Up and at ’em early as usual.   Headed to Cheyenne, Wyoming and due in tomorrow evening.

I don’t know if I have mentioned this or not but we think the truck may be haunted.   Every once in a while, for no apparent reason, all the lights come on in the truck and a bell sounds several times.  It won’t happen for several days and then it will happen several times in a row.   Very weird.    It’s probably a short in something somewhere I know but……..

We stopped for a few minutes at Iowa 80 truck stop.   It is a huge truck stop with 900 parking spaces, 30 showers, a dentist, chiropractor, and just about everything you can think of for truck accessories and western momentos.    We got new wiper blades, sun shields for the truck windows, arthritis cream for Gregs knee and a T shirt for me with an Indian woman on the front.   They even have new model trucks inside that you can look in to and see what they look like.   Neat place.

Stopped in Council Bluffs for the night.  Got lucky that there was a restaurant next door to the truck stop.   Usually it’s buffet or subway at the truck stops and I just can’t do that anymore.   We actually got to sit down at a table and be waited on for dinner!   Wow! What a treat for us.   We both ordered steak.  First time in weeks we’ve had steak.   It was so good!   We walked in to “The Salty Dog” and everyone was dressed up in green and we realized it was St. Paddy’s day.   There was a guy in a kilt singing.   What a place to find.  LOL.

Turning in for the night.  Cant wait to get to Wyoming tomorrow!!  Goodnight, y’all.

Greg got up at 4:00 and got on the road.   I decided to sleep in a bit but felt like a ball in a pinball machine getting knocked all around so now I am up too.    Dizzy and nauseous.  LOL.  I don’t know how he did it for two months while in training.

Off to Kenosha, Wisconsin this morning to drop off the beef.

Ok. Made it on time.  Not a good sign on how long we will be here when the guy at the guard house says “park over there and take a nap”!   Oy

Well, that went better than expected. In an out in two hours. Now we get a trailer wash out and head to Illinois to get our load to take to Wyoming. New state!!  Yeah!!

Got to next place to get our load, just outside of Chicago.   Been here almost two hours and Greg went in to see how long we would be and he said he couldn’t tell for sure but there were 14 Trucks waiting to be loaded so at least 4-6 hours.   Looks like another night in a parking lot.

Well, 4 1/2 hours and counting.   No word yet.   Its 8:30 so might as well try to get some sleep.

Not a lot of pictures today.   I figured you have seen enough corn fields for now.   LOL

DG:  Schedulers!  Anybody out there know how to read a clock?  Our load outside of Chicago was scheduled so tight I would have had to speed to get here on time.  (Don’t tell anyone, but I did just a little.)  But not enough.  Got here 15 minutes past my scheduled arrival.  Not sure what’s going on.  They are either really behind or they are playing games with us and  taking all the trucks that got here on time and are getting here at their scheduled appointment on time, but after us ahead of us or they really are seven hours behind.  Either way, it’s ridiculous.  I laughed reading a sign posted in their break room about everyone going to 10 hour shifts because they are really busy and their customers want their products on time or they will buy somewhere else.  Well, I don’t know what they make or sell, but when I find out I am not buying any of it.  Lord only knows when I would get it.  LOL.

I learned something the last time this happened.  When a shipper runs your clock down to next to nothing, hang around till it resets and you don’t have to go somewhere else to reset it.

All in all it’s still good.  I mean, if we were home we would have spent the evening watching TV, just like we did tonight, but in a much larger living room, with a much larger TV.  But, I am with the love of my life and I do believe we are growing closer, if that’s possible, so I am focused on that and not the trivial, sniveling, incompetence…….Ahem, dare I digress.  It’s all good.  Good night and God Bless.

Up and at ’em.   On the road at 5 am.  We just went through a little town called Greensburg, population 785.  According to The web there was a devastating tornado here in 2007 that wiped out the entire town. Not one building left standing.   According to reports the town not only completely rebuilt itself but the entire town is green, which explains all the windmills.   You would never know going through it now that this happened.

