Trip Log - Days 9 - 13

7/9/07
8:00 AM – We slept in as long as we could this morning. It is just 6 AM here and the place we deliver to doesn’t open until 8 AM. As we walked in to use the bathroom and brush our teeth, there was a woman standing outside the entrance. She looked nice enough, not scaggy like most women you see out here. As we came near, she asked if we smoked cigarettes. We both said no and I added, thank God, as I walked passed her. I knew what her next question would have been if we said yes. We are about 10 minutes from Vancouver, WA, but Carl wants to head over now so we are there the minute they open. He was concerned we might run into rush hour traffic and take longer than we expect to get there.

10:30 AM – Our first stop of the day is delivered and we are on our way to Gig Harbor, WA. It is just 8:30 AM here and still only 64 degrees. The air feels really chilly.

1:45 PM – Dropped off one pole in Gig Harbor. As with many of the other places we have delivered, getting in and out with the truck was nearly impossible, but Carl did it. We are now headed up to Bremerton, WA. It is just 25 miles up the road, so we should be there soon.

2:15 PM – Drove around a large bay in Bremerton on our way to our delivery. On one side of it was Puget Sound Navel Shipyard and full of large naval ships. It is just 80 degrees outside at 12:15 Pacific Time, just beautiful. We are actually delivering in two different locations in Bremerton. After this we will just have two poles left on the trailer. Carl plans to call about picking up a couple Isuzu trucks since we will have so much room. I hope there is a load of trucks going towards California or New Mexico. It will make more $’s for our time. (PIC)

4:00 PM – We dropped off the final six poles here in Bremerton and are on our way to get showers and dinner. YEAH!!! As we were leaving town, Carl reminded me it would be a while before we could get anywhere to use the bathroom, so we should use the portable toilet on the job site. Why I thought this was interesting enough to put into this blog is the name of the portable toilet was Honey-Pot. Can you imagine?

7:00 PM – I had noticed a Vanity Fair Outlet on our way up to Bremerton today. Carl was on the phone so I wasn’t able to show him which exit, but planned to see if we had time on our way back through. By the time we were, I had forgotten which exit it was on. Instead of checking each one I called Steve. He checked online for me and found the information in about 30 seconds. It was at Exit 82 off I-5. We have just left the outlet on our way to Exit 57 to eat and take a shower. We had planned to go further tonight, but Carl’s dispatcher called and told us not to go further than Portland, OR. She may have something to go with this load by morning. Glad she let us know so we could take the time to stop at the Vanity Fair Outlet. Carl found five new pair of jeans in his size, 34 x 30. We got two irregulars for just $10 each and three regular ones for $19 each. I could only find one bra in my size, but lucked up with a couple pair of pants. The first pair was a dark peach corduroy, in a long length, for just $3. Long lengths are so hard to find, especially on sale. I also found a pair of black twill for $7 in a long length. My other sale rack find was a long-sleeved blouse with a really unusual design that will go great with my khaki pants for work for just $5. When I finished at the register I had spent enough to get a $10 gift card, good until 12/31/07. I’m sure I will get another chance to shop at a VF outlet before then.

Later – At the truck stop and so hungry I feel sick, so we decided to eat first. I just ordered a hamburger steak with grilled onions and a baked potato. It came with a salad. As soon as it arrived I knew I would LOVE it and Carl was going to hate it. They made it with different kinds of lettuce leaves and baby spinach – delicious! After we ate we walked back to the truck and watched the next “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie. It was as much fun to watch as the first one had been.


7/10/08
7:30 AM – We woke up early to get fuel and showers before heading up the road. Just 5:30 AM here so won’t know anything about a load for a couple of hours. This gives us plenty of time for showers and breakfast. Keeping our fingers crossed about another load.

11:00 AM – We are still not sure about a load, but we have had showers, breakfast, picked-up a couple things in the store and have decided to head on towards Portland (57 miles) and call one more time from there before we continue to San Francisco, CA. Still a chance for another load, but doesn’t look good!

2:30 PM – Ran into traffic delays in Portland, OR. It took a lot longer to get through there than we had expected. When we finally got through it all we figured out there had been a truck broke down in the left lane of the Interstate. We finally made it through and continued to the TA in Aurora, OR for lunch; had a great buffet for only $8.50 each. The salad bar had fresh cantaloupe, pineapple, and honeydew melon. They were just putting lunch out when we got there, so everything was still very fresh. We actually had to wait a minute for the hot food to come out, but it was well worth the wait.

During our meal, I cut the knuckle of my right thumb on something under the table. I told the waitress because it was razor sharp and I was afraid a kid might crawl under the table and get cut bad. They brought me out some antibiotic ointment and a bandage. It made me feel better because I was worried it would get infected.

8:10 PM – We were welcomed to California with 6 miles of a 7% downgrade hill. Right at the bottom they wanted trucks to stop at the inspection station. They had large signs up telling trucks with no brakes to bypass the scales. For those of you who don’t know…if a trucker doesn’t handle a steep hill correctly they can get their truck brakes hot. When they get hot they quit working. Of course if they bypass the scales without brakes the state police will chase them until they can stop and give them a ticket for improper equipment.

9:30 PM – Just 50 miles north of Redding, CA, we saw something I have never seen before – A Bear Crossing sign. And I was impressed with the Elk Migration next 12 miles sign the other day – Silly me! It has just started raining and is the first rain we have had since July 4th. It smells so good up here in the mountains when it rains.

