Woke up to a gorgeous sunrise in Montana.    We were able to get through Montana, down in to Wyoming and in to South Dakota.  We had to change our plans a bit and go through South Dakota instead of North Dakota due to gas prices.   30 to 40 cents is a lot of difference especially when you get 200 gallons at a time.

We were so close to so many things.    We really need to come back this way in  a car.    We passed Custer’s last stand, The Black Hills, The Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and several historic sites along the way.    South Dakota is very rich in history.   The terrain where we were reminded me a lot of Wyoming except in a few spots where the rocks really stood out.

We still have 1600 miles to go before Monday afternoon.    We will cross the rest of South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois and hopefully further tomorrow.

Goodnight, y’all!

Good morning Montana

This is the mountain from the movie Close Encounters with the Third Kind.

I have no idea

So close and yet so far

All of the rest areas have these teepees in SD.

This was as close to the Badlands as we got. Again, so close and yet so far.

DG:  Well I couldn’t guess how many motorcycles we passed.  Monday begins the Sturgis bike rally.  This event has been going on since 1940 and I think it has grown every year. Most of the bikes were dressers, very few choppers and probably as many coming in trailers as being ridden. To give you some idea how big this thing is we are at a truck stop 162 miles away and since we got here at six this evening it is now 10:00 and the bikes, campers and toy haulers are still pouring through. 

Hope they clear out by morning so we can get out of here. 

Well between the combine demolition derby, yes you read correctly, the testicle festival and Sturgis bike week I have to say South Dakotans do not lack for entertainment. 

Oh, and here are some pictures of the Pioneer Auto Show that is right across the street from where we are stopped for the night. 

  
My dream car. 1959 Cadillac.

  
That’s just what it looks like, a wooden car. 

  
An original pinball machine. No flippers. 

  
Tom Mix’s Packard. Really. 

Elvis motorcycle 

  
Car with sliding doors.  

   
 
This says use a dog, goat or sheep but I think a 3 year old would be better.   Haha 

  
I didn’t even know these existed. 

  
That’s all for now.  More later. God bless. 

Up at 7 am and heading out.

We got through Washington, Idaho and about halfway through Montana.   It is a huge state!

I can’t say enough about the landscape out here and how beautiful it is so I’ll just let the pictures explain.   I took 485 pictures.  Thankfully, they are digital and I could delete any duplicates or blurry ones.   Still ended up with over 300 and narrowed it down to 119 for the blog.    I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

We passed a little place off the side of the road on I-90 that had fountains spouting up in the air.    We went by too fast to get pictures so am sending this link for you to see.   Pretty neat.
http://sondahl.com/elmersfountain.html

We also passed a placed called Mullan, Montana that was having a testicle festival.   I kid you not!    Apparently surrounding towns get together and listen to live music, get drunk and eat Rocky Mountain Oysters.   I think that’s one festival I can gladly skip.

Well, turning in.  Long way to go tomorrow.   Goodnight y’all!

DG:  Words really don’t do it justice. I spent the whole day marveling at how majestic and beautiful is the landscape. And this is only one of God’s marvels.

Well, gotta go. Out early in the morning. PA here we come. God bless.

Up at 6:30 and ready to go to receiver.  It’s across the street so we should be fine.

We’ve been given our next load assignment and we are headed for Royal City, Washington and then Pennsylvania!   So glad we aren’t headed back to Texas!

We traveled back across the way we came for a bit to cross over in to Washington.   I have to say I am very surprised in the landscape of Washington.  I guess between movies and TV I thought it would look more like Oregon with mountains and trees but the part we were in was just like driving through Wyoming or Nebraska.   Lots of rocks, flat open fields and lots of cows.    There were a few small agricultural areas where they had some apples, peaches, nectarines and hops of all things but trees were scarce.    This part of Washington was all farm land.   Very few houses.   There was one section through the Yakima Indian Reservation that went on for miles and miles and it was just all scrub covered hills with horses every now and then.   You would see three or four horses together, then another mile and see a few more.   This went on and on and then we opened up in to a beautiful valley with a river and green fields and then back to the brown fields and hills again.    We are headed more in to the eastern part toward Spokane in the morning, the top corner of Idaho and in to Montana.   Cant wait to see what they look like.

We found a Loves in Ritzville for the night.   Ritzy it is not but we can get some sleep.    We have a long way to go to Pennsylvania.   The route shows we will be going entirely across Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota before heading south in Wisconsin to go around the great lakes and back up in to Pennsylvania.   We will definitely need the sleep!   Goodnight, y’all.