We went through the Flint Hills in Kansas.   Absolutely amazing.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_Hills

That has to be where the amber Waves of grains comes from.   Just gorgeous.   We saw about a dozen pronghorns at one spot.  We almost missed them they blended in so well so the pictures aren’t very good but here is a Wikipedia link on them.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronghorn

We went across Kansas, into Missouri and now in Iowa for the night.  Not far from Iowa City.   Been a long day and still have 5 hours to go in the morning to be there by 10 am so another early morning.

Turning in.   Goodnight y’all.

Good morning Kansas

Up at 4:30 and heading out. Got 113 miles to go to get to our stop.   Coffee and Diet Coke on board.   All set.

We didn’t have to put jackets on this morning to go in to the convenient mart and I have my sandals back on, which proved to be tricky when navigating the cow pies in the parking lot from all the cattle trucks.  Lol   Made it back safe and sound.

We are 6.5 miles from the meat plant and have already had to use our menthol rub.   Breathing in deeply.   I don’t know how people live close to this.   Wow!

We got to meat plant and the refer fuel was low so we had to leave and go to get fuel.  On the way we passed Dorothy’s House.  Apparently Liberal Kansas is home of Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz story.

http://www.dorothyshouse.com

And here we sit again.  What was supposed to be a quick drop and hook (drop our trailer and pick up another) has now turned in to a big wait.  The trailer was heavy so he had to slide the tandems and when he got the weight right we are now too long for Wisconsin of all things by 2 feet.   We are at 43 feet and max is 41.  So here we sit waiting on either permission to go ahead or get reloaded.

Clock is ticking.

6 hours later we are still sitting.

3:45 pm and we are finally leaving.  We have been here since 7 am waiting.  Another day with no money made.   Now Greg has only 2 hours to drive so hopefully we can find a truck stop and not the side of the road.  Very frustrating day.

Didn’t get very far before the clock ran out but found a nice spot – in the  middle of nowhere!   Boy, Kansas has a lot of nothing but field after field after field.   Looks like more wheat or grain here than corn in some of the other states we have been in.

We went through Meade, Kansas.   A very small spot but quite a bit going on.   Apparently, this is where the Dalton gang hung out.   There is a house that claims to be the hideout and a museum.    Also, there was a sign for the Lone Tree Incident.   Very sad story.   See the link below.

http://www.oldmeadecounty.com/lonetree.htm

We are parked for the night and hope to get up very early and get started.  Got about 875 miles to go I think before 10 am on Monday morning.   Racing against the clock.   The place we stopped at has a little convenient store and a tiny cafe.   We are going to try the cafe and see how it goes.

DG:  The cafe was great.  What one would expect from an out of the way truck stop diner.  Good home cooked food. I had the special, chicken fried steak, gravy, baked potato and salad.  It was very good and way outdid the chain truck stop food we have been eating.  That is when Annie isn’t cooking, which is the best of all of the above.  We were surprised to find that they had a lot of locals eating there.  Surprised because you would have to drive for miles to get here even if you lived in the closest house to the place.

Kansas.  Flat.  And whatever they grow here they grow a lot of it.  I understand the need for barn dances and community get togethers especially in a place like this where you can’t even see your neighbors even though there are no obstructions between you.  Only distance.

The place we stopped at is a small truck stop, by industry standards, however it has a fairly big parking lot and a detached cafe.  I mean, with all the land out here how could you not have a good sized parking lot.  Of course it is taking up some valuable farm land, but I’m sure the wheat market, or whatever they grow here, can take the hit.

Annie and I took a walk down the side road after dinner.  It was nice to be out of the truck, in the open air and not freezing and moving our limbs.  We marveled at the places we have been, most of them due to serendipity.  And here we were, on a country road in the middle of Kansas.  Wide open spaces.  Very wide.  Very open.  Have I mentioned how beautiful this country is?  I think so.

Well, something we have been wanting to do for a long time, I think we are going to do in a few minutes, and that is go outside and look at the stars in a place not surrounded by light.  I have been looking out the window and it looks clear so here’s hoping.

