DG:  Okay, here’s the scoop.  I didn’t say anything yesterday because I was too frustrated to speak coherently.  

As you already know I went to the ER in Paducah, KY a couple of days ago.  After EKGs and blood work and neurological exam the doctor was at a loss as to what had caused my symptoms. He recommended a follow up with my family doctor and released me. Or so I thought. The paper he gave me on my way out stated no strenuous activity until released. Well, this did not satisfy the safety department as they wanted a full release without restrictions.  So I called the hospital and asked for a more thorough release and was told that would have to come from the doctor and they did not know when he would be on duty again. Relaying this information to safety they were unmoved. And I could not move without a release that satisfied their requirements. “Take a train if you have to” was their response to the fact that I was in the middle of nowhere, 20 miles from the nearest doctor, in an area with no public transportation or cab service.  So we sat. No one at the company seemed to care about my situation. They were only concerned about covering their hinies.  For a while I did not know what we were going to do. Then it came to me to call the emergency room about the time I was seen the night before as the doctor who saw me would likely be on duty. Praise God he was on duty, the charge nurse explained the situation and he agreed to fax me a more thorough release.  Release received and forwarded to KLLM. This was followed up by a message from me requesting confirmation of receipt of said fax. Receipt confirmed, dispatch even said the safety hold had been lifted. Alright. New load information should be coming soon. Whoa!  What’s this?  Message said new release form not good enough. Now they insist it state released without restrictions. Don’t you love admin folks. They have no clue to the real workings of the world rather live by a set of numbers and rules. So I call the hospital, again, and I do want to say the nurses in that ER were very patient and helpful. The charge nurse to whom I spoke after explaining my current dilemma stated what I was thinking, “if there were any restrictions the doctor would have stayed so in the release”.  And he didn’t, but that wasn’t good enough. So she contacted the doctor, he gave her the okay to make an addendum, case resolved. So around 11:00 am I am finally cleared to drive, get a load and we are on our way to Pennsylvania with another load of Kit Kats and other assorted candies. 

There’s a lot more to this story, but I gotta get some sleep. 

God bless. 

Up at 5 to head to Georgia.  Greg is feeling fine.   No further issues of whatever that was.  Thank goodness! 

I gotta tell you a funny.   Greg upgraded his cellphone because the battery kept dying.  The new one has Apple Pay whereas the old one didn’t.   We were at a vending machine at a rest area in Tennessee and he wanted a cup of coffee but didn’t have change so I said use your phone.  Huh?  Apple Pay.   Just touch the pad with your phone.   Puzzled look on his face and he taps the phone to the pad and then uses his thumbprint to authorize purchase and out comes his coffee.   The look on his face was priceless.   Too funny.   Old guys and new technology.   Honestly though who would have ever thought you could buy something by tapping a small portable phone to a vending machine pad.   No one over 50 I’m betting.   So now he is up to speed at least until the next phone comes out.  

Gregory getting ready for his first official day at his new job.   I told him to smile.  He said – I am!  Oh boy.   If I didn’t know he was kidding I would be worried.  Haha 

DG:  What a handsome lad. Takes after his mother. I’m so proud of this young man. He is destined for greatness I have no doubt. 

Up and at ’em.   It’s 6:30.   Looks pretty gray here in Indiana.   Hope we don’t have rain today.   

Went to Kraft in Champaigne, illinois and picked up Velveeta cheese and salad dressings of all kinds.   Got our trailer and headed to Georgia.  

Well, we got side tracked in Paducah.   Greg said “I don’t mean to alarm you but I don’t feel well.  I’m real dizzy and shaky”. He was clammy and pale too so he pulled off the road and I made him put his head down and raise his legs a minute.   Thought maybe it was low blood sugar so gave him a cookie and a protein shake.  Felt a little better and decided to get back on the road.  A few minutes later he said he needed to pull off again that he just didn’t feel well.  We pulled in to a Pilot and parked.   He was still clammy and dizzy so I called 911.  They took him to Lourdes Hospital in Paducah.   

Well, after 4 1/2 hours we are back at the truck.   All the blood work, EKGs and chest X-rays were fine.   All we can figure out is his blood sugar or maybe some dehydration.   No heart attack or stroke.  All is good.    Scary but it’s good to know all is ok.  

Greg being silly.  

Carnies at the Pilot tonight. 

I’m finishing off the night with a picture of beautiful Alex.  I could just eat him up! 

