Baby Sopie Pics

Here's baby Sophie pictures. Congratulations to Scott, Jennie and Hunter !!! Isn't she beautiful !!! Mom and baby are doing fine.

Nuff said for today...

Way Behind...

I know I'm way behind, it's Thursday evening and I'll try to catch up. We had a great brunch with Andrea and Tracie in Champaign and then continued on to Ohio. Monday we stopped at Tamarack, WV for Teresa to get her eye candie. Lovin' every minute of it. Then it started raining and raining and raining. We were headed for North Carolina and it rained the whole way. I figured if we weren't going to be able to get out of the truck so we used some of our timeshare points and stayed st the Sheraton in Greensboro, NC. Nice room on the 26th floor.

You think our truck was lonely ?

Since it was the end of the holiday weekend the place was empty. We had the run of it. Pool and hot tub. All alone - ooh la la. We had a very nice evening and free breakfast then headed for Browns Summit 20 miles away. Dropped our trailer and picked up an empty and headed to Eden, NC to pick up a load of Miller beer headed to Camp Hill, PA. I noticed that the delivery was for 5/28 and we would be there by 5/27 so I coerced Cathie, my DBL, to let us drop the beer at the OC in Carlisle and give us another load.

We stopped at a rest area on I81 in WV 5/26 and about 0400 5/27 the next w/a came in. It was a relay in Carlisle, good so far. The deliver was for 0630 in New Jersey. Oh, I forgot, during the day on 5/26 they asked, potentially, when we could deliver and I had said 5/27 1400.

Obviously there's a conflict there. Del for 0630 and I say 1400. I figured they had worked all of the kinks out. Nope. We got there at 1300 and they said no way, Jose. So we had to sit on it until this 0730 this morning.

Oh well, we got our walks in, found a Belgian Waffle maker ( for Grandma, not for her to use, for me to use and makes waffle for her!!!). We had a great Lasagna and Con Pollo pizza for dinner at a quaint Italian place Stephano's in Piscataway, NJ. We don't suffer much.

We did suffer this morning after delivering in Somerset, NJ. Our next w/a was to pick up at the Jersey City docks at 1001 this morning. I missed the turn twice and had to hit the I78 tollway twice, and had to back out of the toll plaza (it wasn't EZPass) But we made it at 0958.

We're enroute to Alachua, FL. Got through NJ, DE, MD and we're just north of Richmond, VA now. Showered and Blizzarded. Is that a word ? The Pilot has a DQ in it. That's a first, and it has chocolate ice cream.

By the way, except for a brief period yesterday afternoon it has been raining/misting since Monday. Still was when we stopped, but it looks like the sun is trying to break through now.

I'm caught up now and 8 days left on the road till Las Vegas.

Headed for Browns Summit, NC

Our live load in La Porte, TX was Red Bull. As drivers we're not supposed to talk about our loads much especially when they are high value. On this load I had to participate in a conference call to learn that we HAD to be able to make the PU and DEL on time and that we would be able to drive on from the PU for 150 miles without stopping. They really value their Red Bull.

After delivering in Aubrey we headed over to Grapevine and picked up a loaded trailer for Target and dropped it at the Dallas, OC and then jumped under a load of filter cartridges headed for West Branch, IA. We spent the night at the Downstream casino. That's the one on the borders of OK, MO and KS. Played a little Texas Hold'em. Lost a hand of trip 7s and lost a flush hand. I did win a few though, could have been better.

We dropped the load in West Branch yesterday afternoon and picked up another at the same place and are headed to Browns Summit, NC. This will take us east on I74 through Champaign this morning so we'll have lunch with Tracie and Andrea, maybe Josh too, but he works on Sundays so we'll see.

Nice to be out of the Texas heat, but the nats are crazy up here.

12 days till Vegas.

Scott and Jennie were scheduled to deliver Sophie on Friday. Turned out they were out of beds so they told them to wait. Then noon came and the doctor wanted to wait till after the weekend. Course that's OK with him, he's not carrying the baby!!! So they waited and waited. Deborah, Scott's mom, flew out from Monterye so she could be there and was planning to leave on Monday maybe Tuesday. Looked like she might miss Sophie. Sophie decided to come yesterday. Congratulations to Scott and Jennie. Now, the big question is; will they all feel good enough to come show her off in Las Vegas in two weeks? Soon as I get a picture, I'll post it.

