DG:  Well it is actually 5:00 in the morning of the 13th. We plumb forgot to blog yesterday.  So now we are at the dock of MDI food services in Hickory, NC getting unloaded. Our appointment was for five but we got here last night and they have overnight parking so we were right at the gate when they called this morning at 3:30. I only have two hours left on my clock for today so we will be finding a place to spend the day. I will pick up more time after midnight so looks like we will be back on midnight turn for a while. 

Over to you sweetheart.  God bless. 

Annie – So sorry we didn’t blog yesterday.   I am knitting a dress for Sadie and it has a lot of new stitches in it that I had to keep googling to even find out what they are and then trying to do them.  Thank goodness for YouTube videos!   I am really enjoying this pattern and learning the new stitches.  This has been a challenge but the dress is turning out really pretty I think.  I will post it when done.  

We came through Asheville, North Carolina on our way to Hickory.  It is such a beautiful area.  I can definitely see why the Cherokee made this place home and would have hated to leave it for Oklahoma.   There were lots of streams and white water rafters and the mountains through here are just gorgeous.  Can’t wait until fall!  

Well, turning back In for a bit.  They are going to call when done and wake us back up.  Haha 

DG:  Driver Greg here going first on blog duty today as I am sitting, waiting on another trip after the one I had yesterday that was given to me when I had no time to even get started and then getting the suggestion to do the pick up while logging off duty driving time which is to be done only with an empty trailer and not under dispatch. I am a little upset about that. What upsets me more is the fact that they warned me a few months ago when I wanted to drive 94 miles to Ashland while empty and heading for home time not to do it as it would have violated my 14 hour rule, but here it seemed okay?  I know they need to move freight as do I but being told to violate the rules and my conscious and leaving the rule violation up to the interpretation of a DOT officer, the violation of my conscience is up to my interpretation, I chose to go with my conscience thereby denying the fate of my future to the interpretation of one of our government’s agents. 

Hooray, somebody, somewhere got something figured out and we are at the first place we were supposed to be yesterday. 

30 minute load, now we are at second pick up. Waiting as they have to figure some things out first. After this its on to North Carolina. 

I may be thrown out of the truck shortly. I got my full compliment of sleep last night and so the coffee I had this morning is acting as a stimulant and not just a counter balance to the fatigue it usually combats. Needless to say, when I am not writing I am talking, mostly jibberish, and Annie is trying to count stitches as she knits. And for 32 years all I’ve heard is how she can multitask, did her school homework while watching TV, do and talk and listen and whatever. Well, apparently a little enthusiastic conversation while knitting is more than she can handle. So, in the interest of self preservation I am remaining silent for the remainder of the day. 

God bless. 

As you can tell by the rant above, Greg was pretty wired this morning.   I was already having to rip out the knitting I had started because of a mistake and was in the middle of counting stitches so I didn’t have another one and he just wouldn’t shut up.   I don’t believe I have ever heard him ramble on like he did this morning.   I threatened to stab him with a knitting needle if he didn’t give me five minutes of peace so I could count.   Needless to say, he finally did settle down and I didn’t have to hurt him.  Wow what a morning.  And you know ladies as well as I do that normally we can do three things at once.   Haha 

We have stopped for the night in Memphis, Indiana.   Not too far outside of Louisville.   We have almost 500 miles to go tomorrow to get to Hickory, North Carolina to drop off 23,000 pounds of garlic bread.   Why is it that since we have started our diet all we seem to do is pick up food we would like to eat or candy?    Diet is going good.  The Nutrisystem is great to have in the truck and makes it easier to stick with it.   We have to stay away from Bojangles when we get to North Carolina though.   Those Bo Rounds get us every time. 

Turning in.  Goodnight y’all.  

Up at 12:30 and on the road by 1 am.  Got to get to Wisconsin around 7-8 am.    Hope we get this schedule turned around soon.   

We dropped off our bananas on time and now up the road just a bit to pick up a load of produce to take the Hickory, North Carolina.  

Well, that was rude!   Pickup truck passed us and a rock hit the windshield. 

DG: Now I have two holes in my windshield. 

Well, second load was a bust.  Apparently the guys in trip planning failed to acquire all the info regarding this next trip and I find out there is another part to the load that needs picked up at another plant, and my pick up at this one has been moved back several hours but now I am out of time. So it gets canceled. And my dispatcher tells me that our customer service department has said its a one stop load and to go back and get the guy’s name that told me that.  Not my job man. And besides I’m out of time and so legally can’t do that. So I’m told to call the log department and find out how I can go pick up two loads and go to a truck stop when I’m out of time. So I call. I get some suggestions from a lady in the logs department, I mull ’em over for a bit. I don’t see how what she told me is legal so I call back with further questions regarding said instructions and this time a guy answers.  I tell him my situation and what the lady told me and he basically tells me the same thing and that it can be done and I ask, “well isn’t that illegal?” And am told that it’s up to the interpretation of the officer should I get stopped. “Up to interpretation of the officer?!!!!”  Well we all know how that would go down. So I tell him I don’t feel like risking my license over this and well, what can he say. So here we sit. 20 years ago I probably would have said what the hey gone ahead but being now older and somewhat wiser I opted not to chance it this time. 

