DG:  536 miles later we are just outside of Nashville proper. Approximately five hours to go to our stop tomorrow.  

Going back and forth to the restroom and restaurant we have seen two very important looking buses. Country singers on tour no doubt.  They must have been sleeping cause we didn’t see anybody famous inside. Or anyone we recognized. 

No pictures. It was a cloudy day. Kentucky still retains its own special beauty.  Nashville is still crowded.  And it gets dark early.  

We’re settling in for the night so we can get up really early, again. Remember those Saturdays when you would sleep past noon? Yea, those days are long gone. 

Anyway, we are fine and dandy.  She’s fine and I’m Dandy. Haha. 

Precious is her usual self. 

It’s cool here but not cold so no need for heat or a/c tonight. 

Love to all 

Good night and God bless. 

3:30 am.   Got to be in Illinois by 8 am and still have 200 miles to go.   Got a full clock so that helps today.  

7:15 Got to our drop in plenty of time.    Even got a door right away which is a good sign.  It’s a live unload but hopefully it won’t take too long.   Time to take a nap! 

8:50. Woken up by pounding on the door.  “You’re done”!   Great!  Less than 2 hours. Now we head to Wisconsin to pick up our load for New Jersey.  

DG:  Now it gets nasty. Get to pick up in Monroe, WI.  Quaint little village with a huge Swiss Colony factory on the edge of town. Our pick up time is 3:00pm, we arrive around noon. Load is not yet ready. We wait. Three hours go by. I get a message on the Qualcomm.  It’s load information for another load picking up today and delivering on the 11th.  This must be a mistake. I get those occasionally.  I inquire. No mistake. In the meantime another KLLM driver walks up to my truck along with a Swiss Coliny rep carrying a clipboard.  Apparently we have both been assigned the same load. So that other load info I received was not a mistake. I inquire of dispatch. Yep. They took me off that load and put me on another one. Part of me is thankful because the original load was headed for NJ and this new one is headed for GA.  Problem is my clock is low and I don’t have the time to make an on time pickup or delivery. Dispatch is not worried. I am to give them an ETA ASAP.  Good. Now to find parking for the night. We are several miles from the interstate but GPS says there are a couple of truck stops not far from us. Good because I am running out of time. We get to the first one.  No parking.  Try the next one. No parking there either. In fact both places were only fuel stops and not truck stops. Time is running out. With four minutes on my clock I stop in the middle of a turnaround to log mandate to leave. This gives me an out if my clock runs out. It does. Three minutes before we pull into a legitimate truck stop with ample parking.  Now to give those planners a piece of my mind. 

Annie – Gregory sent this to me today.  I can’t believe how much he grows every time I get a new picture. 

  
We had a beautiful sunset tonight as we pulled in to the truck stop.  The picture doesn’t do it justice.  It was a really deep red.  Just gorgeous. 

  
Well, turning in for the night.  3:30 comes early.   Goodnight y’all. 

DG:  Thought you might like to know what 27000 pounds of Cool Whip looks like. 

  
The whole trailer was full. 

Good night and God bless. 

Up at 8.  Only 6 hours on the clock today so no need to get up too early.   

We are headed to Minooka, IL with 27,000 pounds of Cool Whip.   Now that’s a lot of pie!   

Ran out of time so stopping in Angola, Indiana for the night.  Greg went straight to sleep.   Tired today.   Not much going on.  Went through a lot of farm land and empty corn fields.   

We have our trip already for tomorrow after we drop off the cool whip.   That’s unusual but it’s the holidays so I guess stiff needs to move fast.   We are heading to New Jersey after Illinois.  

Well, goodnight y’all.  

Happy Birthday Mom!!!   We love you.   

Up at 6 to head to Walmart.   Went in to the convenient mart close to where we parked to get a Diet Coke.   Don’t see it anywhere!    Have I entered an alternate universe where there is no Diet Coke? “No” says the lady behind the counter “the Coke guy hasn’t been around in a while”!   Neither apparently has The beer guy and she seems a bit more upset that he hasn’t been by.  “We only have one can of beer left.  Guess I’m going to have to call him”. Hey lady – there is no Diet Coke.  Call the Coke guy too!   Ok.  No caffeine is making me crazy.   At least we are headed to Walmart and they usually have a vending machine.  

7 am.  Arrived at Walmart.   Our appointment is for 8 am and you can arrive one hour early.   Made it just in time.   

