Slept in until 7 o’clock.   We couldn’t drop the load until 8 and were only half a mile so no need to get up too early.   Good thing.  We stayed up until midnight watching Wonderfalls – again. 

It’s only 44 this morning but the sun is out so it won’t stay that way too long I figure.  

I am glad to be leaving the truck stop we stayed in last night.   This has to be one of the busiest places we go to.  This is where all the trucks with stuff going to or from Mexico usually stop and there is probably over 1000 trucks between all three truck stops here.    A lot of Hispanic people here too which doesn’t bother me per se except for their bathroom habits.   Apparently plumbing is bad in Mexico so they throw all their toilet paper in the garbage can instead of the toilet.  They haven’t caught on to our way yet.   I’ll leave the rest to your imagination but it makes for a very unpleasant bathroom experience.   Greg says the men’s isn’t so bad.  I said well no. You guys can just shake it off.  Haha.  We women can’t do that.  

Well, got to the yard and dropped the trailer.   The office said we may be here all day.   Nothing in yet.   Shoot.   Greg wants to run to Walmart which means I’ll have to get my Spanish to English dictionary out because most of the products in the stores here are in Spanish.   

We ran in to another employee for KLLM. I know you’ll be shocked but his name is Mario Garcia.   He showed us where to have lunch and how to get to Walmart.   Really nice guy.  Had lunch with him and learned a lot about trucking.  He has been doing this for 20+ years.   He has a sticker on his truck that says 2,500,000 miles without incident just with KLLM.  

He told us about a good bakery up the road so of course we had to stop.   The poor girl behind the counter spoke no English except for M&M.  One of the choices of the cookies.   Sugar cookies were 5 for a dollar and were really good.  Greg got a couple of roll looking things that were great.   She told is what the name was but we have no idea what they were.  She told Greg what the total was and we had no idea so he handed her a 10 and judging by the change back it was $6.35.  

Bridge to Mexico. 

  
Finally got our trip.  We are headed to Kansas with 40,000 pounds of frozen blackberries.   Winter storm Edna is heading that way too.  Hope we don’t meet her.  

The border guards are on their toes today.   This guy was out in the parking lot telling everyone which lane to go to.  

  
The truck is decorated for Christmas.  Will turn the lights on when we park for the Night. 

The finished product. 

  
We want them to blink but Wal Mart didn’t have the blinky outlet thingy. Looks good though, huh?  

Not as pretty as this little guy. Another wonderful picture of our little nug-nug. 

  
Is he cute or what?  

DG:  More on Mario.  He has a very interesting story. He told us some about his upbringing.  Apparently he worked in the fields with his family. When he was 13 his uncle sat him down, gave him a beer and a joint and explained to him that this was his life, that it would get no better so he should get used to it. Well he didn’t. He joined the army, spent many years there until a helicopter crash put him out on disability.  So he started driving a truck 20+ years ago. Very knowledgable gentleman, speaks five languages and is married to a German lady. 

We have met some very interesting people lately. Very interesting. What’s strange is that we may never see them again. 

Okay so from south Texas, Felis Navidad and Merry Christmas.  Good night and God bless. 

Slept in until 4:30.  Got a big storm on the radar and tornadoes in Texas last night so want to get out and get going.   Not raining now and hoping to miss it! 

Boy did it rain and rain all across Louisiana and part of Texas.  And then it quit and the sun came out for the rest of the trip and it was gorgeous.  About 67 degrees.  Just perfect. 

You can tell when you are getting close to Laredo.  Everything starts being in Spanish.  

  
We stopped at a rest area in Texas and smelled this amazing smell.  Found it was coming from a tree they had by the building.  Don’t know what it is but it was really strong.  The bees seemed to like it too.   It smelled almost like a citrus tree but more perfumy.   Not sure if that makes sense.  

   
 
Gregory sent some pics of the kids.   The girls love to play board games.  

   
Look at that big smile.  Isn’t he gorgeous?  

Sleepy pie.   

 
I sent the girls videos from Santa today.   Gregory said he could hear the squealing when they made the nice list.   There is a great app with videos that you specialize with each kids name and pictures and it seems very personal.  Thankfully they are still at the age when they think it’s awesome.   Gregory said Kaiden acted all cool when he got his.   Guess he is getting to big for Santa.   Santa is going to call next week too.  Haha. 

