Good morning from Black Diamond....

The wonderful aroma of sausage sizzling and the hot coffee slowly waking up my senses tells me I am finally home!  At least, for breakfast at Valerie's!  We will be leaving here shortly to take that last load to Costco and pray that they are running on time.  Cross your fingers that sitting around this dock won't be an option.  That being said, food is on the table......see you all in an hour!

This truck was parked right in the middle of I-80!

He told me that his father was driving this rig when he was forced off the road........a work in progress!

The undamaged side!

The smallest full moon of the year....that is what the radio said  :)

Danial

Rachael

Baby sis...Angel

Welcome to Boise, ID!

Back a few years ago......ummm, ok, QUITE a few years ago, I use to drive taxi for Purple Cab here in Boise.  Fond memories of my youth and why my son has a certain middle name  ;)

I just spent the evening with my baby sis, her hubby and beautiful daughter.  I have only seen Angela roughly once a year since she was born and now she is a wife and mother but I still see.....baby sis.  I didn't realize how long she has been a nurse since I missed most of her life.......so I was tickled to peek in again and get caught up.  Thank you three for joining me for dinner!

I would love to post pics.....but dang nab it, the Internet here stinks!  I will be heading to the drop yard tomorrow, spending the night with Valerie and dropping this load at the distribution center before I can finally go home.  I plan on stopping at the driving company that called me....Mr. Winn.....after I drop the load as  they are only a few blocks from the yard.  Then I am racing home to unload and racing to the kids to spend time with them before their big move to Montana.  After that, work on the trailer, new ink, dental appointment and back on the road on the 19th.

I have decided to make my home ports down south during the winter between my mom, my sister, and my dear friend Marie.  Seattle probably won't see me until spring as my goal is NEVER to put CHAINS on my TRUCK.  I already told my dispatcher that my back won't put up with it and if I break a NAIL!!!  I am a princess after all!

See you all in the morning.....and sleep in an extra hour, we will gain it back when we hit Oregon.

Shag, shag and shag.......and no closer to home :(

Well, I am 1.5 hours closer to home than I was this morning.  That load going east was cancelled......to only go west 100 miles!  None the less, I did three shags from the same location to the same location (5 miles apart) in two hours....I made $60!  So, I can't complain too much as I was able to quit early and get to sleep late as my load will be ready when I get there and I get to swap it out in Utah......a day behind schedule getting home but it looks promising that I will be able to see Pix and James before their big move to MONTANA!

And with all the shagging, no interviews.......but I soooooo wanted to interview this caravan family!  I was walking Gonja and this trucker offered me some apples/dip that she picked up at her last shipper.  I accepted and stated that this caravan of individuals that parked in the truck stop could use some.  She asked me to take it to them and I did!  There was a large RV, a moving van, and a car that all pulled into the truck stop together.  And man, were they loaded!  I have never seen so much stuff tied down on top of an RV before!

I took the apples over and the father of the group greeted me with a warm smile when I asked if they could use some fruit.  He was an older boy, maybe 60, skinny, missing a few teeth, and a head of grey hair.  I asked him about his family and he stated they were on their way east to Kansas as his mother was sick and dying.  He had his daughter, her two children, his wife and 6 dogs between the three vehicles!  They are all moving in with his mother and staying after she passes away.  I wished them safe passage on their trip.  Everyone thanked me for the lil care packages but I didn't take credit.....I just delivered  ;)

By the time I got back to my truck, fed Gonja and myself, it was dark and I didn't feel right bothering them for an interview.

I hope the life his mother will give them in her passing will be the reason they wake up every morning and thanking her long after she is gone.

That being said.......good night!

Met my dispatcher....she is HUMAN after all!

Good morning from the Omaha terminal.  I was up at 5 AM to drop the first load of this two load trip that was taking me the opposite way home.  I arrived at 7 AM (appointment time) and they were closed until 7:30!  At 8:30, I backed into the door and sat.  So......I decided to walk to the terminal that was two blocks away and meet my dispatcher.

I had envisioned an old bleached blond truck stop waitress with a smoke hanging from her lips.  I was quite surprised to meet a dark haired woman with a smile on her lovely face.  She was not too happy with this load and had it taken away as I need to head west and not east.  I offered to buy her lunch with the coupon she gave me but she has errands to run.

So......now I sit, hoping for a load west.

My Grandson!

The future hippy in the hands of his loving Mom and Dad............

Sitting in Omaha.......

Got that load dropped at 3 PM and then was sent to the terminal to pick up another empty to load in Omaha and take to Iowa!  Now, the last time I checked the map, Iowa is east of Nebraska and I sure be heading west to home time!  I asked the dispatch about that and it appears that they have no loads heading west so if I take a load east, I might find a load west!  Augh!!  It is still doable to get home on the 13th.........so far!

Time to look for work and send off some more resumes!  Mr. Winn is a busy woman  ;)

Good evening from Farmer City, IL!

We drove a whopping 215 miles today!  Yeehaw…………dang nab it!  My dispatcher is going to hear from me on Monday as I have lost a full day’s driving since my 34 hour restart and that is going to drop my check by a nearly $300 for the restart and break down days.  That trailer I picked up this morning had 3 axle seal leaks and it took nearly 6 hours to get to repair and then wait for approval.  Augh!

No internet here….sorry James but I think three posts in one day is plenty.  No “in the street” interviews as by the time we finished shopping at Walmart (across the street from the truck stop), it was dark.  So I am going to enjoy a few honey ales, watch a video and sleep in until 5 as I lost an hour once we hit the state line.  This load that was due at 6 AM in Omaha, it will get there tomorrow afternoon……and they better have me on a good haul home!

BTW…..I have been struggling trying to understand why Jim and Brian found work so quickly (they have the same experience and are older than me) so I decided to try something different this morning.  I sent out three resumes with just my initials and last name, same as my email address.  Guess what……..this business is old boy because I finally got an interview request……….with Mr. Winn!  I will send an email per my Mother’s suggestion, stating I will be home next week and what time would they like to see me.  Big surprise when a female walks in!!!!!  This is going to be interesting for sure!