DG: 11:30, day at the quilt shop. Got the car unloaded with the first load of stuff from the truck. Then we went to the quilt shop. Annie’s working on a quilt for Maddi and had some cutting to do. Is this what retirement is going to be like?  I don’t think so. 

Annie in her element behind a table full of quilting supplies. 

So I am one load away from giving up over the road truck driving. Not to worry, life will go on. That’s more for me than anyone else. 

Annie – Is this what retirement is going to be like?   Haha 

We have worked all day getting Greg’s truck emptied out and cleaned up.  He is leaving tomorrow for his last trip.  

Good night y’all. 

DG:  Dispatch says head to Ashland, they would take care of me. I thought that was very generous of them. How generous?  We shall soon see. 

On my way home I safely sent updates on my whereabouts. 

Just outside Louisville turning onto 64, passing Grayson, making the final turn to home. 

Then I got this.  Ain’t he cute?  

And now we rest. Good night good folk. God bless. 

Annie – Yes, they are both cute.   You know who else is cute?  My sweetie pie who got in tonight.   So happy!!  

Goodnight y’all. 

Last load?  Next to last?  Won’t know till morning.  In the meantime it’s a beautiful day in Tennessee.

That’s here in Shelbyville. This is what it was like out side of Nashville a little earlier. 

And just outside of town. 

Oh, almost forgot about Louisville.  Don’t want to forget about Louisville.

Got unloaded and headed out. Where to spend the night?  As I approached the intersection to highway 231 there was a marked similarity about the place. I had been here before. We had been here before. When I came in I thought it looked familiar but last time we came from the opposite direction and it was at night. But as I was leaving I realized this was the same place. And that meant there was a Wal Marr about four miles away that allowed truck parking. And so it was. 

The danger of parking at a Wal Marr is that you are tempted to go in and when you go inside, you find things like this. 

You may not be able to see them very well. The picture looked better when I took it. Well, I would take it again but they are no longer photographable unless you used an x-ray machine and then I do not believe they would look the same. They are, or were, mini eclairs. I pondered over them and chocolate cake, double chocolate muffins or red velvet cake. Too many choices. 

So here I sit with a ten hour rest period ahead of me so I guess I will get some sleep. 

Hope you all had a blessed day. Good night and God bless. 

DG:  86 miles today. Boy am I bushed.  Load was finally ready around 7:30 so I was on the road by 8:00 and not wanting to drive all night and sit all day tomorrow I opted to sit tonight and drive a little while tomorrow.  

Once again I am surprised as what is on the road. 

Boat or plane?  I don’t know. 

Discovered a series on Netflix. It’s about the life of Marco Polo. Very interesting.  Right now he is in Mongolia at the time of Kubla Khan.  

One other pic I forgot, 711’s Double Gulp. How big can they go. 

So now there’s nothing Left but to wish you all a blessed good night. God bless. 

DG: Here I sit as the sun begins to set, waiting, waiting, waiting some more. 

I was given a load that was supposed to get me home but the timing’s not right so it won’t be tonight and now I fade with the light as the sun dips below the horizon. 

Waxing poetic as my mind wanders how to absorb all of God’s wonders. 

This past year we have seen so many places and so many things, met interesting people none of whom sings. 

One last look at the Kankakee River.  Don’t know why, just like that name. 

This was interesting, a grave yard in Minnesota.  So neatly kept and spaced. 

And a sunset. 

Night has crept in and in most neighborhoods all is quiet, but not mine.  Diesel engines hum through the night, refers start and stop keeping their perishable freight at just the right temperature to keep it fresh until the consumer takes it from the grocer’s shelf and carries it home. That’s my neighborhood.  

Hope you all had a blessed day. Good night and God bless. 

Annie – Worked on Maddi’s quilt some more today.    It’s coming along nicely.  At this rate I may be done with it before Greg gets home.  
I outlined some of the butterflies and got my strips done for the flowers.    Can’t wait to see the finished product.  

DG:  No hurry. Just over 300 miles to go and tomorrow afternoon to get there. Just moseying today. Not sure that’s a word. 

