4 am.   Time to make the donuts.   What?   No.  Time to get on the road. 

Looks like there is quite a bit of flooding still in Indiana.  

  
  
Not really sure what this is all about.  It had a steering wheel on both sides too.  Haha 

  
The kids got to go fishing with nan and pop today.   

  
We have stopped for the night at the Iowa 80 truck stop.  I have mentioned it before.  It has a barber so Greg was able to get the curls cut.   There is also a dentist and a chiropractor which unfortunately was closed.   There are several restaurants which was nice to have a choice.  Also a big gift shop, and theater.   Too bad we can’t stay a bit longer but we need to sleep.   Long way to go still. 

Goodnight y’all. 

DG:  Iowa 80, largest truck stop in the world. Over 900 parking spaces. We got here early and got one right by the front door. One could spend several days here taking in all the activities. It is truly something to see. 

Had a good day today. I did not listen to my navigator and missed an exit so we spent a couple of hours on Illinois back roads. These really tests your perception and sense of awareness as it all looks the same, corn fields with a house here and there. You gotta look close to see anything out of the ordinary. And sometimes you get lucky and pass a car that is really two halves of two cars put together to look like one car that can be driven from either end. 

I did get a hair cut and it feels great. Would like to have gotten an adjustment but he left an hour before we arrived. 

Happy New Year everyone. God bless you and God bless America.

3 am.  We had to drive a specific route for this load according to the shipper.  We aren’t sure what we are carrying but it’s a “classified load”.   We even have to call a number for Freight Watch when we left and with any stops and when we get to the receiver.  If we stop we have to get license and car information of any vehicles parked beside us. We are to call them if we notice anyone following us or anything suspicious.  Greg had to sign a form that he wouldn’t stop for at least 200 miles as this was considered the Red Zone for thieves.   Good grief.   So, they directed us down back roads and around until we hit I-70 and got out of the 200 miles.   We picked the load up at a lab so we aren’t for sure what it is, drugs or chemicals.  Who knows.   This close to DC it could be anything.  

This route did give us a chance to see some back roads in Pennsylvania, well as much as you can at night.   There was one point that was a 3 mile down grade that had two stop signs for trucks because it was so steep.   That was fun.    

Then we came around a corner and there sits a casino.   What?   Yep.  A really swanky one too it looks like.   Then we saw this huge hotel on the hill that was all lit up.  It was gorgeous and Huge!!  It was such a surprise because all we had seen up until then was farms and two lane roads.   Turns out this is a 2000 acre resort in Farmington, PA, called Nemacolin Woodlands Resort.  It’s owned by the family who owns 84 Lumber.  The dad bought it for his daughter because she liked to fish and they have done extensive remodeling and adding more to it.   It has a spa I could really get used to.   Definitely need to remember this place when we win the lottery.  

http://www.nemacolin.com/accommodations/chateau-lafayette

6:30.  Arrived in Lockbourne, Ohio.   Waiting on us and got us right to a door.  This is where we ended up.   

http://www.amerisourcebergen.com/abcnew/news/press-releases/columbus-becomes-center-of-pharmaceutical-innovation.aspx

Of all the days to get a fast unload.  We are beat after driving all night and hoping for a nap but nnnoooooooo.   One of the fastest unloads we have had.  Only took about 30 minutes.   Sleep will have to come later.   

On our way to Coshcoctin, Ohio to pick up our load to take to California!!   So excited!! 

Going through Hanover Ohio and saw this building.   Wonder what they make in there?   Hmmmm

Boy the rivers are right at the edge here in Ohio.  

Well we are loaded and ready to go but the clock has run out.   We have stopped in Zanesville, Ohio for the night.  Now time for shower, food and SLEEP! 