Later – We made it to Redding, CA and stopped to get something to eat. They had a Pizza Hut Express, so we ordered personal pan pizzas. We ordered our usual, Carl asked for Meat Lovers, and I asked for Veggie Lovers - Talk about opposites attract! Just too tired to go any further, since we had a good park (close to the building), we just spent the night here.


7/11/07
8:15 AM – We are on our way! Just 212 miles to go and we will be in San Francisco!!! If they would just let trucks drive faster than 55 in California, we could get there a lot faster. This is going to be a long day.

Later – We drove through Corning, CA. They consider themselves the olive city. There were large olive orchards on both sides of the road, for miles. Right after we got through Corning I saw my first palm tree of the trip. I didn’t realize how much I missed palm trees. We had three in the yard of the house I grew up in.

Noon – The last sign I saw said we were 40’ above sea level and we have come down a big hill since then, so we are probably below sea level at this point. As we drove through Rollingwood, CA, across an overpass, we saw a large group of police cars and motorcycle cops congregated below. There was one car sitting on shoulder right before the exit ramp. Just as we got passed him, he pulled out in the middle of the Interstate and threw on his lights. As we came to the on ramp at least 15 motorcycle cops got on the Interstate and came around us on both sides fast, with their lights and sirens going. We didn’t know what was going on. As we continued up the Interstate we saw each on-ramp had a motorcycle cop blocking traffic from entering the freeway. There was no traffic on the road clear up to the toll bridge we were taking across to San Francisco. One of the last overpasses we went under had a fire truck sitting about halfway across with lights on and fire fighters standing around it. We decided it might be a fire fighters funeral. Good thing we weren’t a half a minute later or we would have been sitting on the Interstate for a long while.

1:00 PM – We are finally at our destination. It shouldn’t take too long to unload since they are only getting one pole.

1:20 PM – We are already unloaded and ready to go. We are still trying to get a load of generators out of here before we leave San Francisco. Carl is calling now. Either way we will head to New Mexico after while.

1:45 PM – As we were driving by the San Francisco Airport, Carl told me a story about delivering here years ago. He had delivered a jet engine to the airport when he was leased to Warren. While there, the guy unloading him gave him a 50th year commemorative medallion. These medallions were only given to airport employees at the time, but he had one left, so gave it to Carl. This story actually began at the Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C. They had an engine with an oil leak. Carl picked up a good engine at the Denver Airport and took it to Dulles. They had a crew from New York sitting on the runway waiting for his arrival. They exchanged the engines and Carl took the one with the leak to the airport in San Francisco because they were the only facility equipped to repair it.

2:45 PM – On our way to the truck stop as we drove along CA-205E we saw where someone had cut a big cross in the grass that was at least 100 ft long. Within the cross they had written, “Jesus Saves.” At the top of the cross there stood a huge buck deer. It was just standing there looking out over everything, as if he owned it. Right above this all the mountains had hundreds of huge windmills all along the tops of them, generating electricity.

6:30 PM – We just finished eating dinner at the Flying J in Ripon, CA. After we ate, Carl got enough fuel to get a shower. Everywhere else they have let us have two showers, but this one made us pay $6.50 for mine – So I took a loooong one! We checked for the next Wal-Mart up the road. Carl needs cold medicine and I never miss a chance to shop at Wal-Mart. While I was checking on the Internet for Wal-Mart he was looking for loads. Only one near here and it was too big to go with our one pole. Hope we can find something between here and New Mexico. Otherwise we will be back in Jackson, MS loading more poles.

10:30 PM – We stopped at a very small truck stop, with a large parking lot, in Tulare, CA. The lot was nearly empty so we had no trouble finding a park. We just about have the routine down of who does what to get the truck ready for bedtime. Even Phoenix has learned where she needs to stand and when to go there.


7/12/07
8:15 AM – We are up and ready (to be home). I guess the rough roads yesterday did me in. My lower back is extremely painful, but feels some better after a good night sleep.

12:30 PM – We have spent the morning driving through country that is starting to look a lot more like where I grew up in Arizona. There is beautiful desert as far as the eye could see. When we got to the crossroads of CA-58 and US 395 there was a group of truck stops, restaurants, and souvenir shops. Right in the middle of it all sat a little fruit stand. We had driven by vineyards earlier today. There were people out harvesting the grapes. I wanted Carl to stop and let me climb over the fence to try and buy some. Of course we didn’t. The fruit stand had grapes listed on their signs so we stopped. We hit the jackpot – It was a grower and his daughter. They offered samples of everything and we ended up with white peaches, white nectarines, plums and purple grapes. Everything had just been picked yesterday, so was fresh and sweet. It was hard to decide what to get it was all so good!

1:45 PM – We finished lunch at the TA in Barstow, CA. (TA stands for Travel Centers of America) Another buffet – but I told Carl yesterday I think they have gotten a lot better since I teamed with him. They are better than anything we have in Macomb or Burlington. Very Fresh!!!

5:35 PM – We have finally made it to Arizona. Right after we came into the state we passed an inspection station flying the US and Arizona State flags. I almost got chills bumps just looking at it.

7:00 PM – We stopped for the first time since getting into AZ at a TA below Kingman. Carl filled the truck with fuel and we got out a couple pieces of fruit to eat while going down the road. Yummy! Dinner will have to wait until we have time to stop. We are planning peanut butter and banana sandwiches again.

