Good morning.  4:30 and ready to go.  40 degrees so not too bad.  Supposed to be high 60’s today.  Is it too early to say spring is here?   Probably.    Doesn’t hurt to wish though.

We arrived at the Walmart distribution center on time for our 10 am appointment.  Here’s hoping it doesn’t take all day

2:30 pm.  Just found out they are done with our load.  4 hours!!  Apparently they can’t just unload it but have to SORT IT As they go so that takes a while.   Good grief!!   You can’t complain either.  Here is the sign on the window when you go in.

Ok on our way to Elk Grove, Illinois and then back to Oklahoma.

Made it to Elk Grove, Illinois.  A small town north of Chicago out by O’Hare airport.   We are getting a load of 11,000 pounds of marshmallows!!   Hahahaha.   A little worried though.  This sign was on the wall on the way in.   Hmmmm

Back on the road to find somewhere to stop for the night.   Got a long way to go tomorrow.

DG: Loaded and out of time.  Story of my life.  Not even sure what that means.  Anyway, had to drive on SAFE mode as I was out of “legal” time at the shipper.  First truck stop slam full and double stacked in places.  Moving on.  Several miles further down the road I see the sign.  Independent truck stop, nice big lot, plenty of parking, $10 for 24 hours.  I only need 10, but no discounts.  Oh well, it’s tax deductible.

Dinner was left over pork roast for me, mmmmmmmm, and Annie had the left over chicken in a burrito.  I think we got this truck cooking down.  Smallest kitchen either of us have ever cooked in but we get the job done.

Conflicting GPS almost created a mutiny.  For the most part I use the one that came with the electronic system in the truck.  More than once though this “high tech” system has steered me down the wrong road.  It usually happens when we get close to the destination then has me take some country back road to nowhere.  Today was probably the worst as I had to go several miles before I could turn around.  And once I did, silly thing was trying to direct me back to where I had come.  Annie pulls up a trucking route app she found and we compare.  Okay, I am using that term loosely.  She tells me which way her’s is saying we should go and I contrast that with what mine is telling me and it gets confusing when she is telling me that looking at her map it’s shorter or quicker and I say okay which way and by the time the conversation gets this far, the turn has passed.  I know this will come as a shock to some of you, but at this point I become a little upset.  Hard to believe, huh?  I know.  Me?  Upset?  Moving on.  I try to tell her, “please let me know when to turn before we get to the turn”, she says, “I’m trying”, and well, use your imagination for the conclusion of that exchange.  So, as I have said many times before but have yet to follow through, we are going to compare routes “before” we start.  Makes more sense doesn’t it? Of course.

Anyway, I am still very thankful that I found someone who would put up with me through thick, and I mean very thick, and thin.  We make a good team in spite of my short comings.

Good night and God bless.

Good morning Illinois

Woke up at 6 am after sleeping in the carpet parking lot all night.  I was in the door as soon as they opened I tell ya!   She now we have our load of carpet and are heading to Spring Lake, Illinois to Walmart.

It is a nasty rainy day and supposed to rain the whole way.  This is going to be fun.  I probably won’t get many pictures if this rain keeps up but since we are going back through Nashville, Paducah and Illinois I figure we have seen most of what we can from the highway.   This is our view right now in Murfeesboro, Tennessee.

The driver when going 5 mph through heavy traffic.

We have been in dreary weather all day.  Thankfully traffic hasn’t been heavy.   We have pulled in to a Pilot about three hours from our stop in the morning so it’s going to be an early morning.   We’re getting used to that though.

DG:  Are we ever.  The only previous time in my life I woke up this early was to go fishing and during my time in the Air Force.  But I go to bed early so my body doesn’t know the difference.  It’s my mind I have to convince now.

From meat to carpet.  What a strange combination.  When I was with Werner we hauled everything from paper goods to plastic to clothes from Land’s End.  Trans Am hauls meat, juice and carpet.  This load is about half the weight of the meat we’ve been hauling lately so we use less fuel and can pass other trucks on the highway when necessary.  I have slowed down a lot to conserve fuel and it seems to be working.  Averaging around 7 mpg for the last two trips.  That’s good for these big rigs.  I know it’s not for a car, but we’re talking about 10x the weight here.

