6 am.  Called to shop.   They don’t have it in the shop yet.  Mechanic doesn’t come in until 7 am. 

7:30 am.  Mechanic can’t get truck in shop until 9 am.  Then he can diagnose it.  

10 am.  Going to be here at least another day.  Something to do with the emission system has a hole in it.   I don’t mind another day in a motel though but hits the checkbook.   

12:30.  Starving.  Going to walk over to the TA and grab some lunch.   
DG:  1:05 pm. Lunch is served. 

Sitting in the restaurant I see my truck go down the road. Uh oh, it dawns on me I did not sign off my Qualcomm therefore when that mechanic hits 20 mph my drive clock will start. Then when he stops, after five minutes it will go to on duty status and stay there until I can get to it to change it. Stupid electronic logs. I called logs department but nobody was home.  They can change it I hope. Stupid government regulations. 

Got my times changed and logged off. Now they can drive it all they want. 

Relaxing in the room, Chinese take out for dinner. TV for entertainment.  Relaxing. 

9 pm.  Walked back over to Freightliner to get some Diet Coke out of the machine (they have Diet Pepsi here at the hotel).  Trying not to worry.  There was a guy in the drivers lounge who said he had been waiting since Tuesday.   Another guy yesterday said he had been here 8 days.   I’m hoping they are finished tomorrow.  I’ve got a little girls birthday party to get to next week!!  Plus the no pay thing while we sit here and the hotel room.   But I know there is a reason we are sitting here so will just have faith.   

DG:  Well said my dear. I have relaxed myself right into a stupor and can no longer hold open my eyes. I will wish you well and say good night and God bless. 

6:30 am.   Time to get up and head west.   We slept with the windows open last night and at some point Greg closed one of the windows because he was freezing.   I like getting cold and snuggling under the blankets but he said his head gets too cold. Haha.   In his defense too it is 43 degrees this morning.     It’s a little cloudy this morning but doesn’t look like rain.    Hope we miss the storms out west.  

Such a pretty river snuggled in the hills.  

DG:  You’re right. Youngstown isn’t very far from White Haven, PA.  Seems that the government has interjected itself one more time to stifle American commerce.  You see, in the old days diesel trucks were very simple. They used fuel made from oil. It burned in the cylinders and the left over gases came out the exhaust. It was smelly but non-toxic. Actually rather clean for fossil fuel exhaust.    But people just can’t seem to leave things alone. Government people that is. So they came up with a system that uses a filter to catch the particulates and a fluid to aid in the conversion of those particulates into something they determine less toxic than clean air. And some of you may remember when diesel fuel was less expensive than regular grade gasoline. Well those days are long gone due to more government involvement requiring all diesel fuel be made of a percentage of biodiesel, soy beans. That runs the cost up significantly. And on top of that with the additional hardware required on the vehicles and you have more cost added. Which brings us to our present situation.  Yesterday I got a check engine light on my dash. Googled what it meant and found instructions on how to obtain a code that would identify the problem. Code indicated there was either something wrong with the exhaust system or a sensor within the system going bad. Truck was running okay so I was guessing it was the sensor. Not trusting my limited Diesel engine knowledge I call KLLM road breakdown. Apparently they have prior knowledge of this problem and instructed me to try something to determine definitively if there was a real problem. Real problem confirmed we were routed to the closest Freightliner repair shop. That’s how we ended up in Yoingstown. Four hours later, we are still waiting.  

5 pm.  Headed to motel.   Truck hasn’t even been in the shop yet and they don’t know when they will get to it.   So, off we go.   We have until tomorrow evening to get the load to Illinois so we should be ok if truck is ready to go in the am. 

6 pm.  Ordered pizza and settling in.    Watching the weather it looks like our little delay may be a blessing in disguise with all the horrible storms and tornadoes in Indiana and Illinois.   I saw where they even had one in Kentucky.   Glad we are staying put tonight.   

We went to get a Diet Coke to go with the pizza and when we came back in we couldn’t find Precious.   Then I noticed the lump.   I guess I have the air set too low for her.  Haha 

10:30 pm.  Turning in.  Hoping they call early.   Goodnight y’all. 

5:30 am.  Time to head on in to Connecticut.    5 hour drive still.  Praying traffic is not in our way this morning.  

Good morning Pennsylvania.  

Kids went to the beach yesterday for Mother’s Day.   Gregory said Alex wasn’t a fan but I’m sure that will change.  

9 am New Jersey traffic.   Aren’t these people all late for work?   

10:15 am.  Going across the Hudson River in Nyack, New York. 

Oohhhh. Scary! 

Saugatuck River leading to the Long Island Sound 

DG:  I listened and listened and never heard the sound. Wonder what it sounds like. 