Ran in to an old lady in Arby’s when we went to eat.   She was sitting there with all this luggage.   She said hi and then started telling us she was a truck driver and had a wreck.   She passed out behind the wheel.   Turns out she passed out because of blood loss and they found cancer in her bladder, colon, ovaries and brain.   They have given her 15 days left to live.    She said she was in the VA for four months and just got dismissed but when she wrecked her truck the DOT took her license.   She can’t rent a hotel room without a license so she is stuck waiting on a bus to get her home to Tennesse.   She said she was ex marine.  Got out in 80 and had been driving a truck ever since.   She is now 75.   She said she almost didn’t get a bus ticket home because she asked them for the illness price and when they saw her terminal status they didn’t want her on the bus in case she died.  Wow!   Finally someone she knew explained that she was ex-marine and needed to get home so give her a ticket.  She finally got one but it doesn’t leave for Tennesse until tomorrow.   So here is this ex marine dying of cancer spending one of her last 15 days of life stuck in an Arby’s trying to get home.   And then two more days on a bus getting home. What has happened to America and human decency?    If she was an illegal Mexican or Syrian refugee they would roll out the red carpet and take her anywhere she wanted to go.   Unbelievable.   I can’t believe this is the America we have now.   If we had been going anywhere near Tennessee we would have put her in the truck with us.   Even though that’s against DOT regulations too.  

DG:  So I think we were hauling a secret government weapon. A vaporizer. That’s why it was so quick to unload. All the boxes were dummies covering up the “big gun”.  The scary part of it was if we had been hit by lightning we could have been thrown into a space time continuum and ended up somewhere in the past or future. Luckily nothing happened. 

So we’re at a truck stop in Lancaster trying to get some sleep and Annie wakes me up and there is a really loud siren going off. You know, like one of those you would expect to hear right before a tornado hits. Of course I would have slept right through all of it, but she was concerned so we got up, dressed and went outside to see if there was a shelter we should be heading for. No one seemed to be in a panic so we went in to find out what was the deal with the siren. Apparently it was the call for the local volunteer fired department.  Whew. No tornado. 

Okay, so now I do have to get some sleep. Have to be in Stockton by the 4th. 

Good night and God bless. 

 Up at 5 Am and heading to New Jersey.   Traffic is still crazy but this is more normal traffic for this area.  

7:30. Stopped for bathroom break and caffeine at the Maryland service center.   45 people in line at Dunkin Donuts so that’s not happening.  Went over to the little convenient mart in the center and Greg got his coffee and a biscuit he said must have been there since yesterday.  I got a Diet Coke in my big jug and I guess the lady at the counter didn’t like that.   I guess I was supposed to use their cups.  Yankees!  I tell ya.  No word of thanks or have a nice day.   

I did see this at the store.  I didn’t get it but thought about it.  As much as I like bacon and chocolate I just couldn’t imagine them together in a candy bar.  They did have Godiva but nothing had prices on it so I didn’t get that either.  

  
Anyway, we did have a pretty sunrise over the Chesapeake Bay as we passed through.  

9:30.  Arrived at receiver and found it was a drop and hook not a live load which is good. No waiting around.   Receiver doesn’t have any empty trailers so they are sending us to Hazletkn, PA for empty at the M&M place. 

Coming back across the Delaware from New Jersey in to Pennsylvania and saw all these birds on the water.    They all took off, flew and few feet and landed again.  What a site.   That’s a lot of birds.  

11 am.  Got next trip information before we even got to get the empty trailer. That’s a good thing.   It’s like we figured, we are picking up a load at the M&M place in Hazleton and taking it to Fredericksburg, VA.   

Trying to hurry and get out of Pennsylvania.  Weather reports are turning grim.   It’s not a good sign when you see the salt trucks out and it hasn’t even started snowing yet but judging by the radar it’s going to be a good one. 

  
Got our next trip info.   This is really unusual.   Usually we have to wait and get done with one before we find out.  I figure they are short handed this week.   We are going to Maryland after we finish in Fredericksburg and taking the load to Lockbourne, Ohio.   In case you didn’t know, that’s where I was born.  Lockbourne Air Force Base.  Probably brings back a lot of memories for mom.  Me, not so much.  Haha. 

Well we have stopped for the night in Thurmont, Maryland.  Getting up early so we can get to Virginia on time.  

Goodnight, y’all.  

DG:  KLLM is getting their act together.  We already have our next load. After delivering in VA in the morning we head back to Maryland for a load headed for Columbus, OH. Gonna be tight on time but they will work with us. 