Star walk unsuccessful.   Too many lights around the convenient store.   Had the idea though at looking for a place on the road to pull over on our way out at 4 am and trying again.

Goodnight and God bless!

Goodnight Kansas

Up at 6 am.  Heading on in to Ardmore, Oklahoma with our marshmallows.   I think that is so funny.

A bit rainy this morning.   Hopefully it quits before too long.   Not bad, just drizzly and cool.

Had a nice drive through the country to get to the Dollar General distribution center.   This is definitely cattle country.   We were supposed to pick up an empty trailer but they didn’t have one ready yet.  They were all full and needed to be emptied first.  So they routed us to Oklahoma City for an empty trailer at a Kenworth dealer and now we are off to Liberal Kansas for meat of some kind.  Mary, we took your advice and I found some menthol rub at one of the convenient marts and am going to put that around my nose if this place is like the others.   Then we are headed to Kenosha, Wisconsin.   It’s just outside of Madison, north of Chicago and looks like it’s right on the lake.  Hope to get some good pictures.

It has been rainy all day.   Thankfully not cold. Just wet.   Hope it clears up soon.

The rain finallly let up about 3 oclock or so.   Still kind of hazy but sunny in spots.

We didnt quite make it to the meat packing place tonight so we stopped at a truck stop in Woodward, Oklahoma.   You can tell you are close to a meat packing plant when you are in a lot with a bunch of cattle trucks, some full, some empty.   Got to keep the windows rolled up tight!

We have got to be on the road at 4:30 in the morning to make our deadline of 7 am.   Ate the last of the barbecue, at least for me.

Hope all of you are doing good.   No stories lately of snow so thats good!

DG:  Heard where Yeager runway fell off the hill.  Terrible.  I figured something would have to give once all that snow started to melt.

Cows everywhere.  We passed through one little town, forget which one, and there was a steak house on every corner.  Wish we could have stopped, but none had truck parking.

Sitting here in the truck stop looking at about a dozen or more livestock trucks.  Sure is smelly.  Glad it’s cows instead of pigs.  Pigs are a lot more stinky than cows.  The way they pack those cows in those trailers they are probably glad to meet their maker after that ride.

Didn’t get to drive as much as I had hoped.  Had enough time on the clock to get to where we are but not enough to get to the next truck stop and closer to our destination.  Held up again at the drop.  What should have been a 15 minute drop and hook ended up being a two hour search for an empty trailer.  Hazard of the biz.

Okay, I’m late and it’s getting me so better to bed go.  See how tired I am?

Good night and God bless.

Oklahoma City early am

Mr. Baggy Pants!

Not quite so early a day today.  Got to sleep until 6 am.  On the road now to Oklahoma. It’s a long drive but that’s what we like.   It’s only 34 degrees but a beautiful morning.   Bright blue sky with very few clouds.   Seeing a lot of windmills in this part of Illinois.  I really don’t like seeing those things.   They take over the horizon for miles.   It would be one thing if they really did something but to know they cost $2 million dollars minimum each and do very little they really don’t make much sense.

Anyway, very thankful for a gorgeous day and ready to roll.

Stopping for lunch in Cuba, Missiouri on old Route 66.   Dotties Restaurant.   I’m having the fried chicken and Greg is having the Wurst Pretzel.   Bratwurst on a pretzel bun.   The truck is going to be fun later.

Made it in to oklahoma.   We stopped at a truck stop called “The Wood Shed”.   Beautiful sunset on the way here.   Sure wish I could pull over and take the time to set up the camera and get a good shot but you still should be able to get a good idea.   The sun seems to take forever to go down.

We had left overs again for dinner.   Fixing the chicken tomorrow or the next day.   Will see how our schedule goes.

DG: Beautiful day today.  Sunset in Oklahoma was amazing.  The colors were so bright and the light lingered forever.

Staves, grapes, boats and cows.  Missouri has it all.

We found a parking spot.  Big truck stop off of I44 with a 20 foot Indian out front.  I had stopped here during my training several months ago.  This is one of the old style truck stops with a full service restaurant, gift shop, the works.  Trucker’s home away from home.