Hot in Texas

We enjoyed our morning in Sulphur Springs, TX. Pleasant weather long walk. No TV signal. Can you believe it. Teresa watched the entire season of DWTS and saw the final dancing on Monday night, then with no signal in Sulphur Springs she didn't get to see the final episode Tuesday night. Of course she read all about it Wednesday morning, but that's not quite the same. She even went into the Pilot to see if she could watch it there but they did not get ABC,
Oh well, she's still with me, take more than that to knock Mrs. Boss off the truck. Thank goodness for me.

We left about 1000 with what I figured was plenty of time to travel 60 miles to Hawkins to pick up our load of water. Well, I got lost. No, not a little lost, real lost. Not like in downtown Chicago where you might be off a block or two, but like twenty miles. Don't give me any crap, I even stopped and asked for directions TWICE. They didn't help a lot as there were no places to turn the big orange thing around.

Of course in the meantime I'm getting anxious about potentially missing my 2000 delivery in Houston. Sometime enroute to Houston we got our next w/a, which I'll cover in a minute. We made it to Houston and were about 2 miles away and the railroad crossing we had to go through was messing up. No trains but the lights were going off and the bars were down. Drivers were going through and under. But if you're a truck driver that can be a real career ending move, even if it doesn't look like there are any trains. Needless to say we did not mess with it, rather wormed our way around and arrived at 1930 and were unloaded by 2030.

Back to our next w/a, it was a live load in La Porte, TX. We were on the NW edge of Houston and La Porte is on the SE edge of Houston actually about 35 miles away. We were supposed to be there at 0800 and I needed fuel. Since we arrived at 1930 and stayed on their property we were able to leave at 0530 this morning and get across town and get fuel and arrive by 0730. Technically, I'm not sure how they would have calculated that pickup for us since only by creative logging could we have made it. But we did.

We're at the Dallas OC for the evening and will head out at 0600 to cross Dallas and deliver in Aubrey, TX

Got a text from Scott yesterday that "Friday is baby day."

On the road again

We had a great TAH for four days. Had some rain, some great spring weather, got some golfing in, and of course more than a little sewing. Got a few naps in, some yard chores and really enjoyed Grandma and Grandpa. Very enjoyable days off.

Joe and Beth came home from Branson Monday afternoon so we were able to spend some time with them too. Now we're back on the road for 17 days then off to Las Vegas for 5 days. Seems like a pretty good schedule to Teresa and myself.

Still no baby from Scott and Jennie. Jennie's having a baby girl and already she's proving out her character - she will arrive when she's darn ready.

We're back at it. Yesterday we picked up an empty trailer in OKC and dropped it in Tulsa at the Whirlpool factory and picked up a load of appliances. We dropped it at the Lowes D/C in Mt. Vernon, TX. When we arrived we had to wait for 30 minutes. Their computers had gone down. Can you believe it, computers crashing ???

We treked on over to the Pilot in Sulphur Springs, TX to fuel up and shower. Our next w/a has us picking up a load of water in Hawkins, TX and delivering in Houston tonight at 2000. We'll leave here around 1000 and head for the shipper. That gives us ample time to enjoy our morning.

We Made it Home

Wednesday we delivered about 1030 and waited for our get-us-home work assignment. Then we waited some more. Then we took a walk for 30 minutes. We were sitting about 340 miles from our home base. That's a bit too far to deadhead or bobtail and no loads were going west out of Little Rock. We were getting ready to go eat lunch and then our next w/a came. It always happens that way; try to take a nap or plan to do something else and the w/a will arrive.

We headed east 140 miles to W. Memphis to pick up a relay load headed to Dollar General in Ardmore, OK 450 miles west. We delivered Thursday at 1145, 30 minutes early and bobtailed back to the drop lot in OKC.