8:30 PM – We just passed the mother of all deer warning signs – Watch for Deer Next 70 miles.

15 Minutes Later – Elk Country; Be Alert Next 65 Miles.

8:45 PM – We just passed the exits that take you up to the Grand Canyon. Just 62 miles – So close and yet so far.

9:15 PM – Stopped at a rest area in the mountains, just before Flagstaff. There was a big temperature difference from Kingman. Three Native American women had jewelry, for sale, laid out on blankets around the entrance to the restrooms. They had some beautiful necklaces and earrings. It was not as authentic as what my Dad use to buy on the Indian Reservations, but still nice. Flagstaff is just 14 miles up the road; I bet it looks a lot different than the last time I was there.

9:25 PM – Went from 35’ above sea level this morning to 7335’. It is doing a number on my inner ear.

10:30 PM – We finally stopped to eat our dinner and get to bed. We found a really nice truck stop in Winslow, AZ. It sits right next door to a Wal-Mart Super Center and a Denny’s restaurant. Carl made a note of this exit since it is easy to get into and within walking distance of a Wal-Mart.


7/13/07
8:30 AM – We are on the road with our normal breakfast. Carl eats Pop Tarts and I have a yogurt with my favorite brown crackers. We are heading to Gallop, NM to drop off our last pole and look for another load. Just 120 miles and we will be there.

10:30 AM – Even with terrible directions we were able to deliver our one lone pole by 10:30. Since it would be a few minutes before we got to Wal-Mart to get Carl’s sinus medicine I went inside to find a ladies room. While using the restroom I saw a sign in the ladies room I have never seen before – Do Not Spit in the Sink. Of course I had to ask the secretary as I was leaving about the sign. I told her I believe I have never seen a sign like theirs in a ladies room before. She laughed and told me they had one electrician that always stepped in and spit tobacco in the sink whenever he was there. That’s what I figured, but still thought it was a funny sign.

11:30 AM – Gallop, NM has a Wal-Mart at Exit 20 off I-40, which just happened to be the exit where we delivered our last pole. It wasn’t too hard to get into. Carl sat in the truck and started working on our next load while I went inside to start working on our list. I was just about finished when he called to talk with me about our options. Option 1 – Drive 1100 miles to Jackson, MS in hopes of a load of poles going to the mid-west on Monday. (There are 12 trucks sitting there right now waiting on loads.) Option 2 – Drive 650 miles to Texas to pick up a load going to North Carolina on Monday. (There are currently loads in North Carolina going to Illinois, not sure they would still be there when we get there.) Option 3 – Drive 700 miles to pick up a load in Oklahoma going to Pennsylvania on Monday. I opted for number 3 because we could go by the house to drop me and Phoenix off with only 130 miles out of route. I am physically exhausted and I’m ready to be home. The trip has been interesting and a lot of fun, but hard on my body…bouncing around in the truck.

1:30 PM – Made it to the Petro truck stop in Milan, NM to get a welcome shower. We were lucky enough to get a park right beside a big fenced in grassy area and close to the building. After our showers we came back to the truck and got on the Internet for a little while. I got started on updating this blog…just four days behind schedule.

6:30 PM - We decided we were hungry and went in for the buffet. Friday nights are their steak buffet, which Carl especially likes. We ate all we could hold and headed back to the truck. I stopped at the ladies room and when I came out Carl was having his knife sharpened. When we stepped outside it had cooled down a lot, so we got Phoenix and took her for a game of fetch. She lives for fetch and hasn’t been able to play the entire time we have been gone. She was so happy and played until she couldn’t.

Later – Back at the truck, working on this blog and Carl is playing on the Internet. We are going to spend the night here since the next truck stop is over two hours up the road. We only have 10 hours of driving to do before Monday morning, so can take our time.

Trip Log - Days 7 & 8

7/7/07
7:30 AM – We decided to get a shower before breakfast this morning. It is so nice to be able to get a shower first thing in the morning. We walked back over to D. J.’s Restaurant for breakfast. Dinner had been so good we were sure that breakfast would be.

10:00 AM – Breakfast was delicious. We both ordered French toast with eggs. Carl picked sausage and I picked bacon for meat. They brought out maple and berry syrup with four thick pieces of French toast with powdered sugar sprinkled on them. The bacon was cooked perfectly and tasted wonderful too. There was so much food I wasn’t able to eat it all.

We are on our way to Portland, OR. Plan to spend the night there since we deliver just a few miles from there in Vancouver, WA on Monday morning. We have all day Sunday to do whatever we want to…that will be a change. Carl said Jubitz truck stop is big and has good food and showers so we plan to stay there. One of his fellow Advisory Board members, Joe Boyd, called and said he is going to be there too, so they will get a chance to talk.

1:30 PM – Just made it down to the bottom of Cabbage Mountain in Oregon. It has a 6% downgrade, over 6 miles long. It snaked around four or five times before we got to the bottom and had two very long run away ramps along the way. I was surprised there was only two since the big downgrade in Wyoming had four.

2:00 PM – Stopped in Pendleton, OR and went into the Wal-Mart Carl had been into before. He had bought a grill and some hamburgers to cook-out over Memorial Day weekend since he would be stuck out over the holiday. As you come into Pendleton they have a really neat area with statues that look just like cows and cowboys on a trail ride.




