Author Archives: suretypesalot

Day 391, February 23, 2016;  Morrow, GA; Calhoun, GA

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8 am.    Up and ready to go but no trip yet.  They sent us one to Bowling Green, KY but that’s only 300 miles and with no trip after that scheduled we figured we would be sitting in Bowling Green all day so he turned that one down.  Waiting for next one.  Hope it’s a goodie.   Only 2 days left until payday and not many miles this week since we were off with the kids and then sat in the cabbage patch all day Sunday.   

They have a truck on the lot here that looks like it’s done a roll over.  Yikes! 

  

10:30.   Got trip to Frankfort, Indiana.   Picking up a load of Peter Pan peanut butter in Sylvester, Georgia.   First we have to get fuel, the tractor and trailer washed and a wash out.   Then drive three hours south to go north again.  

3:30.  Got to ConAgra which distributes for Peter Pan.   It’s a live load so now we wait.   There are several other trucks here so I don’t think it will be quick. 

6:30.  Finally done.  We have 35,000 pounds of peanut butter.  Yummy!    Took a while but now we should be able to get around Atlanta without dealing with a lot of traffic.  

Sylvester, Georgia was a really neat place.  Lots of farm area and a little town.   Cute little park.  Just a fountain and a train engine. 

   
 

11:45 pm.   Stopped for the night in Calhoun, Georgia.   The rain is really coming down and blowing the truck around.  Time to stop and let the storm pass and stop fighting it. Greg seems pretty tuckered out.  

Getting in so late means we won’t get started until about 9ish in the morning.   

Goodnight y’all. 

DG:  Not so fast there Missy. I ain’t yet said my peace. Or is it piece?  Funny, never thought of that until now. 

We are snug as bugs in rugs and it’s a good thing cause it is a pouring the rain outside. Wind a blowin too. Gonna sleep good tonight. Rain on a truck roof is almost as comforting as rain on a tin roof. Almost the same thing. 

I took, we took a nap while they were loading the trailer. This place made you disconnect from your trailer while they loaded it so we couldn’t feel the rocking of the forklifts going in and out of the trailer. Sometimes, depending on how aggressive the loaders are, the rocking can be quite soothing. Then there are times when you think they are going to come through the trailer right into the cab. 

I’ve been contemplating getting a job with CAT Scales as a maintenance man ever since I saw their ad on the mirror of the barber shop at Iowa 80. Coincidentally we had a husband and wife crew pull up beside us at a fuel stop so I took the opportunity to ask them some questions about the job and how they liked it. They both liked it very much and said it was a great company to work for. They are on the road for about 10 weeks at a time, the whole time staying in hotels at company expense, receiving a very liberal per diem, and usually finishing a days work around 1:00pm. After the 10 weeks they get to go home for a couple of weeks before going back out on the road. I asked about doing repairs in cold weather and they said the company tries to keep you in the south during the winter then going north in the summer. Sounds like my kind of company. Going to apply on line and get more information.  

Okay, application submitted. Let’s see what happens. 

Pray for us. We need some guidance. God bless. 

Day 390, February 22, 2016;  Okechobee, FL; Morrow, GA

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7 am.  People are starting to show up here for work.  Time to get loaded and get back on the road.  One truck driver went to a truck stop because he showed up Saturday and no one was here.  Had to wait until today.  One other couple was here yesterday.   Somebody got their wires crossed somewhere.  

It’s a gorgeous day in the cabbage patch.

www.cabbageinc.com

Here is that big fork lift in action.  

  
Wonder if this little guy has an inferiority complex.

  
Apparently all the cabbages are picked by hand.  (Sorry the window is dirty.  Greg just washed the windshield and all the water came back just as I was taking the picture. Haha)

  
The part of Florida we are in is all farms, cattle and horses.  Lots and lots of wide open space.   We’ve gone by farms for sale of 3,600 acres and 5,385 acres.   Wow!  

This big guy had the field all to himself.   The picture may not show it but he was Huge!

  

Prairie Bound Horse Farm 

  
  

February in Florida means orange picking time.  

  

Desert Inn and Bar.   Saw this place yesterday when we came by to go to the Pilot truck stop and read the history on it.  Pretty interesting.   It’s haunted and apparently the ghosts move the furniture around.   

http://www.floridarambler.com/historic-florida-getaways/desert-inn-yeehaw-junction/
  

Back when we lived in Orlando many moons ago I used to work for the Blood Mobiles and we traveled all over.  Places like this is usually where you saw the snakes and alligators.    None today daggone it. 

  

8:30.  Made it to Morrow, Georgia at the KLLM terminal expecting to park for the night because our drop off appointment isn’t until tomorrow but was told by dispatcher here that we can go on over.  So, taking a little break and will go over to Fresh Express and see if we can deliver early.  

