Rolling along

Well, we've been pretty busy since the last post. After unloading in Tucson, AZ on Monday, we got a load offer for the next morning so we headed west to Yuma, AZ, which is about 12 miles from the California border. We drove through the Saguaro National Park which was beautiful. The Saguaro cacti were blooming.

We loaded Tuesday morning and headed to McAlester, Oklahoma near Oklahoma City with our government load. After unloading there on Wednesday afternoon we showered and just napped. Thursday, Panther asked if we would empty move to Memphis; they needed trucks there, so off we went.

Friday we picked up a load at Toshiba with two stops for delivery. One was Saturday morning in Louisville, KY and the other Saturday evening in a suburb of Chicago. The owner of the company met us to unload and it turns out he owns both of the stores where we were delivering. He was really nice even when he realized the distribution center had screwed up his orders (imagine that!). He unloaded the whole truck, sorted the copiers, copier parts and toners and put some back on the truck to go to his store in Chicago and we headed out. About an hour later he called...one copier on the truck needed to come back to Louisville, could we bring it. We told him we'd be happy to as long as he called Panther and booked it. About 20 minutes later we got the updated message to unload in Chicago and head back to Louisville for Sunday morning. Jim met us again and apologized but we explained that driving is what we do and we prefer a weekend in Louisville to a weekend in Chicago anyway!

After the unload, we headed out to do some errands. These two dogs seem to think we should feed them everyday so we found a Pet Smart and then headed to the AT&T store so I could upgrade my phone. I got the Samsung Infuse and love it! It seemed huge at first but I love being able to see it! Also the larger screen is great for typing.

Next we found a Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch, trivia and cold brews. ummmm After that we walked to the movie theater to see Pirates of the Caribbean 4 (not 3D). I loved it!

Back to the truck stop for some TV and sleep. Monday morning gave me time to do laundry (not at Mom's house!) and then we got a load offer and we headed southeast to Corbin, KY to pick up a turbo for a train engine at CSX. We took it to another train yard, BNSF, in Barstow, CA. I never again want to hear their commercials about "moving a ton of freight with a gallon of fuel" when they can't even deliver their own stuff!! LOL



Anyway, we delivered 5 hours early this morning, had a good breakfast and Dana is sleeping so I'm trying to be quiet. Yes, it is difficult! We are hoping to get home by the weekend because we have eye doctor appointments on Monday and dentist appointments on Tuesday, but we just couldn't turn down 2100 miles! We just might have to reschedule. Anyway, wishing everyone a great week and I'll see you next time!

Back by popular demand....

I've had several requests to bring the blog back....so here we go. It's been over a year since I've written and A LOT has happened! We moved from our house in Dresden to an apartment in New Concord (with a great landlord, btw). We left our original truck owners due to lack of maintenance on the trucks...or rather deeeelaaayed maintenance. We went with another owner whose driver manager totally misrepresented how they work. Worse than anything, they micro-managed and any of you that know Dana and I know that went over like a lead balloon!! Finally in January we sign on with a large fleet and have been happily rolling along. We had to adjust to a smaller sleeper, but I wouldn't trade this Kenworth!

Also, as most of you know, our son Alex (or Xander) married a charming young woman, Bailey, last December. We have happily welcomed her to our crazy family! She and Alex are finishing their degrees at OU in Athens.

Last Memorial day weekend we had a scare with Sosa...he blew a disc in his back and was paralyzed from the middle of his back through his hind quarters. We drove from El Paso to get him to our vet who first offered back surgery at OSU for $5000 (eek). Then he said we could try steroids. So he spent the weekend in the vet hospital with IV steroids and continued oral steroids for another month and has recovered about 95%. He is no longer allowed to jump out of the truck (even though he tries) and we are so happy to still have him.

Zeke continues to be his ornery self. He now puts himself in the corner if he gets into something he shouldn't. It is so hard to stay mad when you see him sitting in the corner of the truck facing the wall so he doesn't have to look at you!!

We had a long weekend in Arizona last fall and visited the Grand Canyon. All I can say is you have to go! We want to go back and spend several days.

Most recently we got to spend an awesome weekend visiting my parents and my brother, sister-in-law and niece in Florida. We had to run a short run from Orlando to Tampa in the middle, but we still had a great time.

