6:30.  Can’t leave until 7:50 so heading in to shower before we go.   About 5 hours left to get to Miami and then home! 

1pm.  Made it to Blue Bell in Miami.   A little late but not bad considering all the trouble we had getting here.  And traffic has been crazy.   The guys here aren’t too happy with us.  “We were supposed to be off already”.  Yes we know it’s Christmas.   Got here as fast as we could.   Anyway, almost done and ready to head to Cape Coral. 

DG:  Here. 

   
 
And that’s what it’s all about. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

God bless. 

7 am.  Still sitting in Birmingham.   Apparently the place they suggested we try to get the reefer fixed doesn’t work on reefers, just trailers.   At this point no one seems to have a clue what to do.   

10:30. Well after some finagling and multiple calls (on our end) we were finally able to find a trailer we can use.  So, we took the broken one back to the Carrier place so they could fix the radiator and then we picked up an empty at another place KLLM usually goes to and now we are off to get our ice cream and head to Miami.

12:30.  Loaded and rolling to Miami.  The place closes at noon tomorrow for Christmas Eve so we will be pushing it.   Traffic should be light going south which is good.   The great thing about going to an ice cream place is the free samples.  “Take all you want”.  Unfortunately we don’t have a freezer so there goes that. Good free samples though.  

8 pm.  Florida!   Still have 6 hours to go to get to our receiver but going to have to stop in a bit because the clocks running out.  

10 pm.  We have stopped for the night in Ocala.   Got about 5 hours to go in the morning then we can get home to the babies!! 

DG:  Need I say more. Our moods changed perceptibly once we crossed the Florida state line. I would like to stay and chat but the bed is calling and I have to answer. Good night and God bless. Oh, and just in case we are too busy with kid stuff to write tomorrow, Merry Christmas.  

6 am.   Someone banging on the truck door.   It’s someone from Pilot telling us we need to park somewhere else now.  Last night when we arrived the place was packed and there was nowhere to park.  We tried to park off to the side but that blocked the scales so we found another spot next to some other trucks.  Seemed to be out of the way until this morning.  Some parking spots had opened up and we could now park where we were supposed to.  Normally this wouldn’t have been a problem and we would be out by six but since we got in so late we can’t leave until 8.  So back to bed for a couple more hours of sleep after moving the truck.  

8 am.  Up and ready to go.   Greg said he woke up he had been having a dream that he was trying to park the truck in his sleep and it was jackknifed and he was stuck.   I guess that’s the kind of dreams you have when you get woken up out of a deep sleep to move the truck.  

Got to the Georgia lot and dropped our trailer.  They said they didn’t have any trips to Florida but we didn’t have to wait long – Thank Goodness, and now we are heading to Alabama for a load of Blue Bell ice cream to take to Miami.   Yeah!   Then it’s just a quick trip to Cape Coral.   

DG:  Not so fast there Nellie. Got to Blue Bell in good time. The plant is located in a little town called Sylacauga, AL.  Betcha never heard of that one. Me either. 

So I am trying to follow my GPS and the directions the company sent. Well, of course I missed a turn. Drove past the plant, I mean you couldn’t miss that, it is the biggest thing in town.  But I missed the turn that takes you to the loading dock.  Well, I see this huge parking lot in front of us, it’s empty with plenty of room to turn around so I pull in to double check my direction and maybe call the people for help. Well, as soon as I get shipping department on the phone this older gentleman stoops his car on the road that circles the parking lot, gets out and walks over to the truck and asks me if I’m lost. And tell him I am. And he asks, where are you trying to go. And I point to the Blie Bell plant that’s right in front of me and say, “right there”.  He smiles and tells me I have to go back out on Main Street, go up one block and turn right. So I tell the lady from shipping that is on the phone that I have found some help and I will be right there. Well the elderly gentleman was so kind that he offered to lead me to it. And he did. He pulled off the road just past where I was supposed to turn, got out of his car and pointed the way.  I do believe he was an angel sent from heaven.  I am continually amazed at the blessings there are to be found in this world if one only takes time to see them and appreciate them. 