Long Island Sound. 

DG:  What does a Sound sound like?

11:59 am.  Made it to receiver with one minute to spare.   That was close.   No door yet but hopefully not long.   

1 pm.  At the door but not getting unloaded yet.   

2 pm.  Finally feel the truck shaking.   Glad we were on time so we could wait! 

DG:  Nap time. 

3:30 pm.   Finished with unload.   Now off to find a parking spot for the night.  Closest truck stop is 22 miles away.    Greg is out of time but we don’t have a choice so on we go.  

DG:  Forced to leave property. Must violate HOS in order to leave and find safe haven. Silly government regulations.  

4 pm.  Found the TA but lot is full. 145+ trucks already.   Only two in the area so everywhere is packed.   We saw a rest area back up the road so will get some burritos and Diet Coke and try there.   

DG:  Again, forced to leave property to find safe haven. 

4:30 pm.   Very nice and quiet truck stop.   Still a dozen places to park so no worries.  Even got a place in the shade which is nice. Sitting out at a picnic table having dinner. A real treat for us!  

DG:  Yes it is. When you are deprived of certain things you learn to appreciate them when you find them. 

I tried to get a picture of Annie but apparently there is a one picture of her per week limit for the blog so refer to yesterday’s photo. 

Well, we try to show pictures of our meals when they are special. Taco Bell is not really special so this is all you get today.

Found these huge rocks around the picnic area.  

This is “Bed rock”.

“Bear Rock”

“Rock squared”

And a huge place for pets. LOL

This was an interesting sign. Apparently the police won’t do anything, but they will “take notice”.

And of course the Obligatory “no idling” command, universally ignored by truck drivers everywhere and rarely if ever enforced. 

Okay,a few more and I’m done. The first pic is of wild Violet’s we found here at the rest area and the second is one of preparation for “crazy hat day” at Sadie’s school. I imagine the look on Maddi’s face is one of “I don’t get to wear a hat to school” look. 

10 pm.  Turning in.   Hope to have a trip early in the morning.   Goodnight y’all.  

DG:  Praise be to God on high for a very special end to what was a hectic day. Running out of time, just made it to stop on time, no spots at the truck stop so we were led here to this beautiful place to enjoy the rest of the evening. 

Hope you all had a blessed day too.  Good night and God bless from central Connecticut.

DG: 8:20 am. Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there. 

 It’s a beautiful morning.  Slept really well. Cool breeze coming through the window. Annie snoring in my ear. Ten minutes before I can officially start my day. Many miles to go. Looks like we are going to be on time. 

The perfect Mother’s Day gift for my sweetie.

Cindy is happy too. A friend of hers won the Kentucky Derby yesterday.  Just look at that smile. 

Annie – Awesome Mother’s Day present.   Rarely do we find a Bojangles with truck parking.  What a treat!  

Going through Virginia today.  It is one of the prettiest states. 

We passed the Maple Hall B and B again.   It’s a beautiful spot.  I bet it’s gorgeous in the fall.  

http://www.maplehalllex.com

I’ve seen some weird campers but this one takes the cake. 

DG:  7:30 pm we stop in Carlisle, PA. We’ve been here several times in the past. 

Today about ate me up, physically and time wise. Driving is relaxing as long as there is no traffic to speak of but today was traffic day. Sometimes it was moving, a lot of times it was not. I don’t know where everyone was going to or coming from but I can’t remember when I have seen so much traffic. Several places it would be stopped for 20-30 minutes. Then when it would get going and we would go several miles there was no sign of why it stopped where it did. Then it would stop again. At one point we were at an exit with a truck stop so we got off there to wait for it to start moving again. We could see the highway from the truck stop and after about 45 minutes it started moving pretty good so we headed out but by the time we crossed the overpass and got on the on ramp it had stopped again. So I pulled over to the side of the on ramp to wait some more. About ten minutes later it started moving so did we. And it kept moving pretty good until our stop for the night. So here we are. 

Hope all you mothers out there had a wonderful day. Please know that you are all loved and admired by all. Good night and God bless. 

9:30 am.  Got in late so sleeping late.   Going to head in and grab a shower and breakfast and be on the road by 11 am.  

Kids FaceTimed us on our way to the shower.   Sadie asked us where we were and we said Arkansas. “You’re still too far away from Florida!”   Then Maddi comes on and says her birthday is in a few days and we better get there.  Haha.  Such sweethearts.   Gregory says Alex is crawling now but every time he stops to get a video for me Alex stops crawling and looks at him like what?   Can’t wait to get to Florida in a few days!  