We will probably sit here till morning which is okay as I need the rest. 

God bless each and every one. 

1 am.   Going back to bed.   Greg went to sleep at 5 pm so he is wide awake.  I stayed up reading and crocheting until 10:30 so not awake yet.  

2:30 am. Almost knocked out of the bed going over these bumpy roads in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  Guess I’m up a while.  

4 am.   Pulled in to Chiquita to get our bananas.   We crossed the Delaware River which was cool.   Wish I had some daylight so I could take some pictures.  

4:30.  Trying to find our load.  There is only one KLLM trailer that is loaded but no paperwork that we can find.  On these early morning pick ups when the office is closed they usually have a box on the trailer with the paperwork in it but this trailer has no such box.  After two phone calls and climbing in the back of the trailer Greg finally found the paperwork under a strap on one of the pallets.   Jeez!   This has thrown us behind a bit but we are finally on our way to Wisconsin with our green bananas from Nicaragua.  

DG: All is going according to plan. We’ve been on a tight schedule lately but that’s okay as it keeps us moving. And moving means money. No move, no money. 

I have to tell you Ohio is good to truckers. Along I-79 and other highways I’m sure, about every 30 miles that have what they call service plazas. Kind of a cross between a truck stop, gift store and mall food court, with free showers for truck drivers and a driver’s lounge. Of Course they also sell fuel and have lots of parking. I really like them even though they have an abundance of four wheelers stopping I’m appreciate the effort from the state of Ohio. 

Well I’m sleepy. Good night y’all. God bless. 

Up at 2 am.  Tried to see some stars since we are out in the sticks but between the moon and lights in the parking lot we didn’t get to see very many.   

Headed to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania this am.   It’s outside of Allentown or all the way across Pennsylvania, almost to New Jersey.   

Our load is 43,000 pounds of BACON! so we have to get weighed first thing so we have to go out of our way a bit to avoid a weigh station until we make sure we are ok.  Don’t need any big fines! 

We got our bacon delivered on time but now we are out of time again.   We are headed to New Castle, Delaware to Chiquita for bananas and taking them to Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.   Going to be a lot of night driving the next few days to get clock turned around. Up at 2 the clock runs out about 3 pm so here we sit for 10 hours and will be getting up at 1 to get to Delaware. 

Still daylight but turning in.  Goodnight y’all. 

DG:  That’s the thing about over the road trucking. One day you are on day shift the next you are on midnight turn. It’s all about the clock. And I have used too much of fit already. Shift starts at one and it’s now 5:30 pm so gotsta get some shut eye. God bless everyone.  Good night. 

Up at 3:30 to head to Pennsylvania.  I went back to bed this morning for a bit until the ride got so bumpy I was getting nauseous.  It’s not easy to sleep in the bunk while the truck is rolling.

We went over the WV turnpike for a bit and then veered off to go in to Pennsylvania.   We went through the tourist area of WV once we turned.  Signs for white water rafting and skiing and all the shops were touristy, crafts, etc.    There was a lot of fog this morning so the pictures aren’t real clear.

We got just a couple of hours from our stop and they called us and told us that the load was rescheduled for next week and to drop it off in a drop lot in Coshocton, Ohio and pick up another trailer to take to Pennsylvania.  Lots of curvy back roads to end up in a dirt parking lot for the night.   But out of time so will have to get up at 2 in order to get to receiver on time.

Lovely place to stay the night.

DG:  Any port in a storm, goes the saying. But it’s not storming. Unusual drop yard. Out in the middle of nowhere. 

Next we go back to PA but eastern part this time. 

God bless. 2 am comes early. 

Up at 4 am to head to North Carolina.   The clock has completely reset so We are good to go.   We are headed to Mebane which is about 30 miles from where we used to live.  I wonder if it still has the pharmacy with the soda fountain in the back?   It was such a cute small town when we first moved down there.

DG:  Spending the night just outside of Hickory, NC. We delivered some plastic to a company in Mebane then drove 160+ miles to just east of Ashville to the Baxter plant which we had visited twice before when we were with Trans Am. Didn’t recognize the address but knew right away when we pulled up to the intersection and saw the plant. We also knew that the little truck stop right across the street has killer BBQ so we had to stop in for a sandwich. Yes, that’s on our diet as long as we do not overindulge.

So now we are loaded with 43000 pounds of dialysis solution, saline and liquid nutrition.  All going to PA. Does anyone else see a pattern here?

Here’s a couple of more pictures from the Pioneer Auto Museum in South Dakato. There were too many to include all at once. Annie may have some pictures from today, I don’t know. We drove through a lot of smoke today. Apparently there are a couple of hills around here that have been burning for several days. It also started raining as we were leaving so that will help.

Enjoy the pics. I will entertain questions if you have any. God bless.

The smoke through NC was pretty heavy at times.   We saw signs that said dense smoke ahead and then we asked the guard when we got to our stop.    The air smelled like incense though which was kinda nice for a few minutes but then it was too strong.     Glad we were able to get about an hour away for the night.   Didn’t want to sleep too close to that.  I was able to get a picture.