DG:  Reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated.  All is well. Got a little nap in the ER.  Fun and games are now over. Time to get back to work. 

God bless. 

Up at 6:30.   Going to be a rushed day.  Greg has only 7 hours on his clock and it’s about a 6 1/2 hour drive so no dilly dallying.   They want us there by 3 which shouldn’t be a problem if we don’t run in to problems, traffic, etc.    Dang clock!  

Alex is one luck baby with two older sisters like this.   

Well, our trip got re-routed.  We ended up going to Portage, Indiana instead of Wisconsin because our load wasn’t due until Monday so we are dropping this off at the yard for someone else to get tomorrow and we are taking a load to – you guessed it – Georgia.  

We have parked for the night in the yard.  These are usually nice places with free showers and laundry.   The stuff here is free but it’s not as clean as I’d like but a shower is a shower.   

Getting ready for bed and had to go to the bathroom one last time.   This time I had company.   A tiny little mouse came out from behind the trash can to scurry to the door only it couldn’t get out so it just kept running back and forth in front of the door trying to get out.  I screamed so it took off back under a chair that was in there and just sat looking at me.   Hurried out of there let me tell Ya.   I told the guy at the desk that there was a mouse in the bathroom and his lovely response was “yeah there’s a bunch of them around here”!!   Guess they have never heard of mouse traps.   Anyway, guess I’ll be holding it til morning and we get down the road.  Haha

Big full moon tonight.   Supposed to be a blood moon or eclipse tomorrow night.  According to a Jewish profit this is a big deal as there have been 4 of these in one year and it’s supposed to mean trouble.  We’ll see.  

DG:  Look at my little man there. Ain’t he handsome?  Blessed too to have such caring sisters. So blessed. 

Yes we are at the KLLM yard in Portage, IN.  Lots of boats around here. I didn’t notice that the last time we were here. Will have to explore it more thoroughly when we have more time. 

Well, we lost the cookies. Yep, we had three cookies from The Woodshed in Big Cabin, OK, ate one and put the other two away only we can’t find them now. I think Precious ate them. When was acting very sneaky earlier. 

Well, off to Georgia again. Same place. Kraft warehouse just outside of Atlanta.  Have to pick up in Champaigne, IL first then fuel in Ina, that be in Illinois as well then back down that old familiar route of 57 to 24 to 75. 

Up early so good night Irene. 

God bless. 

Up at 6 am.   Had to check on a tire so got out about 7.  Just in time to hit Dallas am traffic.  Not too bad though.   

Went from Dallas to Rolla, Missiouri in pretty good time.  Stopped by the Big Indian truck stop, per our usual, in oklahoma.  It’s in Big Cabin Oklahoma and has a giant Indian out front.   Hard to miss.  Greg and Precious like to stop there because they have giant chicken legs and chicken livers.    It sits right at the turn off to the next highway that takes us to Missiouri.   Busy place.   It also had a little chapel on the property which is nice and they hold Sunday service.  

We got a call that our trip can be dropped off tomorrow instead of Monday which is good because we didn’t want to sit all day Sunday. 

More pictures of the baby today.  He is so perfect!  

Change of plans.  We can’t deliver until Monday in Wisconsin so they want us to drop off load in Indiana tomorrow and hopefully get us a trip out of there so we aren’t sitting Sunday.  Sounds like a plan.  

We have parked for the night in Rolla, Missiouri.   

Alex’s favorite sleeping position.  

DG:  Brings back memories of me holding his daddy like that while he slept. What a joy. 

Saw some lamas today in Oklahoma.  You never know what you are going to see out on the road. The lamas weren’t on the road, they were in a fenced in lot by the road. Just wanted to clarify that. 

Tomorrow we go to Indiana. From there, who knows. Life is a journey and we are on it. Having more fun than humans should have. 

Love to all. God bless. 

Up at 8 and headed to Houston.   I’m so glad to be on the road again.  As you can tell in last post Greg’s mind starts to do weird things when he is bored.   Need to keep him busy.  Haha. 

I just saw my first real life Cowboys in action.  I’ve seen lots of cowboy wannabes in the gas stations and stuff but these were actual riding over the pasture on horses, cowboy hat, boot wearing Cowboys.   Weird thing was it was at a prison.  The prison system here in Texas makes the prisons work.  They grow cotton and process it for their clothing, they farm and grow crops for their food.  I think it’s great.   They used to have a prison rodeo here but some people didn’t like it so they stopped it.  They also used to lease the prisoners out to farms to work.  The prisoners got to work and earn a little money but they stopped that program too.  My guess is the illegal Mexicans are cheaper here in Texas.   Oh well.  Back to my original statement.  Cowboys!!! 

