6:30 Wish I could tell you we woke up to warmer weather but no.   Colder.  

Wow it is cold.  Part of the Mississippi was frozen when we went over it.  This river in Iowa (sorry forgot name) was freezing too.  

  
I don’t think it’s going to get much better over the next couple of days.  

  
Greg trying to get fuel.  The wind just cuts right through you.   He has two jackets on and a scarf and gloves and still freezing. 

Some of these drivers out here are just dogs.   

A couple of old barns in Utica, Illinois.  

Cold, cold, cold. Freezing cold. The parking lot we pulled into tonight is a sheet of ice. But we’re parked and warm and ready for bed. 

God bless. 

Up at 6:30.   Heading to the shower. Too cold and too tired last night.  

We got a bit of snow while we slept.   

  
Boy.  You never know what you are going to see in a truck stop.  

  
Also a temple of some sort but I don’t see a name.  

 
We stopped at a scenic overlook to look at Echo Reservoir in Coalville, Utah.  Just gorgeous.  I did a periscope of it.  If you have a smart phone you can follow us on periscope.  User name is hillinc2.   It shows the videos live as I’m recording them.   And you can chat.  It’s pretty cool.  

When it’s 12 degrees outside its nice to see this sign. 

DG:  I had no such seat. But I didn’t need to sit. Would have been nice though. 

Snow, yes there is a lot of it. But no chains needed today, thank God. 

  
  
The west can be beautiful and deadly. It’s so cold. 

  
Driving the past two days have been brutal. Yesterday with the chains and then the blinding snow. Today was a lot better but still full of challenges.  Nevada for the most part was clear and then Wyoming roads were clear except for warnings of black ice and there were two rigs in the median at one point. It was clear they were going too fast in the left lane where there were some visible icy spots. All in all our trip thus far has been uneventful and we pray it stays that way. 

God bless all.

8 am.  Got in so late last night we got to sleep in a bit.  Time to get back on the road.   

First off need to find a bathroom.  I didn’t mention it last night but the Petro we stopped at is undergoing renovations so the women’s bathroom and the showers were closed.   They pointed me to a pink porta potty outside but that’s not happening.   So, Greg checked the men’s room and gave me the thumbs up.    This morning the repair shop is open so I can use their bathroom.   Yeah!    

Greg is putting on new wiper blades this morning.   Coming through all the snow the old ones just couldn’t keep up so time for new ones.   

Lots of miles covered today.   Across Nevada and in to Utah.   We’ve had a little bit of snow.  Nothing compared to yesterday.    The mountains sure are pretty though with the snow on them. 

Lovelock, Nevada Prison.  Home to O. J. Simpson. 

 DG:  So today was nothing like yesterday and being so we were able to travel twice as far. Still a long way to go but no worries. We’re going to be there on time cause that’s what we do. 

Was talking to a cattle truck driver that happened to have come over Donner Pass last night about the time we did. Apparently he does that quite regularly as he was headed back that way tonight. He said he has chained up eight times this year compared to three times in the last six years. Global warming is all I can figure. 

I asked him how much weight he was carrying as he had a full trailer load of cows and he said about 81000 which is 1000 over but he said they rarely say anything to him which I had heard from others cattle truck drivers. And to get that kind of weight he had 37 older milk cows that were going the processing plant to be turned into hamburger for McDonalds. Yep, Micky D uses the cheap stuff. Who would have guessed. And that’s right from the cow hauler’s mouth. 

Okay, off to bed. God bless America. 

6:30.  Don’t need to get up so early but guess we have slept enough.   It’s 9:30 on the east coast and the phone and emails have started.  So rise and shine.  

Don’t have to leave until 10ish so go have some breakfast.   Greg is trying to decide whether or not he needs to get chains or not.   We are going back over the mountain today and they are recommended but not required so waiting to see what the plan is. 

9:30.  Ok.  Time to get started for the day. We have our new trip.   Head to Modesto California for a load going to M&M in New Jersey.    Definitely have to come back when the weather is better.   Nasty cold rain for two days.   We also didn’t get to see much green.   All the fruit trees, fields and miles of grapes were all dormant.  

