DG: Christmas lights expertly hung and mostly working. 

  
  
 
And another day with the kids.

   
 
So what else is there?  That’s it from the Sunshine State today. May be back on the road tomorrow, who knows. 

Good night and God bless. 

DG: Lots of love and left overs. Turkey anyone?

Hanging out, playing games and doing puzzles was the order of the day. Oh, and what Saturday afternoon would be complete without a trip to Wal Mart to pick up a few essentials and that means supplies for the yearly Chex mix party mix. 

Kaiden has been watching Myth Busters all day which is his favorite pastime next to video games. 

  
Alex has been his usual happy self except when he’s hungry, which is often. Once fed though he goes back to being the happy baby.  

Well, I guess it’s time to get back on the road. The cookies are almost gone, most of the pies have been eaten, the turkey and dressing are getting thin and everyone has had their fill. But it’s been a great time with the kids and we are going to miss them. 

Until tomorrow, good night and God bless. 

DG:  Home time. Thanksgiving.  I had a pile of grandkids this morning. Felt like I was in heaven. 

Annie suggested pie for breakfast. Although there were no objections I have not yet seen any pie. I mean I’ve seen pie, but not on a plate in front of me. The day is early.  

Annie – Pile on Papaw.  The babies are so glad to see him. 

  
Dinner today was great – both times.  Haha.   Greg finally got his pie.   

  
A long walk after dinner but apparently they ended up carrying two back. 

  
Finally got the kitchen sort of back in order.  Two days of cooking and cleaning for a 20 minute meal.  Can’t wait to do it again Christmas.   

DG: Arruved at the truck stop in Punta Gorda ahead of schedule. Annie picked me up and brought Sadie and Maddie with her. They were all glad to see me and hugs and kisses were liberally dispensed. 

Truck unloaded, off to the house. Gregory, Kaiden and Alex were there.  What a joy. I am truly blessed with a beautiful family. 

We are having Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow as I wasn’t sure what time I would make it in and Melissa worked today. So tomorrow we give thanks and feast. 

God bless. 

Annie – so glad to Have Greg back again!   Even Alex was glad to see him.  

   

 
We made several pies today and one of them was chocolate.   Maddi got in to the bag of callebaut chocolate I had and loved it. 

 

 
Have to show off the table set for tomorrow.   We worked this week on all the paper cut outs and then Sadie set the table and lined everything up the way she wanted it.   What a great job.  

  
Busy day tomorrow.   Goodnight y’all. 

DG:  Waiting, waiting, waiting.  Don’t like it, but I’m getting good at it. 

It’s now 11:30am.  I pulled in here last night with a load that is going to McDonough, GA, 30 miles away. Not even that far. Except for the traffic and DOT regulations I could have delivered my load and then just be waiting for a trip to Florida while my truck gets serviced.  As it is I’m having my truck serviced and simultaneously waiting for a load. Hopefully I will get a load out of here so I can keep moving. 

It’s a cloudy day here outside of Atlanta. In the 50s so it feels kind of cold. Not like Illinois and Indiana where I was yesterday, but cold nonetheless. 

I’m enjoying my first cigar of the day.  Yes, I brought some with me and have been enjoying at least one a day.  Trying hard not to stink up the truck because my baby will be rejoining me soon and she doesn’t like a stinky truck. 

Got all the way to Jackson, GA, next stop home with the family. 

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and God bless. 

DG: I tried to make it to my delivery in McDonough, GA, but my clock and the traffic were having none of it. Thank goodness we have a yard nearby.  I made it with four minutes to spare. Laundry, shower and a PM on my truck and I’ll be good to go.

So not much to tell today. I was concentrating on getting here so didn’t take any pictures so I will include some from previous trips. It’s a beautiful country we live in. 

   
    
    
   
Yes that is Nashville straight ahead.  That one’s for you sweetie pie. Missing you terrible. 

Good bless. 

DG: Made it to receiver with barely 20 minutes to spare. The lot where they had me drop my trailer was snow and ice and I did get stuck for a bit. 

  
All was good after a while and I was able to get out from under that trailer and pick up an empty thanks to a very helpful yard dog. 

On to Nestles in Mt. Pleasant, IL about 30 miles from where I was to pick up 34000 pounds of Butterfingers.  Oh the temptations this job puts me through. These are going to Georgia. 

And then it’s off to Cape Coral and my sweetie pie and her little angels. 

One more picture. This was my parking spot last night outside of St. Louis. You can imagine how long it took me to park given all that room. 

  
And snow in Illinois. That’s all for now. 

  
Good night and God bless. 

DG:  Not much to tell today. Booked it pretty hard to here to help cut down on miles tomorrow as I gotta be in Streamwood, IL by 10:00 am. I think I can make it. 

So here are some more pics from yesterday. 

   
    
   
Good night and God bless. 

DG:  I drove 600+ miles today while Annie made cup cakes. 

  
This is what was awaiting me as I pulled in. 

 

 
And this is what they call in Texas a safety area. 

   
  

The rest area had a display of the history of Route 66. Pretty interesting.

Well, not much happened today, which is a good thing and I should get some sleep before pulling out at 4:00 in the morning. 

Good night and God bless.  

Annie – Maddi after the cupcakes.   

DG: Due to the concern over a possible leaking tire I spent the night at Love’s in Lost Hills.  If the tire technician truly put 105 pounds of air pressure in my tire then it leaked approximately 10 psi over night. A concern but not a dramatic one. 3:30am moving on. 

A little over 100 miles later there is another Love’s truck stop. As the wheel had been taken off to check for leaks and then reinstalled and lug nuts torqued to the proper poundage it’s always a good idea to have them retorqued in about 100 miles. So this stop was right on time. 

I pulled into a fuel isle, not because I needed fuel but because I had to devoid myself of some fuel as it were. Checking the tire I find that it is at its proper pressure of 110 pounds and this is due to the heat of being on the road for two hours. While I was checking it the tire technician happened to be close by and asked if I needed help. I explained to him the situation and inquired as to the presence of a tire shop on the premises as I did not see one when pulling in. He directed me to the tire shop explaining that he was the tire tech on duty and he would be happy to retorqued my nuts. He didn’t actually say it like that but my mind has a hard time passing on possible funny expressions. Annie hopes that someday I will grow up, but I’m afraid she is hoping against hope. But anything is possible. 

Nuts torqued, pressure checked and rechecked, all is good so I was on my way.

Now, I am on the eastern edge of the desert and wanted to get some pictures and take a 30.  Not much to see but here goes. 

  
A home in the desert. 

  
Tough desert tree. 

  
  
Look like some kind of pine. 

Well, I go back to my truck and guess what?  In my haste to get to the restroom I locked myself out of my truck. Oh boy. Called road break down and after determining my location sent out a tech that took less than two minutes to open my door. I thanked him then he gave me a piece of advise that was invaluable. Hide a key in the engine compartment.  I just happened to have a couple of spares so one is now in a place accessible even with the doors locked. 

Annie sent some pictures of a Thanksgiving event tonight at Sadie’s school. What pirates have to do with Thanksgiving I don’t know but looks like fun. 

   
    
    
 
And here are some pics of Arizona. 

   
    
 Well, more tomorrow. Good night and God bless.