Later – Drove along the Columbia River and could see Washington state on the other side for about 150 miles of our trip today. It was just teasing me since I won’t get to Washington until Monday. There were people out playing on the river; fishing, swimming, wind surfing and parachute skiing. I had to take most of the pictures as we drove down the road at 55 mph because there was no place to pull over with the truck. We finally stopped at a rest area that looked over the river and I was able to take a few pictures while standing still. Carl and I were taking pictures of each other and a lady traveling with her daughter came up and asks us if we wanted her to take a picture of the two of us together. Of course we said yes.


4:00 PM – We can see a very large snowcapped mountain in the distance while driving along the Columbia River on I-84. We thought it must be Mt. Hood, so I checked the Atlas and determined it was.

7:00 PM – We have arrived in Portland, OR. After a little driving around in circles Carl was able to find the Jubitz truck stop. He had only been here a couple of times and just turned one road too soon. First thing he did was pull in for fuel so we would have a shower coupon for in the morning. After we got fuel we lucked up and were able to park in the first park, so we will be closer to the building. We went inside and looked around. There is a Post Office, Barber/Beauty Shop, Full-sized Movie Theatre, Restaurant, Chapel, Shoe Repair shop, Chiropractor, Emergency Medical Clinic, Motel, Convenience store, Deli, Bar with dance and live entertainment on Saturday night, Garage/Fuel Island/Deli, Conference room, and Clothing & Gift Shop. This is the truck stop where they shot the Television series “Moving On.” We decided if we only wanted a sandwich we could fix that in the truck, so we went into the restaurant. Carl called Joe to see if he was here yet and he met us for dinner. I ordered Fettuccini Alfredo and Carl decided on Spaghetti and Meatballs. After dinner we walked over to the gift shop found cute hats for the Grandchildren and a couple of t-shirts on a $2.99 sale rack. The first shirt is black with a big white eagle head on the front. At the top is says, “I am smiling.” Carl said I always tell him to smile when I’m taking his picture and that is what he wants to say. Of course when I show him the picture he realizes he just thought he was smiling. There is a funny story with the second t-shirt we found. Carl pulled it out and said that it would be perfect for Joe. It had a cowboy up on a horse passed out with his dog in front of him guiding the horse. Under the picture it said, “Designated driver.” A couple of days ago I was walking around in a store and saw a metal sign with this same picture and thought it would be perfect for Joe. Of course after I told Carl that he had to get it for Joe. We called him to see if he was still in the truck stop so we could give it to him and he was. After we told him why we had bought it for him, he said he guessed he needed to change his reputation. But he must have really liked it because he told us he planned to wear it tomorrow.
9:00 PM – It is so cool here that we were able to shut off the generator, crack a couple of windows and sleep without the truck running. Nice change from the last couple of nights.

7/8/07
8:00 AM – Up and ready for a shower. Carl took Phoenix for a walk while I got my things together for a shower. When at a truck stop you only take inside what you will need. I have my case with shampoo, soap, deodorant, etc. and then put my clean clothes on top so I only have to carry in one bag. Two mornings in a row with a shower, I won’t know how to act. We are planning on meeting Joe for Sunday brunch. They serve from 9 AM – 2 PM Pacific Time, so we will go over about 11:00 AM our time.

12:15 PM – Just got back to the truck from eating lunch. We grazed for over an hour and are so stuffed now we could go back to sleep. I was impressed with the food they served. Lots of variety and everything tasted so good too. After lunch we looked around the gift shop for a couple minutes and then Carl checked his lottery ticket to see if he had won last night. Of course he didn’t, so he bought another one that draws on Wednesday. It is still so cool outside we just have the windows open and the truck and generator turned off.

Later – By 2 PM it was so hot the generator wasn’t even enough to cool things off. Carl had walked up to the Freightliner dealer with Joe while I stayed at the truck and checked my e-mail. Phoenix and I were getting really hot, so I figured out how to crank up the generator. When Carl got back we took Phoenix for a walk and tried to give her a chance to play a minute. She was just too hot to enjoy it so we came back to the truck. Carl went inside for a minute and when he got back I told him we were so hot he needed to crank the truck for a few minutes to cool things off. After it cooled off we closed up the sleeper with the generator going for Phoenix, turned off the truck and went inside with our computer to sit were it was cool. We played on the computers until the batteries were getting low and then plugged them in so we could continue. They served ice cream right outside the movie theater so Carl went over and got us a scope of ice cream in a waffle cone. It looked like it was a little cooler outside so we came back to the truck to watch a movie. We decided on Pirates of the Caribbean – Curse of the Black Pearl.

9:00 PM – We haven’t finished the movie yet, but decided to take a watermelon break. We picked one up when we stopped at the Wal-Mart in Pendleton Saturday. We knew Joe really liked watermelon too, so told him this morning at brunch we would call when we cut it. It has cooled off a lot and since it is just 7 PM here it is still daylight. We took the melon out to the trailer, cut it and stood beside the trailer to eat it. We ended up with watermelon seeds on the bottoms of our shoes. There was ¼ of the melon left so we cut it off the rind, put it in plastic bags and put it in the refrigerator. When Joe showed up to eat watermelon with us he was wearing his shirt we gave him. He said he had been showing it off in the truck stop all afternoon. I took a picture of him and Carl with their new shirts on…they looked like a couple of boys standing out beside the truck talking and eating watermelon.

