7:30.  Time to get up and get moving.  Got caffeine and fuel.   Then an email comes in that we are swapping loads with another driver because of the delay yesterday sitting for 7 hours at the receiver.  They want to make sure it gets to Houston on time.   We are swapping in Theodore, Alabama.  

I am feeling totally lost.  My phone is broken and I had to leave it in Florida for Gregory to mail to warranty company.  They are mailing me one but since I won’t be there for a month I’m phoneless.  I have my iPad which is great but miss my phone.  Funny how attached we get to them.  I keep checking my back pocket looking for it.  Hint – Don’t give your phone to a slobbering baby even if the rain sounds make him stop crying!   I tried drying it out and that helped some as I finally got it to turn on but unfortunately once it came on it started randomly calling people in my contacts.  People from Duke even that I hadn’t spoken to in years.   One was also a gunsmith in South Carolina that did some work on one of Gregs grandfathers guns and he also made him a powder horn and cartridge pouch.   My phone called him so many times he got worried about us and called back to check on us.  Wow.  That’s embarrassing.  I didn’t even know it was doing it until Greg said why are all these outgoing calls on my phone?   Our accounts are linked so calls show up on both phones.   Phone was shut down.   Hope it didn’t aggravate too many people.  

Pretty flowers at a rest area outside Tallahassee.   

    
 

DG: Okay, sometimes I worry about the company I work for. They arranged a swap of a load going to Houston making the driver go about 120 miles out of his way and stopping me short with three hours left on my drive clock. So as usual the drivers have to take matters into their own hands. I called Sedric, the driver I was to swap with, and told him I had three hours left on my clock would he like for me to get the load about 120 miles closer for him and he was agreeable to that. Besides the stop they had us going to was a tiny truck stop and it was already full. So we met in Slidell, LA, made the swap and he is on his way to Houston, then Dallas where he lives. So he will get to go by his home. And we have an exciting trip coming tomorrow I just know it. 

Hope everyone had a great day. Our love to all. Good night and God bless. 

5:30 am.  Time to get back on the road.  I’m not ready!  I hate to leave with the girls crying after me.  

9 am.  Made it to our stop in Riviera Beach, Florida.    Greg asked one of the guys working the dock where the bathroom was and he didn’t speak English.  Wow.  And another sign in the bathroom about please do not put used toilet paper in the garbage can.  It’s in English and Spanish and yer the garbage can was full.   I know I say this a lot but you don’t realize how many non English speaking Hispanics are in the country until you are out in these places.  They don’t bother to learn English.  They estimate a few million illegals are here.  It’s not even close I don’t think. 

11 am. Sitting and eating.  

1 pm.  Sitting and waiting.  

2 pm.  Found out reason we are sitting is whatever they make here isn’t done cooking yet.   Sure seems like somebody would have known the cooking schedule before they scheduled a 9 am pick up.   

3 pm.  Still sitting.  

4 pm.   Finally done loading us with pesto, garlic in oil and salsa.   But now we have to wait an hour for Greg’s clock to reset.   Oh brother.   

5:30 pm.  Finally!  Ready to get back on the road. We could have spent the day with the family.   

6 pm.  Stopped at marathon station for bathroom and drinks.    Nasty little place.  One bathroom for men and women do you know it was nasty.   No soap, no paper towels and the hand dryer was broken.   I just can’t believe the level of nasty this country has dropped to.   There used to be pride in your home, place of business, work but it’s just really deteriorated.  I can’t quite figure what God’s plan in all this is.  Hope I know soon.  

DG:  Me too.  It’s not getting better. It’s sad to see the lack of pride in work, cleanliness, hygiene, etc.  God help us. 

One redeeming factor, the truck stop we stopped at for the night has a Steak and Shake on sight. That’s right, NO SUBWAY!!!  Maybe the world is changing for the better. We shall see. 

Beautiful night tonight. Perfect temp with just the slightest hint of a breeze. A good night for sleeping. Of course I have yet to meet the night that wasn’t good for sleeping. Most days as well. Fact is, when there is sleep involved it’s a good day. Or night. Whatever. 

Okay, nothing new to tell. Four wheel drivers are mostly rude and self centered and force me daily to keep from squishing them although some should be squished it will not be me that does it. Aside from that it’s been a good day. 

Good night and God bless. 

DG:  Last day of home time. So much love from family. Especially the grand babies. Played hide and seek with Sadie and Maddi most of the afternoon. At one point Gregory looked out the window and saw me running around the side of the house, thought something was wrong, came running out of the house with baby in his arm and Kaiden right behind him wondering what was the emergency. I said we are playing hide and seek. He was truly panicked thinking I would only be running if one of the kids were in trouble. I wouldn’t have called it running, but it was rather fast movement for me. We got a laugh out of it. 