I had Annie take pictures of the Tracker Boat manufacturer.  There must be 20 acres of boats.  Check ’em out.

Dinner was delicious, again.  Enough pork roast left over for lunch tomorrow, then onto chicken.

Hope you all are well.  We will be turning in momentarily.  Early day tomorrow.

Good night and God bless.

Good morning.  4:30 and ready to go.  40 degrees so not too bad.  Supposed to be high 60’s today.  Is it too early to say spring is here?   Probably.    Doesn’t hurt to wish though.

We arrived at the Walmart distribution center on time for our 10 am appointment.  Here’s hoping it doesn’t take all day

2:30 pm.  Just found out they are done with our load.  4 hours!!  Apparently they can’t just unload it but have to SORT IT As they go so that takes a while.   Good grief!!   You can’t complain either.  Here is the sign on the window when you go in.

Ok on our way to Elk Grove, Illinois and then back to Oklahoma.

Made it to Elk Grove, Illinois.  A small town north of Chicago out by O’Hare airport.   We are getting a load of 11,000 pounds of marshmallows!!   Hahahaha.   A little worried though.  This sign was on the wall on the way in.   Hmmmm

Back on the road to find somewhere to stop for the night.   Got a long way to go tomorrow.

DG: Loaded and out of time.  Story of my life.  Not even sure what that means.  Anyway, had to drive on SAFE mode as I was out of “legal” time at the shipper.  First truck stop slam full and double stacked in places.  Moving on.  Several miles further down the road I see the sign.  Independent truck stop, nice big lot, plenty of parking, $10 for 24 hours.  I only need 10, but no discounts.  Oh well, it’s tax deductible.

Dinner was left over pork roast for me, mmmmmmmm, and Annie had the left over chicken in a burrito.  I think we got this truck cooking down.  Smallest kitchen either of us have ever cooked in but we get the job done.

Conflicting GPS almost created a mutiny.  For the most part I use the one that came with the electronic system in the truck.  More than once though this “high tech” system has steered me down the wrong road.  It usually happens when we get close to the destination then has me take some country back road to nowhere.  Today was probably the worst as I had to go several miles before I could turn around.  And once I did, silly thing was trying to direct me back to where I had come.  Annie pulls up a trucking route app she found and we compare.  Okay, I am using that term loosely.  She tells me which way her’s is saying we should go and I contrast that with what mine is telling me and it gets confusing when she is telling me that looking at her map it’s shorter or quicker and I say okay which way and by the time the conversation gets this far, the turn has passed.  I know this will come as a shock to some of you, but at this point I become a little upset.  Hard to believe, huh?  I know.  Me?  Upset?  Moving on.  I try to tell her, “please let me know when to turn before we get to the turn”, she says, “I’m trying”, and well, use your imagination for the conclusion of that exchange.  So, as I have said many times before but have yet to follow through, we are going to compare routes “before” we start.  Makes more sense doesn’t it? Of course.

Anyway, I am still very thankful that I found someone who would put up with me through thick, and I mean very thick, and thin.  We make a good team in spite of my short comings.

Good night and God bless.

Good morning Illinois

Woke up at 6 am after sleeping in the carpet parking lot all night.  I was in the door as soon as they opened I tell ya!   She now we have our load of carpet and are heading to Spring Lake, Illinois to Walmart.

It is a nasty rainy day and supposed to rain the whole way.  This is going to be fun.  I probably won’t get many pictures if this rain keeps up but since we are going back through Nashville, Paducah and Illinois I figure we have seen most of what we can from the highway.   This is our view right now in Murfeesboro, Tennessee.

The driver when going 5 mph through heavy traffic.

We have been in dreary weather all day.  Thankfully traffic hasn’t been heavy.   We have pulled in to a Pilot about three hours from our stop in the morning so it’s going to be an early morning.   We’re getting used to that though.

DG:  Are we ever.  The only previous time in my life I woke up this early was to go fishing and during my time in the Air Force.  But I go to bed early so my body doesn’t know the difference.  It’s my mind I have to convince now.