It’s a gorgeous day.  83 degrees and hardly a cloud in the sky. Getting warm for me so glad we’re headed north.   Gregory texted this morning and said while we’re up that way to get more maple syrup. I’m shocked as we bought a gallon just over a month ago when we were in Vermont.   He said it was about all gone.  5 people eating pancakes every Saturday it isn’t going to last long.  Guess he has a point.  Especially when Maddi is bouncing all over the place while we’re FaceTiming.   I asked her if she had pancakes for breakfast and she said she has three waffles with LOTS of syrup.   Sadie said she did too.  They are going to be wild today.   Good luck with that Gregory!   

3:30 pm.  Going around Nashville.  So glad we found this alternate route.   It is miserable starting either side of Nashville to the other.  Doesn’t matter which side it takes two hours to get to the other one.   

Everything is getting so green.   Looks so pretty.   

We passed the castle again.   Would love to see what the whole thing looks like.   

DG:  10:30 pm.  Stopped for the night outside of Kindport. A little truck stop we had stopped at before except then we had gotten here before their 10:00 pm closing time. That’s okay as we stay stocked up on food and drink just for these occasions.

Forget which river this is but looks pretty.  Passed over several that were active with fishermen and boaters and kayakers.  

Take the dog for a walk, watch some tv then in the rack. Hope you all had a blessed day. I know we did.  Oh, almost forgot, went in to take a shower this morning and I was all ready to pay for it as we were at a TA and as I do not fuel there often I don’t keep shower credits on my rewards card. Trying to pay at the kiosk by the fuel desk it told me I needed exact change which I didn’t have and as I was telling this to Annie a driver that was in line at the fuel desk said I’ve got plenty, you can have one of mine. I thanked him and proceeded to the shower.  Annie asked the shower attendant for an extra towel as we were going into our shower she asked if we wanted the bigger shower. We said yes. So she opened that door for us. It’s good to have the favor of God. 

Good night and God bless. 

9 am.  Got to sleep in a bit this morning.   Woke up with a trip for us to Connecticut.   The guy with our trailer is 36 miles away.   So we wait. 

10:30 am. Guy with trailer still hasn’t shown up.  Greg contacted dispatch and they said the guy was 86 miles away.   “What?  Is he going the wrong way?”   Apparently he is going home for the weekend and didn’t want to stop in Lancaster and drop off the trailer.   So now we’re waiting on another trailer.  Dispatch said they couldn’t find another one yet. 

11:30 am.  Greg walked around the lot a while and found another empty.   They said it was ok if we take it.  So now we get fuel and get to the receiver.    

DG:  I guess we’re doing time lines now so I will go with the system. 

1:15 pm.  Arrive at shipper 45 minutes early (imagine this as spoken by Joe Friday on Dragnet).  Good thing because I forgot to turn my refer on before leaving the yard and it has to cool to -10 before loading. 

2:18 pm.  Loading starts. 

2:45 pm.  Loading complete. Now I have to wait for trailer box to get to 20 degrees before I can get my papers. 10 degrees to go. 

Annie:  Wow.  What a gorgeous driver!  He keeps staring at me though.   

DG:  She gets that from all the drivers. 

2:53 pm.  Box to 18.  Shipper now has to come out and check it. They take pictures. More waiting. Once again, everybody but the driver is on the clock, we are ruled by the clock. 

3:15 pm.  On our way! 

Six Flags Dallas!  I wanna go! 

DG: But I don’t want to do that. 

Stopped in Herh, AR, just west of Memphis. We will be using our bypass around Nashville tomorrow. It adds a few miles but there is generally very little traffic so no creeping for miles. On average it takes us two hours to get through Nashville and the bypass cuts that to 45 minutes. 

2:25am.  Time for sleep. Good night and God bless. 

6 am.  Up and time to get on the road.   Heading on in to the Lancaster yard today.   Load isn’t due until tomorrow so we’ll stop there and do some laundry and wait.   It’s a gorgeous morning.   Cool 51 degrees.  Bright and sunny.  Hardly a cloud in the sky.   A good day to drive or ride in my case.  

Good morning Arkansas.  

We stopped at a truck stop in Arkansas.   They had one of the prettiest gardens.   Made me really miss mine.  I took a bunch of pictures.   There was a hummingbird flying around but never could get a picture of it.  

Happy Spring!

The Arkansas River 

Made it to Texas.   How can you tell?   Horses and Cowboys.  

We went to our favorite place in Lancaster to eat.  Soulman’s!   Got our usual soul bowl.   I got the beef brisket this time and Greg got the usual pulled pork and sausage.   Yummy yummy yummy!  

Now back to yard to do laundry and shower! 