Are you freaking kidding me?   Every Walmart center we have been in has had a Coke machine.  Unbelievable! 

  
11 am.   Finally done unloading the truck.  Now we are off to Illinois and somewhere I can get a Diet Coke! 

Greg – “There is a service area up ahead.  Do you want me to stop so you can get a Diet Coke”?   

Me “Pass it and die”. 

Greg – “Guess that’s a yes.  Pulling over. ”

Ahhhhhhh.   All is right with the world.  Caffeine!!

    
 3:05. Made it to our pick up at Kraft in Avon, NY.   Now  off to Minooka, IL.  

7:30. Stopped in Erie, PA for the night.   Shower and laundry!   

DG:  Refreshed and refreshed. That’s inside and out. And I’m still alive. 

Looking on the GPS on our way here it looked like we were in spitting distance of both Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. 

Been thinking about my office and I want you to go to Google Earth and check it out. Every highway in the United States is my office. So how many square feet is that?  I don’t know. 

Hope we don’t wake up to snow. It sure looked like it was going to. 

  
That’s Alex. Ain’t he cool. 

Well, I have stayed up way past my bedtime so off we go. Good night. 

God bless. 

DG: Morning came late.  I look at the clock And see a number I don’t usually see until I have been on the road for a few hours. 8:00am. Annie is still sleeping and I just want to watch her. She is so beautiful. 

It’s foggy and cold. There are beautiful pine trees everywhere.  Christmas music is playing over the intercom.  The Christmas season is here. 

Figured out why I like Tsum Tsum. It’s a fast paced puzzle. Borders on addiction. 

Breakfast at McDonald’s. They’ve changed their hash browns. Did I miss something?  When did this happen?  Yuk!  Why can’t they just leave things alone?  And I am not in favor of governmental intervention in most cases but this may be an exception. If you present a product to the public and they like it you shouldn’t be allowed to change it. It’s probably some government regulation that caused them to change it. 

Love’s has something they call Tire Pass. It’s a service whereby they check your tire pressure and inflate them to the proper pressure and also check tread depth while you fuel or without fuel. I use the service quite often and knew I was going to need some tires soon so this morning when checking the tread it became apparent the time was now. No more putting it off. So now we are sitting in the tire shop waiting room while my truck gets new shoes. 

We have the time as the load I just got this morning is a 47 mile bobtail drive to pick up then 199 miles to deliver. We are taking chewing gum to Walmart in Marcy, NY just outside Syracuse. And it’s not due until morning. 

So if you see a sign that says diesel and truck parking you would expect them to have truck parking right?  Wrong. When asking the guy why the sign out front says parking then all around the lot there are signs that say “no parking “.  It was obvious he had heard that question before and he explained to us that he mentions this cunnundrum to the company brass at every opportunity to no availe.  

So here we are on a side road, out of the way until morning.  

Annie – Well, guess what I’m getting for Christmas!  A big 50 pound bag of it.  

  
Actually, there was a convenient store here in Pennsylvania selling it.   I didn’t know you could buy coal like this.   I didn’t know anyone still used it.  I love the smell of it burning.  Reminds me of Granny and Papaws house. 

Well, turning in.  Gotta be at Walmart at 7 am.

Goodnight y’all.  

6:30 am.   On the road again.   Should make it to our receiver this evening.   Almost 600 miles to go so will be pushing it.   It’s 32 this morning.   It seems warmer this morning than yesterday even though it’s colder.   Don’t know if I’m getting used to it or the breezes in Louisiana made it colder.  Probably a bit of both.  

DG:  Londonderry, PA. Another night in a parking lot. How romantic. We have taken parking to a whole new level. 

Ate a salad at McDonald’s for dinner.   We have been to this McDonald’s before when the kids were here visiting Melissa’s grandmother.  We met them here for lunch.   They have the neatest tables.  

It’s 32 and feeling pretty cold.  Going to get under the covers and watch some TV.  

Goodnight y’all. 

DG:   Don’t know why I included this. Just thought it was funny. 

Life is a stew and should be spicy.  Love life. 

God bless. 

Good morning Baton Rouge!  

   
 
Wow!  33 years.    I’m not that old am I?  Guess so.    I got a horse and a honey bun for my anniversary.   Greg knows how much I love Gypsy horses.   

  
Gregory sent me this earlier.   I can’t believe how big Alex is getting.  

  
Brrrr.  It is freezing.  I have got to find my coat!   My hoodie just isn’t cutting it anymore.   It’s 39 here in Lenoir City, Tennessee.   Getting under the covers.   Goodnight y’all! 

