Good morning Baton Rouge!  

   
 
Wow!  33 years.    I’m not that old am I?  Guess so.    I got a horse and a honey bun for my anniversary.   Greg knows how much I love Gypsy horses.   

  
Gregory sent me this earlier.   I can’t believe how big Alex is getting.  

  
Brrrr.  It is freezing.  I have got to find my coat!   My hoodie just isn’t cutting it anymore.   It’s 39 here in Lenoir City, Tennessee.   Getting under the covers.   Goodnight y’all! 

DG:  Getting under the covers as well. God bless. 

Woke up at 5 am cold.   It’s 47 degrees in Laredo.   Who would have thought.   Doubt it’s going to get much warmer as we head to Pennsylvania.    Haha 

Been moving right along.  600 miles later stopping in Baton Rouge for the night.   We stopped just a little bit ago at a really weird truck stop.  It was called Tiger because it had a live Bengal tiger there and was a licensed zoo.   They said 10 Cubs had been born there since 1988.   

The rest of the place was weird.   The door on one of the bathrooms said wash your hands there are Jesus germs everywhere and the other one said – well you just have to read it. 

  
Anyway- the tiger was cool and huge!   

   
 
Heading in to take a shower and settle in for the night.   

DG: So the tiger wasn’t dangerous but the food is. I kept seeing signs for boudin so when we stopped and I got one. 

  
It’s spicy sausage and rice all packed tight into a skin that pops when you bite into it. 

Then we stopped at Gator Junction, another truck stop and they had BBQ. I got sliced pork and Annie got chicken. 

   
 
This was a really huge sandwich with probably half a pound of pork on it. I got it with coleslaw and a pickle. It was GOOD!  So much for my diet. 

And we are right down the road from this place but already have a parking spot and don’t want to lose it. 

  
In case you can’t figure out the rest of the statement on the cup it says “Thank You for carrying your gun. 10% Discount.” I like it. 

Well, you saw the tiger. That was cool. Evidently they are having some issues with the state of Louisiana even though they have a zoo license the state wants to close them down anyway. Not fair if you ask me. That tiger looked as healthy as a horse. And I’ve seen some healthy horses. 

Good night and God bless. 

Up at 5:30.    Time to get fuel, both for truck and us.   And caffeine!    Woke up to rain but looks like it isn’t going to last long.    

Pretty eventful day all the way to Laredo.   55 degrees this am which was nice.  It’s 6 pm now and still only 65.  Really cool for south Texas.   

We stopped at a travel plaza just outside of Laredo.  The place was huge (gotta make a good impression on the Mexicans coming through).   It was really pretty and colorful.   All the picnic tables had big multi colored brick enclosures.  It has two ponds with fountains.   

  

   
    
    
    
    
    
 

Made the swap in Laredo.   Georgia peanuts for Mexico candy headed to Hershey in Pennsylvania.    33,000 pounds of it.  

  

Well we didn’t get far after the swap.  Just outside of Laredo.   Going to watch a bit of TV and turn in.   Goodnight y’all.  

DG: First ever Hills Over The Road contest. Guess the following picture gram and write your answer in comments. 

  
That’s our granddaughter Maddie. That’s the only clue you get. 

Okay, tomorrow we head for Pennsylvania.  

Oh, I was talking to a friend of mine in North Carolina and I was telling him about this checkpoint we go through in Texas where they ask if you are an American citizen and he suggested I ask them if Kentucky counts so I did. Let’s just say border patrol officers are not known for their sense of humor. But he did kind of smile before waving me through. 

You’d got to have fun. 

God bless. 

Up at 5:30 to head to Georgia for our peanuts.   

Ok, back to the twilight zone.   There are two more old ladies behind the counter again this morning in addition to three old men.   I swear none are under 80.   What is it with this place?   

Diet Coke in hand and ready to hit the road.  

DG:  Road hit. Seeing a part of Florida and Georgia we have never seen before. 

We are at Birdsong Peanuts picking up 44000 pounds of raw, shelled peanuts headed for Mexico. Of course we can’t take them all the way to Mexico, nor would we want to, so we are dropping them at the yard in Laredo.  

Annie – Went through Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and in to Louisiana finally stopping in Duson for the night.  Still have a full day tomorrow to get to Laredo. 

Went through Mobile, Alabama earlier and saw the USS Alabama in the harbor.   Couldn’t get a clear picture but you get the idea.   They also make ships and cargo containers in Mobile and in order to get them to the dock they had traffic go through a huge tunnel.   Kinda neat.  

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

DG: Picked up some sinus trouble somewhere. Gotsta put it back. It’s good having Annie on the truck again.  I know she was torn between staying with her babies or going with me. I can’t say as I blame her. 

Lot of driving tomorrow.  Texas is a big state and we’re going all the way across. 

Good night and God bless. 

Said a big teary goodbye to all the babies and headed out to Laredo Texas.   Got to stop in Colquitt, Georgia first to get our load of peanuts.  

