We had some extra time today since it’s only a 4 hour drive to michigan so Greg wanted to get a tire checked out that has been slowly leaking for a couple of weeks.  Turns out there was a nail in the side of it.  One new tire cost $600!!  Ouch!!  

The snow didn’t last long thank goodness.  Just a few flurries around but boy did the temperature drop.   It’s 28 right now but feels colder.  It’s real windy which makes it seem worse.   

Greg is all excited about the basketball game.   I just put on my headphones and watch something else.   I cannot stand all those whistles and squeaky shoes.   But, He loves it and can’t wait to watch it.  He even has his lucky hat on.  

Keeping his eyes on the road even while I’m bugging him for a picture.  

Nasty windmills.   They sure mess up a pretty horizon.  

Got to our stop in Plainwell, Michigan and dropped our trailer.  On the way to the office we noticed the guy in the truck beside us has a big bird cage in the cab of the truck with him.  We never saw the bird but judging the size of the cage it must be a big one.   You see a lot of truckers with dogs, a few cats (I can’t imagine a litter box in a truck) but never a bird before.   That’s a new one.  

Found a walmart not too far from our stop so we got some med refills and groceries.   Got a roast for dinner one night and plan to make some soup after we eat part of the roast.  Got some chicken for chicken and dumplings and some stuff for crockpot lasagna again.   

Time is running out on the clock so we decided to just stay here for the night.    Long weekend coming up.  1,100 miles by Sunday night.   

Going to watch a bit of TV and turn in.   Goodnight y’all.  

DG:  Got me a lucky hat so you all can place your bets on UK.  Like you haven’t already.  How about them Cats, huh?  Going all the way.  

Annie told you it is cold and it is. 22 at 11:30 pm. I’m going to have a cup of hot tea and go to bed. We had probably the quickest pick up of all time. Trailer was loaded and waiting on us, got my papers, scaled and out the gate is 42 minutes.  Has to be a world record.

Tea is done. Good night and God bless. 

Up at dark again.   At least this truck stop had coffee and ice so we are good to go!

Not much going on today going through Illinois and Indiana So far.  Corn fields and corn fields.  I figure you have seen enough pictures of that for now.  I look forward to seeing them change soon and start to grow.

We got to our destination in Lima, Ohio.  A place where they make pork rinds.  This sign is on the door.   Gross!

Pulled in to a Pilot for the night.  Clock ran out of time.   We are supposed to be going to Michigan tomorrow but just found out load wont be ready until saturday.   Will call in the am and see if we can get trip swapped out.  No sense sitting in a Pilot truck stop all day tomorrow when we can be on the road!

DG: At least this place smelled better than the others.  I mean they were cooking pork rinds.  Mmmmmm….

A record unload as well, 30 minutes from the time we hit the dock.  Those are the kind I like.

Parked with no time left.  Can’t move for 10 hours now.

Gonna watch UK beat WVU here in a bit.

Love to all. good night and God bless.

Up at 6:30 and on the road.  Got to go 285 miles for the first stop.   We have to leave this Pilot and hope there is another truck stop close by.   This one is under a water boil mandate so no coffee or ice for my Diet Coke. Need caffeine!

We were finally able to stop and get caffeine at about 9 am.    All is right with the world now so on we go.

We made it to Family Dollar about 15 minutes late.   There was a detour on the highway and the GPS kept making us go in circles until we finally were able to get on the right road.   Fortunately the load was a drop and hook so we got back on the road pretty quick and headed to Columbus Junction, Iowa for a load of meat to take to Lima, Ohio.   Clock is almost out of time so we won’t get too far tonight.

Got our pork skins, pork belly skins and pork fatback skins from Tyson and off we go.  Only got about an hour to go on the clock so we find an AmBest about 20 miles and park there for the night.   Sign outside said pizza, chicken, fish, so we were excited about the possibility of dinner.  Well, we got there after they had closed down the deli.   Lovely.   Another bologna sandwich night.     We have a busy day tomorrow.   Next stop is about 400 or so miles so a long drive.

DG:  Thought: ever wonder about the history of those cars and trucks you see rusting away in fields along the roads we travel?  Got to thinking about that the other day.  Saw an old, 40s maybe, flatbed truck sitting in a farmer’s field, about a hundred yards from his house, out behind the barn, out of the way, just rusting.  One could tell it had been there a while.  I tried to imagine it’s last trip, how it ended up there and the driver that parked it there and just walked away.  Never to return.  Was it grandpa?  Tired from a life of farming and hauling feed for his cows or corn to market.  Did he just decide to retire that day and not wanting to sell the truck just left it there at the end of his last day of working the farm?  Did he die?  No heir to take over so the truck just sat there?  Or did it just refuse to start one day so it was left where it stands today.  Perhaps the owner had the intent of fixing it someday, but just never got around to it.  We see so many vehicles end up like this.  Serving their purpose no one sees any worth in them any more so they are just left there to rust.  We do this to people as well.  Stick them in a home somewhere for strangers to watch after.  Just letting them rust.