Nine o’clock local time, (CST), and the lot is filling up.  We had out pick of spots when we got here earlier so picked one close to the main building, restrooms, coffee, all the conveniences.  Walking is good for us, we know, but after a long day in the truck and knowing you are going to make several trips to the bathroom before bedtime, I know, it would be better for us if we parked further away, but we don’t.  But we might start since the weather is warming up.

Sorry didn’t get any pictures of our dinner.  We were hungry and didn’t think about it.  Pork roast in the crock pot with barbecue sauce on a Hawaiian bun.  And we have enough roast for lunch and dinner tomorrow.  So much better than truck stop food.

Okay, enough said for today.  Still a beautiful country even though we’ve been back and forth on the same road several times now I still find something new and it’s all amazing.  We will be seeing a different part of Illinois tomorrow as we have yet to travel north on 57 and 35.

Good night and God bless.  Hope you all are doing well.  Leave us some comments let us know what’s going on in your lives.

Good morning Alabama

Fog in Paduca, Kentucky

Its 4 am.   Got to get to other side of Atlanta by 6.  I think Greg is on his own this morning. I’m going back to sleep.

Well that didnt work out.   It is so hard for me to sleep with the truck going.   Every bump, pot hole and bridge just about throws you out.    We were both able to get back to sleep when we got there.   We arrived at 5:30 am and they said give us your number and we will call you when we are ready to unload you.  Call came at about 7:30 so we got a good nap. Then we sat for another 2 1/2 hours.

Afterwards we were able to go to walmart.  Time for med refills and groceries.  We get so tired of eating at rest stops but don’t usually have time to get somewhere for groceries or there is nothing close.   I got chicken breasts for some chicken burritos tonight, a small pork roast for BBQ sandwiches and a whole chicken I am going to cook with potatoes and carrots.   The chicken breasts have been in the crock pot with taco seasoning and sauce for about three hours and is killing us!

I have to tell you a funny on Greg.   When we went to Walmart we were looking for disposable gloves for me to cook the chicken tomorrow (no sink in the truck so have to compromise).  I went down one aisle and Greg had the buggy and went down another.   I found the gloves and he found me.   I went to put the gloves in the buggy and looked down at the buggy to a mess that wasn’t ours.   Apparently he had grabbed a buggy of stuff they were restocking the shelves with instead of ours when he was wandering around.    Needless to say, we had to backtrack and find our buggy.    Too funny not to pass on!

We went through Fort Payne, Alabama, home of the musical group Alabama.  They had a big bronze statue of the band but I was on the wrong side of the street to get it.  I told Greg to turn around and and go back but he said no.  Lol.  I didn’t really expect him to in this big thing.   Did get a picture of the fan club though.

Our pick up is in Scottsboro, Alabama. We are getting a load of carpet.   Sure hope we aren’t sitting here for hours.  Other trucks look like they have been here a while though.

They told us it would be at least two hours before they could get to us and then they have to load us.   Lovely!   There is a Walmart close so we unhooked the trailer and went to get stuff we forgot for the burritos like cheese and sour cream (😝) and came back to sit some more.

Gregory sent me a picture of two Olafs today.   Arent they adorable?   Carrot noses and all!  I miss my babies!

DG:  Sitting again.  I swear there’s a country song in all of this.  We are virtually living in a truck.  And having a blast.  We laugh all the time.  Even when things aren’t going our way and frustration fills the air, we find something to laugh about.  I love having my best friend with me in such close proximity, 24/7.  Just a few minutes ago she hooked up the TV to the HD antenna we bought a week or so ago so we could watch some local channels wherever we go and not finding anything I hear, “with the antenna?  Nothing?  Where are we?”  Logical question but funny the way she said it.  Apparently all that’s on in this part of the country is The Bachelor, yuk and local news.  I’ll take the news.