We got to Grandma's yesterday about 1500 and chatted and opened mail. Grandpa took us out to Enrique's for dinner. He sure likes to spoil us when we're home. Mrs. Boss has breakfasts and dinners planned for the next four days, Belgian waffles for breakfast today and grilled salmon for dinner tonight.

I guess I'll have to fit my golfing in between cooking sessions. Remember the buxom Kissing Bandit ? I have this idea; we pass enumerable golf courses in our travels and I'm thinking to bring 3 clubs and a putter and play one hole at as many courses as I can. Of course I'll have to safely park and "jump the fence" then play one hole and get back to the truck. Anyway if I get the courage to actually do it I'll be the Golfing Bandit. Seems like fun in my head, we'll see how it works in practice.

Not much else to report, just planning on resting up and recharging. We'll be back on the road Tuesday morning. Teresa got her appointments rescheduled for today (Friday) and Monday so it all worked out.

We're not giving up yet...

HEY, look at the bottom of the posts - the comments link is now green. I tried white but that obliterated something else.... that didn't take too long now did it ?

It's Wednesday morning and we're a long way from home. I'm pissed but Mrs. Boss is hanging in there.

We delivered our load in Burlington, WI and Teresa had the appearances of coming down with the flu, oh shoot!!! I pulled away headed for a drug store to get some Tylenol and our next w/a came in. Not quite what I was looking for. We're to head up north to Neenah, WI and pick up a load of printed cardboard to deliver around Little Rock, AR. Not real bad but after delivery we'll still be 300 miles from OKC.

Throughout the morning Teresa still felt pretty rough. No vomiting but fever and headache. A few more Tylenol. Tuesday morning she woke without the headache and fever. She's a trooper I tell ya.

We got a good start Tuesday from Bloomington, IL and stopped in at the Edwardsville OC for a couple of maintenance issues; leaking coolant and short in the lights. Got the short fixed and made sure my extra bottles of coolant were filled. While there I contacted my DBL to let her know we were in Edwardsville (suburb of St. Louis) in case there was a load we could swap with another driver and head closer to OKC. After a little rumination she decide there might be. Three hours later she realized they had had a communication snafu and that, no, it wasn't going to work. We wasted three hours waiting for them.

We're now in Neelyville, MO on the AR/MO border. The sun is coming up and we're still about 180 miles from our delivery and 300 miles from OKC. Yesterday my DBL had indicated that there were no loads out of Little Rock headed west, which was why I had tried for the swap in Edwardsville. Now we're not sure what's going to transpire today.

But I'm still pissed, over three weeks on the road and we're ready to head for the barn. Teresa has made some appointments for tomorrow so we're anxious to make it, but it doesn't look good at this point. I figue to be done by 1130 this morning. Best case is they bobtail us to OKC, that's what I'm shooting for, but you can't tell what they're shooting for.

Minesooota is soooo cold

We dropped our trailer in Sartell, MN yesterday about 1500 and inquired as to whether our load for the next day was ready. Security couldn't figure it out for sure so we left. Went to the mall in St. Cloud and wandered around, the place was packed. There must be something in the water there, seemed like everyone was carrying babies.

We rented "Australia" at the Red Box - $1 each. Very good movie. Think I'll start calling the Funny Lady - Mrs. Boss from now on.

Boy it was cold out last night, got down to 35 degrees. Had to add blankets and turn on the heater. I think we prefer the 100 degrees of Laredo.

The ride on down to Madison, WI was lush and beautiful, almost caught another deer.

We're spending the night in Janesville, WI which is about 50 miles from our consignee. We'll be on the road by 0700 and empty by 0900 and hopefully on our way enroute to OKC. With 3 days left we ought to be headed that way. I hope so, Mrs. Boss has made three appointments for Thursday.

Grand Rapids, MN

It's Friday afternoon and we're in Grand Rapids, MN. These are the headwaters of the great Mississippi river. Amazing to see the difference up here in Minnesooota, and what it looks like down in Missouri.

Wednesday we finished up in Kansas City, MO. Then dropped our trailer at another customer, picked up another trailer at a Schneider lot and headed south to Harrisonville, MO to pick up laundry products destined for Menard's in Eau Claire, WI. We dropped the trailer and our next w/a was coming through.