  
Here’s Alex and me hanging out together. He loves his papaw. And I love him. What a joy. 

Well, we are back in the truck. Have an early trip in the morning and thought it would be easier on Gregory than getting up at five to get us to the truck. We are going to leave out of here around 5:30 in the morning for a pick up in Riviera Beach. It’s straight across the state on the east coast. 

So I’ll say good night and God bless. 

I tried to upload a couple of videos from Sadies birthday but they didn’t go.  Trying again.  I think she liked her presents.  

   
The kids got in the pool for a few minutes today.  It was pretty cold but they didn’t seem to mind until they got out.  Too cold for me.   They are all swimming so well.   The girls got new bathing suits for their birthday. 

   

   
    
    

Alex just chilling.    

Turning in.   Good hit y’all. 
 

DG:  Shopping. Exchanging some clothes Sadie got for her birthday. They were a little big and she first thought of keeping them and growing into them but there was a question of them still being in style or maybe her tastes changing by that time so we are exchanging them and Maddie needed a couple of things and Alex is just hanging around. 
  

Then while the girls were in the dressing room the guys were up to no good. Luckily they had a baby to play with.  

   

Now for the reward of a day at the mall. A pedicure for papaw. 

  

And Mammie and the girls.  

    
  

 
 Waiting on Mammie and papaw to get done.   

We had a good day. Then, when we got home Annie and the girls surprised me with a couple of birthday presents.  I got a much needed new jean jacket and the biggest surprise was an old Smith Corona typewriter and two new ribbons. Also I was told that there is a kit that has been ordered for me that allows you to connect old typewriters to iPads and computers. So you get the feel of the old with the speed and neatness of the new. I’ve been playing around with the old tonight and decided to stop as it is pretty noisy and people are trying to sleep. Sounds like a good idea. 

Goodnight all and God bless. 

6:30 am.  Got my Diet Coke and ready to get on the road.   430 miles to go to get to Walmart to unload and then off to see the babies!!  Hope the weather clears up.   

 

Weather cleared up nicely.   

 Wildflowers are blooming.   

 

  

DG:  Going to post a few pictures I took yesterday but could not upload. Hope you like them. 

This was at a rest area. It’s not a real plane but pretty cool. We were just outside Pensacola, home of the Blue Angels. 

 

Florida sky.   
Lord Jesus it’s a fire.    

   
Gackels and Cow birds feasting on the last of our chips. They seem to hang out together.

  

4:30.  Made it to Walmart to unload our hamburger.  Hope we don’t wait forever.  

7:30.  All done.  Heading to truck stop to park truck for the weekend.  

Goodnight Florida 

    
    
   

We made it!   Lots of kisses from Alex.   Girls are asleep.   Kaiden is reading.  

 
Goodnight y’all. 

DG:  A record unload for Wal Mart. They will allow you to arrive up to two hours early for your appointment and that’s just what we did and then they unloaded us in about an hour and a half. Thank you Jesus. 

So here we are for rest and relaxation. Might even go fishing this weekend. Florida requires a license to fish salt water now but if you’re a resident, which we are, you can get a license for free and what’s even better you can do it from your iPhone and it stays on your iPhone.  How cool is that?

  
Modern technology.  Ain’t it great. 

Okay, that’s all for now. Hope everyone has a great and blessed day. Good night and God bless. 

8 am.  Ready to hit the road.   Finally got a trip.   Heading to Grand Prairie, Texas to pick up a load of beef and taking it to Walmart in Arcadia, Florida.  Yay!  Sadie’s birthday is Friday so we’re going to make it!  Thank goodness.  I was TOLD I had to be there this year.  She was not happy we missed it last year.  Me either!

Pictures from the Tonkawa area we were in.

  

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Moore Oklahoma

Texas rest area.  Just across state line from Oklahoma.

  
  

3:30 pm.  Arrived at shipper.  Live load.

4:15.  Wow!  We are loaded already.   Why can’t everybody do this?   Now we can get on the road to Florida. 1200 miles to go.

Six Flags Over Texas

Dallas Cowboys Stadium

Sleeping angel!

What a nut!

Stopped in a nasty little truck stop in Marshall, Texas.    The bathrooms are gross!   I can’t even begin to tell you about the trash cans.

10 pm.  Stopped for the night in Minden, Louisiana.   Wore plum out.  Going to watch a bit of TV then hit the sack.

Goodnight y’all.