DG:  Getting under the covers as well. God bless. 

Woke up at 5 am cold.   It’s 47 degrees in Laredo.   Who would have thought.   Doubt it’s going to get much warmer as we head to Pennsylvania.    Haha 

Been moving right along.  600 miles later stopping in Baton Rouge for the night.   We stopped just a little bit ago at a really weird truck stop.  It was called Tiger because it had a live Bengal tiger there and was a licensed zoo.   They said 10 Cubs had been born there since 1988.   

The rest of the place was weird.   The door on one of the bathrooms said wash your hands there are Jesus germs everywhere and the other one said – well you just have to read it. 

  
Anyway- the tiger was cool and huge!   

   
 
Heading in to take a shower and settle in for the night.   

DG: So the tiger wasn’t dangerous but the food is. I kept seeing signs for boudin so when we stopped and I got one. 

  
It’s spicy sausage and rice all packed tight into a skin that pops when you bite into it. 

Then we stopped at Gator Junction, another truck stop and they had BBQ. I got sliced pork and Annie got chicken. 

   
 
This was a really huge sandwich with probably half a pound of pork on it. I got it with coleslaw and a pickle. It was GOOD!  So much for my diet. 

And we are right down the road from this place but already have a parking spot and don’t want to lose it. 

  
In case you can’t figure out the rest of the statement on the cup it says “Thank You for carrying your gun. 10% Discount.” I like it. 

Well, you saw the tiger. That was cool. Evidently they are having some issues with the state of Louisiana even though they have a zoo license the state wants to close them down anyway. Not fair if you ask me. That tiger looked as healthy as a horse. And I’ve seen some healthy horses. 

Good night and God bless. 

Up at 5:30.    Time to get fuel, both for truck and us.   And caffeine!    Woke up to rain but looks like it isn’t going to last long.    

Pretty eventful day all the way to Laredo.   55 degrees this am which was nice.  It’s 6 pm now and still only 65.  Really cool for south Texas.   

We stopped at a travel plaza just outside of Laredo.  The place was huge (gotta make a good impression on the Mexicans coming through).   It was really pretty and colorful.   All the picnic tables had big multi colored brick enclosures.  It has two ponds with fountains.   

Made the swap in Laredo.   Georgia peanuts for Mexico candy headed to Hershey in Pennsylvania.    33,000 pounds of it.  

Well we didn’t get far after the swap.  Just outside of Laredo.   Going to watch a bit of TV and turn in.   Goodnight y’all.  

DG: First ever Hills Over The Road contest. Guess the following picture gram and write your answer in comments. 

  
That’s our granddaughter Maddie. That’s the only clue you get. 

Okay, tomorrow we head for Pennsylvania.  

Oh, I was talking to a friend of mine in North Carolina and I was telling him about this checkpoint we go through in Texas where they ask if you are an American citizen and he suggested I ask them if Kentucky counts so I did. Let’s just say border patrol officers are not known for their sense of humor. But he did kind of smile before waving me through. 

You’d got to have fun. 

God bless. 

Up at 5:30 to head to Georgia for our peanuts.   

Ok, back to the twilight zone.   There are two more old ladies behind the counter again this morning in addition to three old men.   I swear none are under 80.   What is it with this place?   

Diet Coke in hand and ready to hit the road.  

DG:  Road hit. Seeing a part of Florida and Georgia we have never seen before. 

We are at Birdsong Peanuts picking up 44000 pounds of raw, shelled peanuts headed for Mexico. Of course we can’t take them all the way to Mexico, nor would we want to, so we are dropping them at the yard in Laredo.  

Annie – Went through Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and in to Louisiana finally stopping in Duson for the night.  Still have a full day tomorrow to get to Laredo. 

Went through Mobile, Alabama earlier and saw the USS Alabama in the harbor.   Couldn’t get a clear picture but you get the idea.   They also make ships and cargo containers in Mobile and in order to get them to the dock they had traffic go through a huge tunnel.   Kinda neat.  

   
   
Well, turning in.   Busy day tomorrow.   Goodnight y’all.  

DG: Picked up some sinus trouble somewhere. Gotsta put it back. It’s good having Annie on the truck again.  I know she was torn between staying with her babies or going with me. I can’t say as I blame her. 

Lot of driving tomorrow.  Texas is a big state and we’re going all the way across. 

Good night and God bless.