Around all of this, we do work! We've run lots and lots of good loads and some no-so-good loads. We are currently in Tucson, AZ waiting to unload tomorrow. I'll try to get on here once a week or so and of course will continue the quick updates on Facebook. See ya'll down the road!!

Loaded in Orangeburg SC and heading to Andersonville TN. We've done this run before. Glad to leave behind the tree pollen...our truck is yellow! Truck wash!

Still on the road...

Just thought I'd post a link to some pics I just took. I update Facebook quite often about where we are, so check it out. It links here to the blog, but isn't always up to date. Anyway...check out these photos. http://picasaweb.google.com/crisclark2008/ColumbiaSC04032010?feat=directlink

Hello all! Sorry about the lack of posts. I've pretty much moved over to Facebook. At least for the time being. So join FB & add me as a friend!

Unloaded this morning...finally. At Mom & Dad's. Saw Grandma for a few...she looks FABULOUS!

HELLO FLORIDA!! =)

Trying to get mobile blogging to work so my "followers" can keep up with us.

Southern California

We delivered our load finally late Friday evening. We were offered a load for Monday so we made hotel reservations for the weekend. We drove to Oxnard to the same hotel we stayed in last year and checked into our room...two doors down from last year! We got something to eat at IHOP and then crashed for a great night's sleep.

Saturday we walked next door to the market for cold beverages and just relaxed all afternoon. Then Uncle Robert and Uncle John picked us up for dinner at the Scotch & Sirloin. Great company, great food. After dinner we enjoyed a drink in our room before they had to leave. We decided since it was only a week different from our visit last year, we should make this an annual event!

Our hotel.

Love the beautiful scenery.

We ran a short run from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar to Marine Corps Air Station North Island and then headed 120 miles north to the truck stop (very few and far between here). Tuesday we got a load and headed 40 miles to East LA to pick up the load and some woman hit the truck trying to pass me on the right as I went through an intersection...no damage to me but she caught her rear bumper on a lug nut on the front tire. It took the cops over 2 hours to show up to do the report. We were only 2 blocks from the shipper and when we finally got there, there was no load for us...they had one going somewhere else and it took 4 1/2 hours for somebody to finally decide we were getting nothing. So we drove 1 1/2 hours back to the truck stop and got one of the last open spaces.

So now we are waiting to get out of California and head toward home for my doc's appointment next week and Christmas with Alex. A truck driver apparently picked up some hitchhikers last night at our truck stop and they killed him in his truck on the on-ramp to the highway. TIME TO GO!!!

Here we are again

So, we had a week off during Thanksgiving, which we didn't actually celebrate this year. Got Alex moved out of the dorm, had a better than expected doctor visit and got to see lots of friends. We left Sunday night for a Monday morning pickup in Haymarket, VA and then headed out to Utah.

Dana hit some really snowy driving during the night going through Wyoming. After we delivered in Utah, we drove another hour, loaded up again and headed for Camp Pendleton, CA.

After delivering in CA, we immediately loaded again and headed for San Antonio. I was so excited....my very best girlfriend, MaryAnn lives there and we haven't seen each other in five years. We made it almost to Las Cruces, NM when the highway patrol began stopping traffic. Not only was there snow and ice covering the road, but there was also a truck jack-knifed. We ended up sitting on the highway for six long hours. I was asleep when we got there, so I slept a little longer and then got up and Dana went to bed. Of course we alerted the company, because our load was not going to get delivered on time but was listed as a "hot-shot" and must be delivered on Friday the 4th.

When we finally started moving we alerted dispatch and they assured us the customer knew and we were to be careful but get there as soon as we could. We arrived about 10:15 pm local time (original delivery was 8 pm) and were informed that receiving closes at 5. Not happy at this point. We spent 3 hours waiting for someone to figure out what they were going to do with us and finally were released to go to a truckstop for the night and return in the morning. And imagine this...when we arrived they said they didn't think they were unloading that morning. Dana started to get an attitude and one girl finally came over to unload us.

So, finally we headed to San Antonio and tried to get an oil change only to find that the last place that changed it had messed up the oil plug and they couldn't get it out. We decided to keep the oil issue until Monday and since we were about out of hours, we checked into a hotel for the weekend.