9:15 pm. Back at the terminal after dropping our trailer.  Now we see what they have for us in the morning.  

9:30.  Trying to find a parking spot and ended up stuck.  Looks like it’s been raining here pretty hard and the lot is a mess.   Greg went to pull in to a spot and started sliding in the mud.  Got stuck.  Trying rocking the truck back and forth but couldn’t get it out.  Nasty mess.   One of the guys from the shop came with another truck to help pull him out. 

  

  

DG:  And it’s still raining. Seems like every time we come here it is either raining or just finished raining.  If there was ever a lot in need of paving it is this one. 

  
They have a scale at Cabbage Inc and they have you scale before and after loading. This is my weight empty. Tractor and trailer. The bill of lading said I had 41035 pounds of cabbage, including boxes and pallets. My gross weight after that was 77860, so either their scale is off or they didn’t put the correct weight on the BOL. Either way I wasn’t over gross and that’s what we look for. All is good. And we delivered a day ahead of schedule, which isn’t always good if your looking to get right back on the road. Somehow it seems to mess up the planners if you are too efficient. 

Sounds like the rain has stopped. Should be cool enough tonight we will not need the air conditioning.  

That’s all for me. Really tired today. Good night and God bless. 

Day 389, February 21, 2016.  Cape Coral, FL;  Okechobee, FL 

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5:30.  Time to get up and head out. Melissa works this morning so in order to keep Gregory from having to drag all four kids out we are going to take the car to the truck stop and then I’ll drive the car and Greg the truck back by their house and drop the car off.  

6 am.  Pull in to the Loves truck stop and there are 4 sheriffs cars and yellow police tape around the door. I had to go in the side door through the Subway to get into the store. Greg had the truck and pulled through the fuel line so he came in the back. Apparently some guy had come in and grabbed a bunch of cash out of the cash register and ran off. Apparently it takes four Sheriffs to deal with it.

7:20  Well, we should’ve thought this through a little bit more. In order to get out of the Love’s parking lot Greg has to go up and make a big U-turn. We probably should’ve had Gregory bring us earlier before Melissa went to work. Maybe we will try that next time. Anyway, we are on our way to the house and one last hug and kiss before getting on the road.

8:15.  On the road again.   Picking up veggies I think in Okechobee and then on to Georgia. 

Florida cattle farm. 

    
11 am.  Got to the shipper.  Doesn’t look like anyone is here but we have an appointment so we’re hopeful.    Apparently we are picking up a truck load of cabbages.  

   
    
 

Kissimmee River 

  

12 pm.   Ok.  No one is here and after some phone calls, no one is coming today.  So, we are leaving the trailer here and taking the tractor to the Pilot truck stop and coming back for a 7:30 appointment in the morning. 

1 pm.  Going back to shipper.   Weird very tiny little Pilot.  Crazy busy and the parking lot smelled like pee.  Yuck. 

6 pm.  Spending the night in a cabbage patch.  Greg takes me to all the best places.   We decided to get out and walk around a while.  Took a big long nap.   Must have needed that.  

   
   
Now that’s a big fork lift.  

  
I guess these cabbages didn’t pass the test.  

  
Itty bitty little cabbages.  

   
 
Sun is starting to go down. 

   
 

9:30.   Watched TV for a bit.  The new series Mercy Street on PBS about the civil war.  Only one of those episodes a day I tell ya.  I don’t think I can binge watch that show.   Decided to get out and go for a walk and look at the stars.  Was hoping to see a bunch tonight since we are in the middle of nowhere but it’s almost a full moon plus the lights around the building here made it difficult to see a lot but we saw a few.  

   
 Now back in the truck.  Watching Blues Brothers.   

DG:  Great weather. Very quiet. Should sleep well. 

Beautiful sunset.

   
Meant to include this one yesterday.  Alex helping dad pick out some steak for dinner.

  
Okay, off to bed. Good night and God bless.   

Day 388, February 20, 2016; Cape Coral, FL

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DG:  First off, a funny video:

That’s how the weekend goes when you’re with Alex. 

Annie – Another great day with the babies. Really hate to leave in the morning but got a load to pick up in Okechobee and take to Georgia.  

I have a couple of videos too. 

 

  
  
 
We went to the Asian market today.  They have different kinds of Kit Kat candy bars in Asia than we do.  Red bean, sweet potatoe, hazelnut, and a couple of others.  They decided on the green tea ones.   They all really liked them.  I didn’t try them.  Haha. 

  

The girls and I planted some gladioli bulbs and sunflower seeds today and drew all over the driveway some more.  They love to plant flowers and play with chalk.  Of course then they needed a bath.  I got them in and Alex started getting fussy so I put him in too.  He loved it.  I held him while Sadie washed his hair and body.   What teamwork.   

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

Day 387, February 19, 2016;  Cape Coral, FL

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5:30 am.  Got woke up by Maddie crying that she had a nightmare and wanted to snuggle Mammie.   