From meat to carpet.  What a strange combination.  When I was with Werner we hauled everything from paper goods to plastic to clothes from Land’s End.  Trans Am hauls meat, juice and carpet.  This load is about half the weight of the meat we’ve been hauling lately so we use less fuel and can pass other trucks on the highway when necessary.  I have slowed down a lot to conserve fuel and it seems to be working.  Averaging around 7 mpg for the last two trips.  That’s good for these big rigs.  I know it’s not for a car, but we’re talking about 10x the weight here.

Nine o’clock local time, (CST), and the lot is filling up.  We had out pick of spots when we got here earlier so picked one close to the main building, restrooms, coffee, all the conveniences.  Walking is good for us, we know, but after a long day in the truck and knowing you are going to make several trips to the bathroom before bedtime, I know, it would be better for us if we parked further away, but we don’t.  But we might start since the weather is warming up.

Sorry didn’t get any pictures of our dinner.  We were hungry and didn’t think about it.  Pork roast in the crock pot with barbecue sauce on a Hawaiian bun.  And we have enough roast for lunch and dinner tomorrow.  So much better than truck stop food.

Okay, enough said for today.  Still a beautiful country even though we’ve been back and forth on the same road several times now I still find something new and it’s all amazing.  We will be seeing a different part of Illinois tomorrow as we have yet to travel north on 57 and 35.

Good night and God bless.  Hope you all are doing well.  Leave us some comments let us know what’s going on in your lives.

Good morning Alabama

Fog in Paduca, Kentucky

Its 4 am.   Got to get to other side of Atlanta by 6.  I think Greg is on his own this morning. I’m going back to sleep.

Well that didnt work out.   It is so hard for me to sleep with the truck going.   Every bump, pot hole and bridge just about throws you out.    We were both able to get back to sleep when we got there.   We arrived at 5:30 am and they said give us your number and we will call you when we are ready to unload you.  Call came at about 7:30 so we got a good nap. Then we sat for another 2 1/2 hours.

Afterwards we were able to go to walmart.  Time for med refills and groceries.  We get so tired of eating at rest stops but don’t usually have time to get somewhere for groceries or there is nothing close.   I got chicken breasts for some chicken burritos tonight, a small pork roast for BBQ sandwiches and a whole chicken I am going to cook with potatoes and carrots.   The chicken breasts have been in the crock pot with taco seasoning and sauce for about three hours and is killing us!

I have to tell you a funny on Greg.   When we went to Walmart we were looking for disposable gloves for me to cook the chicken tomorrow (no sink in the truck so have to compromise).  I went down one aisle and Greg had the buggy and went down another.   I found the gloves and he found me.   I went to put the gloves in the buggy and looked down at the buggy to a mess that wasn’t ours.   Apparently he had grabbed a buggy of stuff they were restocking the shelves with instead of ours when he was wandering around.    Needless to say, we had to backtrack and find our buggy.    Too funny not to pass on!

We went through Fort Payne, Alabama, home of the musical group Alabama.  They had a big bronze statue of the band but I was on the wrong side of the street to get it.  I told Greg to turn around and and go back but he said no.  Lol.  I didn’t really expect him to in this big thing.   Did get a picture of the fan club though.

Our pick up is in Scottsboro, Alabama. We are getting a load of carpet.   Sure hope we aren’t sitting here for hours.  Other trucks look like they have been here a while though.

They told us it would be at least two hours before they could get to us and then they have to load us.   Lovely!   There is a Walmart close so we unhooked the trailer and went to get stuff we forgot for the burritos like cheese and sour cream (😝) and came back to sit some more.

Gregory sent me a picture of two Olafs today.   Arent they adorable?   Carrot noses and all!  I miss my babies!

DG:  Sitting again.  I swear there’s a country song in all of this.  We are virtually living in a truck.  And having a blast.  We laugh all the time.  Even when things aren’t going our way and frustration fills the air, we find something to laugh about.  I love having my best friend with me in such close proximity, 24/7.  Just a few minutes ago she hooked up the TV to the HD antenna we bought a week or so ago so we could watch some local channels wherever we go and not finding anything I hear, “with the antenna?  Nothing?  Where are we?”  Logical question but funny the way she said it.  Apparently all that’s on in this part of the country is The Bachelor, yuk and local news.  I’ll take the news.