Trip Log - Days 5 & 6

Last Night After Fireworks

7/5/07
7:25 AM – We are up and ready to go! We stayed up long enough to see the fireworks last night. Right before time for them to start we walked up to the truck stop to use the bathroom. At 9:30 we stepped outside and could see them over the roof of the factory across the street, but had to walk down to the middle of the entrance driveway to be able to see them completely. Spent the next half hour watching one of the prettiest fireworks displays I’ve ever seen. Every truck that came in or out thought we were crazy until they realized what we were doing. Some even drove around behind us so they didn’t block our view. Pretty soon there were several others standing out there watching them too – Thanks Crissy!!! It started raining right after it was over and we ran back to the truck to sleep, right before the bottom fell out. It did sound nice on the top of our truck while we fell asleep. It also was a good thing we stood out in the lot to watch the fireworks or Carl wouldn’t have seen the sign saying, “Turn Right to I-70.” He said he would have just gone back out the way we came in, which was left.

8:30 AM – We are already unloaded and on are way to Cheyenne, WY. The company we delivered to had a slogan on their sign; “We go to extra effort.” I would agree, Carl backed into their yard and walked in to let them know we were there. As he walked in the door, the guy said, “You have 4 poles for us?” Carl said, “Yes.” Then he told Carl to go get them unstrapped and he would be right out to unload him. That was so nice for a change.

12:15 PM – We have delivered to Cheyenne. Right before we arrived, Carl was informed he needed to do a random alcohol test. I always tease him that they choose him because they know he will pass it. There was a place in Cheyenne he could have it done, so we went there. A nice big Wal-Mart was across the street, so we parked in their lot. Carl walked to the doctors office and I walked up to the Wal-Mart (imagine that). While shopping I found a blue jersey quilt for the truck. The blanket Carl’s been using is just too scratchy. While I was in the store I met a cute old lady, Eileen, who makes crosses from plastic canvas and ¼” wide ribbon. I was looking for silver ribbon for the Christmas ornaments I have been crocheting. While I was standing at the ribbon section she just pulled out a plastic sandwich bag with about 20 finished crosses in it and asked me if I would like one. I picked out a Kelly green cross and made a big deal about how nice it was. I told her I lived in Illinois and that is where it would end up. She told me she was born and raised in Cedar Rapids, IA. I found it very interesting that she had made 400 of these for her Granddaughter to give to fellow campers at a church camp she had gone too. She asked if I had a daughter and when I said yes, she wanted me to pick one out for her too. She told me that she had a head injury a few years ago and wasn’t expected to live. Feels she is thanking God on some level by making these crosses and that it keeps her busy too. I continued shopping and when Carl was finished he called my cell phone so that I could meet him out at the truck. It was a long way from the store. While on the phone Eileen saw me and asked if the person on the phone would want one of her crosses. I told her I would love a pink one for my Granddaughter, so she picked out one of her pink ones and gave it to me.

2:00 PM – We stopped in Laramie, WY for lunch at the Iron Skillet Restaurant in the Petro truck stop. I just couldn’t wait until we got to Little America. It is another 180 miles.

6:00 PM – We have finally arrived at the truck stop in Little America, WY. Driving across Wyoming we saw some gorgeous views. Views of the mountains were amazing. We bought fuel and got a shower here. I don’t really want to know what we spent for these showers, they feel better not knowing. They had advertised 50 cent ice cream cones on billboards for several miles before we got there, so after our showers we walked over and got vanilla ice cream. While stopped, Carl took Phoenix for a walk and she saw a rabbit. He said as soon as she saw it she tried to chase it. At least as far as the leash would let her!



7:50 PM – We are on our way again, heading towards Donnelly, ID. On our way we drove through a little town in the mountains called Kemmerer. The sign coming into town said they were home to J.C. Penny’s mother store and museum. Mom if you are ever in Wyoming I know you will want to visit this town!

Later – While driving through the mountains we saw lots of deer crossing signs with a picture of a deer. Of course you watch for deer anywhere in the evenings, but especially in the mountains. We came up to a sign with two flashing yellow lights on it that was really scary. It said Deer Crossing next 6 miles – Must be a serious problem!!! Later we saw a sign that said Migrating Deer Crossing next 1 mile. It got worse. The next sign said Elk Migration next 12 miles, right outside Georgetown, ID. Carl liked the mountain in this next picture. It was right behind a fuel stop.



11:00 PM – Arrived in McCammon, ID and were just too tired to continue, so we stopped at a little fuel stop with a dirt lot and went to bed. It had only been dark here for about an hour, but our bodies are on central time. We were too tired to even eat dinner.


7/6/07
6:30 AM – When Carl woke up and started to put on his clothes I had been awake for about 30 minutes already. The bunk isn’t as comfortable as my new mattress at home. I asked him what he was doing and when he told me going in to the bathroom, I asked him if he just wanted to stay up because I couldn’t sleep any more anyway. He was pleasantly surprised; I’m sure he never expected me to get up so early. This will also insure we make it to Donnelly, ID early enough to unload. We originally thought the delivery was in Downey, ID (spelled wrong on his paperwork). Donnelly is over 7 hours further than Downey. This makes a big difference.

