6:30.  Up and ready to go.  Headed to Hazelton, PA for a trip to Virginia.    It’s cold at 26 degrees but no snow and the sun is shining.  Can’t ask for better than that in December in Pennsylvania.  

9 am.  Made it in plenty of time for our 9:30 appointment.  Fortunately the load was ready and we can move on with our 10,000 pounds of Wrigley gum.  

5 pm.   Pulled in to the TA.  Early day because we are not far from our delivery and it’s not due until 9:30 am and we can’t go early to Walmart.    

Got a bunch of laundry done and got to watch the Steelers win tonight.   Going to watch a bit of TV and turn in.  

DG:  Yes the rolling palace is on the move once again. It’s a daily thing. 

Great game last night. Laundry washed. Shower. Plenty of sleep. Where will we go from here only God and the planners know. 

Love to all. God bless. 

DG:  Load delivered, clock reset, waiting for load. We are at the Love’s where we met the kids back when they were up here visiting Melissa’s grandmother. Now it’s a lot colder. 

Around noon we got a trip. Picking up in Hazelton, PA in the morning and taking it to Virginia. Only about a 300 mile trip but at least we won’t sit all weekend. 

Got to relax today. Took a nap. Watching some tv. Anything to keep from going outside. 

Annie – Sat all day.  Nothing to report.  We got a trip for tomorrow so we can get back on the road in the morning. 

Goodnight y’all.  

7 days to Christmas!   Thanks to the Internet and Amazon my shopping is complete.   

We are up at 6 and on the road by 6:30.   It’s cold, still 30, but I’ll take it over the heat any day.   

I’ve been thinking a lot about Christmases in the past and today.    Things sure seem a lot different and not just because I’m older.   It’s all rush rush and get the most and the best and the kids get so much it’s crazy.   But the spirit seems to be missing.   I remember we didn’t get a lot of presents but we had so much fun.  Decorating the tree, the excitement when it was time to turn on the lights every night, family party on Christmas Eve and a big dinner Christmas Day while we all played together.   I really miss those days and the people who aren’t with us this year.  We have a lot of new people in our lives, mostly little ones, that make Christmas so special but I sure miss the ones who aren’t here.    I’m surprised at how many there are now.  A lot of them too early.  

DG:  Ditto. What can I add to that?  

We arrived late to our appointment due to delays at previous receiver and shipper.  This place charges a $100 fee for such incursions but that is paid by the company and not us. Plus they had to work us in so around midnight we get a door and an hour and a half later we are done but no time on clock. They were gracious enough to give us a door that was broken in which to park till my clock resets. 

Don’t know yet where to next but looking forward to it. 

Love to all. God bless. 

Times up at 8 am.  Time to get going.   Our trailer is ready so we are headed to Pennsylvania with 37,000 pounds of Kraft Mac and cheese and barbecue pot pies.  Not sure how I feel about barbecue pot pies.  

Brrrrr.   Temperature says its 30 but feels like 22.  I’ve had to give up my flip flops for tennis shoes.  Can’t wait to get home and get my new coat mom got me for Christmas.  Definitely going to need it.  

DG:  And we may never know.  Night has fallen and the sky is cloudy. Cold envelops the land as we nestle into our comfy heated home on the road. Traffic was heavy on I-70 east out of Indianapolis but we made good time otherwise. We have about seven and a half hours to go tomorrow and time starts around 6:30. 

Not too many Hawks in view today. It may be too cold for them. 

  
This is me trying to keep warm. Sure glad my navigator can knit. 

Up at 5:30 to go to bathroom.  It’s 41 degrees but weather app says it feels like 34.  I believe them.   So the long walk to the bathroom.   We don’t have to get up yet but I guess my bladder has gotten used to being up early and says rise and shine.   I get to come back and get under the covers for a couple more hours.   We only have about 300 miles or 5 hours to go and if we leave too early then it will just run his clock down waiting in another truck stop for our 4:30 appointment.  So we’ll stay here where it’s warm a little longer. 

8 am.  Time to get up and get on the road. Looking at the weather it looks like we missed the biggest part of the storm which is great!    Going to be cold but shouldn’t have any snow.  

What a trip this has been as far as bird watching.  Going through a two lane road for miles through old corn and wheat fields and we have seen 4 eagles and 48 Hawks.  Amazing.   They were all over the place.   

We have also seen some pretty houses on our way.  

  
  4 pm.  Got to our receiver on time.  It is in the side of a limestone mountain.  Apparently they used to store papers here brought in on a train but now it’s for cold storage.   

DG:  This gets the award for strangest warehouse we have been to. It’s at the end of a dirt road and unless you were looking for it or knew that it was here you’d never see it. We still think that it harbors some secret government laboratory or weapons research facility. Our minds wander when we sit for very long. 

One thing is for sure it saves money on cooling cost. 