I have never seen traffic like we have seen the past couple of days. When we stopped last night it was still going by and this morning at 5:00am it was still heavy. Where is everyone going?  Anyway, you know what that means, more cars more crazies. I would say the percentage of crazies to average driver is probably very low, say around one percent, but the percentage total increases with the total number of cars. Do the math. I need a tutor. 

Good night and God bless. 

6:30.  Up and ready to go.   We have 700 miles to go so a lot of driving today.   Not much traffic yet, of course it’s early, but foggy this morning.  

Boy, South Carolina’s state insect should be the ant.   We have seen dozens of these hills along the highway and at the truck stop.  Some even bigger than this one.  

We have stopped for the night at a weigh station with truck parking just south of DC.   Traffic is crazy through here but it has been that way all day.    Slow moving north and south bound.   People going north to get back home after Christmas and the snowbirds coming south for the winter.   So many fender benders and people off the road.   Crazy.   We have stopped a little early tonight so we can get up early and get around DC before the morning rush.    We have about 4 hours to go to get to the receiver.  

DG:  Met a trucker that drives for a company out of Florida that hauls only flowers. Just so happens it’s one I was looking at recently. He said its not the company it used to be. The man who started the company used to drive the delivery truck so he always had a soft spot for truckers and made sure they were taken care of. But the old man is dead and now his children run it and they are more concerned with the bottom line. It still may be something to check into. 

Okay, I almost forgot about the blog. Okay, I did forget about the blog and by the time Annie reminded me it’s late and I need sleep. So without further ado, good night all and God bless. 

9 am.  Well we are off and running again. Got a trip to New Jersey.   Our trip was short this time but we had a lot of fun.   The kids all got too many presents as usual.  Haha.   They cried when we left but their other grandparents are coming Sunday so they won’t miss us for long.  Lol 

We have stopped for the night outside of Savannah, Georgia.  Too bad we aren’t in the car.  I love Savannah.   It’s such a neat city and the shops along the river front are so much fun.   

We have had so much traffic today.   It’s been crazy.   We’ve seen a lot of fender benders too.   I thought it was all people going home after Christmas but ran in to a lady in the truck stop who was trying to go south to Miami.   

   
 
Saw this old truck.  They don’t make them like this anymore.  

  
I meant to post this last night and forgot. Maddi had papaw wrapped around her little finger The past couple of days.  They were even playing Barbie Dolls.

Well, we are going to watch a bit of tv and turn in.   Night y’all. 

DG:  They weren’t Barbie dolls mammie, it was Elsa and Anna.  And it was fun. 

It’s a beautiful night, full moon and warm breeze. We took a short walk as it may be the last one for w while we can do in short sleeves. 

Heading for Jersey in the morning. We have frozen shrimp and calamari.  All this food. Wow!!!

Getting late so off to bed. Love to all and God bless. 

6:30.  Can’t leave until 7:50 so heading in to shower before we go.   About 5 hours left to get to Miami and then home! 

1pm.  Made it to Blue Bell in Miami.   A little late but not bad considering all the trouble we had getting here.  And traffic has been crazy.   The guys here aren’t too happy with us.  “We were supposed to be off already”.  Yes we know it’s Christmas.   Got here as fast as we could.   Anyway, almost done and ready to head to Cape Coral. 

DG:  Here. 

   
 
And that’s what it’s all about. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

God bless. 

7 am.  Still sitting in Birmingham.   Apparently the place they suggested we try to get the reefer fixed doesn’t work on reefers, just trailers.   At this point no one seems to have a clue what to do.   

10:30. Well after some finagling and multiple calls (on our end) we were finally able to find a trailer we can use.  So, we took the broken one back to the Carrier place so they could fix the radiator and then we picked up an empty at another place KLLM usually goes to and now we are off to get our ice cream and head to Miami.

12:30.  Loaded and rolling to Miami.  The place closes at noon tomorrow for Christmas Eve so we will be pushing it.   Traffic should be light going south which is good.   The great thing about going to an ice cream place is the free samples.  “Take all you want”.  Unfortunately we don’t have a freezer so there goes that. Good free samples though.  