12:00 Noon – We finally stopped at a truck stop in South Boise, ID and fixed sandwiches for lunch. I was starving after skipping dinner last night. I fixed a peanut butter and banana and Carl fixed an egg salad sandwich. As soon as we leave here we will be looking for ID-55 N that will take us to Donnelley, ID.

Later – Words cannot describe the beautiful scenery that we saw today while driving up ID-55, so I decided to fill this part mostly with pictures instead. Even the pictures don’t really do it justice. One of the hills had a downhill grade of 7% over 5 miles long. They had 4 different runaway ramps spaced out over these 5 miles. If that wasn’t enough to worry about there were warning signs; Watch for Rocks next 20 miles, Watch for Stock and Open Range.









3:30 PM – We found the place to deliver in Donnelly, way out on a dead end dirt road. It was terribly hot (107°). When driving in I saw the biggest Dandelions I have ever seen, as big as a baseball. There were also tiny Dandelions that were pure white and fluffy, and the size of a small cotton ball.



4:00 PM – While leaving Donnelley we were finally able to get into a Post Office to mail the package to Austin. Hope he gets it in time for his birthday. We are now on our way to Washington State.

5:30 PM – We drove through a little town that had signs up advertising a Quilt Show in the old courthouse building. We kept watching thinking we might stop since we don’t need to be anywhere until Monday morning. We found it, but would have to walk 3 or 4 blocks to get to it from where we could park the truck. At 107° nothing looks interesting enough to get out and walk that far in the heat.

7:00 PM – We finally made it to Oregon, just barely. We stopped in Ontario, OR at a Pilot fuel stop. The next big truck stop is still a couple hours up the road and we are very tired and hungry. They only have an Arby’s here so we were going to walk over to the Sizzler across the street. On our way up to the corner I spotted a local family restaurant right next door with a couple old people walking in for dinner and suggested we try that instead of fighting four lanes of traffic to get across the road and walk two more blocks down to the Sizzler. I am so glad we did, the food was delicious and the service was exceptional.

9:30 PM – It is so hot outside still that we are running the truck and the generator to help cool the truck enough to sleep. I’m finishing up this blog for the last couple of days while Carl eats Ben 'n Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream and then we are going straight to bed.

Trip Log - Days 3 & 4

7/3/07
6:00 AM – Woke up in time to walk over to MacDonald’s to get Egg MacMuffins for breakfast. I knew it might be a while before we stopped for food again, so I ordered two. We brought them back to the truck to eat with our own drinks. It is so nice to have a refrigerator in the truck. Cold Diet Pepsi anytime I want it. The Egg MacMuffins had absolutely no flavor. I guess with all the changes trying to make fast food healthier they forgot it still needs to taste good. Of course we ate them anyway and left about 7 AM to deliver our load at the Little Rock National Airport.

9:00 AM – We are just now leaving Little Rock. Per usual the guy unloading said he didn’t know we were coming and needed to go get a boom truck to take the poles off our truck. Said it would take him about 30 – 45 minutes to go get it. Of course, as I figured it would, it was over an hour before he got back. We delivered 11 poles here…the load is shrinking. We are on our way to Windsor, MO.

Later – We drove through the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas. Gave Carl a chance to break in the new break pads he had put on his truck. We only smelled them once, so he did a good job keeping the truck under control while going down several really steep grades.

1:00 PM – Drove through Branson, MO today. It didn’t look like I’ve been missing anything by not ever going there. I can’t imagine having a lot of fun watching variety shows…but, to each his own. A few minutes later we drove by the exit to Forsythe, MO and waved to the Blackstock’s. Would have loved to see Aunt Connie’s new home, but we didn’t have time, two more deliveries to make today before 6PM. After we drop off one pole and a box in Windsor, we will be beating it up to Olathe, KS. After we get the last stop off, I am really hoping to find a Wal-Mart. I just figured out we probably won’t get a shower until morning, but at least I can count on one tomorrow.

2:25 PM – I have just determined we have officially driven through the “middle of no where.” After leaving Springfield, MO we got on MO-13 and have seen virtually nothing all the way through here except a dead cow in the median all swelled up. I am having a really, really hard time even staying awake!

3:30 PM – We have found the next stop. The guy wanted us to take it out to his house in the country. He said the job site was too small to get a truck into. He assured Carl there was a crossroads about a mile past his house out on a very narrow dirt road. We left the light pole by his mailbox and continued up the road looking for the crossroads to turn around at. Over 3 miles later we gave up and Carl maneuvered his truck back into another very narrow dirt road to our left, just missing a fence in the front yard of someone’s house. I bet, if they were home, they were wondering what a semi-truck was doing way out their road. I know the two guys working on the road scrapper were confused when we drove past them.

6:30 PM – We made it to Olathe, KS and located the place to deliver our next pole. It was out in a new industrial park so Phoenix and I got out and walked around while Carl unloaded and resecured the load. I ask him to see if the guy we delivered to could tell us were the nearest Wal-Mart was. Thankfully he knew of one on our route to Denver that was just 30 minutes up the road. We found it and spent about an hour picking up the few things on our list…and a few extra things as usual.

8:00 PM – Just after we got onto the Turnpike in Kansas (I-70) we saw some really dark smoke ahead. We were glad to find it was on the other side of the road, so we weren’t delayed. As we got nearer we started seeing huge flames. As we passed we realized it was a mini-van engulfed in flames. It had just happened. The only cop on the scene didn’t even have any lights on his car. I was impressed to see that he had still stopped the traffic that was going over 70 mph and had them lined up in the right hand lane so that emergency vehicles could get up to the burning vehicle.