Short drives today.  Unloaded this morning and our next load was just a couple hours away but now we are told it will be two more hours before they can get to us.  They lock up at 11:00 and sometimes stay late to get everyone loaded, but I gathered from the way the guy talked it may not happen tonight so I asked him if they allowed overnight parking.  They do, so I said, “We’re good then.”  I’m out of time and already have a parking place so all we need is some sleep and we will be good to go in the morning.

Dinner was delicious.  Too much truck stop restaurant and fast food over the last month not to appreciate a “home” cooked meal.  Of course when you spend several hours smelling what’s cooking you are ready to eat when it is ready to be eaten.  I wonder if that was a chicken I delivered.  Probably not.  LOL.

Driving the country road was interesting.  Lots of interesting sights.  Not much traffic.  Nice.  Very pretty countryside.  I could live there.

About that cart in Wal-Mart, I don’t see the problem.  It had a lot of neat stuff in it.  No food, but stuff I’m sure we could have found some use for.  Anyway, I hope the person who left it where I found it was able to find it where I left it.

That C-130 below was much closer than it looks in the picture and he made a pretty sharp 90 degree turn to make his line up for landing.

Well, hope everyone is still enjoying our little blog.  I wish I had more to write.  I think of a lot of things while I’m driving but once we stop I go into rest mode and the brain slows down a bit.  (No comments from the peanut gallery.)

It’s raining, I have a full belly, and my eyelids are getting heavy.  Morning comes early, so I will say, good night, and God bless.

C130 landing at Atlanta airport.

We decided to go down a country road to Alabama instead of highway.

Alabama fan club.

Walmart cart.

Two Olafs. Arent they adorable.

Greg in Metropolis Illinois yesterday.

Dinner tonight. Chicken burritos.

Woke up in daylight savings time.   It is really warm.  61 degrees here in Georgia.

The ice on the mountains is staring to melt and it was amazing seeing it run down in little waterfalls.

I took several pictures as we came over the mountain from Tennessee in to Georgia of some of the same places I took pictures of last time so you could see the difference.  Last time we came through we had snow, ice and fog.   What a difference this time.   Things are looking a little greener.  Sky is bright and sunny.   Can’t wait to see the trees in their full glory pretty soon.

We didn’t have to drive very far today.   Only about an hour and a half.   No truck stops close to our stop because it’s around Atlanta and trucks aren’t allowed in Atlanta so we are about an hour from our stop in the morning.  Got to be there at 6:30 am so a really early morning for us tomorrow.

We have stopped at a TA in Cartersville.  Now what to do for the next 15 hours!

Well, we thought we were going to get a trip out today by swapping loads with someone but we wouldn’t have had time to get to Jacksonville by 7 am according to his clock.   They wanted Greg to take his break now and drive all night but that would have caused us to have to sit all day tomorrow too waiting on his clock so we passed.   Now just hanging out in the truckers lounge watching batman reruns.  😦

DG:  Beautiful day in Georgia.  We took a walk, after my nap of course. It felt good on the knees. Sitting for so long has them a little achy these days. Smoked my first cigar since going on the road.  Batman was playing in the lounge so we watched the last of that before dinner.

It’s beginning to feel like spring.  I think we’ve all had enough snow and ice this winter.  The sunshine is a welcome pleasantry.

Tomorrow is an early day and that’s good.  We’ll be able to park early and get a good spot. Finding parking later than 9:00 pm is difficult.

We’re in a truck stop that probably has 200 + spots in it and it’s about full. Add that to the thousands of truck stops around the country and add the trucks still on the road, that’s a lot of stuff being moved around. What are you all doing with all that stuff?  Whatever it is keep doing it. Keeps me employed.

Well, as previously stated, early day tomorrow so off to bed.

Good night and God bless.

Woke up to a gorgeous sunny day.  It’s 40 degrees already and we are heading south to Georgia.   That should make someone in the drivers seat very happy!

We are getting pretty used to this route by now.  It seems it’s the same every week.   We went by Kansas City, St. Louis, Paducah, Nashville and have stopped just north of Georgia.    Just three hours to go tomorrow to get to Atlanta and load isn’t due until 6:30 am on Monday so it sounds like a laundry day.  Lucky me!