I know Northern California isn’t all beach towns but I didn’t think this would be my first trip to California.  Haha.   And then they aren’t even letting us go through California and through Arizona but back through the mountains.   Greg isn’t too happy.  Haha 

Rainbow outside of Stockton, California.  

  
A few pictures of Sacramento.  

Heading across I-80 east back through Donner Pass.   Snow is coming down pretty good. 

Got to stop and put our chains on.  Here is the Periscope I took.   

https://www.periscope.tv/w/aV3cmzF6dktOYm1KTkRLZWR8MU93eFdCa1JCZFJKUVezXrKw4O9kdivtGoiCm4ou98LupYr2NahG90ETLY3P
 

Skiing anyone?  

10:30.  Made it to Reno, Nevada for the night.  Completely exhausted.  Greg had to get out in the snow twice, once to put the chains on and once to take them off.  Then the trip down the mountain was slow going.  It was great seeing the big white fluffy snow flakes though.  

We are turning in for the night.  Goodnight y’all.  

DG: Try as I might there was no getting around putting the chains on. And side of the road, in a snow storm is not the most desirable place to install chains in a semi for the first time. It’s not a complicated procedure but labor intensive nontheless. 

Removal is easier than installation for obvious reasons. 

So we made it and I am bushed. God bless all.  

6:30.   Rain, rain, rain.  Waiting on them to give us a trip.   May go back to sleep.   

DG:  While we’re waiting, here are some pictures I meant to include yesterday.  

At our receiver, the tumbleweed was everywhere. Even at the gate. 

And some from my view as we climbed Donner Pass. 

upside down, please turn over

And going down. 

And like corn from Ohio to Iowa, grapes are the crop of choice here. 

   
 
  
God bless America. 

1:30 am  Time to hit the road.  Our appointment in Stockton, California is for noon and we still have over 500 miles to go.   Good thing Greg went to bed so early!   
8:30.  California!  

Donner Pass 
  

Got flagged for a DOT inspection just inside California.    They do like their regulations in California. 

This was a sign on their lot.   Too funny. 
  

Donner Lake 

Looking back.  Wow! 
  

No snow on the other side and temp is up to 41. 

  
  DG:  Ah, the pacific side. That’s where all the good weather is. And the grapes for all the wine. Vineyards as far as the eye could see on either side of the road. Tastings at every turn, but no wine for me.

Well, ever since we pulled into Lodi I have that song in my head.  You know the one. CCR, Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Oh Lord, Stuck in Lodi Again”.  

So here we are, waiting again. Movie time. We started “The Hobbit last night so think we are going to finish it now.   

Finished the movie and laid down for a nap. It was around 6:00pm and we were only planning on a couple hours. Well, five hours later we’re up. It was around 11:30pm local time. Bathroom break and back in the truck. Oh no, it’s raining. Yes, a cold drizzly rain to start with and now, a couple hours later it has picked up some intensity.  Back to bed.  Planners don’t come in till 7:00 central time which is 5:00 here. They will probably have something for us by then. 

Until then my friends, God bless. 

Oh, if you haven’t already, check Annie out on periscope. It’s pretty neat. I think she enjoys it. Good night. 

2:30.  Time to get up.   I’m not ready!   Got to get about 600 miles today.  It got pretty cold last night. 

3:45.  Saw a beautiful white fox run across the highway. 

4:30.  Stopped at a truck stop right by the Sinclair oil refinery in Sinclair, Wyoming.  

7 am.  Good morning Wyoming.  

We saw these birds eating road kill.  A black billed magpie.   Beautiful bird especially when flying.   Tried to get a picture but couldn’t get a clear one.  

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-billed_Magpie

We have seen some pretty sites here in Wyoming. 

Idaho! 

    
Ice fishing and skating!! 

Stop at Bonneville Salt Flats Utah.   So gorgeous!   I did a Periscope video of it.  

Nevada!