DG:  I too was surprised to see so much farmland in Washington.  I think between California, Oregon and Washington we could feed the world. 

Didn’t expect to see so many cows either. I tell you this country had it all. I don’t see why we should be buying anything from any other country.  

Time for dinner and a nap before moving on. More on the road tomorrow. God bless. 

Up at 8 am or 11 am for you in the eastern time zone.   I woke up to several emails and texts that had been sent hours earlier.   Too funny.   

We arrived at our first stop a little early.   It’s a live unload because they are only getting part of it and then we have a second stop today just a bit south of here in Silverton, Oregon.  

Well, we didn’t get too far today.  30 miles.  The first unload took 4 1/2 hours so it caused us to miss our 10:30 appt at the next place so it has been rescheduled for 8 am.   So here we sit in a grocery store parking lot across from the stop.   But it gave us a chance to go to the store and wow what a selection.   Getting here we passed all these fruit and vegetable farms and then the store has their produce in them and they are so good.    Also fresh fish so Greg had sushi and shrimp for dinner.   We got blackberries as big as your thumb.  Fresh cauliflower and blaakoli.  (yes I misspelled broccoli on purpose.  It’s blaakiii)   

The grocery store has the prettiest petunia hanging baskets I think I have ever seen.  Just gorgeous. 

DG: Truly beautiful sights.  I may have to change my opinion as to the most beautiful state however I will reserve said opinion until all are visited.

The fresh fruit and vegetables here are like none I have tried.  The land here is so fertile and they make good use of it.  You would think the locals would be walking pictures of health, but alas not everyone is so inclined to healthy eating.  Lord knows we are trying.

Like Annie said our first stop took so long not only did we miss our next appointment but our next load was given to someone else so we will be assigned another tomorrow.  In the meantime stay well and have a good day.

Good night and God bless. 

Up at 7 and ready to head to Oregon!   Woke up to rain but it looks like it’s about over so we should have clear skies for the trip.

Well, it is midnight and we are all ready for bed after an amazing day.   I cant begin to tell you the beautiful scenery we saw today.   We saw more of the Snake River, Columbia River, and of course, Oregon, just outside Portland.   Wow!  That doesnt cover it, but Wow!   Greg and I talked about parking the truck and just finding a place to live.   I dont know if I can live in a town with a restaurant called Tofurkey or not, but I may be willing to give it a try.    I took 229 pictures today and none of them do it justice.    We even saw two waterfalls coming down while driving along the highway.     The trees and mountains were so green and the water so blue.   Did I say amazing yet?

To get down in to this lovely spot we had to cross over Cabbage Hill which is a part of I84 which is 6 miles up and 6 miles down.   Needless to say, it is quite an experience.   So glad it isnt winter.   There were several signs saying snow zone and be sure to have your chains on.   Yikes!

When we got to the truck stop tonight the Chapel was having Bible study so we sat in for a bit.   Missed the first few minutes because we didnt know it was going on.    We managed not to get thrown out which is good.   haha    I guess I dont understand why every preacher wants to tell you that you are going to Hell and how bad things are in life and not tell you the wonderful reason Jesus came and that was to free us of all that and bring healing and happiness in to our lives.   Otherwise, you just feel bad all the time because thats what they tell you all the time.   I am going to believe in Jesus and his promises that our life can be amazing if we follow him.    I tell ya, the past few days have been amazing. I have a great son, 3 1/2 beautiful grandchildren and a great husband, and family.   I believe I will take Jesus’ word for it.      We could be sitting right now feeling sorry for ourselves that our business is gone, we dont technically have a home except for a truck, no car, but I am so excited because I know God has a plan for us and it is going to be even better than what we had before!   And look what we get to do and see in the meantime!

Well, I am turning in.    Enjoy the pictures.   Sorry some are through the front windshield.  It makes them have blotches on them but I couldnt get them out my window.

Goodnight, y’all.

DG:  AMEN! 

Up and out at 6:30.   Headed to Utah and Idaho today.   Two new states for me.   Yea!!

Boy did we see some beautiful country today.    Utah just blew me away.   I can see why the Mormons chose it.  It has a holy feel to it.   Just awe inspiring.   I took over 245 pictures today but due to time and space constraints only loaded 65.   haha

Idaho reminded me a lot of kansas with all the wheat fields and then we got in to some hills and mountains in the distance.    Then we saw the snake river.   It snakes back and forth across the road.   Just beautiful scenery.    I imagine the rest of Idaho wont look like Kansas as we get closer to Oregon.   I sure look forward to it.