Boy, that sure took a turn toward the morose.  Sorry about that.  Don’t know why I went there.

Driving leaves lots of time for introspection and imagination.  I have a lot more thoughts during the day but by the time we park and get to the blog I have forgotten most of them.  Will try to take verbal notes from now on so I will have something more to write about.

That’s all for now.  Hope all are well.  Good night and God bless.

What a beautiful day to start out in.   We are on our way to West Plains, Missouri but are having trouble with the GPS.   Apparently the place is on state highway ZZ and the GPS shows it in two different places, about a hundred miles apart.  I tried googling the correct address and came up with a third address and one site that said the place was closed since 2012 due to a fire.  This is going to be fun.  LOL.

It started to rain a bit but not for long thank goodness.  Weather report was calling for thunderstorms and possible tornado in southern Missouri but it looks like it went around us.

We went over the Mississippi twice to get to Missouri.   There was a lot of flooding.  It looked like there were three or four rivers running there was so much flooding.   Some of it is fields but it is so flooded it looks like its part of the river.

We went across one bridge and I was shaking by the time we got off.   It was awful.   Apparently a barge had hit it and there was a crew working on it.   They had a section of the bridge marked off so we were sitting on the bridge waiting for the other side to go and then we could go.   The opening was so narrow I could have touched the bridge from the window. It didn’t help either that on the CB the truckers were all talking about how many times this bridge had been hit by barges and how they didnt like sitting still on the bridge in case all that weight decided to cause it to fall.   Lovely thoughts to be listening to as you cross over.   Finally got to the other side and ended up in Cairo, Illinois.  It was the saddest little town I have ever seen.   Most of the buildings were closed up, had broken windows, the houses were in shambles.   People were just walking around or sitting on stoops.   It was awful.   I wanted to scream at them to get up off their butts and do something about their community but that might not have been received quite so well.

We got on down the road and made it to shipper on time.  Found it the first time.  Yeah!   Getting a load of charcoal (20,000 pounds) to take with the clothes to Iowa.  Seems like an odd mix to throw together in the back of a truck in my opinion.   Only took about an hour to load so we are back on the road headed to Troy, Illinois.

Made it about 8 o’clock.  Pouring the rain.   Found a Pilot to stop in for the night before we go on to Maquoketa, Iowa and drop our load at Family Dollar.

DG:  That’s easy for her to say.  East Iowa.  Nearly straight north of where we are.  Then to Storm Lake, IA for some meat and all the way to Maryland.  I thought Marylanders liked crabs.  Guess they eat beef as well.  I like both.

So I’m thinking today that the police would do well to watch for “cutters”, those people who apparently like to see how close they can cut in front of a semi while traveling at a high rate of speed down the highway.  You get those people off the road and we all live better. Oh well, wishful thinking.

577 miles today in 10 hours and 14 minutes.  Not bad considering we went through a lot of small towns where I had to slow from 65 to 35.  I’m trying to travel around 57 mph as I have heard that is the optimum speed for fuel efficiency.  Sometimes it just seems soooooo sloooooowww.  But if I have plenty of time, on my clock and time to pick up, I will go at the slower speed to save fuel and in the process, save money.

We are still having fun.  Something very odd happened today somewhere in the middle of Missouri on day 56, but I have been sworn to secrecy.  That means I can’t tell you, but I hinted to add a little mystery to the blog.  Let’s just say it was very, very funny.

That’s right, we are still laughing and having a blast.  Nobody’s been killed, not even injured, on purpose.  Instead of living together before marriage I think couples ought to spend a few months in a truck, just to test their compatibility.  That would certainly let them know if they could live together in a house.

That’s all for tonight my good folks.  Good night and God bless.

At Bubba’s Foods at 8 am.  Nice place.  It’s out in the woods which is a welcome change to most places we go to.

Ran in to a lady who works for Trans Am.   She got here right after we did.    We saw her at National Beef when we got our load and at Tonkawa  when we stopped for the night.  We must be on the same schedule.

All done and headed to Dalton, Georgia to Family Dollar and then to West Plains, Missouri at Dollar General and then taking all this to Maquoketa, Iowa.

Got to our first stop in Dalton, a warehouse for clothing for Family Dollar.   Unfortunately, there are two guys with hand trucks loading the trailer.  This may take a while.

Surprisingly fast load considering.   Only there about an hour and a half.

On to West Plains, Missouri for the rest of our load.    Got stopped just outside of Chattanooga for an accident though.

Saw these at a rest stop north of Chattanooga.

Found a spot just north of Nashville to stop for the night.   Really nice older gentleman told us it was okay.  Its not a truck stop so you have to be sure.   We have about 400 miles to go tomorrow to West Plains, Missouri.   Then on to Iowa.