8 pm.  Florida!   Still have 6 hours to go to get to our receiver but going to have to stop in a bit because the clocks running out.  

10 pm.  We have stopped for the night in Ocala.   Got about 5 hours to go in the morning then we can get home to the babies!! 

DG:  Need I say more. Our moods changed perceptibly once we crossed the Florida state line. I would like to stay and chat but the bed is calling and I have to answer. Good night and God bless. Oh, and just in case we are too busy with kid stuff to write tomorrow, Merry Christmas.  

6 am.   Someone banging on the truck door.   It’s someone from Pilot telling us we need to park somewhere else now.  Last night when we arrived the place was packed and there was nowhere to park.  We tried to park off to the side but that blocked the scales so we found another spot next to some other trucks.  Seemed to be out of the way until this morning.  Some parking spots had opened up and we could now park where we were supposed to.  Normally this wouldn’t have been a problem and we would be out by six but since we got in so late we can’t leave until 8.  So back to bed for a couple more hours of sleep after moving the truck.  

8 am.  Up and ready to go.   Greg said he woke up he had been having a dream that he was trying to park the truck in his sleep and it was jackknifed and he was stuck.   I guess that’s the kind of dreams you have when you get woken up out of a deep sleep to move the truck.  

Got to the Georgia lot and dropped our trailer.  They said they didn’t have any trips to Florida but we didn’t have to wait long – Thank Goodness, and now we are heading to Alabama for a load of Blue Bell ice cream to take to Miami.   Yeah!   Then it’s just a quick trip to Cape Coral.   

DG:  Not so fast there Nellie. Got to Blue Bell in good time. The plant is located in a little town called Sylacauga, AL.  Betcha never heard of that one. Me either. 

So I am trying to follow my GPS and the directions the company sent. Well, of course I missed a turn. Drove past the plant, I mean you couldn’t miss that, it is the biggest thing in town.  But I missed the turn that takes you to the loading dock.  Well, I see this huge parking lot in front of us, it’s empty with plenty of room to turn around so I pull in to double check my direction and maybe call the people for help. Well, as soon as I get shipping department on the phone this older gentleman stoops his car on the road that circles the parking lot, gets out and walks over to the truck and asks me if I’m lost. And tell him I am. And he asks, where are you trying to go. And I point to the Blie Bell plant that’s right in front of me and say, “right there”.  He smiles and tells me I have to go back out on Main Street, go up one block and turn right. So I tell the lady from shipping that is on the phone that I have found some help and I will be right there. Well the elderly gentleman was so kind that he offered to lead me to it. And he did. He pulled off the road just past where I was supposed to turn, got out of his car and pointed the way.  I do believe he was an angel sent from heaven.  I am continually amazed at the blessings there are to be found in this world if one only takes time to see them and appreciate them. 

Okay, so we find the loading dock. A guy comes out to meet me and tells me they are just about finished loading a truck that’s ahead of me and to park over in their lot and he will come and get me when they are ready for me. Oh, and he tells me to cool my trailer to zero degrees. 

I park, turn on the refer unit and set it for 20 below. That should get it to zero pretty fast. It runs for a while then cuts off. I believe that it has reached optimum temp but decide to have a look. There is an Alarm light and the temp is at 42. I push the alarm button and the panel says I have a high coolant temperature.  I reset the alarm and try again. Same thing. Uh oh.  We got a problem. Call road breakdown and explain my situation.  I don’t know if the refer’s computer told him what was wrong or he knows enough about these things to diagnose from what I told him, either way we had to take it to the nearest repair facility which was an hour away in Birmingham.  And the place was closed so they had to call out the after hours repairman. He is here now working on the trailer and it is beginning to rain. Poor fellow. I hope they are paying him well for this. 

Annie – Well that was a bust.   Turns out there is a hole in the radiator and they don’t have any in stock so we aren’t going anywhere tonight.   Go to the closest Flying J for the night and see what happens.   

Got a call.  We are to take the trailer to another repair place in the morning and go from there.  I think the fact that it is 2 days till Christmas has escaped these guys.  Mammie needs to get to Florida!  

Well, turning in.   See what tomorrow brings.