Another driver got stuck behind an accident in Chicago and couldn't finish his w/a. He dropped his trailer in Eau Claire and we picked it up. The load was to deliver to 3 Sears catalog stores in Minnesoooota. The first drop was for 0800 and in Virginia, MN, 230 miles away from Eau Claire. Had to leave at 0400 this morning in order to make it. We made all the deliveries on time and were finished by 1300 in Grand Rapids, MN. I had indicated that when we were finished we had only 1 hour left to run. Didn't really want to keep going.

There aren't any truck stops in the area so we checked into the Itascan hotel and walked into town. We took the Mississippi river pictures and wandered through downtown GR.




The Old Central School built in the 1890's was the site for the Welcome Anglers party. Tomorrow is the opening of the fishing season and the city is packed with fisher people and their boats.

There's the Funny Lady in front of the Blandin Foundation. It's an old philantropic organization providing grants, scholarships and community support in rural Minnesoooota.

We're done for Friday and 4 days left till TAH, we'll see what comes up tomorrow.

E. St. Louis, IL

Our truck likes the beach, too.

That's my Funny Lady walking along the beach.

She was able to throw some bread for the seagulls, they catch it in mid air.

We arrived in Atlanta about 0830. At this consignee you can only arrive one hour early for your appointed time. So we hit WalMart to get caught up on groceries. Teresa got a haircut. We're set now !!!

Dropped our trailer and waited for our next w/a. Nuttin honey. About an hour later we got it. The trailer should arrive in the early afternoon at the Atlanta OC so we headed over there. And waited and waited some more. The load has to be in Kansas City by 1000 on Thursday. We waited some more. Finally at 1700 it arrives. If you have ever seen traffic in Atlanta you will know we DID NOT go out at 1700. One other obstacle was - "where are we going to be so Teresa can see DWTS ? " So we stayed at the OC with the agreement that I could head out at 0500 both days. We covered 584 of 794 today, leaving 210 for tomorrow. Should be easy money for our AT appt of 1000. Still going to leave between 0500 and 0600 so as to miss traffic.

We're off to KC in the morning 7 days till TAH.

You were thinking Laredo ?

I'll bet you were thinking we're still in Laredo, TX, right ? Nope. We made it on time to the CN and got unloaded pretty quickly. We headed over to the OC there. Somewhere along the way I had lost a mud flap on the truck so I wanted it fixed. Teresa went in to start laundry while I went to the shop. I noticed the thermometer INSIDE the shop indicated 100 degrees. They replaced the flap and replaced 1 tire pretty quickly. We showered and ate a Hormel Roast Pork and vegetables dinner. Very good.

While at the shop our next w/a came in... pick up a trailer there at the OC and drop in Atlanta, GA Monday at 1100.

Since it was so hot we bobtailed up to the Pilot with IdleAire and ran their A/C for a couple of hours till it cooled down outside, which it seems to do pretty quickly. Must be the desert air.

Friday night we saw a border patrol capturing a "runner" coming over the fence along I35. Saturday we saw a hawk swoop down and grab what looked like a 6 foot long snake. Since we were in rattlesnake country we're assuming it was one.

Saturday we bobtailed back and picked up the trailer load of appliances and headed out. The route was the reverse of our route down to Laredo. Made it Lake Charles, LA.

Sunday we had to make tracks as we planned to spend some time on the beach in Biloxi/Gulfport, MS, very nice, not too hot yet. Got some pictures, but I forgot the camera this morning. I'll catch up. We covered 600 miles. Teresa got to watch "Amazing Race." Next week is the finals.

We didn't get any rain, little mist here and there. Apparently there had been some big storms ahead of us. When we got to LaGrange, GA we were planning on eating and showering but all the power was out. Cereal for dinner and no shower !!!

We'll make it to Atlanta by 1000 this morning. After dropping we'll only have 6 driving ours left for the day so. Not sure how that will effect our next w/a.

10 days left to TAH. Turns out Joe and Beth will be in Branson that week so we won't see them, hope they'll still let us stay at their place.