Got some pretty pictures today.   The sun came around so bright and the temperature reached 78 degrees!   I am now back in my sandals and no jacket.   Its wonderful.  Yes, Gregory, I know.  You were never out of yours.  LOL.

The trees in Georgia are really starting to open up and bud and bloom.   I got a few pictures of the red bud trees and the pear trees but whats neat to see is little tiny buds on the big trees and the grass starting to turn green.   Hope we don’t get a big snow now!

DG:  Another day of trying my best not to run over somebody.  I swear it’s like a demolition derby some days.  Every body trying to get in that little space in front of me as close as they can make it.  By the grace of God I have yet to nail somebody.

So here we go again, through Tennessee and into Missouri, then on to Iowa.  I put in a request for something on the west coast or southwest.  Now that spring is here, even the old rout is going to be different every day for a while but still would like to see some more of this beautiful country.

Pulled into a convenient mart.  Not a truck stop but the guy said we could park here.  We first went to a place just on the other side of the Interstate that has fuel pumps for big rigs but had numerous signs up stating no truck parking.  We got the hint and left.  Without fueling.

Sunny and warm.  Just the way I like it.  Want to thank my son again for the CB radio he gave me.  It came in handy when we came upon the backed up traffic due to that crushed car you see in the pictures.  We were north bound on I24, three lanes of traffic, and the truckers going southbound were letting us know on the CB that the only lane open ahead was the left lane.  So that gave us some time to get in the left lane and move past the wreck quicker.  Some of the things you hear on that radio are funny.  One trucker wanted clarification as to the proper lane to choose and asked if that was the hammer down lane.  Not all who heard that thought it was funny, but I got a chuckle out of it.

Well, looks like Annie has the TV working so we will watch a show or two before bed.  Don’t have to get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow so we can stay up a bit and watch some tube.

Good night and God bless.

Slept in a bit this morning.   All the way to 8 o’clock.   Woke up to a rainy nasty day.  Hope it clears up as we go.  I don’t like to be on the road in the rain.   Some people are crazy the way they drive around trucks and rain and snow make it worse.   You can’t stop 80,000 pounds on a dime.    They pull on to a highway in front of us and go slow causing Greg to slam on the breaks or they go along the right side of the truck on the shoulder until they can get in front of him.    Everybody is so afraid of getting behind a truck for a minute that they don’t know how close they come to getting under the truck.   

Passed in to Alabama.   Still raining.  Looks like it’s going to rain all the way to Georgia. 

We went through Graysville, Alabama and saw a lot of storm damage.  Apparently this area had a tornado come through in April 2014.   Still a lot of downed trees.   

Birmingham on a rainy afternoon.    

We made it to Elberton in plenty of time.   We have been here before.  Nice little place.   The granite capital of the world!   

http://www.cityofelberton.net

We have stopped for the night at a Marathon station with truck parking.  Went to Zaxbys next door for dinner.   Good chicken!   Probably going to turn in soon.   8 am appointment tomorrow.  

Sorry there was only one picture.  It has rained and been foggy and nasty all day.   Not a good day for pictures.  Hopefully tomorrow. Lots of things blooming in Georgia.  

DG:  Took the words right out of my mouth with that statement about automobile drivers.  You would be astounded at the things we see people do. It’s really a wonder more people aren’t killed on the highway.  So I spend my day trying not to run over people.  Definitely keeps you alert.

Ran into a driver at an Alabama truck stop we had met on St. Paddy’s day in Council Bluffs, IA.  I remembered him because we spent some time talking to him because of his dog  “Buckshot”, a six months old American Bull Dog that was quite playful.  He said people speak to him all the time asking about Buckshot.  Buckshot and I hit it off and I let him chew on the sleeve of my jean jacket for a bit. When I got back to the truck and threw my jacket on the bed Precious started sniffing it and was quite upset so I explained to her that the “other dog” was in another truck going far, far away in the other direction.  She was okay with that. 

I’ve been meaning to mention something for several days now and keep forgetting.  I notice a lot of memorial highway signs as we travel and I’ve started praying for the families of these people that they have comfort.  One sign we saw had the two female names on it, I forget where it was, but they were unfamiliar so Annie Googled them.  Come to find out they were two teenage sisters who were killed by a highway patrolman when he lost control of his cruiser going at a high rate of speed to an accident scene that had already been cleared. His car crossed the median and the article said his car drove “through” their car killing them instantly.  I can’t imagine how their parents felt.  

Other signs are for deceased military, police and firefighters, and politicians. Pray for them all. I don’t know what one has to do to get a memorial highway, but one thing is for sure, if you get one if those signs you won’t be able to admire it. 

Didn’t mean to get morbid.  Just something that’s been on my mind.

Hope all is well with you all. 

Good night and God Bless.