Maddi cried and cried when we dropped her off at daycare.   She kept hugging us and saying bye papaw.   Poor little thing.   Then we got to surprise her and pick her up at 12:30 as we hadn’t been able to leave yet and she was so excited until it was time for us to leave again.   Finally got her to stop crying by making her promise to get the house ready for us for Christmas.   That got her excited.  

2:30 I got a call from Sadie crying her eyes out.   It is so hard to leave.   

With Kaiden we get a bye but that’s it.  Boys!   Little Alex just smiled.

We got to Tallahassee and stopped for the night.  Not another truck stop between here and our load so better stop while we can so we don’t sleep on the side of the road.  

We pulled in to a place that had two gas stations side by side.   I think this may be past or the twilight zone.   We went to the BP and there were 9 feral cats walking around.  Not a good sign.   We go in to the bathroom and it’s all rusty and run down.  I come out and Greg’s waiting for me.  Hmmmm.  I asked him if he wanted anything and he said “not from here”.  Apparently the store was nasty.  I said “Indians?”    He said “yep”.  Don’t know why they can’t keep a clean store or hotel.   
So we walk next door to the Shell station to get a Diet Coke and I kid you not, the ladies behind the counter were at least 80 each.   Poor little lady working the register was all bent over.   Kinda scary thinking of them working the night shift but it must be a pretty safe area.    

So, drinks in hand to go back to the truck to watch a bit of TV and go to bed.   We are loving two new shows – Limitless and Blindspot.   Trying to get caught up.  

Well, turning in.   Missing my babies something awful.   Will see them soon! 
Goodnight y’all.  

DG: Christmas lights expertly hung and mostly working. 

  
  
 
And another day with the kids.

   
 
So what else is there?  That’s it from the Sunshine State today. May be back on the road tomorrow, who knows. 

Good night and God bless. 

DG: Lots of love and left overs. Turkey anyone?

Hanging out, playing games and doing puzzles was the order of the day. Oh, and what Saturday afternoon would be complete without a trip to Wal Mart to pick up a few essentials and that means supplies for the yearly Chex mix party mix. 

Kaiden has been watching Myth Busters all day which is his favorite pastime next to video games. 

  
Alex has been his usual happy self except when he’s hungry, which is often. Once fed though he goes back to being the happy baby.  

Well, I guess it’s time to get back on the road. The cookies are almost gone, most of the pies have been eaten, the turkey and dressing are getting thin and everyone has had their fill. But it’s been a great time with the kids and we are going to miss them. 

Until tomorrow, good night and God bless. 

DG:  Home time. Thanksgiving.  I had a pile of grandkids this morning. Felt like I was in heaven. 

Annie suggested pie for breakfast. Although there were no objections I have not yet seen any pie. I mean I’ve seen pie, but not on a plate in front of me. The day is early.  

Annie – Pile on Papaw.  The babies are so glad to see him. 

  
Dinner today was great – both times.  Haha.   Greg finally got his pie.   

  
A long walk after dinner but apparently they ended up carrying two back. 

  
Finally got the kitchen sort of back in order.  Two days of cooking and cleaning for a 20 minute meal.  Can’t wait to do it again Christmas.   

DG: Arruved at the truck stop in Punta Gorda ahead of schedule. Annie picked me up and brought Sadie and Maddie with her. They were all glad to see me and hugs and kisses were liberally dispensed. 

Truck unloaded, off to the house. Gregory, Kaiden and Alex were there.  What a joy. I am truly blessed with a beautiful family. 

We are having Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow as I wasn’t sure what time I would make it in and Melissa worked today. So tomorrow we give thanks and feast. 

God bless. 

Annie – so glad to Have Greg back again!   Even Alex was glad to see him.  

   

 
We made several pies today and one of them was chocolate.   Maddi got in to the bag of callebaut chocolate I had and loved it. 

 

 
Have to show off the table set for tomorrow.   We worked this week on all the paper cut outs and then Sadie set the table and lined everything up the way she wanted it.   What a great job.  

  
Busy day tomorrow.   Goodnight y’all. 

DG:  Waiting, waiting, waiting.  Don’t like it, but I’m getting good at it. 

It’s now 11:30am.  I pulled in here last night with a load that is going to McDonough, GA, 30 miles away. Not even that far. Except for the traffic and DOT regulations I could have delivered my load and then just be waiting for a trip to Florida while my truck gets serviced.  As it is I’m having my truck serviced and simultaneously waiting for a load. Hopefully I will get a load out of here so I can keep moving. 

It’s a cloudy day here outside of Atlanta. In the 50s so it feels kind of cold. Not like Illinois and Indiana where I was yesterday, but cold nonetheless. 

I’m enjoying my first cigar of the day.  Yes, I brought some with me and have been enjoying at least one a day.  Trying hard not to stink up the truck because my baby will be rejoining me soon and she doesn’t like a stinky truck. 

Got all the way to Jackson, GA, next stop home with the family. 

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and God bless.