Made it to our stop and got back on the road to go back to Dallas.   Stopped for lunch and had real Mexican food by real Mexicans.   I had a spicy chicken taco with peppers and onions and Greg had a fried poblano pepper stuffed with cheese and topped with tomatoes and onions and a chorizo sausage.   Very good.  

Gigantic statue of Sam Houston on the highway.   It’s part of a park outside Houston.   

I tried to eat the whole thing but just can’t.   The soul bowl at Soul Man BBQ in Dallas.   Second time we have been here and I didn’t finish it last time either.  Bowl layered with corn chips, spicy beans, pulled pork, BBQ sauce and jalapeños.   Gregs had sausage too.   I may pop.   So good.  We have had the mix of Texas food today.   

  
Gregory sent a picture of the baby in his swing.  So tiny.  8 days old now.   Said he was fussy as it was feeding time. 

All finished eating and bathed.  Time for night night.   

Time to eat again and snuggle with daddy.  

 
DG:  Our son passed his test today to be licensed in the state of Florida to sell insurance. Way to go bro. So proud. 

Got back to Dallas in plenty of time to go to dinner, do more laundry and watch Thursday night football. 

Pretty uneventful day. 23 people are still alive today because I refused to run over them although their intent was just that. Even the guy that, when merging into traffic going 65 mph, refused to slow down or speed up but just kept coming seeing that I could not move over causing me to slam on my brakes to avoid crushing him and causing my onboard computer to register a critical event. Just another day in the life of an over the road trucker. 

Happy Belated birthday as well to Mary Lucas, one of our most faithful readers. We love you Mary. And we love all six of you who faithfully follow Hills Over The Road. Americas #1 trucking blog for those living in the 41102 zip area. And beyond. 

God bless. 

5:30 am.  Awake and ready to go somewhere but don’t have a trip.  Apparently we got in just after planners went home so it looks like we have to wait until 7 when they get back in.   I’m going back to sleep.  Allergy medicine has me zonked pretty good.  Ragweed is everywhere.  It was all over Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois.   Hoping going south it would clear out some but not yet according to my nose! 

Gregory sent the official picture they took in the hospital.   I can’t believe he is a week old already.  

  
Homecoming was Friday.  Abby had a date with her boyfriend but Lindsey went with a group of friends.  Isaac went too.  That’s him in the middle.  I can’t believe how grown up they are.  

Got so excited.  Told us we were heading to California.   Headed out.   Got fuel and got email that trip was cancelled.  Daggone!  So close!   They didn’t have another load for us and wasn’t sure when we would get one so we decided to go to Walmart and to see Doc and Sherry.   Spent a great afternoon chatting and eating pizza.   Such good people.   Their daughter came over and Greg has known her since she was a baby and she used to call him Cookie Monster since he would tease her about taking all the cookies.   Now she is grown with two daughters, one of which is in college.   My how time flies.   

Got a call about 4 pm saying they had a trip to Houston.  250 miles but better than none today.   So off we go! 

DG: So I have started naming the days with the location where we begin each day. This is more for our benefit as it will help us locate posts when we have questions regarding certain events that happen in particular places. Believe me the days and the places all run together out here after a while. 

So this morning I am up before sunrise, 5:30 or so, take a trip to the bathroom, come back to the truck for some more sleep after sending another message to dispatch letting them know again that I am ready and waiting for another load. 
Toss and turn for an hour then decide to get up and watch the beautiful Texas sunrise. 
This is a busy place, trucks coming and going all night. Big place too. They have about a dozen bays to their shop and each bay seemed to have a truck, trailer or both all night. It’s a good time to be a truck driver or truck mechanic. 
7:40 and I feel I am being ignored. Where is everybody? Where’s my dispatcher. Oh my God I am alone. The zombie apocalypse came and went and I missed it. No, wait, I see some movement. Yes there are still people here. They don’t look like zombies. Whew. Safe. For now. 
Get me out of here! Can’t make money with the wheels glued to the pavement.  
Okay, now I’m getting a little sleepy again. Maybe I will lie down until they call me. 
Damned EPA. Sitting here looking at the truck next to me and I notice a sticker I have seen a thousand times but not given much thought to until now. It’s a Smartway sticker. Meaning the truck has been certified by the EPA to having low emissions as mandated by law. Then I had a thought revisit my brain and that is there are no more Diesel engine exhaust smells. I love that smell. I remember it so well but cannot now put a date and time as to when that smell became extinct. It wasn’t hurting anybody. I never heard anyone complain about that smell. One more thing the government has taken from us. 
God bless America. 