After a much needed shower, MaryAnn picked us up and we headed out for fabulous mexican food. Mom, La Hacienda reminded me of Abuelo's! Then we headed to her house, saw the kids and met the dogs.

On Sunday, she picked me up and we headed out to find me a new pair of boots. Found a great pair really quickly. Here they are:

We had lunch at "Dum Hoes" (hee hee) and some more shopping. Then we picked up Zeke and took him to meet his cousins, Tony and Fannie Mae. He had a blast running around their back yard and chasing and being chased.
The next day Mikey joined us for lunch. We had delicious Texas BBQ.

Now we're headed to Nogales, AZ. Had a great time guys! Love ya! Hope to see you again soon!

AARRGGHHH

This stupid aircard is making me crazy!! I ordered a new one and hopefully will have issues resolved soon and can blog more often. However, if you miss me here, (I KNOW you are just dying to keep up, LOL) catch me on Facebook. I can easily update my status from my phone.



Anyway, where have we been and what have we been doing? This blog may not have my usual chronological order since it's been so long and I started writing it while at BW3s drinking and waiting for the OSU game to start. We got in around 4: 30 Saturday morning after leaving Eglin AFG, FL. We were hoping to meet our friends but it appears everyone has bailed on us!! Ah well. Last time I leave Florida for you guys!!



So, we left St. Paul, MN Thursday morning about 9 am and went to Eglin and back to Ohio by Saturday morning. Gotta love it!



About a week ago, we had a new camp site (Cap'n. Mejier's is very hospitable! Also open 24 hours with even easier access to restrooms. Might check them out more often. Super Targets look good too. We didn't do too badly this week....worked four days and made our weekly goal financially. Even paying our own fuel to come home wasn't too bad.



We picked up some chrome earlier this week from a shop that would make any man drool and delivered it to a Polaris plant. I had a beautiful drive through Minnesota the other day...took a lot of state routes, two lanes, through beautiful farms. It was hilly and winding...reminds me of southeastern Ohio.



I really didn't want to leave Florida Friday...it was sunny and 73 degrees. But, again, had to go to that doctor's appointment on today and then get Alex on tomorrow, so we'll just have to hit the beach next time.

Anyway, my BP was back down today...I really think last time it was incidental stress (worrying about getting recertified and sitting in the waiting room with hacking, sniffling, sick people for 2 hours past my appointment). I'm going back to see the doc over the Christmas break and get my physical done again...if I can keep the BP where it was today, I'll be able to get a two year certification.

So now I'm in Newark to catch up with some friends then we are going to see our tattoo artist's newest shop in New Philadelphia. Well, actually going to get some ink, it just happens that he will be in the new shop today! LOL

Plans for dinner with another great friend and his wife and son for Wednesday and then who knows. Should really call my sister....I'm pretty sure my nieces have not passed along my messages!

Everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'm thankful that I have a job I love, I spend everyday with my best friend and my family is healthy.

Cornhusker Country

Well, we're back in Nebraska for the second weekend in a row. Since my last post we've done a bit of travelling. LOL I'm also dealing with aircard issues. Anyway, let's see if I can get caught up. As of the last post, we were in Oregon and had delivered and had some great local seafood. From there we headed to Sunnyside, Washington to pick up 7700 pounds of frozen raspberry puree to take to Chicago. Forty hours later we delivered still frozen product. Dana drove through our first snow coming out of Idaho into Montana. There is one place on the highway where trucks must only drive 35 mph because of the steep decline down the mountain. As it was also snowing he used the engine brake to slow the truck down. I happened to be asleep, but on my side and apparently near the edge of the bed and almost rolled right out!! Had to grab the table to hang on!! That was a wake up call! LOL

After delivering in Chicago, we headed to Rockford, IL to pick up 3 pallets of stuff used to make rubber. We delivered it 12 hours later to Goodyear Tire in Norfolk, NE. Norfolk happens to be the hometown of the late great Johnny Carson. We drove down Johnny Carson Boulevard.