Illinois has these convenient service centers about every 30 miles or so and I stopped at the first one east bound coming from Wisconsin.  Had to use the restroom, yes. Then wanted a snack. Pretzel bites with hot salsa cheese fit the bill. 

Next I will find me a tasty beverage.  
Then back on the road for a bit. 

Looking at the east bound lane of I-90.

Okay, gotta go. 

6:15, stopped at TA 10 miles from receiver to take a shower. Appointment is for 3:00 pm tomorrow but when I called I was told there was a possibility they could work me in early and they do have overnight parking.  So if I get over there then I don’t have to start my clock until they call me. 

7:30, arrived at receiver just shy of 24 hours early. 

 In other businesses this would be seen as efficiency. Not so in trucking. Now I wait. No driving, no pay. Just sitting. My reward for a good effort. Who’s the leader of this here outfit is what I want to know. 

Some more pics of Minnesota for your viewing pleasure then off to bed. 

Annie – Worked a lot on the quilt today.  It’s coming along nicely I think.  

Mom had occupational therapy again today.   She’s doing good.  One more week they say and then she can go to the Vitality Center.   
I am turning in.  Plan on working on quilt again tomorrow! 

DG: Idle time gives space to contemplation and feeds it with emotion. In an effort to cut back on my idle time I requested a dedicated route. I had heard from other drivers that this was the way to go if you wanted to keep rolling. Don’t believe everything you hear.  We were dispatched more regularly, that is we received our next trip prior to completing the one we were on, but there never seemed to be any weekend deliveries or pick ups. So we got a reset every week. Good for the clock. Not so good for the paycheck. So we opted to bring this over the road adventure to an end and start a new journey going back to the beginning, home. We have both had a sense of peace about it ever since making that decision so we take that as a sign from God that we have made the correct decision. But there are many more to come and we will seek His guidance in all of them. 

It’s 8:00 am here in Marshall, MN, a cool, crisp morning. My appointment is for 10:00 and I am one and one half miles from the shipper, so time is anything but of the essence.  

9:15, I can’t wait any longer.  Heading to shipper. 

9:20, well, apparently my GPS doesn’t know the length of a mile. At least it didn’t seem like a mile. 

Check in at the guard shack, “load won’t be ready for a couple hours”.  They give me their direct line number to call. Back to the truck stop. They did allow me to drop my trailer.  

This waiting thing can be fattening.  Just so happens this particular truck stop does not have a Subway, don’t know how the guys at corporate missed this one but glad they did, instead they have what all truck stops should have and that is an eatery owned and operated by local folks. This one is called Toni’s Depot.  Toni is a train enthusiast and it shows by his train displays. And while they do serve subs they also have other dishes, one in particular is what I had for lunch, Swedish meatballs on mash potatoes with gravy, green beans, chopped carrots and macaroni salad. 

And oh, the trains. 

The newspapers give the life account of Toni, whose real name is Frank, and Frank is no longer with us.  According to the articles Frank opened his first pizza restaurant back in the 60s, ran it for a good while, went out of business blaming the corporate fast food joints then reopened some years later in this truck stop.  As it is still open I assume it is his children who are now running it. 

11:30, I call to see if load is ready. They just got the paperwork and they will soon be going to lunch so I was told to call back in a couple of hours. 

1:30, I call, but there is no answer so I leave a message. 

2:00, no call back, I’m going. 

2:05; load is ready. Finally. It’s a beautiful day and my route is taking me right through the middle of the countryside. 

Came upon an interesting name for a town. Sleepy Eye, MN

Apparently Sleepy Eye was an Indian. Further research needs done. 

Then I found this lovely little spot. 

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Cindy was excited to be on the road again. 

But she couldn’t figure out the giant chef. 

And neither could I. 

So it’s getting late and I should be getting to bed. Good night y’all and God bless. 

Annie – Abby and Lindsey got to stay the night again.   Abby made a key lime pie.   It was yummy.    

Getting late so turning in.   Good night y’all. 

