Slow Start

After Church on Sunday morning Pops and I went to Lowes and purchased some things we needed and then drove back to the rest area that we like.
We spent the rest of the day quietly and just relaxed.
On Monday morning we didn't yet have a load so I played with dogs outside. Then just after lunch we got a load. We had to drive the whole way across the state of Massachusetts to pick it up and it was going to Florida.
I began the drive and it was a sunny, typical Fall day. The leaves were past their prime but still looked pretty from a distance. The drive through the mountains was pretty awesome. I even saw an eagle soaring.
We reached our destination and got loaded. It was a government load so it was top secret and our truck was sealed and in addition a big combination lock was also placed on the doors. We didn't even know what we were hauling although we could come up with some pretty good guesses because we knew the destination. But really it didn't matter to us. It was just a load going far.
Pops drove all night and didn't stop to rest which turned out to be a bummer. Because we found out that instead of delivering this day our load wouldn't deliver until the next day and because of the nature of our load we were not allowed to stop for more than 2 hours at a time and someone had to be awake and in the front seat at all times.
But by the time we found this out we were only 7 hours or about 420 miles from our delivery and we had 19 hours until we would be permitted onto the site. So we did the only thing we were allowed to do....drive for one hour and then sit for 2 hours. We did this this way for the remainder of our trip. I can tell you that was probably the most relaxing, but boring trip we ever have done.
We arrived at our destination the next morning and had to go through a lot of security and clearances.
I got to see the bleachers where people sit in front of the water to watch rockets or shuttles take off. That was cool. And we were also shown a video about the wildlife on the base. We were told to give wildlife the right of way. And this wildlife included alligators. Haha, well who wouldn't give alligators the right of way?
It really was a pretty neat place to visit. And we even ran into a couple of Steelers fans that were working there.
While at the last rest area I found a penny lying on the ground. I picked it up because I always do and put it in the container for lost money. Finding pennies is a reminder to me from God that He will provide for us. So it wasn't long before we got another load.
This one was picking up near Miami but not until day after tomorrow and it was going all the way to Toronto. It was a good load. And it gave us the opportunity to get to enjoy our time in Florida. We drove part way toward our pickup and found a really nice rest area that wasn't very crowded at all. So we relaxed and made plans for the next day.
The next day we decided to visit Vero Beach. It wasn't very far at all. We stopped at a Petro for fuel and had a good breakfast and got directions to the beach and parking. The man gave us really good directions. So here we were, at the beach. The dogs were not allowed past the sand dunes and onto the beach so after having them out for a little while I put them in the truck and Pops and I walked down to the beach.
We walked through the palm trees and other trees with big leaves along a wooden walkway and entered the beach. There weren't many people here today even though it was a beautiful day. There was one family with 3 children and about 4 older couples, a single lady who just walked up and down the beach and a man that was having a great time riding the waves on a boogey board. And us.
I did actually get my feet and legs and wet but didn't swim. I don't like to swim in the ocean anyway. And Pops just wanted on the beach taking pictures of the ocean.
It was a really enjoyable day.
When it was time to go we walked back to the truck by a different path this time. It was pretty much the same as the other one though. We rinsed as much as the sand off our feet as we could but it is hard to ever get it all.
I took the dogs out again and then we left there. That was fun.
We went back to the rest area again.
The next day we had clear until 6pm to get to our pickup so we got up early, had breakfast and then drove down the highway until we came to Del Ray Beach. We exited the highway and drove along A1A which is the route that runs right alongside the ocean. We saw some beautiful homes, probably the prettiest homes that I ever, ever saw including the mansions from Los Angeles. Wow, I wonder what kind of jobs you would have to have to own a home like that? Pops said probably a drug dealer. Then we found a place where the ocean was up against the street with parking available. That meant we could sit in our truck and watch the waves and the ocean.
That was good because there was a tropical storm brewing and the waves and winds were high. As a matter of fact, they were flying 2 red flags at the beach which meant that no one was allowed to go into the water.
We did walk down to the beach and spent some time taking pictures and watching the big waves roll in. We even saw a palm tree with a lot of coconuts on it.
We stayed parked there for awhile while we ate lunch and caught up with our facebook. I love this job. Well, most of the time anyway.
When we left there we drove to our place of pickup. We were early but sometimes we get loaded early and we get on our way. That was not the case this time though. We actually ended up being there 4 hours past our pickup time.
Pops tried to sleep and I read my book while we waited.
Finally it was ready and we got loaded but then there were some problems with the paperwork and since it is going into Canada everything had to be just right or we would get held up at the border. So after another hour we had everything in order and we got to drive away.
I really like my trip into Florida this time and was really a little sad to drive away from it. Although we've been listening to the news and the tropical storm was now a hurricane and headed this way for tomorrow, so it's good we are going.