Sunday, June 20, 2010

Been a While

Night sky in NM....I need a tripod

Sorry it's been so long. We have been so busy running back and forth across the country that I haven't had the time to update you all on what we have been doing. Not that I am complaining about the miles, they have been great. We just rolled over 700,000 on our truck and am proud to say that we put 100,000 on them ourselves. Last week we were in Missoula, MT and they offered us a newer truck. We looked at it, but it was two years newer than ours and only had 40,000 less miles on it. We love our truck and don't want to trade it, as long they keep fixing her we will be driving Dorothy!


Travel and see the world....well, we fell for it!

Our schedule is working great and we are not half as tired as we used to be. It is becoming more of a routine, which Miss non-spontaneous is loving! The job is spontaneous enough, I don't need kaos thrown into the mix. We have only missed 6 states now. Mostly, way north-east and also ND. Not sure if we are missing much in ND, but would like to see the north-east. We have been as far east as NY, which frankly is a pain in the butt to drive a truck in. The east is pretty, but the roads back there are very narrow and not made for big trucks and the bridges can make you duck every now and then when you go under a 13'8" one.


Dorothy looks good at the beach.

We got to back to Jacksonville with the same load, but this time we were a bit smarter. We have a client who takes from 6 - 8 hours to unload the trailer. The nearest truck stop is 15 miles away and the beach is 12, which offers the same amenities as a truck stop I might add, so I guess you all know which one we chose. We found the perfect spot to park the truck and spent the day at Jacksonville Beach. It was AWESOME. Finally after at least 24 days of going back and forth across this beautiful country and not 1 day to relax, we had a much-needed day-off (it was really only about 8 hours, but it felt like a full day of leisure). We went back and picked up the empty trailer and were back in Dalton, GA the next morning to pick up our next load.


Jacksonville Beach, FL

Have been eating mostly in the truck lately since we have been going so much, We have perfected several dishes out of our crock pot that have been really good. We also have had the opportunity to find a fantastic mexican market when we are are in LA. It has wonderful fresh produce for cheap and a deli that serves every dish you would find in a mexican restaurant, served up hot for under $6. They also have pork that already has the Al Pastor seasoning on it in the meat dept., great for throwing in the crockpot an having a yummy, warm dinner. I know you were all concerned about our withdrawal from Chubby's, but no worries, we are still keeping the mexican food tradition alive in our truck.


I-70, Utah

We got our routing changed and don't run the 40 as much as we did earlier this year, but now are taking 70. It has been nice to go through Denver, but can be such a tease. We have had the opportunity to have lunch with one of our boys a couple times, but then its back on the road and on our way. Most of our runs consist of LA to FL, NJ, MI, WV, NC or GA. Then from the east we usually run north and south for a couple of days. Sometimes OH or MI and then back down the GA to pick up another load to go out to either WA or OR. Then we get dispatched south to go back to LA. WA and OR are beautiful in the spring and summer, but the drive all the way down the 5 is a long one. It is over 1,000 miles and you can only drive 55 in OR and CA. When you cross over the border from OR to CA the first exit is 796....and then it goes backwards from there down to 1 in San Diego. Thats a lot of one highway in just one state. But when we go across TX to FL its 847 miles all in one state, which is all on I-10. There is usually a pretty good celebration after we cross the TX-LA border. Not that we don't like TX, but after a day and half and still being in the same state, it just doesn't feel like progress!

Pushy seagull in OR

We have met some more interesting people in the last few months. Trucking never has a shortage of colorful folk. We got to stay at a truck stop in Portland, OR called Jubitz one night. We went to see a movie and had dinner. It was like date night, I think I remember that. It was funny to watch a movie with everyone in the theatre being truckers as well. They also had jacuzzi tubs in with the showers and that was so luxurious to take a bubble bath that night. We both slept like babies.

Until next time....thanks for tuning in and enjoy the summer, I know we are.