DG:  Up and on the road by 7:15.  53 miles from stop but not familiar with traffic in this part of the country so I should have time to get there by 9:00. Okay, standing rule, anytime one is driving through a major metropolitan area one should give oneself at least two hours just for city driving. I was five minutes late so no biggie. These dedicated shippers and receivers are not big enterprises so it’s not like there is a line of trucks waiting to load/unload. In fact I am usually the only one for the time I am scheduled.  

It was a bit difficult getting into the parking spot though. I had to angle my tractor as not to block traffic. 

Here’s a history marker for your reading pleasure. 

4:00 pm, Marshall, MN.  Looking for a truck stop I use my handy trucking app. It says there are two in the area. I come to the first one, but it’s not really a truck stop. 

Go on up the road and I come to the second truck stop and low and behold it looks familiar.  I’ve been here before. The last time I had taken some resin to a place in South Dakota to use in making windmill blades then came over here to pick up some ice cream at the Schwann plant just down the road. I even got my same parking spot. 

More pics of Minnesota.  This is either St. Paul or Minneapolis. They’re side by side so it could be either, I don’t know. 

Got a couple pics of the bridges. I thought the lamps were cool. 

And here is the Mississippi very near its source. When I say very near I mean markedly closer to the source than say, Memphis. 

Don’t know if you can see this, I hope so, it’s the second bald eagle I’ve seen in as many days. 

An interesting building in South Saint Paul. 

And this sign. Didn’t know what it was so looked it up. 

http://kaposiadays.org/calendar/2016-06-23/

Then there was the indoor water park.  It is much bigger than it looks. I couldn’t get it all at the speed I was traveling. 

Then there was the road crew.  After holding us up for more than several minutes and gathering quite a line of vehicles a pick up truck with a “Follow Me” sign on the back drove up and lead the whole line to the other side of the work are. Pretty neat. 

Annie – Abby and Lindsey got to spend the night again.   Yay!   Abby and I worked on Maddi’s quilt a bit today.   We’ve got the lay out and now need to get the white squares cut out.   I think she will like it.  

11 pm.  Going to settle in and watch a movie then turn in.   

Good night y’all.  

DG:  6:45, slept as long as I could without getting in trouble. Could have gotten a few more Zs but then would have had trouble getting out of bed. 

Looks like rain. Much cooler this morning. Not far to go. No rush. 

7:08, pretrip completed. GPS recalculated and now says only 15 miles to receiver and most of it interstate.  Another blessing for coming to this truck stop.  

Don’t know if I would want these guys moving me. 

11:00 am, back at the same truck stop where I spent the weekend.  While at the receiver an interesting thing happened. See below. 

So what happened……. Caught bumper on piece of concrete sticking up that I failed to see. 

7:00 stopped for the night at a rest area on highway 169 in Minnesota.  It’s a beautiful evening with a perfect temperature. So I had a picnic. No bugs either. Very nice. 

8:06: sitting in the truck watching the sun set as the birds chirp. 

Saw another bald eagle today. It was being harassed by about a half a dozen smaller birds. I don’t know what that eagle did to make them mad but they were swarming it as it flew, apparently trying to get away from them. 

Looks like I have a short trip in the morning. Only about 55 miles from delivery. The driver I swapped trailers with was picking up a load this evening going to New Jersey.  I don’t envy him. Hope he has an easy time parking. 

It’s so peaceful here. That’s why I prefer rest areas to truck stops. They’re not as busy. The highway next to it is not very busy either which adds to the appeal. 

Some pics of St. Peter, MN. 

That’s it from the road today. Good night all. And God bless. 

Annie – Mom had physical therapy this morning.  She is coming along pretty good with it.   She should have occupational therapy tomorrow.   Then we went to the quilt shop to get some more bonding material for the appliqué pieces will be doing tomorrow.  Can’t wait!  

Abby and Lindsey got to come over and spend the night.  Yay!   What a great time.  We had dinner and then went to Dairy Queen for banana splits and then watched The Hobbit.      So glad we got to spend time with the girls tonight!  

Turning in.  Goodnight y’all.