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.