Today was my 51st birthday and I got the nicest email from Gregory.    Well, on to 52.  Goodnight y’all.

All day at truck stop doing 34 hour reset. Slept all day. That is all. 

From Toms Brook, VA, God bless. 

Up at 4 am this morning to head to Westfield, Pennsylvania to get a load of plastic medical supplies to take to North Carolina.  I remember getting woken up a couple of times last night due to a heavy storm.    Lots of heavy rain and thunder.    I slept in a little bit but got up in time to see all the fog.    It was really pretty hanging in the trees up in the mountains.

After we picked up our load we started looking at the time and figured we had time to stop in Middletown and see the kids.   We met at a truck stop that had a McDonald’s in it and we had lunch together.    We only got to stay about 45 minutes but it was worth it.   I got lots of hugs and kisses and Maddi painted a tattoo on my arm.     It was great seeing everybody though even if for just a little bit.    Melissa looked a bit miserable.    She only has about 6 or 7 weeks or so to go until baby Alex gets here and those last weeks aren’t fun.    She is having a lot of feet swelling and I’m sure is ready for this part to be over.     Kaiden was full of stories about all the cousins that were in this week.   They really got to surprise grandma for her birthday and there were 14 or 15 kids there I think they said and the kids had a ball with all of them.   When we first got there everyone was in the bathroom so I snuck in and to surprise them.   I got lots of hugs and kisses but then Maddi wanted to know where Papaw was.  I opened the bathroom door and she saw him and runs yelling down the hallway of the truck stop – PAPAW!!!   So sweet.    She loves her mammie but Papaw is her buddy.    They walked us back out to the truck while Greg finished getting fuel and then we had to go our separate ways.    We had 2 hours to get to a Loves in Toms Brook, Virginia so had to hurry – only to find out that the delivery time had been moved to Thursday so here we sit two hours away from the kids for the next 36 hours.    At least this will give Greg’s clock time to totally reset which it needs but its a shame we didn’t know this before we left Pennsylvania.   We could have had tonight and tomorrow with the kids.    Don’t know why it worked out this way but we try not to second guess because there is always a reason why things work out the way they do.     It will definitely give us a chance to clean the truck and catch up on some sleep we have needed since the long drive from Washington.     That’s another thing too – I was disappointed we didn’t get to California from Oregon but then seeing all the horrible fires in California I now understand that God wanted us to go a different route.    Biggest reason I try not to get too disappointed when a trip doesn’t go the way I want it to go is I know there usually a reason, whether I know it or not.

Not too many pictures tonight but a few of the fog and some of the small towns we went through today in Pennsylvania.

Goodnight, y’all.

DG: Virginia is beautiful this time of year and we parked in the back of the parking lot next to some grass and the woods. I have gotten so used to the rumble of Diesel engines I hardly notice them anymore but I did notice theM today as I took Precious for a walk and heard some birds singing in the trees and I was too keenly aware of the rumbling engines just behind me. I can’t remember the last time I was in a place where there was no sound of modern machinery.  

I am going to sleep till I’m done in the morning but to do that I have to go to bed. 

Good night and God bless. 

4:30 Up and at ’em.   We have about 6 hours to go to get to our stop in Sacramento, Pennsylvania.   Didn’t even know there was a Sacramento Pennsylvania.    It’s starting to rain a bit.  Sure hope it doesn’t last long.

The rain just sprinkled for a bit so that was good.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDSEY!!

We made it to our stop with our load of 40,000 pounds of potatoes.   We are just about in the middle of Pennsylvania.   Sure is pretty country up here in the mountains.  Lots of corn here too.   Haha

We have our next load which we will pick up in Westfield, Pennsylvania.  Right on the border of Pennsylvania and New York.   About 4 hours from where we are now.   The load is supposed to go to North Carolina tomorrow but Greg Only has about 9 hours on his clock so we will end up just a little further south than we are now.    We are hoping to meet up with the kids tomorrow.  They are in Middletown visiting Melissa’s grandmother for her 95th birthday party.  All the family came in but one set who is out of the country doing missionary work.   Gregory said there were about 14 kids there.  I bet ours are having a ball with all those kids.   They love their great grandmother too.   They talk about her and were excited to see her again.   Gregory says she is a hoot.   That’s wonderful that they will have those memories of her.   They have another great grandmother they would love to see too.  Hint hint (you know who you are).

DG:  Waiting for the planners and dispatch to get back to me regarding next trip I now have too little time to get there at the scheduled pick up time.  So what do they do?  Just change the pick up time. One can never be late if the pick up time keeps changing. They will probably have me swap with someone going south as I will have just enough time to get back to where we are now and Wednesday I will have only one hour and fifty minutes on my clock so we won’t be going anywhere on that day.

So we are having dinner in a diner next to the truck stop where we will be spending the night. We have been on Nutrisystem diet for about three weeks, which is working good, but decided to change it up a bit and help the locals in the process.  Food was delicious. And I ate too much of it but I deserve it.

Early morning we will be off to our pick up.  Then doubt probably as far as Carlisle for fuel and that should just about do it. Of course we will likely get to spend some time with the kids this way so see, it all works out.