Well, turning in.   Goodnight, y’all.

DG:  Almost there.  645 miles today in 10 hours and 23 minutes. Glad we got that governor bumped up. May change my mind when I get my fuel bill Thursday.

Utah blew us away not long after crossing the state line. For a few miles it looked a lot like Wyoming and then we hit the mountains. There was this beautiful mountain stream with just enough current and depth to float a raft or kayak lazily downstream. And people were taking advantage of it. There were several places along the river where you could put in, some with guides and there looked to be a couple of places where you could rent a tube or kayak.  I would say there were several hundred people along the river either in the river or waiting to get in. It looked like a lazy river ride you might see at a water park only on a much grander scale. It was amazing and I’m sure there will be some pictures.

We are in Mountain Home, Idaho. Can’t tell much about the size of the town as we stopped at the first of three exits that give access.

Got a shower. That was first one the list. Can’t show up at these receivers all smelly. They might not accept our load. No chance. Anyway we feel and smell better.

Got to FaceTime with the kids today. It is always a joy to see them and talk with them. They are so interesting and funny. They are excited about their trip to Pennsylvania coming up.

Well, I’m going to get ready for bed. See you tomorrow, same time, same channel. Good night and God bless.

Up at 7 to call and see if load is ready.  It is so we scoot on over to get our trailer full of meat.   Guess where it’s going???   OREGON!!  We are making two stops around the Portland area.   So excited.

Traveled to Laramie Wyoming today.   Wow what a trip.   Got to see a different view of the Rockies coming through Colorado and then the middle of Wyoming.  I hadn’t seen this part of Wyoming before and it is something else.   Lots of open areas and lots of rocks and trees as we went.   Our highest elevation so far was 8640 feet.

We parked at the truck stop and took Precious for a walk.   Decided to sit on a tree stump and just look around.    This is our view.

We are higher than the clouds.

Sitting here we saw a pair of huge white birds fly over with black tips on their wings.   Greg said those look like Pelicans.  I didn’t believe him but my bird app says this is the summer breeding ground for the White American Pelican.   Who would have thought.   Explains why they were in a pair.

We have hit a million bugs I think over the last couple of days.   Greg has used that sponge thing at the truck stops when we stop but it just doesn’t get it all.   After our walk he decided to really clean them and thought he would have a cigar while he was at it.  Goofy butt!

The pictures of the rockies arent the greatest.   We were too far away and the sun was behind them so every time I took a picture it just looks like a shadow in the background.      The pictures of all the rocks are in Wyoming.    Do you see the faces in the rocks?   And yes, those are camels in a couple of the pictures.  

DG:  Sunset in Wyoming. 

  
The weather here is wonderful. We left Kansas this morning and it was over 100 for most of the trip. Here it is a cool 80 degrees, the air is fresh and clean, the sky a light blue and the clouds are at eye level around us because we are just over 7000 feet above sea level. 

We also gained an hour leaving central time and now in mountain time. Tomorrow we will gain another hour as we head into pacific time. 

I don’t get anymore drivin time just daylight time. 

Got to get up early so I will say good night and God bless. 

Up at 5 am to take the paperwork to the guard shack.    Now back to truck to wait for loading dock.   Call at 6:30 that door was ready.    9:50 and we are finally ready to go.

We passed the Texas Motor Speedway on the way out.   Greg was thrilled.

  
2 pm.  We just crossed over in to oklahoma.   Sign on a bank says 104 degrees.  I believe it!

We saw a roadrunner as soon as we crossed over in to oklahoma.   Ran straight across the road in front of us.

http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/greater-roadrunner
Oklahoma is such a pretty state.  I’ve taken several pictures of the rolling hills.  We saw a cow standing next to the road who had gotten out of the fence.

I also saw this near bird fly in front of the truck.  I didn’t know what it was but its tail is what I saw first and how unusual it was.  Looking in my bird app for the area I believe it was a scissor tailed flycatcher.

I wish I could get pictures of these birds but they go by so fast.

https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/scissor-tailed-flycatche

Made it to Dodge City for our pickup in the morning.

DG:  You can feel the Wild West all over this place. Makes me want to put on cowboy boots and hat. You don’t have to imagine the cows. They are everywhere and the smell as well. 