We spent Halloween weekend in York, NE, the nearest Idleaire location and watched a lot of football. On Sunday we headed to Oklahoma to pick up a military load going to Arkansas. Kinda weird to drive over 500 miles to pick up a load only going 108, but they paid.

Once again, there was some paperwork confusion and it took over four hours for them to get our truck loaded. The directions we were given to the consignee were COMPLETELY wrong and thankfully the soldiers were kind enough to wait on us and unload us so we wouldn't have to wait until the next day.

Later that night we picked up a load of paint in Little Rock, Arkansas and headed to Mobile, Alabama. The paint was for a ship and goes on the hull below the water line and helps prevent the growth of "critters." It was cool going into the shipyard. Unfortunately we weren't allow to take any pictures.

By this time we were both pretty tired so we just slept and watched TV te rest of Tuesday. On Wednesday, we headed for a PetSmart to get dogfood and then found a place called Felix's Fish Camp Grill. It sits next to the water and was FABULOUS!! We started out with sauteed crab claws:

After lunch we went over to see the USS Alabama. We decided not to take the tour because it was such a beautiful day outside.

We soon got a load offer and headed to Garyville, Louisiana to pick it up. We saw a lot of Katrina damage still in New Orleans but also saw a lot of repair and rebuilding. We picked up one barrel of some kind of corrosive and headed to Nebraska. We delivered the barrel two hours early to Tyson Hide and Tanning facility. Did you know Tyson also does beef?? I didn't but apparently they do and I watched cow hides moving around on the hooks inside the factory.

So here we are back in York, NE. We figure we'll be here until Monday. Thanks for checking in!

Pacific Northwest

We rested up in Utah secure hold and unloaded Monday morning and headed to Hawthorne, Nevada. We spent another night in secure hold and unloaded around noon Tuesday (eastern time). We were the only truck in the area with only one load out a day so we headed to Sparks, which is outside Reno to refuel and shower. We were almost there (about 100 miles) when we got a load offer to pick up the next afternoon back in Hawthorne! We accepted but went on to Sparks.

The Alamo truck stop is not a bad place to have to hang out. It's a casino, truck stop, restaurant, bar. We met some really fun people and hung out til way too late! The next afternoon we headed back to Hawthorne and loaded up to head to Oregon.

We made it to Clackamas, Oregon for an early morning (pacific time) delivery only to find that there had been some miscommunication regarding the destination and we really needed to go another 100 miles northwest to Warrenton, Oregon, which was on the coast, in the corner of the ocean and the Columbia River. It took about 2 1/2 hours to get the paperwork straightened out and then we headed north. It was a beautiful drive....the pines, the river, even the fog.

We unloaded at the Army National Guard unit and asked the sargeant where to get fresh seafood. He recommended a place called Bell Bouy. It was a really tiny, simple place, but was FABULOUS. They own a small cannery, next door is a retail outlet for fresh and smoked salmon, etc., and then next to that is the little eatery. Each order is prepared individually after requested. We had a whole dungeness crab, prawns, and the best clam chowder ever!

We spent the weekend at a truckstop in Portland. We accepted a job Friday that was picking up in southern Washington this afternoon and going to Chicago. We got to watch the Buckeyes win Saturday, met some fun people that work for Atlas moving. I learned that movers call themselves "bedbuggers." I really don't think I could refer to myself as that!!

We loaded up today with 7400 pounds of frozen raspberry puree and are headed to Chicago to deliver Wednesday morning.

Here we are

So, after NC, we got a load offer to Groveport, just outside Columbus and took it. I needed to get a physical anyway, so it worked out. We got to meet our friends Dave and Bev at Garfields. It was great getting to see them again. Going from every Friday night to once a month at best has not been fun! Miss you guys!

We spent the weekend doing the usual..laundry, clean the truck, groceries. We got a load offer Monday picking up in Indian Head, MD and going to Long Island. They made sure to call us as they knew if we just saw that we would turn it down, but they already had another load for us, picking up just north of Philadelphia and going to Reno, NV with stops in Indiana and Utah along the way.

So we got ready to leave Monday afternoon and found that someone had stolen our brand new GPS out of the truck while in our driveway! It has truck routing and we had only had it about a week! Muskingum County Sheriff's office won't do a report over the phone and we had to get on the road, but they said there was no time limit. Can't file an insurance claim until I get the report made and who knows when we'll get home with time to do the report. We drove through Zville on the way to Indiana but couldn't take long enough to wait for a deputy to come out.