Here are links to their Videos if you want to see them.  

https://www.portablenorthpole.com/en/player/5663260c4876f-5663260c48813

 https://www.portablenorthpole.com/en/player/56633df2aa16e-56633df2aa214

https://www.portablenorthpole.com/en/player/5663351172013-56633511720ba

Even in Texas you can find a KY basketball tree.   I really think it’s For the Dallas Cowboys but don’t tell Rita. 

DG:  Firetruck on a flat bed. Looks like somebody has a project.  It’s a Howe made in Indiana.  Never heard of them.  Brings back memories.  It has a platform on the back like the ones I used to ride. They don’t make them like that anymore. Guess too many fireman fell off on their way to the fire. 

Made it to Laredo 15 hours ahead of schedule. Will see where to next in the morning.  

Have a great week all. God bless. 

Got to sleep til the late hour of 5 am.   Woo hoo!   Quite a few truckers up at this time of morning. 

DG:  And tomorrow we will arise at 4:00 am. We have over 700 miles to go and while load is due Monday morning we should be able to get within an hour of our destination then arise early Monday morning for the final leg. 

Dinner at Petro, do some laundry and now settled in for the night. 

Weather is beautiful here in LA.  

Off to Laredo in the morning.  

Good night and God bless. 

4 am.  Putting Nashville in our rearview mirror and glad of it.   Something about this town that I just don’t care for.   The traffic is awful no matter what time of day and it just seems dirty.   I can’t explain it really but glad to be moving on.   

Heading to Union City, Georgia this am.  Just outside of Atlanta.   We have 32,000 pounds of Kraft singles and Velveeta cheese.   No temptation on my part.  When Gregory was little Marchie always kept a big log of Velveeta in the fridge for him.  She had that old Tupperware rectangle box that it went in and he’d get in it every time he went over.   

Got our load of cheese dropped off and got our next trip.  Headed to Simpsonville, South Carolina for pick up and taking whatever it is to Laredo, Texas again for it to go to Mexico.   

71 degrees here in South Carolina.  Pretty day. 

Got to Simpsonville and picked up our load of 36,000 pounds of plastic wrap.    

Have to tell you a funny.   At the gatehouse the guard was a little old lady.   We had never been there before so Greg was asking her where to go.  She starts to tell him and he had another question.   Apparently she didn’t like questions.   She told him “The virtue of being wise is to listen”.  I think this meant shut up and let me finish but being in the south she has to say it nicely.   I was dying holding in the laughter until after we got past the gate.   She was so funny!    This little old 5 foot woman being so bossy with truck drivers.   I bet they all minded her too.  I know Greg did.  Haha 

After our load we were about out of time so didn’t get very far.   We have stopped in Piedmont, SC for the night.   1300 miles to go to Laredo.  

We decided to go in to McDonald’s for a salad for dinner and while there this guy behind us gets up and leaves his cell phone and drink on the table.  He’s gone a few minutes and this lady comes up and says “I wonder if he knows he left his cell phone”?   Greg told her he would miss it and be back for it but she said she would take it to the counter and turn it in for him just in case.   The guy comes back from the bathroom looking for his phone.   We told him a woman said she was taking it to the counter.   He said why would she do that?  I was coming right back.  Well, long story short the phone wasn’t at the counter.  He checked there and the truck stop desk just to be sure and no phone was turned in.   Greg tried calling it but we didn’t hear it ring.   He looked and questioned several people but never found it.  Greg loaned him his phone so he could call Verizon and his job.  They turned the phone off but he is out of luck.  They can’t trace it.    Felt sorry for him but not much else to do.   Moral of the story – don’t leave an expensive cell phone on a table in McDonald’s and walk off.   

While hanging around waiting for him to use the phone a guy named Ray started talking to us.  Real nice guy from Texas with lots of stories to tell.  Really interesting meeting him.   He talked a lot about his wife so he may have been a little home sick.  He said they were 70 and this past summer he was able to take her to Washington state and how much he enjoyed hearing her excitement and joy of the trip.   

Well, we have had quite the day so off to bed.   Goodnight y’all. 