I’ve started J.D. Robb’s new book – Obsession in Death, so the miles went pretty quickly. I cant hardly put her books down when I start one.

I was able to get three pictures of hawks finally!   I swear they are all over the place when we are driving.   Protecting us and watching out for us.   We also saw a lot of birds migrating north again today.    Some were the snow geese like yesterday and then we saw some gulls.   There is one picture of a field and there are probably a thousand birds on the field and in the air over it.   Its amazing to see.   Also went over one river and there were tons of birds in there as well.   Those were gulls I believe.   Its amazing the large number that fly in together.   Nature is amazing.     Thousands of birds fly thousands of miles and it looks choreographed.   Get a dozen people on a sidewalk and you get stepped on.  LOL

Driver Greg here:  Amazing it is.  Every day, every mile I am awed by God’s creation.  This is a beautiful country and we are blessed to live and work here.  The other day I was moping about something and Annie picked me right up by pointing out that the truck was my office.  And what a view I have.  It gave me a more positive perspective about what we are doing.  I do have an awesome office.  And an awesome wife and friend.  We are having so much fun together.  We have always done better when we are together 24/7 and this is 24/7 in a tight space so we are having a ball.

Well, another day behind us and another load almost complete.

Good night and God bless.

Post Script: Sitting here just now a truck pulls in with a big black box on a trailer with radioactive placards on it.  Oh boy.  What could that be?  Hope we don’t wake up all aglow if you know what I mean.  LOL.

Hawk

Winery

More birds

Hawk

Hawks

Goodnight Illinois

Goodnight KY

Up late for us.  8:30am. Due to getting in so late his time doesn’t start until 10 am.  Throws us off a bit for the day.   We are headed to Golden Circle, Nebraska and then on to Georgia.   Another good long trip!  Keep them coming!

We have seen thousands of birds flying west the past few days.  According to Google they look like Snow Geese heading to their spring breeding grounds in Canada and northern US.   It is gorgeous to watch them fly together and see them on some of the ponds and lakes. They just about cover the water there are so many of them.

First stop in Lexington, Nebraska.   Tyson Foods.   I cannot explain to you the stench at these places.   You see the butchering area where all the trucks are with live animals and then we go to the other side for the packaged meat.   Something is cooking in between and there are big plumes of smoke coming out of some of the buildings and OH MY WORD! It is horrible.  I’m cramming gum in my mouth to hopefully smell that instead of outside but am sorely tempted to stick the gum up my nose.  I haven’t yet but I have thought about it.

It’s starting to get dark and it’s amazing watching the sun go down over the plains.  It lights up the sky for miles and seems to take a while.   Just beautiful.   The birds are still everywhere.   Just great big groups of them and then There will be several small groups.    They swirl and dip and make all kinds of shapes.    Reminds me of Finding Nemo when those fish made all those shapes.  LOL.

We still have about 5 hours of driving tonight. Going to stop outside of St. Louis – again!

Found a Pilot about an hour from St. Louis.   Going to stop and get some rest.  Another late night.  11:15 pm already.  Got to get up and go another 10 hours tomorrow.

Goodnight, y’all.

Up at 5:30 and hitting the road.    We have to be in Nebraska by 7 o’clock pm.    Having to go 25 mph for several hours yesterday in the snow really threw our time table off so we are going to have to push it.   Which means no diet coke because we can’t stop too often.

Not a cloud in the sky this morning but it is really cold.  Only 14 degrees.    I can’t complain though as you guys in Ashland are getting pounded with cold and snow I hear.  Mary – you are not getting off your hill until spring I’m afraid.

Greg says his right butt cheek is numb.  I’m surprised both cheeks aren’t since he barely moves all day.  I can get up and move around a bit and stretch but he is stuck sitting and driving.

Greg – sorry I didn’t write anything last night. Just too tired to think.   Catch up with you later.

600 miles later and with just a bit of time to spare we made it to the walmart distribution center in North Platte Nebraska.  Now we wait to be unloaded and then we can rest for the night!