Anyway, we delivered in Indiana Friday morning and then headed west. We'll get to Utah tonight and stay until Monday and then head to Nevada. We never get to stay long enough to go to any casinos; maybe this time!

Moving Along

We got the laundry finished on Sunday while talking to a driver from Columbus. After that, we moved down to a Walmart about three miles from our shipper. We walked to a chinese buffet and then settled in for the night. "Camping at Walmart!" The sunset was beautiful! Take a look:The next morning before we left to pick up our load, we got an offer to run escort for another truck going to North Carolina on Tuesday afternoon and we agreed. We delivered our load to Toyota in Georgetown, KY Monday night and headed to a truck stop for the night. Tuesday morning we slept late, showered and headed to the pick up to meet the other truck. As soon as we got there we found out the load was really supposed to be scheduled for Wednesday so we agreed to a layover.

We followed the other team to the closest truck stop and spent some just chatting with them. We got another good night's sleep, this time with the windows open...the autumn air was beautiful! Here's a look at the trucker's sunrise:

We are now on our way to NC and should be there in the wee hours. Dana's driving and I'm headed to bed. Check in later for more or follow us on Facebook!

Middle America

Well, we've not done too bad since we hit the road again. Tennessee, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Missouri. No long runs, but enough to keep us occupied and mostly out of trouble.

It was soooo cold in Nebraska....rainy, in the low 50's and wind gusts up to 50 mph. We were glad for the last load of almost 8000 pounds...it helped keep the truck on the road! We spent Thursday night parked outside Omaha and walked a couple of blocks in the freezing cold to a hotel pub. We only spent a couple of hours there, but met some fun people. A driver named Jay asked where we were parked and when he found out we were in the same lot he was, he decided he was walking back with us so he wouldn't get lost! Along the way, we stopped at a convenience store to buy Powerball tickets and he decided a cold beer would be good for the walk....silly boy!! LOL Anyway, we all made it back to our trucks; we were parked two trucks over from his.

Right now we are outside St. Louis and have a job for Monday going to Kentucky. We were hoping to see the Buckeye game, but the stupid BigTen network has it so we won't be able to. Oh well. At least the team up north lost today!!!

Tomorrow is laundry day. So fun....stay tuned or get updates on Facebook. I LOVE my new phone...I can send updates to Facebook with it.

Ready to roll again

We ran from St. Louis to western North Carolina and then moved to Knoxville TN for a weekend with Idleaire. The truck was running pretty rough and losing power so we took it to our owner's house on Monday to see about getting some repairs. They already had one truck in the garage, so we stayed Monday night and Tuesday night at a hotel trying to find a rental car. We were in Dickson, about 40 miles west of Nashville and there wasn't a rental available until Wednesday. Once we got the car, we headed home to check on the house. After a short visit there, we headed back to Tennessee.

So now we are finally back in service, sitting in Nashville, waiting for a load out. And now ya'll are caught up!!

Moving on

Well, we decided to rent a car to get around St. Louis. We headed over to the Riverfront and couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. It was in the low 80's with slight breeze and lots of sunshine.

We got our tickets to go to the top of the arch and got in line and then I saw the capsules we would ride up in...those of you who know me well, know that I am not a fan of amusement park rides and that's just what I thought of when I saw the capsule! LOL Anyway, we walked downstairs and lined up and joined three other people in the capsule and headed up. It was a little unnerving, but not too awfully bad. It was worth the ride!! If you've never been there and get the chance, you really should go. I took some great pictures and will get them uploaded today. Here's a picture of a group in the capsule waiting to go up:

After we got back down to the ground we watched a film of the building of the arch. I enjoyed it much more than I thought. It was wild watching those men work to build the arch over 600 feet in the air without wearing safety helmets or even hard hats!! And then to find out no one died during the almost three year project...it was just surprising.

We ate lunch at a little place called Sundeckers. We sat out on the patio and just enjoyed the beautiful weather. This place makes the best burgers and they have a condiment bar so you can "dress" it yourself. Kinda fun.