DG:  536 miles later we are just outside of Nashville proper. Approximately five hours to go to our stop tomorrow.  

Going back and forth to the restroom and restaurant we have seen two very important looking buses. Country singers on tour no doubt.  They must have been sleeping cause we didn’t see anybody famous inside. Or anyone we recognized. 

No pictures. It was a cloudy day. Kentucky still retains its own special beauty.  Nashville is still crowded.  And it gets dark early.  

We’re settling in for the night so we can get up really early, again. Remember those Saturdays when you would sleep past noon? Yea, those days are long gone. 

Anyway, we are fine and dandy.  She’s fine and I’m Dandy. Haha. 

Precious is her usual self. 

It’s cool here but not cold so no need for heat or a/c tonight. 

Love to all 

Good night and God bless. 

3:30 am.   Got to be in Illinois by 8 am and still have 200 miles to go.   Got a full clock so that helps today.  

7:15 Got to our drop in plenty of time.    Even got a door right away which is a good sign.  It’s a live unload but hopefully it won’t take too long.   Time to take a nap! 

8:50. Woken up by pounding on the door.  “You’re done”!   Great!  Less than 2 hours. Now we head to Wisconsin to pick up our load for New Jersey.  

DG:  Now it gets nasty. Get to pick up in Monroe, WI.  Quaint little village with a huge Swiss Colony factory on the edge of town. Our pick up time is 3:00pm, we arrive around noon. Load is not yet ready. We wait. Three hours go by. I get a message on the Qualcomm.  It’s load information for another load picking up today and delivering on the 11th.  This must be a mistake. I get those occasionally.  I inquire. No mistake. In the meantime another KLLM driver walks up to my truck along with a Swiss Coliny rep carrying a clipboard.  Apparently we have both been assigned the same load. So that other load info I received was not a mistake. I inquire of dispatch. Yep. They took me off that load and put me on another one. Part of me is thankful because the original load was headed for NJ and this new one is headed for GA.  Problem is my clock is low and I don’t have the time to make an on time pickup or delivery. Dispatch is not worried. I am to give them an ETA ASAP.  Good. Now to find parking for the night. We are several miles from the interstate but GPS says there are a couple of truck stops not far from us. Good because I am running out of time. We get to the first one.  No parking.  Try the next one. No parking there either. In fact both places were only fuel stops and not truck stops. Time is running out. With four minutes on my clock I stop in the middle of a turnaround to log mandate to leave. This gives me an out if my clock runs out. It does. Three minutes before we pull into a legitimate truck stop with ample parking.  Now to give those planners a piece of my mind. 

Annie – Gregory sent this to me today.  I can’t believe how much he grows every time I get a new picture. 

  
We had a beautiful sunset tonight as we pulled in to the truck stop.  The picture doesn’t do it justice.  It was a really deep red.  Just gorgeous. 

  
Well, turning in for the night.  3:30 comes early.   Goodnight y’all. 

DG:  Thought you might like to know what 27000 pounds of Cool Whip looks like. 

  
The whole trailer was full. 

Good night and God bless. 

Up at 8.  Only 6 hours on the clock today so no need to get up too early.   

We are headed to Minooka, IL with 27,000 pounds of Cool Whip.   Now that’s a lot of pie!   

Ran out of time so stopping in Angola, Indiana for the night.  Greg went straight to sleep.   Tired today.   Not much going on.  Went through a lot of farm land and empty corn fields.   

We have our trip already for tomorrow after we drop off the cool whip.   That’s unusual but it’s the holidays so I guess stiff needs to move fast.   We are heading to New Jersey after Illinois.  

Well, goodnight y’all.  

Happy Birthday Mom!!!   We love you.   

Up at 6 to head to Walmart.   Went in to the convenient mart close to where we parked to get a Diet Coke.   Don’t see it anywhere!    Have I entered an alternate universe where there is no Diet Coke? “No” says the lady behind the counter “the Coke guy hasn’t been around in a while”!   Neither apparently has The beer guy and she seems a bit more upset that he hasn’t been by.  “We only have one can of beer left.  Guess I’m going to have to call him”. Hey lady – there is no Diet Coke.  Call the Coke guy too!   Ok.  No caffeine is making me crazy.   At least we are headed to Walmart and they usually have a vending machine.  