Okay, so we find the loading dock. A guy comes out to meet me and tells me they are just about finished loading a truck that’s ahead of me and to park over in their lot and he will come and get me when they are ready for me. Oh, and he tells me to cool my trailer to zero degrees. 

I park, turn on the refer unit and set it for 20 below. That should get it to zero pretty fast. It runs for a while then cuts off. I believe that it has reached optimum temp but decide to have a look. There is an Alarm light and the temp is at 42. I push the alarm button and the panel says I have a high coolant temperature.  I reset the alarm and try again. Same thing. Uh oh.  We got a problem. Call road breakdown and explain my situation.  I don’t know if the refer’s computer told him what was wrong or he knows enough about these things to diagnose from what I told him, either way we had to take it to the nearest repair facility which was an hour away in Birmingham.  And the place was closed so they had to call out the after hours repairman. He is here now working on the trailer and it is beginning to rain. Poor fellow. I hope they are paying him well for this. 

Annie – Well that was a bust.   Turns out there is a hole in the radiator and they don’t have any in stock so we aren’t going anywhere tonight.   Go to the closest Flying J for the night and see what happens.   

Got a call.  We are to take the trailer to another repair place in the morning and go from there.  I think the fact that it is 2 days till Christmas has escaped these guys.  Mammie needs to get to Florida!  

Well, turning in.   See what tomorrow brings.  

6:30.  Up and ready to go.  Headed to Hazelton, PA for a trip to Virginia.    It’s cold at 26 degrees but no snow and the sun is shining.  Can’t ask for better than that in December in Pennsylvania.  

9 am.  Made it in plenty of time for our 9:30 appointment.  Fortunately the load was ready and we can move on with our 10,000 pounds of Wrigley gum.  

5 pm.   Pulled in to the TA.  Early day because we are not far from our delivery and it’s not due until 9:30 am and we can’t go early to Walmart.    

Got a bunch of laundry done and got to watch the Steelers win tonight.   Going to watch a bit of TV and turn in.  

DG:  Yes the rolling palace is on the move once again. It’s a daily thing. 

Great game last night. Laundry washed. Shower. Plenty of sleep. Where will we go from here only God and the planners know. 

Love to all. God bless. 

DG:  Load delivered, clock reset, waiting for load. We are at the Love’s where we met the kids back when they were up here visiting Melissa’s grandmother. Now it’s a lot colder. 

Around noon we got a trip. Picking up in Hazelton, PA in the morning and taking it to Virginia. Only about a 300 mile trip but at least we won’t sit all weekend. 

Got to relax today. Took a nap. Watching some tv. Anything to keep from going outside. 

Annie – Sat all day.  Nothing to report.  We got a trip for tomorrow so we can get back on the road in the morning. 

Goodnight y’all.  

7 days to Christmas!   Thanks to the Internet and Amazon my shopping is complete.   

We are up at 6 and on the road by 6:30.   It’s cold, still 30, but I’ll take it over the heat any day.   

I’ve been thinking a lot about Christmases in the past and today.    Things sure seem a lot different and not just because I’m older.   It’s all rush rush and get the most and the best and the kids get so much it’s crazy.   But the spirit seems to be missing.   I remember we didn’t get a lot of presents but we had so much fun.  Decorating the tree, the excitement when it was time to turn on the lights every night, family party on Christmas Eve and a big dinner Christmas Day while we all played together.   I really miss those days and the people who aren’t with us this year.  We have a lot of new people in our lives, mostly little ones, that make Christmas so special but I sure miss the ones who aren’t here.    I’m surprised at how many there are now.  A lot of them too early.  

DG:  Ditto. What can I add to that?  

