Wow...a year later

So it's been almost a year since I posted on my blog that no one follows....hence the wait. Well, over the course of the last year of being behind the wheel, I've encountered every kind of situation, weather, traffic...you name it.

There really isn't a lot to tell. I mean, I've been traveling all over the place and have been gone from home, missing birthdays, anniversaries and the like. I don't make any plans with friends or family...if I'm there...I'm there! I've learned to cheat the system pretty good which can be good or bad depending on your point of view. One thing I will bring to no one's attention who's reading this, is that in August of this year, the accident I had will be 3 years old and will be erased from my driving record.

The point to that is I plan on getting out of this racket as soon as I'm able. I'm tired of being gone..even after 2 years with this company..I hate being away from my family.

Well happy 4th of July!!

I've done terrible trying to keep up with this silly thing. I'm not gonna try to remember all the places I've been since my last post, instead, we'll talk about this last week.

I started last Saturday night leaving for Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I drove to around Russellville, Arkansas before calling it a night. The next day I drove on in to Tuscaloosa, got some dinner and bedded down for the night. I got unloaded and headed to Sylicauga, Alabama (south of Birmingham) and picked up a load of plastic stuff headed to Wooster, Ohio. I had plenty of time to get there and actually got to drive thru Kentucky which is the only state, of the southeast, that I haven't been thru.

Anyway, made it to Wooster and had a backhaul out of Cleveland coming back to OKC. Just got back today, 6 days and 2700 miles later. Nice trip overall. Ohio was beautiful with the days in the low 70's and the nights in the 50's!! It was the first time in about 2 weeks that I slept for 3 nights without running the truck for the a/c!

So I'm home for the 4th!

Hey there again.

This last week has been busy. Monday I did a "dry ice" run out to Borger, Texas, and bring it back to OKC. Then Tuesday I left for Franklin, Tennessee, for a Wednesday morning delivery at Hobby Lobby. I ran into one "monkey wrench" after another with schedules and load times (none of it was my fault), but eventually got back to OKC Thursday night. Then I had to do another "dry ice" load and be back in Borger, Texas, at 9am Friday morning. Did I mention my 10 hour break? I had to give myself one in OKC, but didn't actually get one. Got home at about 4 o'clock Friday afternoon, had dinner about 7:30 and went to bed...in my clothes!

Today I'm wiped out. I'm leaving Sunday morning for Louisville, Colorado. Not much of a weekend, but the more I drive, the more money I make so I better take the loads while they're available!

See ya later.

I'm not doing very well with this blogging thing. It's because I don't get online very much and it puts me way behind. I will try to remember what's happened since my last post.

Made my delivery and got a backhaul out of Painesville, Ohio. I had to 'dead-head' 475 miles to get there and went across Pennsylvania by way of I-80. I went to Youngstown, Ohio and went north to I-90 and back west. Anyway, picked up a load of flexible hoses for Paccar in OKC. Paccar is the manufacturer of Peterbilt trucks.

Got home that weekend and left for Victoria, Texas on Monday. Got home and left for Albuquerque, New Mexico and went to El Paso, Texas after that. Came home that Friday and we began moving. Moved to a different house over the weekend. My dispatcher was nice enough to let me have Saturday-Wednesday off.

So, Wednesday I left for Albuquerque, again, and now I sit in Amarillo. I did, what they call, store cleanup. It's where they load all the empty boxes, pallets and stuff that goes back to Hobby Lobby to be recycled or reused. Easy enough. I'll get home tomorrow morning and probably be home till Sunday or Monday. Then it's back to "normal"??

Stopping in Somerset, Pa. tonite with only about 280 miles to go tomorrow. Got a good parking spot at a truckstop along the Pa. turnpike, a little fog starting to roll in, cooling off outside, about ready for bed.....

Hey you!

