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.

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.

Surprise Barbara

We did get a load. We had to drive to Philadelphia to pick it up and it was going to Kansas City. 

We left home around 5pm and drove close to our pick up destination. In the morning we got our load on. It was only one pallet. 

I was going to be driving the Pennsylvania turnpike for bout 300 hundred miles. I drove 571 miles that day and then switched out with Pops.

Shortly, I was in bed.

I woke up as Pops was going through the guard station at our drop off destination. 

We have a very good friend, Barbara, that lives in Kansas City. I tried to contact her to meet up and go for dinner or at least coffee. But she was at work and I didn't hear from her. 

We were parked at a Walmart near her home. We had met her there several times. But I still wasn't hearing anything from her.

And then, while reading, I saw someone come up to the side of my truck. It was her. She had stopped here to get gas and saw our truck. She still hadn't seen my messages so it was a surprise for her to see us there. 

So we went to dinner. It was so good to spend time and catch up with each other. I just love her so much.

Then she had to go and we got ready to move on to our next load.

We had a bogus load to relocate us to Denver, because there was an actual load in Denver for us going to California.

Pops was driving and we drove through Topeka. It was the first time I had seen this city at night. It looked so pretty. We stayed the night in Colby, Kansas. Our eat load from Denver picks up Monday and there is heavy snow in the area all weekend so we don't want to go the whole way just yet.

Tom and Sophia have been sending me pictures of Mason everyday. I can't believe that tomorrow he is a week old. 

On Saturday we watched The Corner Gas Movie. It was so much fun to watch, especially since Pops and I had actually have been to Dog River and spent a day visiting there. We had lunch in a cafe that is the police station in the show.

On Sunday we were kind of stuck in no man's land because of the snow. So while at the rest area we watched two online sermons and had communion together. 

I was happy to see that my daughter in law, Melynie, and granddaughter, Katie, went to see Mason today.

And remember my grand niece, Addilyn Rose Bence? She was born in December. She is getting so big and adorable. Here she is with my sister, Amy,  her Grammy.

So we pick up tomorrow and drive through heavy snow in the Rocky Mountains and then on to California. 

Pray for us, please.

At Home

Friday

On Friday morning Pops and I got up to take our taxes over to Somerset to get done. On the way there while passing through the town of Berlin I saw my brother and his girlfriend, Jenn. They were walking up the street to the local restaurant. After getting gas in my car, I turned around and ran into the restaurant to get a hug and talk a few minutes with Jim and Jenn. Then it was on to Somerset.

After dropping off our taxes we drove to Walmart to pick up some groceries then back to the house.

It sure felt nice to be home.

Saturday

Saturday morning, Starla and I drove to Summit Mills. It is a small Amish community near our home. They have a discount grocery store and sell some unique items. I have never been there and thought it sounded like fun.

Both of us had forgotten that the annual Maple Festival was going on in Meyersdale and today was the parade. This is always a big deal and even in cold weather, just like today. But we made our way through the streets and then on to Summit Mills.

The moment that I parked the car my phone rang. It was Tom. My connection was not good but I heard him say that they were at the hospital and the baby was being induced.

We did go into the store and looked around a little but I didn't buy anything and Starla just got a few things. 

I called Pops and told him about Sophia and the baby so he was waiting when I got home.

The three of us drove to the hospital and sat with Tom and Sophia for a couple of hours. Labor was not progressing so we went back to the house.

Tom promised to call if her labor got stronger.

Sunday

I called Tom on Sunday morning. He said she still was not dilating. So we went to church with Starla at New Venture. It is very close to the hospital. It was a nice service and I got to meet some friends of Starla's. 

After church we went to the hospital again and hung around. After a couple of hours, Starla and Bill went home, I stayed at the hospital. 

At 6 pm more mess were given to Sophia to speed things. 

Pops and Starla came back around 8 hoping to meet the baby. Sophia's family and best friend were also there.

She was dilating, but slowly. 

At 11 pm the night nurse came in and announced that Sophia needed to sleep. She wanted everyone to wait in the waiting room except those who would stay during the birth.

Everyone left then except Tom and me. 

Tom tried to nap. Sophia did sleep some. 

Soon her dad returned and so did, best friend, Jessica.

A little before 3am she was fully dilated and labor began. At 3:46, Mason was born. 

Shortly after, all visitors left for home to get some rest.

Monday

Pops and Starla got up early on Monday to drive to the Ohio house (hunting camp) to mow grass and check on things. I slept til a little past noon then went to the hospital.

Both Tom and Sophia looked very tired. I got to hold my grandson. Sophia's dad, Hank, and Jessica were there too. 

What a beautiful baby!

Tuesday

On Tuesday Pops and I picked up our taxes. Then we drove to the hospital. I loved watching Pops hold that baby.

I tried to soak up as much of that baby love as I could. I won't be seeing him again for two whole months, Memorial Day. I can't wait. My heart is bursting with love.

Wednesday

We were on call on Wednesday so we waited by the phone until we got a load. Oh my, I hate leaving home now.