Pilots Peak

8 pm.  I am turning in.  Greg has been asleep a while.   California tomorrow!! 

Goodnight y’all. 

Got to sleep in until 7 am.  Woo hoo!   Greg only has 3 hours on his clock today (thanks DOT).   Looks like we will be spending most of the day in a truck stop somewhere.  

DG:  And that somewhere is Laramie, Wyoming.  Got here around 11:40 local time this morning. Local time being Mountain Standard Time which means for you folks in the East, 1:40pm.  

Nice spot with a good view of the Rockies.  Plenty of parking, showers, laundry and a restaurant.  

Got a shower, did laundry, watched some football, back in the truck for a nap, maybe a movie. 

Add another title to Annie’s already extensive list of things she does on this truck. Now she is maintenance supervisor.  Heck with supervising, she is the maintenance department.  We have two sources of heat on this truck. One is the engine of course. This works by way of the idle manager system.  Start the truck, put gears in high range, hit the cruise control button then adjust heat or cool via a thermostat control in the bunk area. What this does is allow the engine to run only when needed to cool or heat the cabin shutting the engine off when the preset temperature has been reached and then starting it again when temperature falls four degrees below or four degrees above preset temp depending on whether you want to be cool or warm.  

This method of course uses fuel. Not as much as a steady idling, but about a tenth of what you would use running down the road.  

Well, there is another, smaller control panel in the bunk area that operates another system that mostly uses the electricity from the batteries, and a little fuel, but very little, about 10% of what the idle management system uses, but we’ve never been able to get it to work properly.  Well, now that we are traveling in areas that really get cold Annie figured we ought to explore alternative methods of heating rather than using so much fuel. So we tried little 12 volt space heaters. One barely knocks of the chill. We bought one last night at the truck stop and I didn’t notice until we got back to the truck that it needs to be hardwired, no plug, so I took that one back in and got a cheaper one, but with a plug. Open it up, plug it in and wow, heat, for about a minute.  Fuse blown. Let me say something here that should be obvious to everyone but escaped my attention, if an electrical appliance blows a fuse in one outlet, it most likely will blow a fuse in the next one. Well, I had to prove it to myself. 

So I took that one back. 

So on our drive to Laramie, Annie gets on the web and finds some videos showing how our electrical heater is supposed to work and how to reset it. You can finds anything on the web. 

So the electrical heater is now working superbly thanks to my multitalented wife except for one little glitch and it may not even be a glitch, but the upper bunk lights have to be on for the heater to work. No big deal. I tell ya I don’t know how I ever made it without her. 

Annie – He is so funny.   You can find anything on YouTube these days.  

I have gotten such a kick out of Greg in this cold weather.   One would think he had grown up in Florida instead of Kentucky with the way he talks about the cold.   

This is him when we went in the truck stop.  Of course it is only 14 degrees. 

  
We took a shower and while waiting on the laundry to dry we decided to watch some football.  This is Greg watching it. 

 
And this is me.   Haha 

DG:  She’s so funny. 

Well, now it is like 4 degrees, feels like -4.  It’s the kind of cold that follows you inside and lingers for a while. Brrrrr!!!!!

Went inside for dinner. BBQ Buffett. Not bad. However, it is still cold. And even inside I could feel it waiting for me out there. Ready to cut through any protection I might feel adequate to hold it at bay. At this point it is a living entity bent on the destruction of all mankind. I really don’t like the cold. 

Back in the truck the newly discovered, working, nare before used heating system is working like a charm. Oh, it is so toasty warm inside. The monster cannot penetrate our defenses. Our barrier to its wrath holds firm. Mmmmmm…..

Annie – Getting up early so turning in. Goodnight y’all.  

4 am.  Here we go again.    Happy New Year everybody!!    All was quiet at the truck stop.  I didn’t hear one fire cracker. Bunch of early birds around here. 

We have parked for the night in Sidney, Nebraska.   Sorry this post is not very long but it has been just drive drive drive.  Greg drove almost 700 miles today.   Exhausted and ready for bed.   Still have 1200 miles to go.