DG:  Well nothing much to add to this. Good night and God bless.

8:30 am.  Up and ready for the day.  Sort of.  Haha.   

Well, Greg called receiver on Friday and they said come over at 1 pm.  He called this morning to verify appointment and was told 10 am.  I hope we don’t sit all day!  

9 pm.  Well, we sat all day.  They were supposed to work us in and call when ready.   No calls.  Greg finally got fed up and drove back up to the guard shack and he called to see what was going on.   We had to wait a bit more but finally got a door.   Took them 30 minutes to unload us.  Now the planners have gone home and we have no trip waiting on us.   Unbelievable!  

So, we are back at a truck stop for the night.  We are in the Tonkawa Indian nation area.   

I didn’t get many pictures today.  Hard to when you only go 19 miles.  

Ponca City town hall. 

   
 
Pioneer Woman statue as part of the Marland Mansion.  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._W._Marland_Mansion

Also a video.   Wish they had truck parking.  I bet it’s something to see.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyvoc8Us86A

   
  A field of canola.  This is where canola oil comes from.    There are acres and acres of it around.  Just beautiful.  

 

Precious refuses to get back in the truck.  Not that I can blame her today.  It’s warm and sunny.  And very very windy.  

 

Phillips 66 oil refinery.  

  Really pretty sculpture in the truck stop.   

Annie’s work station at the Towanka Travel Plaza.   
Nice place. They have a couple of TVs in the eating area and they leave the remotes on the tables. 

Leaving the truck stop and going back to the truck.   Smell hits you right in the face.  Three cattle trucks with very unhappy cows in them.    Clomping around so much in there it’s a wonder they don’t bust out.   

 

Where’s the beef?  Right here. Hamburger on the hoof.  Wonder if they know where they are going. I imagine them talking to each other speculating on what is happening.  Like people some think it’s a joy ride. Others a field trip. Maybe we are going to greener pastures some may think. Then the reality hits. They pull up to the monstrous processing plant. They see empty trucks leaving and wonder what has happened to their kin. Screams of horror fill the air. Kicking and bucking ensues. But it is no use. Death awaits them. There is no escape. 

Nope, didn’t phase me. I still want a steak. If God wanted us to eat only vegetables he wouldn’t have made meat taste so good. Nuff said. 

Well, college basketball season is over. What a game. One for the ages. In case you missed it UNC and Villinova were battling back and forth the whole game. V was ahead in the final seconds and UNC player hit a three pointer with 4.7 seconds left to tie it up. V inbounded the ball, brought it down court and at the last second hit a three pointer to win the game and the championship. 

And that’s all from the road. Good night good people and God bless. 

8 am.  Time to get on the road.   It’s a gorgeous sunny day.  Looks like the rain has finally moved on. We have about 600 miles to go to get to Oklahoma but don’t have to be there until Monday so no need to rush.  

DG:  If you are ever passing through Morrilton, OK, because I doubt you will be going there purposefully, you gotta try out the fare at Morrilton Drive In at exit 107 on I-40.  Besides killer BBQ, I noticed the smoke from the truck stop across the street and said to myself, “Self, looks like somebody is smoking some meat”.  And I was right. So there we went for to have lunch. Looking over the menu, which cried out to be photographed, there were items on there that showed a degree of imagination much different that that found in the boardrooms of major chain restaurants.  For instance, the Triple Giant Super Bacon Cheeseburger.  Oh, there was a time I would have had to try that. At $23.99 I’m sure this is meant to be shared. I would have liked to see one at least but none were ordered while we were there. And there were various degrees of smaller burgers down the line to the regular all American style. And of course there was the BBQ, pork and beef, and the best danged hush puppies I have had in I don’t know when. Sides of baked beans, French fries and coleslaw rounded out the slab dinner that I chose. Usually we save some of our meat, be it whatever, for Precious, and I did, but she came real close to not getting dinner this day. And I had a Woo Pig Chewy milkshake for dessert. That be chocolate and vanilla ice cream with chocolate chunks and comes in sizes small, large, TUB and Monster.  I got a large which was a regular size portion at most other establishments and I wish now I had at least asked to see the Monster size. Or the Tub. I looked for a cup that might be used for either of these but did not see one that might be associated with either size description. 

After lunch it was a short drive to Webbers Falls where we spent the night. 

 Annie – I had the beef barbecue with spicy fries and hushpuppies. I have to agree.  I don’t think I have ever had better hushpuppies.   
Sorry we didn’t post last night.   We finished watching the rest of the season of The Ranch on Netflix and fell asleep.    

On our way to Ponca City, Oklahoma!