We went back to let the puppies out and Dana decided to stay with them while I went grocery shopping. We also needed a new air mattress...ours finally died. I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did with the dogs jumping on it all the time! LOL Carmen the Garmin and I set out for Walmart. I got there and found it wasn't a super center, but there was a grocery store next door, so I figured we'd be ok, but when I got inside, I found them in the middle of a remodel which meant their stock was way low and they didn't have half of what I needed so Carmen and I headed out to another Walmart.

After shopping, we decided to head out for dinner. We knew we were going to take the truck for an oil change the next day, so we headed in that direction to scope it out and found a FABULOUS mexican restaurant named Zapata's. OMG it was SOOOO GOOOD. Here's Dana enjoying margaritas:

The next morning I returned the car and we got the oil changed and the truck washed, got something to eat and got a load offer. We drove up near Springfield, IL to load and headed to Weaverville, NC, just north of Asheville. We delivered that load this morning and are now in Knoxville, TN. Monday morning we're driving to Dickson, TN to our owner's house to get the truck checked out because it still isn't running right.

Stay tuned.....

Californication

We finally got our fuel filter and it helped a little, but we think we got some bad fuel; we kept having issues off and on. We made it to China Lake and unloaded early and headed back to Barstow to a truckstop with Idleaire. We had a great breakfast and just got settled in for a nap when we got another load and needed to leave right away.

We drove to Santa Clarita, got loaded and headed out to Long Island, NY. Dana was so tired, since he drives the night shift and hadn't really gotten any sleep. We made it through the night and began looking at our logs and realized we wouldn't have enough hours available to take the load to NY. We calculated how long we could drive and how far in that time and called dispatch to alert them. They were a little surprised to get notice almost 24 hours in advance and we made arrangements to head to a UPS Freight location to made the swap. Later in the day, we got a call from the other team. They were ready to meet up and head out, but I explained we were still in New Mexico and we would be there in the morning.

Well, we finally made it to St. Louis and unloaded the truck. Immediately, the truck died thanks to the lousy fuel. After about an hour, we got her started again and headed to the truck stop. We made it through the fuel line and into a spot with Idleaire and we are now just chillin'. We hope to go see the arch tomorrow. We can see the top of it from here. I'll add a slide show of some pictures we took going through the desert.

Apparently I'm getting lazy...

Sometimes I just don't feel like writing. We left Florida and headed to Tennessee to get work done on the truck at our owner's house. We delivered our load to Alabama and immediately got another going to Mississippi...not exactly where we needed to go, but not way out of the way either. We accepted, had breakfast, got a nap and were just getting ready to pull out when the load cancelled. We headed to the other side of Birmingham to a truckstop with Idleaire and ended up spending the weekend. Monday afternoon, just when we were getting ready to deadhead to Tennessee and we got an offer to go to Fort Knox on a government load so we delayed the visit to TN by a day.






We got to Robert and Mary's house on Wednesday to find five other trucks there needing work. We got everything done and met some of the other drivers and then headed home. After a seven hour drive we were finally home. Dana had to renew his driver's license which meant he had to take the HazMat test again. We got Alex moved back to Athens and then Dana got his birthday present...a new tattoo. Here's a picture:



We then spent a lot of time cleaning the truck and getting all of the laundry done. My sincerest apologies to my aunt and uncles....we didn't make the trip north. We were exhausted and needed to catch up at home. We also spent some time with Dana's parents...we had a nice visit and dinner with them.

Tuesday brought a load offer, picking up near Pittsburgh and going to Cincinnati. We were taking the second half of the load and the other driver was four hours late getting there. It was so annoying. He actually went past the exit and was in Ohio before anyone noticed and got him to turn around. From there we went to Wright Patterson and waited for about 3 hours to find our next load wasn't going to make it that day so we hit a truck stop and returned the next morning. It took most of the day, but eventually we got loaded and headed to Indiana late that night to deliver the next morning. After unloading we headed right back to WPAFB to load again, this time going to California. So, now you are caught up....we are sitting in Albequerque trying to get a new fuel filter and are scheduled to deliver Monday morning.

Last time we were in CA, it took a week to get back out....let's hope it's not that long this time!