Westward We Go

Just a note...this was to be published on Thursday, February 5 but I had internet issues.

Today is both exciting and bittersweet....my baby turned 18 today! I can't believe it. Where has the time gone?? And my other angel is already 21. Geez, Mom, I'm starting to understand how you're feeling now that you only have one child under 40!! LOL

We're headed to South Dakota to pick up a load tomorrow morning and will deliver in Washington on Monday morning. Good miles! :) And, they've already scheduled us to pick up a new load in Portland, Oregon Tuesday morning to deliver in Barstow, CA Wednesday morning. I wouldn't mind running up and down the west coast for awhile!

We stopped at a gas station/convenience store/restaurant in Minnesota tonight for something to eat and met the most hilarious guy! He was missing the first two finger joints on every finger on his right hand, is from Louisiana and team drives with his wife. He had us cracking up the entire time we were in there! He told the story of his Sears refrigerator breaking down. Since we never got his name, I'm going to call him Joe Trucker.

Since Joe had bought the warranty, he called Sears about getting the refrigerator fixed or replaced and was informed that a repairman would have to come out to see it. Joe explained that he's a truck driver and the fridge is in his rig and he can't just sit around waiting for a repairman but would try to figure something out. Finally, he needed to get some maintenance done on his truck and Sears sent the repairman to the truck dealership to see the fridge. The repairman looked at it and informed Joe that it would cost more to fix it than for Sears to replace it,to which Joe replied, "tell me something I don't know!" Well, the repairman called in and was told he should try to fix it. He pulled it out, inspected the back and said,"it's dirty; I'll try cleaning it." Joe couldn't understand this...he and his wife kept their truck clean and the fridge wasn't even a year old! The repairman returned from his van with an air tank that looked like it was for scuba diving with a hose attached and proceeded to blow the dust out, and succeeded in shattering the plastic fan. "Well, I guess now it needs replaced!"

The repairman called in to apprise the warranty department of the situation, put his hand over the phone for a moment and told Joe he would have to wait two days to get his authorization number in order to be able to take the fridge to a Sears store for replacement. Well, this didn't go over well with Joe so the repairman handed the phone to him. The lady explained that this was company policy and Joe retorted that Sears sure didn't wait for two days for him to pay for the fridge the day he got it and put it in his truck!! Besides, were they willing to pay him $20 a meal for each of those two days since his warrantied fridge couldn't keep his groceries cold?? The repairman got back on the phone for a minute, hung up and told Joe where the nearest Sears was located and to go ahead there and return the fridge...it would be taken care of.

Joe bob-tailed over to Sears, grabbed the fridge and hiked across the parking lot, across the store, up the escalator to appliances. He was met by a man who said, "Oh! You're here! You almost beat me here!" Apparently he was an area manager and he had a loaner fridge for Joe. Now Joe was getting a little frustrated. "You understand I drive a truck, and I can't be here to return this in two or three days?!" The manager said he did completely, and by the way, the loaner was brand new, still in the box, but he had one favor..."please call me when you get your authorization number."

Joe described how he hightailed it out of the store, lugging the new fridge and when his half-fingers slipped off the strap around the box he discovered the box had no bottom! He said he bear-hugged that fridge all the way to the truck!

Now, Joe is about six feet tall with a very southern accent, and is obviously a trucker. Just listening to him tell the story had us just cracking up!!

I wanted to share a few photos of some of the windmills here. I know a lot of people don't like them, but they just look so amazing when there are hundreds of them spread out through the field, just turning and turning....