Short drives today.  Unloaded this morning and our next load was just a couple hours away but now we are told it will be two more hours before they can get to us.  They lock up at 11:00 and sometimes stay late to get everyone loaded, but I gathered from the way the guy talked it may not happen tonight so I asked him if they allowed overnight parking.  They do, so I said, “We’re good then.”  I’m out of time and already have a parking place so all we need is some sleep and we will be good to go in the morning.

Dinner was delicious.  Too much truck stop restaurant and fast food over the last month not to appreciate a “home” cooked meal.  Of course when you spend several hours smelling what’s cooking you are ready to eat when it is ready to be eaten.  I wonder if that was a chicken I delivered.  Probably not.  LOL.

Driving the country road was interesting.  Lots of interesting sights.  Not much traffic.  Nice.  Very pretty countryside.  I could live there.

About that cart in Wal-Mart, I don’t see the problem.  It had a lot of neat stuff in it.  No food, but stuff I’m sure we could have found some use for.  Anyway, I hope the person who left it where I found it was able to find it where I left it.

That C-130 below was much closer than it looks in the picture and he made a pretty sharp 90 degree turn to make his line up for landing.

Well, hope everyone is still enjoying our little blog.  I wish I had more to write.  I think of a lot of things while I’m driving but once we stop I go into rest mode and the brain slows down a bit.  (No comments from the peanut gallery.)

It’s raining, I have a full belly, and my eyelids are getting heavy.  Morning comes early, so I will say, good night, and God bless.

C130 landing at Atlanta airport.

We decided to go down a country road to Alabama instead of highway.

Alabama fan club.

Walmart cart.

Two Olafs. Arent they adorable.

Greg in Metropolis Illinois yesterday.

Dinner tonight. Chicken burritos.

Woke up in daylight savings time.   It is really warm.  61 degrees here in Georgia.

The ice on the mountains is staring to melt and it was amazing seeing it run down in little waterfalls.

I took several pictures as we came over the mountain from Tennessee in to Georgia of some of the same places I took pictures of last time so you could see the difference.  Last time we came through we had snow, ice and fog.   What a difference this time.   Things are looking a little greener.  Sky is bright and sunny.   Can’t wait to see the trees in their full glory pretty soon.

We didn’t have to drive very far today.   Only about an hour and a half.   No truck stops close to our stop because it’s around Atlanta and trucks aren’t allowed in Atlanta so we are about an hour from our stop in the morning.  Got to be there at 6:30 am so a really early morning for us tomorrow.

We have stopped at a TA in Cartersville.  Now what to do for the next 15 hours!

Well, we thought we were going to get a trip out today by swapping loads with someone but we wouldn’t have had time to get to Jacksonville by 7 am according to his clock.   They wanted Greg to take his break now and drive all night but that would have caused us to have to sit all day tomorrow too waiting on his clock so we passed.   Now just hanging out in the truckers lounge watching batman reruns.  😦

DG:  Beautiful day in Georgia.  We took a walk, after my nap of course. It felt good on the knees. Sitting for so long has them a little achy these days. Smoked my first cigar since going on the road.  Batman was playing in the lounge so we watched the last of that before dinner.

It’s beginning to feel like spring.  I think we’ve all had enough snow and ice this winter.  The sunshine is a welcome pleasantry.

Tomorrow is an early day and that’s good.  We’ll be able to park early and get a good spot. Finding parking later than 9:00 pm is difficult.

We’re in a truck stop that probably has 200 + spots in it and it’s about full. Add that to the thousands of truck stops around the country and add the trucks still on the road, that’s a lot of stuff being moved around. What are you all doing with all that stuff?  Whatever it is keep doing it. Keeps me employed.

Well, as previously stated, early day tomorrow so off to bed.

Good night and God bless.