Greg: Actually we pulled in out of fuel and out of time.  I had less than an 1/8th of a tank so I pulled in the truck stop next to the Wal Mart distribution center and put in 50 gal. and filled up my refer tank and DEF tank.  DEF, another government requirement to help diesels run cleaner.  Of course like the no lead and ethanol gas you put in your car it’s not so good for the engines, but you have to add that to the cost of whatever you buy that is delivered by truck.  Oh wait, that’s EVERYTHING.  We are gouged in so many ways it’s hard to keep track.

Well, as stated above, we are no longer in Florida.  Below freezing temperatures last night but Nebraska is surprisingly mild, low 50s when we got here, getting colder but supposed to be in the 50s tomorrow and next day.  Of course we don’t know yet where we are going next so that weather report may be totally useless.

I’ll tell ya now, Wal-Mart ain’t the fastest at getting you loaded and unloaded.  Backed the trailer into the dock 45 minutes ago and no word yet.  The last two Wal-Marts we have been too were at least two hours getting us unloaded.  And both of those were partial trailers.  This one is fully loaded.

As Annie said we are in North Platte, Nebraska home of William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody.  His ranch is still here and open to the public.  That’s one place I would like to visit.  Nebraska is nice.  Rolling terrain in spots, many miles of flat land, lots of corn fields and cows.  I still think Florida has more cows than anywhere, except maybe Texas.  When we were there last weekend it seemed like they were everywhere.  Much like corn in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska and probably the Dakotas although we haven’t been there yet.

Still seeing lots of hawks.  They sit on the edge of these corn fields waiting for mice to come out to eat.  It’s fun to watch them fly.  We also passed several large ponds each with hundreds of ducks in them.  And a field with what looked like thousands of bird all gathered together.  They looked like the ones that formed that bird tornado we saw the other day, but these were just sitting in the field.  Nature is wonderful to behold.

Well, you guys in Kentucky try to stay warm, and Doc, hang in there brother, Texas is on our mind.  We will get there soon I promise.

Good night and God Bless.

Well, we have been at Walmart for 4 1/2 hours so far.  I went in and asked the clerk about our load and she said they have 750 cases out of 1500 unloaded so far.    Good grief!

It took 5 hours to get unloaded.   And we have to pay for that privilege.   Anyway, stopped at Flying J for the night and ready for bed.  Goodnight y’all.

Good morning Missouri!

Up and at them but thankfully still 55 degrees so no ice and sleet this morning.    Got to put a lot of miles on the truck today so hopefully our troubles are behind us.   No leaking in the axle so off we go.

Pretty good going until western Kentucky then hit snow and ice.  Roads are okay right now. Salt Trucks and snow plows are out which is good.  Doesn’t seem to slick when we stop.   Pretty slow going but at least we are going.   Radar shows it stops outside St. Louis which is just a couple of hours away.    There were a lot of trucks and cars on the side of the road and in the median but we got through fine.  Probably helps we are loaded.

The windshield got so frozen up at one point that Greg had to pull off and de-ice it.   We tried to stop at a rest area on the highway but it was completely full.   Cars and trucks had even pulled up all the back to the highway trying to get in.   So, he had to pull up off the road past the rest area to do it.   As mentioned, the ice trucks and snow plows were out and I looked out the window to check on Greg and saw this snow plow coming down the highway throwing snow off the road in about 6 foot high waves.   I saw Greg coming around the drivers side of the truck and started yelling – MOVE!   Just as he saw the snow plow coming as well.   He managed to get to the other side of the truck before he got snowed under.   That would have been awful.   I dont know if he would have ever gotten warm after that.    He has already cried the whole way since leaving Florida.   LOL   It was 80 degrees when we left.   ha ha.

Got to Missouri and it was like the faucet was turned off.  No more snow and the roads were clear.    Made it to the Pilot in Pendelton, Missouri, outside of St. Louis for the night. Got 600 miles to go tomorrow.

Greg is already in the bed so he wont have any comments on the blog tonight.

Goodnight, y’all.   Keep warm!

Cool car parked beside us at rest area.

This is the tire that had the leaking axle.

Wreck not far up the road.

We couldnt see out of the windshield so Greg had to get out and de-ice the window.