6 am.  Sadie comes in and gets us up again.   Time to go to school.   Quick dress and walk to the school bus at 6:30.   No chance of going back to sleep as Maddie is still up.  

Maddie wanted a bird feeder.  We put sunflower seeds in it.  I think the birds are happy.  

  
When Sadie got home today they wanted to play outside.  We started drawing a rainbow and then Sadie said we needed a house and papaw wanted a beach and palm trees. This is the end result.  

  
Sadie drew a heart.  

  
Maddi likes to draw down the driveway.  

  

DG:  Finally got my beach house. It was a beautiful day today. Weather has been perfect. 

Maddie went on a field trip to the fire department today. Brought home a fireman’s helmet and a calendar coloring book. Said she had a great time. She is so smart. And cute. 

Scraped her knee when they were playing outside. Papaw was the only one who could make it feel better. 

The girls are having a sleep over in the bedroom so I am sleeping with Precious in the recliner in the office. I hope it’s far enough away from the master bedroom that I don’t keep anyone awake. 

Pizza and a movie and now all is quiet as Precious and I snuggle in for the evening. 

More tomorrow. Good night and God bless. 

Day 386, February 18, 2016; Cape Coral, Fl

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5:30.  Alarm goes off.  Sadie gets up at 6 to go to school.   Seriously!  Why so early?   

6:30.  At the bus stop.   She gets on like a little trooper.   Sits right up front.  

9:30.  Taking Maddi to school. I think they have all grown a foot since Christmas. 

  

We stopped to have breakfast at a little cafe across from Maddi’s school.   The review on Yelp said they had eggs Benedict which is one of Gregs favorite so we thought we would stop in.   No eggs Benedict. It is a gluten free and vegan place with lots of different types of teas, coffees, lattes, etc.  But we were pleasantly surprised.  I didn’t want any of the breakfast options (no bacon in sight) so opted to have the Capressi salad and Greg had the avocado mash with a poached egg. Then we had expresso ice cream for dessert.   Needed a little caffeine.  Only had about 4 hours sleep last night.   The ice cream came as vanilla with a little chocolate sauce on it with the expresso on the side to pour on and walnuts.  Anyway, not what was expected but delicious anyway.   

  

 
  

DG:  And I had Earl Grey black tea. And water. I feel so healthy. 

Papaw and his little buddy.  

   

  
    

The girls have decided they want to be YouTube stars.   They watch a bunch of videos of little girls explaining their new toys so they wanted to make a video of their new Fashems.  Little plastic toys that look like frozen characters.   Here is their video.  

DG:  Oh what a day. Love it, love it, love it. So much fun. Times like these make the hard work worth every minute. 

That’s all for me. Have to get my rest. Kaiden has challenged me to another game of Clue after I won handily this evening and bragged about never being defeated in Clue. That may not be true, but I cannot remember ever being beaten. 

God bless everyone.  

Day 385, February 17, 2016;  Live Oak, FL; Cape Coral, FL

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9 am.  Slept in a bit this am.   Heading back in to Gregs favorite truck stop.   They have a Dunkin Donuts so I am having a coffee cake muffin for breakfast.  My favorite.   Greg will probably have a breakfast sandwich at Burger King.  Yuck!  Haha

10:30.  Decide to go on to Jacksonville to the TA truck stop there so we can hang out and maybe watch some TV since it looks like we will be waiting.  

Noon.   Quick drive.  All settled in and get an email that says we can roll on over to the receiver.   They are ready for us.   Glad we can deliver early but sure wish someone could get the story straight. 

12:45.  Arrived at receiver with our turkeys.   Bright sunny day in Florida.   70 degrees. 

2:30. All done.  Now we wait and see what’s next.   

3 pm.  No other loads available so looks like we are headed to Cape Coral.  

DG:  Someone is getting a new helicopter.  

  
Even helicopters are delivered by truck.  Go figure. Wonder where they found a roll of plastic wrap that big. 

Well, it’s not mine. 

We made it to Gregory’s. The kids were asleep but Annie went in to give them a kiss and Sadie was dreaming and talking in her sleep. She said “two more hours”.  Gregory said she had asked him how much longer until Mammie gets here and he told her two more hours so she must have gone to sleep with that on her mind.  

Mammie will take her to the bus in the morning then we will get the truck cleaned out and take it to the truck stop before Code Enforcement comes by and tells us to move it. 

All settled in for the night. Sleeping in a real bed for a change. 

Good night and God bless. 

Day 384, February 16, 2016;  Baton Rouge, LA;  Live Oak, FL

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6 am.  Up and heading out – after I get some caffeine!   It’s 46 degrees this morning and really foggy.   We have about 600 miles to go today.  

  

   

Mobile Alabama. 60 degrees and sunny.   

