Catching up

Well, I guess we need to catch you up on the last week!!

We delivered the load Monday morning in Wyoming and moved to a truck stop 5 miles away to sit out the blizzard. We didn't get much snow...or the wind blew it away, but the winds were intense!! The truck rocked so much it woke us up once during the night. All the trucks in the truck stop were rocking. All interstates around us were closed due to the high winds so nobody was going anywhere!

We got a load offer late Tuesday afternoon going from Denver to Tempe. We IMMEDIATELY said yes!! Going southwest was the only way to avoid the storm we were just in that was moving east as well as the new storm coming in from the west.

We delivered in Tempe Wednesday and found a place to park and enjoy the 80 degree weather. There was a constant breeze, so it wasn't hot. Thursday night we left Phoenix heading to Las Vegas!! Whoo hoo!! Oh wait...we only have time to load and leave again. No time to enjoy our first trip to Vegas!

The load was going to the convention center in San Jose, CA and that place was a total cluster!!! They had so many trucks trying to get in to deliver and they were not very well organized, but we finally got out and headed south miles to the nearest fuel. We had made the trip from Phoenix to Vegas to San Jose in 16 hours with only 2 very short bathroom breaks because the delivery time was booked so tight.

The rest of the day yesterday was tough. We were in Oakland and they had services for 2 of the 4 police officers killed last week. On our way east to the area we were asked to move to after delivery, we saw hundreds of officers heading to the services. Every overpass (and there are a lot of them) had fire engines and firefighters showing their respect. It made us think even more about all of our friends and family who volunteer every day to protect and defend our freedom and the risk they take.

After we made it out east a bit, we had some lunch, got ready to take a nap and got a load offer picking up in San Francisco. So, we headed west towards Oakland again to get to SF. The day then got even harder. As we crested a hill, we saw there was no regular traffic going the opposite way and then saw the band of headlights. We slowed and watched the procession for the fallen officers, crying the entire time. We passed under the fire trucks flying the American flag as well. Emotionally, this was an exhausting day.

On we drove to SF and enjoyed the beauty of that city! We crossed the Oakland Bay bridge and could see the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz as we drove.

So, we are now outside Sacramento (Governator, where are you?) and getting ready to head to Missoula, Montana to deliver Monday morning. We really hate to leave this beautiful weather!! Even the dogs are happier!

Stay tuned....we'll update you later and I'll try not to wait a week! We'll be going through Reno, NV and may go through Utah since we have time and it's the only state in this area that we haven't visited. We counted yesterday and I believe in the last five months we've been to 38 states and 6 Canadian provinces. Not bad!

Wyoming

Well, we had an uneventful drive to Wyoming and arrived yesterday afternoon. We took our time and enjoyed good weather along the way. They checked us onto the base and we are waiting to unload tomorrow morning.

It's really pretty here...although still brown. It's been in the upper 60's and sunny. The coolest thing are the herds of antelope that roam around and come fairly close.

Meanwhile, guess what! There is a blizzard warning for this area for tomorrow!! We already have another load....picking up in Aurora, CO, about 2 hours south of us and going to South Dakota. We're hoping to get to Aurora and get loaded before the weather gets too back, but if this storm actually comes in as predicted, we'll probably end up sitting at a truck stop at least until Tuesday before being able to head north. There are barriers at several exits along the highway to close it for snow and that will probably happen.

Sooo, check back and see what happens next on...The Adventures of Badger Belly and Weasel Head!!!!

North, south, west....

Howdy all! Happy Spring tomorrow at 0644!! We delivered last week to Alabama, moved to Tennessee and then back to Alabama. We headed home over the weekend so I could go to the eye doctor for the annual check up and then picked up a load in Newark going back to Alabama. It really is so beautiful in the south....spring hits a bit sooner than it does in Ohio.



We delivered this morning and headed to Tennessee at the company's request and were almost there when we got a call to turn around and go back to our delivery point for a pick up! LOL Up and down I-59!!



We're now headed to Wyoming with a Monday delivery time. We'll get to take a couple of states off our "not visited" list.