DG:  Navigator is a little under the weather so I am lost. Not really, but I do wonder a lot. Anyway, it’s just allergies so she should be back up to speed in a couple of days.

Was going to get to our destination two days early so they asked if we could deliver today.  Not today came the reply so they routed us to our sister company’s yard in Lancaster, TX, just south of Dallas. 

So, we got here with an hour and a half driving time left but that’s not enough to get anywhere so we’re spending the night. Free shower and laundry so we take advantage of that. 

I have requested a trip to California but haven’t heard back yet.  

I wish they would plan a little further in advance. You know, so we could plan a little.  

The facilities here are really nice. Looks like they remodeled recently as the showers and bathrooms look new. They also have these quiet rooms just big enough for a lazy boy recliner and a TV mounted to the wall. Just accommodates one person so we can’t really use it. Unless Annie sit on my lap, but I don’t think she would be comfortable. 

They also have a tv on a wall outside where they have picnic tables and an ice maker so you can fill up your cooler for free.  I am assuming they have a barbecue somewhere as well although I did not see one there were about a dozen bags of charcoal stacked under a table against the wall just inside the door to the breakroom/kitchen/lounge area. Like I said, real nice facilities. 

Okay, it’s getting late and my eyes are closing. 

God bless. 

Up at 5:30 to hit the road.  Only have about an hour and a half depending on traffic to get to next stop.  

Really pretty morning here in northern Indiana.  Mist rising off the lakes and fields.  

Got to our stop in plenty of time.  Traded our loaded trailer for an empty one.   Going to aurora, Illinois, which is about 30 miles away to pick up load to take to Texas.  I’m going to miss this lovely cool weather but hopefully we’ll be back soon.  

DG:  Stopped a couple hours southwest of St. Louis. Stopped early so parking wasn’t a problem. Nice drive. Part of our route took us through small town Illinois.  Saw some really nice farms and quaint neighborhoods. I like those kinds of routes when we have plenty of time but not when time is an issue. I think of truckers many years ago before the super highways. These two lane roads is all they had. 

Back on the highway I get flipped off by a biker as he comes around me. Only thing I can think of is that he was behind me, in my blind spot, and must have started around me as I pulled out to pass a truck in front of me. Oh well, he moved on and so did I. 

No need for early rising tomorrow as we have two more days before this load is due. We will be getting there early so I hope they have another load lined up for us. Hopefully further west. 

God bless. 

Greg got up at 5:30 but let me sleep.  I slept until 7:30.  Woohoo!  We have about 650 mile to go to our stop so won’t get here until early tomorrow. 

It’s nice going through Nashville on Sunday.  Not nearly as much traffic.   Usually we sit or crawl for an hour.  

Coming through north Tennesse and Kentucky and it’s really starting to look like fall.  Leaves are just starting to change through here.  Another week or so and this area will be gorgeous and full of color.   

DG:  It’s always gorgeous.  Except in the winter when there is snow everywhere.

Now we are in Damotte, IN, headed for Lamont, IL in the morning. Fortunately they have preplanned a trip for us with a pick up 30 miles from our delivery in the morning and headed for delivery in Texas. Tonight is the first night in a long while we have not run our air conditioning all night as it it seasonably cool here in northern Indiana. 

I haven’t said this in a while and I don’t say it nearly often enough but I’m sure glad my sweetie is with me.  Sometimes when trucks pass each other on the highway they are passing at a slow rate and you can often get a look in and see the driver and we often wave at each other. Today a guy passed me and he was obviously by himself and I could see that every cup holder was full, the dash was littered with an assortment of empty and partially eaten bags of snacks and he just had this forlorn look on his face and I suddenly felt sad for him and happy for me that I had someone to share this experience with. And not just anyone. Someone I deeply care about. And that’s what keeps me sane. Well, sane is a relative term in my case and up for opinion. 

So thank you my sweet for sharing every minute of my life with me. 

God bless.