As we came into Topeka, KS we started seeing lots of big fireworks. They looked beautiful out over the city. I told Carl that was my favorite way to view fireworks…sitting in an air-conditioned vehicle. As we were leaving Topeka I spotted a giant gorilla. (No I wasn’t hallucinating) It was all lit up, holding its arms up as if it was going to grab a car and eat it. Down below it was a tent selling fireworks. I bet they get a lot of attention.

10:00 PM – We finally found a truck stop with one lonely park in Willard, KS. We are just an hour and a half from where we had planned on driving, but are all tired and ready for bed. Carl and I ate peanut butter and banana sandwiches with milk for dinner and are more than ready for bed. We don’t get to lie up in the sleeper all day, like Phoenix.




7/4/07 – Independence Day
8:00 AM – We all slept in this morning. It sure felt good! We all dressed for the 4th including Phoenix, with her flag bandana.



9:45 AM – Had a beautiful drive to Salina, KS this morning. Stopped for fuel and showers…only cost us $398.91 today. Do you think they will give us two showers for that?

10:45 AM – A shower never felt so good! They even had a blow drier, so I was able to make my hair look a little more normal than it has in the last couple of days. We lucked up and stopped at a truck stop where they had just remodeled. The showers looked like something from a resort and were VERY clean. I complimented the lady who cleans them and she gave me a tour of their shower room for Platinum Club members. It had a TV that was projected on the mirror and the shower had a special ceiling that made it feel like it was raining or you could use just the regular shower head. I ask Carl why he wasn’t a Platinum Club member. He said he didn’t buy enough fuel from the Petro stations to become a member – 15, 000 gallons a year minimum. Carl picked up a truck stop guide so we could see what was on our route. He had wanted to buy one for a while so this gave him an excuse. It will come in handy when deciding where to stop for lunch. I like it because it told if there was a Wal-Mart near each of the truck stops. He also found some short sleeved work shirts he liked for $7.00 a piece. I encouraged him to get a few, so he ended up with two navy and a dusty green one.

12:15 PM – After reviewing the truck stop guide we decided to stop at Hayes, KS exit because it had several restaurants within walking distance. BIG mistake, so much construction we could hardly get off and back on. Also, from the one fuel stop it was quite a ways to walk to Applebee’s or Golden Corral and getting ready to rain. We decided to go on about 50 miles to WaKeeney exit.

1:00 PM – Good decision…the exit at WaKenney had a little fuel stop. It was a BP station with a 24/7 restaurant. We went in and looked at the buffet and decided we would get it. They had things you would get at a 4th of July picnic…Fried chicken, hamburgers, hotdogs, pork & beans, deviled eggs, corn on the cob, watermelon, etc. After lunch I looked around the store for a minute and Carl went on out to the truck to walk Phoenix. She has figured out how to get back up in the truck without his help and only needs a little help to jump out. When I got back they were just getting back to the truck and had picked me a piece of Kansas wheat from the field next to the parking lot. It was so pretty, I love the look of wheat up close.



2:00 PM – We are on our way again, more open fields for as far as the eye can see. Yesterday, when we were in Wal-Mart, we picked out a small toy for Phoenix. It is just a little yellow plastic monster, but if she steps on it or sits on it, it will squeak as she lets up. The first time it happened, it scared her and she looked back at it, like it was alive. She is starting to get use to it, but when she got up this morning it surprised her again.

6:45 PM – We have arrived in Denver, CO. Made excellent time today because it was all Interstate and we could run 70 mph. When we were coming into town we could see the airplanes arriving and departing from the Denver Airport. In just a couple of minutes we spotted over 20. They were coming in two at a time with two more right behind them. Crissy sent us a list of all the 4th of July festivities that are being held in this area. We are actually parked at a truck stop in Aurora, CO and one of the fireworks displays on her list is right next to this truck stop. We hope we will be able to see it all from the truck because we are facing that way. My favorite way to view fireworks…sitting in an air conditioned vehicle. The trick will be staying up long enough to see them. They start at 9:30 PM which is 10:30 central time. Not sure we will make it!

July 1 & 2, 2007 Trip Log

7/1/07
2:30 PM – It took most of the day, but we finally were able to leave Macomb heading to Jackson, MS. Steve came over about 8:30 this morning to eat breakfast with us and take Carl to Bushnell to pick-up his truck. He had some general maintenance completed along with repairing the front fenders…they are now black instead of red.


They returned about 11 AM and we still had to clean out the truck and get everything packed up for the next couple of weeks. Bill brought the Grandchildren by on their way to Spring Lake so we were able to hug them all goodbye. I’m going to miss them while we are gone, so was especially happy to see them before we left town. We also went by to see Crissy and drop off a big bowl of homemade tapioca pudding I made for the Grandchildren last night. I guess it was amazing we were able to leave when we did.

First Stop – We stopped at a VERY small fuel stop right outside St. Louis in Woodriver, IL. I jumped out of the truck and hurried into the store and just beat another woman to the ladies room, thank goodness!