Wanted to share this picture of Zeke anxiously waiting to leave home again this week:



Hope someone is reading this blog....LOL (Mom, I know you are, thank you!)
Stay tuned and the rest of you...drop an email occasionally!!

Spring Fever

We are sitting in Tennessee waiting for a load. We left WV monday morning and delivered early Tuesday morning just south of Chicago. We were finally able to get the oil changed and then headed to Indiana to get a load going to Huntsville, Alabama. It was so warm driving all night. The weather is so weird....and we are so glad they didn't send us to Canada or North or South Dakota!!!

There is hope, my northern friends...spring is on the way! The redbuds are blooming as is the forsythia here in TN. And the maintenance man was mowing the grass at a rest area today, so all of this good stuff should be happing in the next few weeks in Ohio.

We hope to get a good night's sleep tonight and head out again tomorrow. Stay tuned....

Getting caught up

We left PA with a load to Cincinnati and plenty of time so we took the opportunity to stop at home to get mail and take a shower. Sosa and Zeke love running in their own backyard! They are so funny...especially Zeke. He spazzes out running full speed around the yard, into the house, through the house and back outside!!



We arrived in Cincy 0330 and slept until 0700 when we could unload and then found a WalMart to park and sleep some more. After breakfast, we were just settling down when we got a load offer going from Cincy to Hartford, CT and then immediately got a load offer going from Hartford, CT to Altoona, PA! What is funny is the load offers came from two different divisions and neither knew the other was giving us the offer. The timing was perfect so we accepted and headed out.

After delivering in Altoona, we needed to do a reset of our clocks (take 34 hours off) and we were less than 200 miles from home, so we hit the road to Dresden and got in Friday early evening. We got to meet our good friends, Dave and Bev, for drinks and catching up. On Saturday I drove to Athens to pick up Alex and his friend Bailey and brought them back to the house. Bailey's roommate Sarah drove up later and they all went to a show in Zville and spent the night at our house before heading back today. It was great to see him....we hadn't seen him since New Years. I'm doing the laundry now and we'll leave about 5 am for WV to pick up a load going to IL.

Hoping to have some photo ops soon with spring coming! Stay tuned!

Snow, snow, go away

We drove last night toward eastern PA and stopped about 30 miles out from our destination for about 4 hours of sleep. We awoke to snow...not a lot yet, but by the time we delivered, drove through western Philadelphia and out toward Reading, there was about 6 inches on the ground. The roads were awful; crews couldn't keep up with the snowfall and in several places there was ice underneath.

We are now parked at a service area on the PA turnpike waiting for a load and not real anxious to get moving. We're happy to wait for the roads to clear a little more. So, hope everyone is warm and dry and we'll be back soon.

OH, CANADA

Heading back out after a few days at home was good. We went to Cleveland to pick up a load going to Canada. This was one of the loooooooooonnnnnnnnnggggggggg clearances through the border. It took us about 3 hours to finally clear customs and head out to our delivery point. We left customs at 5 pm; our delivery time was 5 pm. Needless to say, that was changed! We were offered a load back out of Canada for about 9 pm which also had to be adjusted, but at least we were leaving Canada with a loaded truck (meaning we were getting paid) instead of leaving empty.

We headed to Port Huron, MI and thankfully went through customs with no issues at all. Amazing how sometimes it's a breeze and sometimes it's a major pain. I drove to a rest stop about 25 miles out from our delivery point and stopped for a 2 hour nap before moving on to deliver. At the delivery warehouse, I was met by a woman named Paris who was dressed more for the office but didn't hesitate to hop onto the forklift and unload my truck as three other women clocked in to work. It was empowering morning!! LOL Considering I interact mostly with men, it was refreshing! No offense, guys....trust me...you are generally more fun than women at work!!!

Next we hit a truckstop and slept for about 5 hours, got a good meal and napped the rest of the day. Early Friday evening we got offered a load picking up Saturday afternoon and not delivering until Monday morning in eastern Pennsylvania. So we took off Saturday and took a little longer route so we could stop by the house to sleep and get the mail.

Here we are...up to date....at home getting ready to move out again this afternoon. We'll drive to our destination and get some sleep before delivery tomorrow morning. Miss you all and hope to see you soon. Stay tuned.........