Well, the morning started off early the way we were supposed to but Greg noticed that the axle is leaking again.    It’s not a lot but needs to be fixed.  Tried sending in work order but system has a red light which means no signal. Tried calling.  On hold forever.   So he thinks we should go.   Truck repair place just 60 miles.

We made it to the Travel Center in Lake Park, Georgia without any problems.  Thank God.   Now we sit and wait while they fix it.   Hopefully really fix it this time!

Speaking of travel centers, why do they have to have the same restaurants in them everywhere you go?   People travel all over.  Break it up now and then!   TA centers have Arby’s.   Pilots have subways.   I may never eat another subway in my life.    Arby’s is getting real close to the line too.   I get nauseous just walking in Pilot and smelling that bread now.  Why not Pilots in this state have one restaurant and Pilots in another have something else.   Nobody wants to eat subway for weeks on end.

Driver here:  I’m getting too good at waiting.  Something I don’t like.  Same problem, different day.

So I really hate to say anything bad about anyone and I don’t think it’s my imagination as I have been noticing a growing number of incompetent people in the world.  Not so much low intelligence but rather an aura of disassociation.  It’s like nobody is in the moment, an inability to concentrate on the task at hand.  Their minds are somewhere else.  I think we have too many distractions in our lives.  Instead of being taught to focus we are offered up multiple forms of distractions from early childhood on through adulthood.  To the point that much of our education in our early years takes the form of entertainment and that is what we have come to expect.  There can be so much magic in every moment that it’s overwhelming sometimes to experience.  Not to say people are incapable, they have forgotten how to pay attention.  And get to easily distracted by their wandering thoughts.  I am guilty of this as well, but I’m working on it and I think I am getting better.  But it just hit me today that this is the case as I experienced several occurrences of this behavior just today.

Oh, bright shiny object.  Will be back later.  

Finally!   Back on the road after 4 hours of sitting around.    Got some time to make up.   They set the drop time to Thursday now instead of Wednesday which gives us time to complete the load but delays our time in the process as this will cause us to miss another load faster.   Well, at least the company is making money! 

I know most of you won’t feel like it, but spring is coming.   Something has already started blooming in Georgia.   I know this because I have sneezed all day!   We did see some trees with what looked like little flowers on them and what looked like red bud trees so one of them may be the culprit.  At any rate, Kleenex has been my friend today.    It’s sad that I am looking for cold weather again.   

We went through Atlanta at a pretty good rate tonight.   Usually we just stop and inch our way through town but we got there about 6:30 tonight and only had to stop a few times.   It started getting really foggy as we got close to the city and then by the time we stopped it started raining.   Not much but just enough to make going up to the bathroom fun.   Weather report says it is supposed to turn cold tonight and the rain is to turn into sleet.   I hope not as we go up the mountain in to Tennessee in the morning.

We have parked at a Pilot in Dalton, Georgia for the night.   Still got a lot of miles to cover tomorrow.

Driver here:  I can feel the cold air already.  It was 57 when we pulled into the truck stop.  Supposed to get colder over night.  I miss Florida already.

Well, once the axle seal was repaired, for the second time in 24 hours, we got underway and made pretty good time with the time we had remaining.  Here again, the government bureaucrats thinking they know what’s best for me require me to pull off the road for 10 hours after I sat for four hours.  Jeez, I wish just one of those turkeys would do a job before getting the urge to regulate it.

All looks good so far, no leaks.  I had a low tire so have to keep an eye on that.  Everything seems to be logged correctly, no messages to the contrary, I am technically in the sleeper berth, don’t tell anybody I’m writing this now, so I will say goodnight and write more tomorrow after a long drive through the mid-west.

Good night and God bless.

Chicken farm

Anybody need a trailer?

Georgia Pecan trees.

This is the runway for the airport. You go through it to get to Atlanta from the south. Whats scary is when you see a big airplane go across it as you go through.