  
Battleship Park in Mobile. 

  
  

  

12 pm    FLORIDA!!! 

7 pm.  Stopped for the night in Live Oal, FL.   Found out our appointment isn’t until 10 am on the 18th and we are only an hour away.   Uuggghhh

DG:  Ah, truck driving amenities have hit a new high. Just happened to find this place with our truck route app.  It’s called Busy Bees and while I have never felt compelled to take a picture of a truck stop restroom other than to show how nasty some of them can be, I had to take a picture of this one. 

  
I thought I was in Vegas. No, I didn’t see anything this nice in Vegas. Now that’s class. 

I am amazed at this truck stop. It’s no Iowa 80 by a long shot, but nothing is. But still, it’s really nice. Well, take a look. 

   
    

  Jams, Jellys, honey and pie fillings. My, my. 

  

  
   
Gator heads, every kind of candy, hand made soaps and lotions, every soft drink known to man, Icees of every flavor, nick nacks and trinkets, souvenirs, and oh yea, self serve frozen yogurt. 

   

    
    
  
  

Gotta love Florida tourist traps.  Turning in.  Goodnight y’all. 

Day 383, February 15, 2016.  Waco, TX;  Baton Rouge, LA

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8 am.  Up and ready to go.  Our new trip is to Jacksonville!  Hope to see the babies this weekend. 

9:30.  Heading to Cargill for turkey.   Looks like the turkey trucks are empty this time.  They were full last time we were here.   The smell is a lot better this trip. 

  

1 pm.  Stopped at a truck stop for lunch and bathroom break.   One of the best things in south Texas is the truck stops have these little Mexican food places in them.  So yummy.  I got a chicken burrito with beans, rice, corn, pico de gallo with lots of jalapeños in it for $4.99.   Greg had the beef.   That will hold us a while. They were huge.   All I need now is a margarita! 

It’s a gorgeous 77 degrees.  Sunny and hardly a cloud in the sky.   

Houston, Texas. 

   
   

Mont Belvieu, Texas 

  
Stopped in a truck stop and there was this newspaper article, picture and letter on the wall.   The guy is from New York so figure must be relatives who own the truck stop.   Pretty impressive article. 

  
Gregory sent me a picture of the baby today.   He is getting so big. 

  

Lake Charles, Louisiana 

   
   

7:45 pm. Stopped for the night just west of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.   Got about 600 miles to go tomorrow.   Goidnight y’all. 

DG:  Annie mentioned what a beautiful day it was. However, the closer we got to our stopping point for the evening we noticed the sides of the road were damp. When we got to our stop for the night I took Precious out for a walk. There is a field behind the truck and when I went to put Precious down on the ground I noticed the field was saturated, there were puddles everywhere. The ground was soaked. When we went in to use the bathroom I asked the girl behind the counter if it had rained to day and she very emphatically stated that not only had it rained but they had had a fierce hail storm. Pointing out to the fuel pumps that were a good 50 feet away, she said you couldn’t see the pumps during the storm, it was hailing that hard. How good is our God. We missed it entirely and by His grace we are missing the cold winter weather up north. Sometimes it’s hard to believe how blessed we are. But we are and we will just have to accept it. 

I think that’s all I have this evening. Good night and God bless. 

Day 382, February 14, 2016;  Waco, TX;  

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Happy Valentines Day everyone!  

3:15 am.  Woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep.  Read for a couple of hours and tried again.   

8:30 am.  Woke up. Greg apparently had been up a while.  Still no word on a trip.   Need caffeine!  

Had a dream last night I was a truck driver and had 4 bars I was trying to hook up to the back of the truck but for some reason I was doing it with my feet.  Finally I said forget it and did it one at a time with my hands.  Hmmmm.  Apparently I am going about something the wrong way and need to rethink my strategy and do it the right way.   If only I knew what it was.   Why can’t dreams be more specific like “hey moron, you need to do this that way”.  All these cryptic messages. 

11 am.  Still sitting.  No new trip yet.  

2:30.  Finally got a trip.  Back to where we were yesterday for a different load and going to Georgia.  Staying out of the cold!  Thank Goodness.  Makes Greg cry. Haha.   We have a 4 o’clock appointment so taking a quick nap before we start the long drive. 

4:00 pm.  Load not ready.   Not sure when it will be.  Told to sit tight. 

5 pm.  Got another load.  Looks like the other one won’t be ready by morning so they are sending us to Cargill to get turkey.   It doesn’t pick up until 10 am and it’s only a few miles from here.  Guess we are in for the night.  

They are watching us! 

   

DG:  So many birds. It’s really amazing. There are very few during the day then at dusk they start flying in and as soon as the sun goes down they all head for the trees. And chirp like the Dickens.  You all remember the Dickens right?  Man they could really make a racket. 

Okay enough humor. Good night all. And God bless.