7 am.  Arrived at Walmart.   Our appointment is for 8 am and you can arrive one hour early.   Made it just in time.   

Are you freaking kidding me?   Every Walmart center we have been in has had a Coke machine.  Unbelievable! 

  
11 am.   Finally done unloading the truck.  Now we are off to Illinois and somewhere I can get a Diet Coke! 

Greg – “There is a service area up ahead.  Do you want me to stop so you can get a Diet Coke”?   

Me “Pass it and die”. 

Greg – “Guess that’s a yes.  Pulling over. ”

Ahhhhhhh.   All is right with the world.  Caffeine!!

    
 3:05. Made it to our pick up at Kraft in Avon, NY.   Now  off to Minooka, IL.  

7:30. Stopped in Erie, PA for the night.   Shower and laundry!   

DG:  Refreshed and refreshed. That’s inside and out. And I’m still alive. 

Looking on the GPS on our way here it looked like we were in spitting distance of both Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. 

Been thinking about my office and I want you to go to Google Earth and check it out. Every highway in the United States is my office. So how many square feet is that?  I don’t know. 

Hope we don’t wake up to snow. It sure looked like it was going to. 

  
That’s Alex. Ain’t he cool. 

Well, I have stayed up way past my bedtime so off we go. Good night. 

God bless. 

DG: Morning came late.  I look at the clock And see a number I don’t usually see until I have been on the road for a few hours. 8:00am. Annie is still sleeping and I just want to watch her. She is so beautiful. 

It’s foggy and cold. There are beautiful pine trees everywhere.  Christmas music is playing over the intercom.  The Christmas season is here. 

Figured out why I like Tsum Tsum. It’s a fast paced puzzle. Borders on addiction. 

Breakfast at McDonald’s. They’ve changed their hash browns. Did I miss something?  When did this happen?  Yuk!  Why can’t they just leave things alone?  And I am not in favor of governmental intervention in most cases but this may be an exception. If you present a product to the public and they like it you shouldn’t be allowed to change it. It’s probably some government regulation that caused them to change it. 

Love’s has something they call Tire Pass. It’s a service whereby they check your tire pressure and inflate them to the proper pressure and also check tread depth while you fuel or without fuel. I use the service quite often and knew I was going to need some tires soon so this morning when checking the tread it became apparent the time was now. No more putting it off. So now we are sitting in the tire shop waiting room while my truck gets new shoes. 

We have the time as the load I just got this morning is a 47 mile bobtail drive to pick up then 199 miles to deliver. We are taking chewing gum to Walmart in Marcy, NY just outside Syracuse. And it’s not due until morning. 

So if you see a sign that says diesel and truck parking you would expect them to have truck parking right?  Wrong. When asking the guy why the sign out front says parking then all around the lot there are signs that say “no parking “.  It was obvious he had heard that question before and he explained to us that he mentions this cunnundrum to the company brass at every opportunity to no availe.  

So here we are on a side road, out of the way until morning.  

Annie – Well, guess what I’m getting for Christmas!  A big 50 pound bag of it.  

  
Actually, there was a convenient store here in Pennsylvania selling it.   I didn’t know you could buy coal like this.   I didn’t know anyone still used it.  I love the smell of it burning.  Reminds me of Granny and Papaws house. 

Well, turning in.  Gotta be at Walmart at 7 am.

Goodnight y’all.  

6:30 am.   On the road again.   Should make it to our receiver this evening.   Almost 600 miles to go so will be pushing it.   It’s 32 this morning.   It seems warmer this morning than yesterday even though it’s colder.   Don’t know if I’m getting used to it or the breezes in Louisiana made it colder.  Probably a bit of both.  

DG:  Londonderry, PA. Another night in a parking lot. How romantic. We have taken parking to a whole new level. 

Ate a salad at McDonald’s for dinner.   We have been to this McDonald’s before when the kids were here visiting Melissa’s grandmother.  We met them here for lunch.   They have the neatest tables.  

It’s 32 and feeling pretty cold.  Going to get under the covers and watch some TV.  

Goodnight y’all. 

DG:   Don’t know why I included this. Just thought it was funny. 

Life is a stew and should be spicy.  Love life. 

God bless.