We arrived late to our appointment due to delays at previous receiver and shipper.  This place charges a $100 fee for such incursions but that is paid by the company and not us. Plus they had to work us in so around midnight we get a door and an hour and a half later we are done but no time on clock. They were gracious enough to give us a door that was broken in which to park till my clock resets. 

Don’t know yet where to next but looking forward to it. 

Love to all. God bless. 

Times up at 8 am.  Time to get going.   Our trailer is ready so we are headed to Pennsylvania with 37,000 pounds of Kraft Mac and cheese and barbecue pot pies.  Not sure how I feel about barbecue pot pies.  

Brrrrr.   Temperature says its 30 but feels like 22.  I’ve had to give up my flip flops for tennis shoes.  Can’t wait to get home and get my new coat mom got me for Christmas.  Definitely going to need it.  

DG:  And we may never know.  Night has fallen and the sky is cloudy. Cold envelops the land as we nestle into our comfy heated home on the road. Traffic was heavy on I-70 east out of Indianapolis but we made good time otherwise. We have about seven and a half hours to go tomorrow and time starts around 6:30. 

Not too many Hawks in view today. It may be too cold for them. 

  
This is me trying to keep warm. Sure glad my navigator can knit. 

Up at 5:30 to go to bathroom.  It’s 41 degrees but weather app says it feels like 34.  I believe them.   So the long walk to the bathroom.   We don’t have to get up yet but I guess my bladder has gotten used to being up early and says rise and shine.   I get to come back and get under the covers for a couple more hours.   We only have about 300 miles or 5 hours to go and if we leave too early then it will just run his clock down waiting in another truck stop for our 4:30 appointment.  So we’ll stay here where it’s warm a little longer. 

8 am.  Time to get up and get on the road. Looking at the weather it looks like we missed the biggest part of the storm which is great!    Going to be cold but shouldn’t have any snow.  

What a trip this has been as far as bird watching.  Going through a two lane road for miles through old corn and wheat fields and we have seen 4 eagles and 48 Hawks.  Amazing.   They were all over the place.   

We have also seen some pretty houses on our way.  

  
  4 pm.  Got to our receiver on time.  It is in the side of a limestone mountain.  Apparently they used to store papers here brought in on a train but now it’s for cold storage.   

DG:  This gets the award for strangest warehouse we have been to. It’s at the end of a dirt road and unless you were looking for it or knew that it was here you’d never see it. We still think that it harbors some secret government laboratory or weapons research facility. Our minds wander when we sit for very long. 

One thing is for sure it saves money on cooling cost. 

Three hour unload and we were late for our pick up which wasn’t ready anyway as they did not have a trailer. They were waiting on the one I had. We have been here before, a while back and last time they told us it wasn’t ready when we got here and as we were about to leave our loaded trailer showed up. No such luck this time which is probably a good thing as we are out of time and would have to stay here anyway. 

So from the cold confines of the Cargill drop yard in beautiful, and I’m assuming as it was dark when we got here, Marshall, MO. 

5:00 am.  Up and heading to Kansas.   Now we are going to drive the entire length of Texas to get to Kansas.   It’s a 991 mile trip.  Most of it jn Texas. 

DG:  Got through Texas and into Oklahoma.  Stopped in Eufaula. Don’t ask me to pronounce it. 

Only have about five hours to go tomorrow and appointment is not until 4:30pm. So, sleeping late tomorrow.  

Watched the dumbest movie tonight. We knew better but once it started we just couldn’t look away. “The Ridiculous Six”.  It’s on Netflix otherwise we would not have seen it. I want my two hours back. 

Later that evening Annie and Greg decide to go to bed. Dumbfounded at what they had just witnessed. Hoping they can soon get it out of their heads and never talk about it as long as they live. 

Here’s Annie with her version of what just happened. God bless. And God bless Adam Sandler. He needs help. 

Annie – I can’t even think about it. What a stupid stupid movie.  This is what they call funny this day and it’s really sad.  15 minutes in and we should have stopped but it was like watching a wreck.  You couldn’t look away.

Guess which one is our truck?