Sitting here at the truck stop watching all the cattle haulers come through. Do we really eat that much beef?  So far we’ve been to beef, chicken, turkey and pig processing plants, maybe next week we will go to a fish processing plant. That should smell nice. 

Well, I’m bushed. 500 + miles since getting up at 5:00 am, it’s time for bed.  I may have to start writing earlier during the day taking breaks to do so. We’ll see. 

Good night and God bless. 

3 am.   Hit the snooze.   3:15.  Ok.  Up and heading to gate.   Apparently everybody’s appointment is at 4 o’clock because they are lined up back to the street.   Lovely.    We are now at our loading dock and waiting to see how long this takes.  If it takes too long I am going back to sleep.   

Went in to give them paperwork and go to the bathroom.   This is a freezer warehouse so everyone is in big coats but us.  Brrrr.  I dread going to the bathroom but when I get there it’s all nice and warm with a heater in it.  Yea!! And clean! 

DG:  it’s the little things.  We were about fifth in line once we got to the gate. Still got to the dock before our appointed time. 

This is one of the largest food warehouses I believe we have been to. Wow this country eats a lot. 

So now we are empty and parked just outside the fence where there is parking for probably 50 trucks along both sides of the road leading into this place. Someone planned ahead.  What we are doing now is playing the clock game. You see we are about thirty minutes away from our next pick up, but the appointment isn’t until 12:30 and right now it is 6:45.  So far I haven’t started my clock because we were parked just outside the gate and therefore did not have to go over 15 mph which would have automatically started my drive clock and subsequently my 14. As it is I can wait until about an hour before my scheduled appointment to start my clock meaning I will have until 1:30 am to drive and fuel and break and whatever arriving to the delivery way early of the 6:00 am delivery time. Confused?  So am I. Anyway, I see it as a skillful waiting game that serves no purpose. 

Annie – Got a call from shipper that we can come in early if we want.   Absolutely!   So we head over and get there at 11:30.  Get signed in, get our paperwork and they start loading truck.  They only worked for a couple of minutes and stopped.   We looked at the clock.  NOON.  Lunchtime so we sit from 12 to 1 waiting.  Fortunately it didn’t take them long once they got back and we were on the road around 1:30.    We have 34,000 pounds of brownie, cake and muffin mix.   Of course!  

One surprise we had going through Memphis was we got to see Graceland, sort of.   Hard to see from the road as you drive by but got a few pictures.   

   
   
In Arkansas they grow a lot of rice and some sorghum as well as corn and soy beans.  

Rice field   
Sorghum

DG:  Wasn’t that exciting?  Rock and roll idol and agriculture all in the same country. I love this country. 

We made it to receiver by the skin of our teeth. 17 minutes left on my clock and fortunate for us this place has plenty of parking. I’ve seen truck stops with less. I just hope we all don’t have the same appointment time. That would make for a mad rush for the gate in the morning. 

Again we will be playing the clock game in the morning as my clocks will not reset until 9:30. That will work out fine as it usually takes around two hours total to get unloaded. By the time you check in, get assigned a door, get unloaded, pay the lumpers and get your bills you’re looking at a good couple hours. 

Bottom line is if the wheels ain’t turning nobody’s making money. 

Good night and God bless. 

Up at 4 am.  Forgot to take pain medicine before I went to bed so not a happy camper.  Have to get up and move until medicine kicks in so in all my moving around I woke up Greg so we went to take a shower.    That helped quite a bit.   Almost back to human again.   We were supposed to get up at six anyway so no use going back to bed. 

We had two stops this morning.  One at 8 and one at 10.   Got to them on time and surprisingly was unloaded rather quickly.   Only about an hour at each place.  

We then drove to our stop for the morning but too early so here we sit.  We are on the border of Mississippi and Tennessee, right outside Memphis, in a town called Southaven. 

We have a next trip lined up already which is unusual since we haven’t finished this one yet but the pick up is in Memphis so at least it’s close.   Bad news is we are going back to Texas!   Roanoke Texas!   Northwest of Dallas a bit.   Again!   Haha 

Greg has already hit the hay and is snoring.  I’m going to read a bit and do the same.  After I take my medicine tonight!!

Goodnight y’all. 

DG: No rest for the weary. Arising two hours pahead of schedule puts one on track for being early for all stops. We were, including the final stop, 10 hours ahead of schedule.  Unfortunately this is not one of those places that appreciates that type of efficiency so we wait until our scheduled appointment time of 3:00 am.  So it’s off to bed for this weary head and I bid you all a good night and may God bless.