DG:  Wasn’t here 10 minutes and got a call from local dispatch. “Come and see me as soon as you can”, “10-4”.  I had just finished getting my truck washed so went to the drop yard and dropped my trailer. Parked the tractor and walked over to “the hut”.  The trip had already been given to someone else as it needed to be dispatched almost immediately.  It was going to Jackson, MS and I didn’t have enough time on my clock to make it there by morning. But someone did. 

Looks like a full lot this evening. Lots of drivers waiting on trips. 

Laundry is in. Just watching tv now waiting on the timer. 

There’s something familiar about coming to a terminal as opposed to going to a truck stop. You see familiar faces, all the trucks and trailers are the same, you feel at home. Safe. I don’t know, I just seem to be able to relax more at a terminal.

So that’s it from the great state of Texas. Hope you all had a great day. More tomorrow. Goodnight and God bless. 

5:45 am.  Time to get up and head to Chicago Heights, Illinois to the shipper.  Hopefully it is too early for the morning traffic.  It is also pouring the rain.  Came down pretty hard through the night too. I think we slept through the worst of it.  Thank Goodness.  

DG:  Sunshine and blue skies just shortly after getting on the road. The Lord has shown favor on us again. Praise His name. 

Here we are at the dock. 

This poor guy forgot his trailer. I hate to tell him they won’t load his tractor. Couldn’t carry much if they did. 

9 am.  Finally loaded with 38,000 IV bottles.   Wow!    Headed to Fort Worth.  

Chicago Heights is not the prettiest town we have been in.  Looks like at one point it was really nice.  Lots of closed shops now, run down houses. Hardly nobody on the streets at 9 am.  It’s so sad to see these little towns all but closed down.  

This overpass always makes me nervous.  Our clearance is 13’6″.  If it wasn’t for the little dip in the road we would be in big trouble.  Even still, if there is a bug on top of the trailer it’s squished!  

Ahhh.  Much better.   

6:30 pm.  Stopped in Blytheville, Arkansas for the night.  Gregs old stomping grounds from the Air Force.   They have a Roady’s truck stop here too that has awesome ribs.  Just fall off the bone.  Precious will be very happy with the left overs.  

Turning in.   Have about 580 miles to go tomorrow.    Goodnight Arkansas.  

DG: Yeppers, I watched about 700 of these sunsets while I was stationed here from October 1971 to around August of 1973 before going to Germany for almost two years. Had a lot of fun. Met a lot of good people. Picked up a friend for life in Willie “Doc” Cornell and his wife Sherie. We get to see them whenever we have a layover in Lancaster. That’s where we’re headed tomorrow as a matter of fact.

The truck stop we are staying at is just outside of town and was a cotton field when I was here. In fact just about all the land around the base was either cotton or soy bean fields. I feel like I’m in a time warp. 

Speaking of time, the ol’ clock on the phone says it’s time to go to bed. So goodnight and God bless.  

4 am.  Time to get up.  Need to get a bit of fuel while its $2.15.  It was 2.73 in Pennsylvania so we didn’t get any there.   Ridiculous!  

4:30 am. I can’t hold my eyes open so going off to bed.  Sorry Greg! 

7 am.  Stopping in Howe, Indiana for a break and a bit of breakfast for Greg.   Still have 186 miles to go.  

Planting time in Indiana. 

10:30 am. Made it to first stop.  Peacock Engineering.   Not sure what they want with 25,000 pounds of Land O’Lakes butter and I didn’t ask.    We got to watch the geese play while they unloaded us. One set has about 8 chicks. I tried to take a picture of them but they blended in to the grass too much.   One thing I learned.  Don’t yell “Oh Look” when the person driving is backing up.    I think I about scared Greg to death.   

12:15 pm.  Finished unloading part of the trailer.  Now headed to Joliet, IL for rest of unload.   

1:15 pm.  Got to Land O’Lakes to drop off rest of butter.   

Apparently we are missing some paperwork so sitting and waiting for them to straighten it out.  Fun fun fun. 

DG:  There is a department called customer service who handles these situations. Don’t know if they are just overwhelmed or out to lunch but it seems to be taking forever. 

Annie – Sitting and watching the natives run by.  In order to post this picture I had to promise Greg that if any half naked girls ran by he could post their picture.  Haha. 

DG:  Obviouly I have no such pictures to post. 

Paperwork bungle all straightened out. In the meantime I was offered two trips that we’re going to have us sitting for a whole day and finally got one to Texas. We’ll take it. 

Spending night in Monee, IL. We’ve been here many times. A shower and dinner, some paperwork, always paperwork, tv and sleep. Up early to pick up glass bottles to take to Texas. Have a great week everyone. Good night and God bless. 

Annie – Yay Texas!  It’s been what a week?   Oh well.  At least it will be warmer.  That will make Greg happy.   Me – Montana would be nice.  Haha.  

 Good night y’all.