Three hour unload and we were late for our pick up which wasn’t ready anyway as they did not have a trailer. They were waiting on the one I had. We have been here before, a while back and last time they told us it wasn’t ready when we got here and as we were about to leave our loaded trailer showed up. No such luck this time which is probably a good thing as we are out of time and would have to stay here anyway. 

So from the cold confines of the Cargill drop yard in beautiful, and I’m assuming as it was dark when we got here, Marshall, MO. 

5:00 am.  Up and heading to Kansas.   Now we are going to drive the entire length of Texas to get to Kansas.   It’s a 991 mile trip.  Most of it jn Texas. 

DG:  Got through Texas and into Oklahoma.  Stopped in Eufaula. Don’t ask me to pronounce it. 

Only have about five hours to go tomorrow and appointment is not until 4:30pm. So, sleeping late tomorrow.  

Watched the dumbest movie tonight. We knew better but once it started we just couldn’t look away. “The Ridiculous Six”.  It’s on Netflix otherwise we would not have seen it. I want my two hours back. 

Later that evening Annie and Greg decide to go to bed. Dumbfounded at what they had just witnessed. Hoping they can soon get it out of their heads and never talk about it as long as they live. 

Here’s Annie with her version of what just happened. God bless. And God bless Adam Sandler. He needs help. 

Annie – I can’t even think about it. What a stupid stupid movie.  This is what they call funny this day and it’s really sad.  15 minutes in and we should have stopped but it was like watching a wreck.  You couldn’t look away.

Guess which one is our truck? 

Slept in until 7 o’clock.   We couldn’t drop the load until 8 and were only half a mile so no need to get up too early.   Good thing.  We stayed up until midnight watching Wonderfalls – again. 

It’s only 44 this morning but the sun is out so it won’t stay that way too long I figure.  

I am glad to be leaving the truck stop we stayed in last night.   This has to be one of the busiest places we go to.  This is where all the trucks with stuff going to or from Mexico usually stop and there is probably over 1000 trucks between all three truck stops here.    A lot of Hispanic people here too which doesn’t bother me per se except for their bathroom habits.   Apparently plumbing is bad in Mexico so they throw all their toilet paper in the garbage can instead of the toilet.  They haven’t caught on to our way yet.   I’ll leave the rest to your imagination but it makes for a very unpleasant bathroom experience.   Greg says the men’s isn’t so bad.  I said well no. You guys can just shake it off.  Haha.  We women can’t do that.  

Well, got to the yard and dropped the trailer.   The office said we may be here all day.   Nothing in yet.   Shoot.   Greg wants to run to Walmart which means I’ll have to get my Spanish to English dictionary out because most of the products in the stores here are in Spanish.   

We ran in to another employee for KLLM. I know you’ll be shocked but his name is Mario Garcia.   He showed us where to have lunch and how to get to Walmart.   Really nice guy.  Had lunch with him and learned a lot about trucking.  He has been doing this for 20+ years.   He has a sticker on his truck that says 2,500,000 miles without incident just with KLLM.  

He told us about a good bakery up the road so of course we had to stop.   The poor girl behind the counter spoke no English except for M&M.  One of the choices of the cookies.   Sugar cookies were 5 for a dollar and were really good.  Greg got a couple of roll looking things that were great.   She told is what the name was but we have no idea what they were.  She told Greg what the total was and we had no idea so he handed her a 10 and judging by the change back it was $6.35.  

Bridge to Mexico. 

  
Finally got our trip.  We are headed to Kansas with 40,000 pounds of frozen blackberries.   Winter storm Edna is heading that way too.  Hope we don’t meet her.  

The border guards are on their toes today.   This guy was out in the parking lot telling everyone which lane to go to.  

  
The truck is decorated for Christmas.  Will turn the lights on when we park for the Night. 

The finished product. 

  
We want them to blink but Wal Mart didn’t have the blinky outlet thingy. Looks good though, huh?  

Not as pretty as this little guy. Another wonderful picture of our little nug-nug. 

  
Is he cute or what?  

DG:  More on Mario.  He has a very interesting story. He told us some about his upbringing.  Apparently he worked in the fields with his family. When he was 13 his uncle sat him down, gave him a beer and a joint and explained to him that this was his life, that it would get no better so he should get used to it. Well he didn’t. He joined the army, spent many years there until a helicopter crash put him out on disability.  So he started driving a truck 20+ years ago. Very knowledgable gentleman, speaks five languages and is married to a German lady. 

We have met some very interesting people lately. Very interesting. What’s strange is that we may never see them again. 

Okay so from south Texas, Felis Navidad and Merry Christmas.  Good night and God bless. 

Slept in until 4:30.  Got a big storm on the radar and tornadoes in Texas last night so want to get out and get going.   Not raining now and hoping to miss it! 

Boy did it rain and rain all across Louisiana and part of Texas.  And then it quit and the sun came out for the rest of the trip and it was gorgeous.  About 67 degrees.  Just perfect. 