Well, we got off to a late start.   I tell ya, they don’t tell the new folks anything.   Greg went out to the truck yesterday to get something and noticed a message from the office. They had us a trip booked for Sunday that we didn’t know about.  Greg emailed them and told them we were off this weekend and the guy said he didn’t know and would contact dispatch about what to do.   Waited all evening for a call and then this am called the office and was put on hold forever and Greg finally hung up.   We figured we didn’t have a load yet so we decided to go to breakfast with Gregory, Mel and Maddi.    Got there, ordered our food and got a call from Transam that Cape Coral was about to tow our truck even though it was sitting in front of the house.  Cape Coral has some weird laws about business names being on vehicles.   Anyway, we rushed out of the restaurant without eating and made it back in time to not get towed.    In the midst of this, Greg gets a call from the office Finally and said the load he got yesterday is his and he needed to be on the road at 6 am this morning.    Why didn’t the guy yesterday say that!!!!!!   So we load up the truck with all our stuff and head out.  Maddi keeps saying “I don’t want you to leave” and gives each of us about a dozen kisses.    The morning had already been tearful saying goodbye to Sadie and Kaiden when we took them to school.    What a roller coaster ride of a day.

So we finally get on the road and Greg gets a message that he has to buy load locks which are bars that go across the back of the load to keep it from shifting.  We had just pulled in to a Pilot so that worked out good.  Ok.  Back on the road.   We are headed to Coca Cola in Auburndale, Florida.

The day just gets better and better.   Got to Coca Cola for a drop and hook which means we leave our trailer and pick up a loaded one. In and out.   Real quick.   Nope.  Not today.   Got there and got connected to the new trailer and while Greg did his inspection he noticed a axle oil seal leak which is apparently a big deal so we couldn’t go anywhere until  that was fixed.   Called a repairman and waited about an hour for him to get there and then about an hour to fix it. So a load that should have taken just a few minutes took over two hours and threw us even later.    We have to be in Nebraska by 7 pm Wednesday.   Going to be pretty tough at this point.   Praying for a better and more productive day tomorrow that’s for sure.    Greg still has about three hours of drive time so hopefully we can get some miles in.

We have 42,000 pounds of orange juice.  We had to go the backroads to the coca cola plant and we saw acres and acres of orange trees.   Some were heavy with fruit and some were just blooming and had the most fragrant white blooms on them.   Must be a different variety or something is all I can figure.   We also went past an orange processing plant and boy could you smell the orange juice.    Look closely at the pictures and you will see all those oranges in trucks and bins in the processing plant.

We stopped at a rest area on I-75 for the night.   Long day tomorrow.    Goodnight everybody!

Driver here:  Well the picture below about says it all.  That’s my granddaughter Maddie giving me goodbye kisses.  When I talked to her on the phone on our way there she said she was going to kiss me all over my face.  Well, she did.  What a joy those three kids are.  Kaiden and Sadie are doing well in school and excited about it.  Kaiden is in Weblows and has his soap box derby this coming weekend.  Sure wish I could be there for that.

Well, Annie told you what a day we had after leaving the kids.  Sometimes I wonder who’s running this outfit.  That’s the second trailer in the last 10 days I have discovered with a leaking seal.  Maybe I’ll just stop looking as that appears to be what others are doing.  No, I can’t do that.

With that all said and done the driving has not been very long today and we have not gotten as far as we had hoped.  Of course if someone could have given me an answer yesterday we would be halfway to Nebraska.  Oh well, we always say there is a reason for everything and this just may have kept us out of some serious trouble.  We’ll make it up.  Don’t worry.  Not that you would.  I mean do you really care if the people in Nebraska get their orange juice?  Well yea.  Everybody needs their orange juice.  So we’ll take it to them.

I’m sleepy.  More tomorrow.  Enjoy the pics.  Goodnight and God bless.

Kissing papaw goodbye. She said she was going to “kiss him all of his face” and she sure did!

Only in Florida do you have a caution sign for Sand Hill Cranes.

See the manatee?

Orange trees!

Pretty building in Auburndale, Florida.

Baby orange trees

Snow birds have arrived.

This guy had two horses and 5 hound dogs in his trailer. Guess it was hunting time.

Osprey nest with two in it.

Look at all those oranges!

What my sweetie bought me at the Coca Cola place!