Come along for the Ride!

I am so glad you are here. Stay with us as we travel everywhere. I hope you will enjoy the ride.

Saturday, April 30, 2016

Big Announcement

This week started with back to back short loads but the two together equaled one really good load and we would be done with both by Tuesday morning. 
The first picked up south of Little Rock, Arkansas, so Sunday afternoon we headed that direction. 
We stopped a little short of our destination to talk to someone about an online job that Pops is thinking of starting. It was interesting and encouraging to talk to this woman who is very much the reason for Pops' walking routines.
Then we drove close to our pickup and parked at a donut shop. It is only 2 miles from our pickup and we could have hot kolaches for breakfast, yum!
A kolaches is sausage and cheese baked inside of sweet dough. They are so good. We first found them in Texas.
We made our pickup the next morning and it was going to Lufkin, TX and then another load picking up at Lufkin and going back to south of Little Rock.
Our pickup location is surrounded by swampy ponds and they were so pretty this morning.




On the way to Texas while cutting through the northwest corner of Louisiana I saw a wild cat. It looked just like this one. I don't know exactly what it is.

My friend, Shirley, from Texas, sent me pictures of the baby armadillos that were born on her ranch. I miss going there. Sure wish I were there now to see these.

On the way back toward delivery of the second load we stopped in Carthage, Texas at the HEB grocery store. My friend, Shirley introduced me to this Texas store. I loved it right away. Then once while traveling west of San Antonio Pops and I went there and now he really likes these stores too. So I got to go in and shop a bit although this one was smaller with no hot deli or bakery. But I still enjoyed strolling around shopping.
Pops had to wait in the truck because it was a load that had to be watched. Oh well. I brought him goodies.
After delivering the next morning we deadheaded to Memphis, in hopes of getting a good load. We did get a load then we cancelled that load because the mileage wasn't right and the pay wasn't good enough for the actual mileage.
We got and accepted another dispatch. But it wasn't picking up until the next morning and was going to Denver. 
That afternoon Pops called our truck owner to give our quitting notice. When we took this job we committed to a five year plan. We want to return to our family. We want to return to our home church.
This is the best job that either of us has ever had. We got to see and do so many things. We have gotten to meet so many wonderful people. We have visited over 250 churches. 
Pops is going to semi retire. He wants to hunt and fish. 
I will be looking for a full time job.
It is scary but exciting to think about.
Please pray for us as we look for work and work out our final weeks. 
Memorial Day weekend will be our last days.
I can't wait to get my hands on that baby and I get to have a dog again. And I already have one. It is Bullet, Drew's dog. He is letting him come live with me. I am so excited.



We picked up our Memphis load near the airport. It was a pharmaceutical company. The product was bone grafting kits. I guess the Denver area, because of all the skiing accidents, probably use a lot of bone grating kits.
We delivered them the next morning.
Next we had what was supposed to be a short run that would be done in just 2-3 hours. But oh my, someone definitely miscalculated. 
We got our load on then found out that there was another truck coming and we had to wait for them. They didn't come for over an hour after we were already loaded.
Then they couldn't get backed into the dock because they were a tractor trailer. So after another 45 minutes they were sent out of the docks, we were told to back back into the docks again. They were unloading us and re loading us with the product that the semi was going to take.
Then we pulled out and waited while they loaded the semi with what we had had on our truck. Then both of us drove to Colorado Springs, 95 miles away. We both got unloaded at once.
Then Pops and I drove to the closest truckstop to wait out the snow.





Starla visited And took some pictures of Mason, Sophia and Tom.



Starla sent this photo to the San Francisco Giants fan page and they posted it.

We got caught up in a horrible 2 day snowstorm. Thankfully we really didn't have to go anywhere. It is weekend so we just went to the store, done our laundry and watched a ton of tv and movies.


People often want to see the inside of our truck. Unfortunately the bed seems to always be down. When it is up, there is a booth style table.
In the corner above the refrigerator is our tv.





On Sunday after church service, we went inside the truckstop, here at Johnsons Corner to eat. It was a long wait for a table. The place was packed. But finally we got seated. 
As we ate we noticed a lady that reminded us so much of our daughter in law, Melynie. Even her expressions and gestures were the same. Except for the straight hair they look a lot alike. Do you think so?
I approached her and showed her Melynie's picture and asked if we could take her picture. She was a great sport. Her name is Tammy. What a beautiful girl.

Tomorrow we are heading north.


























Sunday, April 24, 2016

Big runs, beautiful scenery


We were to pickup Me nay morning in Denver. It was a huge government facility. But apparently winter was going to have a last hoorah in the mountains all around Denver. So we stayed back away until morning. 
Yes, it had snowed but by morning the roads were plowed and we didn't have any trouble at all.
When we got to the facility there was some big conference taking place. So our checking and inspection took longer than usual since all conference goers also had to check in. 
As we waited we watched a flock of wild turkeys. There were so many of them and they were running around all over, including the parking lots.
Finally we got our load on and got moving. We did see where some places had gotten 2 feet of snow or more. It was a pretty ride as usual across the mountains that day. 
Once over the Rockies, we were out of snow.
Pops took over the drive somewhere in Utah. Then I got to ride and enjoy the settings. It wasn't long though until I fell asleep. I woke briefly when Pops stopped in Las Vegas for fuel. 
When I woke in the morning, it was my turn to drive. We weren't far from our delivery. 
We delivered near Gilroy, CA. Gilroy is famous for garlic. Most US garlic is grown in Gilroy. You can smell it for miles. It makes me want spaghetti.
We got our load off and headed toward our predispatch. It was picking up in San Dimas, the home of Bill and Ted. Remember them? They had an Excellent Adventure in the eighties.
On the way we stopped to sleep and then in the morning we went to the Black Bear Diner for breakfast. The Black Bear diners are only on the west coast. They are, of course, bear themed. They serve good food with large portions. It is country style, home cooking. If ever on the west coast look for a Black Bear Diner.
On Wednesday around 3pm eastern time we got our load from San Dimas loaded and now was on our way to Mississippi just south of Memphis. It was due to deliver Friday morning. We had 1775 miles to go by Friday morning.
It was a round the clock drive with both of us driving 600 miles a shift. 
After our delivery on Friday morning, we went to the local truckstop. We got a Monday/Tuesday load in Arkansas, but there is a church right where we are that is like a home church to us. We have a lot of good friends from this church. We have been here often and have gotten to know some of them well. So we hung around until Sunday.
And so very glad we did. It was so good to see our friends and worship with them. After church we went to eat with two of them, Daniel And Mary Richardson. It was a great time of fellowship.
We are now headed to Arkansas. Pray for us, please.

  

The turkeys. 

I was feeding the magpies my old bread.

Snow on the mountains


Ghost Rock Canyon








Bill and Ted








This is where we were when we heard about the death of Prince. 




Daniel and Mary Richardson

Oh yeah, let me tell you about the new grandson. Here he is with cousin Addilyn Rose Bence.

Abuela Angie holding Mason




This is my sister, Amy holding Addi and me holding Mason. I love it that our kids had kids at the same time and we get to do the grandma thing together.