I have to tell you about my latest adventure. I was offered to take a 2-stop load to Fort Dodge and Waterloo, Iowa. I left Wednesday afternoon around 3pm and headed north to Tonkawa, Oklahoma, to fuel. Knowing that it was going to be a stormy day, I was prepared to run into storms earlier than I did, but it wasn’t until Wichita that I started getting into rain.

I kept heading north on I-35 and stopped at a small truckstop near Butler, Kansas. I took a little nap and got up and noticed some really dark clouds heading my way. So I went inside to get a drink as the storm approached. While standing at the counter, we saw the first flash of lightning and huge clap of thunder…this was no ordinary storm. I paid for my drink and ran for the truck waiting for the last flash of lightning before I went outside. So I get in my truck, relieved that I felt safe, and headed north once again. I drove for about 5 miles, or so, when the south wind began to pick up.

The rain was also beginning to blow sideways so myself and another trucker sought shelter under an overpass. This is where it gets interesting. We’re sitting in our trucks and it gets really dark and the wind began blowing with tremendous force. The rain didn’t seem to be blowing across the road so much as it looked like it was being SUCKED across!! The wind didn’t feel so much like it was blowing, but more like thrusting and I could feel it trying to push my stationary truck from behind.

Listen, I’ve been in some bad wind storms, both at home and in my truck, and I’ve never seen “straight-line” winds behave this way.  The winds were blowing from the west and pushing so hard against my truck, that I could feel the truck almost want to move from it’s spot. I set my brakes, tightened my seatbelt and held on to the wheel with both hands. Like I said, the rain was being thrust, not blown, in a way I have never seen in my life. The sound of the wind was non-stop. It wasn’t pulsating like winds sometimes do…it was constant force against the back of my trailer. That’s why it felt like it was trying to move.

Now, this whole episode, from the time I stopped, lasted about 2 or 3 minutes. When it was over, not only did the wind and rain subside, but it got brighter behind me. As I drove out from under this bridge, the community I was near, maybe Butler, Kansas, had powerlines and tree limbs down all over the place. Case and point; I believe it was a small, F-0 tornado that passed either in front of or right over where I was. The roar of the wind, the thrust of the wind, the way the rain looked outside my window, leaves and trash going by…I would be hard-pressed to believe those were just straight-line winds…it was just too strong!

So after it was over, I continued on and, as I looked to the north, the clouds had a unusual shape and consistency to them. I believe the tornado was rain-wrapped which makes them almost undetectable by radar. While I was listening to the weather band station, they made no mention of a tornado warning, but, later, when I tuned into a local station, that storm had a tornado warning on it. I have never been so scared, yet so convinced, in my whole life. I’ve seen tornado’s from a distance and heard stories of how they sound, and, while I can’t say it was a “freight train” sound, it was definitely like the sound of a jet and felt like it from behind the wheel!

Now I’m in Clinton, Iowa, picking up a load tomorrow morning to bring back to OKC. Iowa is a beautiful state and I love driving thru it.

Hola'

Well, to bring you up to speed again, I got home at 7:30 Saturday night, from Colorado. Got to wrestle and play with my boys and spend some time with Kyle, who loves to snuggle on the couch, and spend mother's day with Aariss and my mom. Aariss fixed a favorite meal of ours. Pork chops that have marinated in zesty Italian dressing, rice-o-roni and some crescent bread. Well, after it was all done and smelling good, we took a bite.....ewwwwww!! Aariss had accidentally bought center-cut pork LOIN instead of pork CHOP! Also, she cooked the rice-o-roni in a stir-fry wok. The rice was mushy and disgusting. So we threw it all away and had strawberry shortcake for dessert!

Making a run to Dallas and back. Had lots of tornado's yesterday and had to dodge a few myself. Now I'm sitting in Denton and fixing to take a short nap. I didn't sleep well last night, for some reason, and just need a little break. I'm still pretty tired from last week and only being home 1 day...that sucks!

So the load I've picked up delivers to Wichita, Kansas, so we'll see if I have to stay with it or just drop it at the yard for someone else to take...