Next Stop – We drove for about another hour to the first rest area we came to so Phoenix could get out of the truck and stretch her legs. On our way back to the truck she met a little Yorkie puppy traveling with a guy that went around to festivals selling lemonade. The minute they got out of their truck she noticed the puppy. It was interesting to see her notice another dog since she didn’t even look at other dogs when we went to the Heritage Day parade last weekend…even when they barked. The only animal that got her attention at the parade was the group of Llamas.

10:25 PM – No time to stop for food today. (Note to self: Should have eaten lunch before we left home.) We need to be in Jackson, MS by 8 AM in the morning. It looks like we will be lucky to get their by 3 or 4 AM. Hope we get to stop again today!

11:00 PM – We stopped at a small fuel stop in Sunset, AR. We thought we could walk Phoenix for the last time today, but the lot was too muddy so it just wasn’t worth it. We went inside to get some snacks to help Carl stay awake a little longer. When we walked in the door the guy said, “good morning” and I thought it was already after midnight. It felt like it.

2:30 AM – We still have a couple hours until we get to Jackson but all of us need sleep, especially Carl. We decided to stop at a truck stop in Winona, MS to get a little rest before continuing our trip.

7/2/07
6:00 AM – Way too early for any of us, but our appointment is at 8 this morning and Carl is never late! I went ahead and got up to go inside and water my hair and brush my teeth before we left. I learned riding with Carl to never miss an opportunity to eat or use the bathroom, they are few and far between.

7:40 AM – We arrived to pick-up our load in plenty of time. When we started to turn into the yard the gate was closed and locked, so we had to park on the side of a very narrow road with lots of traffic. Carl had been there before and thought it was strange they weren’t there yet, in the past they were there by 7 AM. At 8 AM I told him I thought he should call someone – just in case the guy that ran the yard had died over the weekend. The only reason I thought was a good enough excuse for not being there on time after I had to get up at 6 AM with just 3 ½ hours of sleep. Good thing he called because the person that scheduled the appointment forgot to tell him we were going to be there this morning. It took him until almost 9 AM to get there, but had us loaded and on our way to the truck stop for fuel and a shower by 11 AM – 2 hours earlier than Carl had hoped they would be finished. The load is smaller than he normally gets when he picks up light poles from this yard. Even though it goes to 11 separate locations, some places are only receiving 1 or 2 poles. By the time we get them all off we will have driven over 5,100 miles. I will be posting pictures and stories as much as possible throughout the trip. Check back often for updates on where we are and where we have been.

11:35 AM – Carl just finished filling up the fuel tanks and cleaning the windows and mirrors. It took 178 gallons and $476.93 later – oh well, at least we get a free shower with a fill-up.

2:00 PM – Lunch finally!!! We stopped at the TA truck stop in Tallulah, LA. It stopped POURING rain just in time or we had planned to skipped it and go on to the next one after it quit. We even lucked up and got the first park closest to the building. Things got even luckier after lunch. On our way out after lunch I stopped at the ladies room. While waiting for me to come out, Carl looked over at the ATM machine and saw someone had left a $20 bill. When we were walking across the parking lot to the truck he asked me how my free lunch tasted. I thought he meant because he paid for it and I was confused because he usually pays for it, this was nothing new. Then he told me how he had found a $20 bill, exactly the amount he had given to the waitress for lunch and a tip. This is the second time this week he has found money. The first time he found a $5 bill on the edge of a parking lot next to the road. He couldn’t decide if someone had dropped it or if it flew out of a car window.

Later Today– On our way to Little Rock, AR we drove through a very small town called Transylvania, LA. As we drove right past their Post Office I wished I had the DVD’s, I made of Austin’s home movies, ready to mail to Benita. It would have been cool if they were postmarked from Transylvania…HAA HAA HAA HAAAAAA

We also drove through an area right before we crossed into AR with an absolutely beautiful lake along the roadside, Lake Providence. All along the bank just inside the water were the most amazing trees. We think they were Cyprus, but what I liked about them was how the trunk near the water was so wide and became very narrow towards the top.



4:30 PM – We made it to AR. As we came up to turn onto US 82 just across the road was the Mississippi River.


We stopped at a VERY DIRTY little fuel stop. It reminded me of Headley’s in Clanton, AL, only with more stuff and more DIRT. I went in while Carl made a few phone calls. Everything was so dusty I had to wipe the dust off my candy bar onto my pants. While in the ladies room I stepped on a mosquito to keep it from landing on my leg. Carl was trying to set up deliveries and get directions to the next couple of stops. He is hoping to get them off on the 4th so we can continue driving to Colorado with no lay over for the holiday. Wish us luck!

7:00 PM – We have arrived in Little Rock, AR. It has been raining off and on most of the day and or course started pouring right before we got stopped. We are delivering light poles at the Little Rock National Airport at 7:30 in the morning and it is just a couple of exit up Interstate 440 from where we are spending the night. It is just a fuel stop, but there is a MacDonald’s across the street. We walked over in the rain to get a hamburger and had to wade through ankle deep puddles to get there. Of course I splashed water up the back of my pant legs and froze to death in the restaurant. I am hoping for Egg MacMuffins in the morning…if I can talk Carl in to walking over to get them before we leave. It hasn’t stopped raining yet, but we aren’t far from the door to the fuel stop.

9:30 PM – We have finished eating, walking Phoenix, organizing paper work, and getting our trip information ready to post to this blog. We are all EXHAUSTED and ready for bed. Goodnight!