You can tell when you are getting close to Laredo.  Everything starts being in Spanish.  

  
We stopped at a rest area in Texas and smelled this amazing smell.  Found it was coming from a tree they had by the building.  Don’t know what it is but it was really strong.  The bees seemed to like it too.   It smelled almost like a citrus tree but more perfumy.   Not sure if that makes sense.  

   
 
Gregory sent some pics of the kids.   The girls love to play board games.  

   
Look at that big smile.  Isn’t he gorgeous?  

Sleepy pie.   

 
I sent the girls videos from Santa today.   Gregory said he could hear the squealing when they made the nice list.   There is a great app with videos that you specialize with each kids name and pictures and it seems very personal.  Thankfully they are still at the age when they think it’s awesome.   Gregory said Kaiden acted all cool when he got his.   Guess he is getting to big for Santa.   Santa is going to call next week too.  Haha. 

Here are links to their Videos if you want to see them.  

https://www.portablenorthpole.com/en/player/5663260c4876f-5663260c48813

 https://www.portablenorthpole.com/en/player/56633df2aa16e-56633df2aa214

https://www.portablenorthpole.com/en/player/5663351172013-56633511720ba

Even in Texas you can find a KY basketball tree.   I really think it’s For the Dallas Cowboys but don’t tell Rita. 

DG:  Firetruck on a flat bed. Looks like somebody has a project.  It’s a Howe made in Indiana.  Never heard of them.  Brings back memories.  It has a platform on the back like the ones I used to ride. They don’t make them like that anymore. Guess too many fireman fell off on their way to the fire. 

Made it to Laredo 15 hours ahead of schedule. Will see where to next in the morning.  

Have a great week all. God bless. 

Got to sleep til the late hour of 5 am.   Woo hoo!   Quite a few truckers up at this time of morning. 

DG:  And tomorrow we will arise at 4:00 am. We have over 700 miles to go and while load is due Monday morning we should be able to get within an hour of our destination then arise early Monday morning for the final leg. 

Dinner at Petro, do some laundry and now settled in for the night. 

Weather is beautiful here in LA.  

Off to Laredo in the morning.  

Good night and God bless. 

4 am.  Putting Nashville in our rearview mirror and glad of it.   Something about this town that I just don’t care for.   The traffic is awful no matter what time of day and it just seems dirty.   I can’t explain it really but glad to be moving on.   

Heading to Union City, Georgia this am.  Just outside of Atlanta.   We have 32,000 pounds of Kraft singles and Velveeta cheese.   No temptation on my part.  When Gregory was little Marchie always kept a big log of Velveeta in the fridge for him.  She had that old Tupperware rectangle box that it went in and he’d get in it every time he went over.   

Got our load of cheese dropped off and got our next trip.  Headed to Simpsonville, South Carolina for pick up and taking whatever it is to Laredo, Texas again for it to go to Mexico.   

71 degrees here in South Carolina.  Pretty day. 

Got to Simpsonville and picked up our load of 36,000 pounds of plastic wrap.    

Have to tell you a funny.   At the gatehouse the guard was a little old lady.   We had never been there before so Greg was asking her where to go.  She starts to tell him and he had another question.   Apparently she didn’t like questions.   She told him “The virtue of being wise is to listen”.  I think this meant shut up and let me finish but being in the south she has to say it nicely.   I was dying holding in the laughter until after we got past the gate.   She was so funny!    This little old 5 foot woman being so bossy with truck drivers.   I bet they all minded her too.  I know Greg did.  Haha 

After our load we were about out of time so didn’t get very far.   We have stopped in Piedmont, SC for the night.   1300 miles to go to Laredo.  

We decided to go in to McDonald’s for a salad for dinner and while there this guy behind us gets up and leaves his cell phone and drink on the table.  He’s gone a few minutes and this lady comes up and says “I wonder if he knows he left his cell phone”?   Greg told her he would miss it and be back for it but she said she would take it to the counter and turn it in for him just in case.   The guy comes back from the bathroom looking for his phone.   We told him a woman said she was taking it to the counter.   He said why would she do that?  I was coming right back.  Well, long story short the phone wasn’t at the counter.  He checked there and the truck stop desk just to be sure and no phone was turned in.   Greg tried calling it but we didn’t hear it ring.   He looked and questioned several people but never found it.  Greg loaned him his phone so he could call Verizon and his job.  They turned the phone off but he is out of luck.  They can’t trace it.    Felt sorry for him but not much else to do.   Moral of the story – don’t leave an expensive cell phone on a table in McDonald’s and walk off.   

While hanging around waiting for him to use the phone a guy named Ray started talking to us.  Real nice guy from Texas with lots of stories to tell.  Really interesting meeting him.   He talked a lot about his wife so he may have been a little home sick.  He said they were 70 and this past summer he was able to take her to Washington state and how much he enjoyed hearing her excitement and joy of the trip.   

Well, we have had quite the day so off to bed.   Goodnight y’all.