4 New States

It has been an exciting week as we traveled to new states! We started out in St. Louis, MO then traveled down into Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and even went into Florida. Our load was to be dropped in Alabama and after we unloaded we didn't have another load assignment and we were very close to the Florida boarder. I didn't get a picture of the the welcome to Alabama sign and so this way I could get Florida and Alabama at the same time! It is funny how Josh really gets into this and helps me get pictures for the blog, he is a sweet heart.

I was really surprised at the states and how they looked. Mississippi is quite a bit swampy in places but really looks a lot like Kentucky or Tennessee, it has hills and lots of pine trees. I did get to see my first armadillo, granted it was only the one and it was dead on the side of the road but hey I will take what I can get. Once we were in Alabama we were in the southern most part of it by Mobile, and it was just as nice as the rest of the states, the only thing excitinI g there was seeing the bay area that opens up into the Gulf of Mexico. I did get to see quite a few cranes along the road in the wet areas. Today we traveled up Alabama and on the interstate there was just a lot of pine trees and not much else until we got into Birmingham and then there were quite a few tall buildings. We did see a lake that had water wheels on them for the run off of the lake and that was fun to see.

When we were in Florida, Josh takes and exit and expecting to get on the other exit back the other way and get back to Alabama but as we get on the exit there is a long line of cars and wondering what is going on. We notice there is a car in the very front that has the hazard lights on and soon we saw some people get out of their truck and talk to the woman and soon they are driving around her. We obviously can't go around her as others were going off into the grass and as muddy as it looked there was no way we could follow. Josh runs up to her car, it is raining now, and asks her if she needs help and she says that AAA is on the way to help her. He then asks if it would be ok if he could push her car off the road so we can get by. She agreed and tells he which way to turn her wheels and he tries to push. She has her foot on the brakes and in park, he tells her to put it in neutral, she puts it in reverse and still has foot on brake, he helps her realize where neutral is and tells her to not brake til he tells her and he finally gets the car moving but she isn't turning the wheel. At some point in all of this she also pops the hood thinking he was going to fix the car instead and Josh gets his finger in there and smashes it. Eventually he gets her moved off the road far enough and we go on down the road. Poor thing, I really do hope that AAA got there and helped her out as she seemed totally lost and very frail.

The past few days we have been listening to an audio book that I downloaded from the library it was a murder mystery that happens in an amish town and the storyline was pretty good as it kept you guessing as to what was going to happen next but I swear the author needs to work on how they described items. It seemed like everything they described was with the phrase "like a" example, the broom stood in the corner like a soldier at attention, the door on the pot belly stove was open like a gaping mouth. Half way through the book it was really irritating me, I was LIKE A raging bull. Plus they must of learned a new word "preamble" as it was used excessively too. I don't pretend to be a writer but I know the excess uses of these were annoying, but I guess if they weren't used then the book would have been a lot shorter! :) I am so ready to download the next book which is "Death at Pemberly" which is a continuation of the book "Pride and Prejudice" which Josh and I both dearly know by heart. It is written by a different author but I am hoping they do it justice. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Arkansas in the dark

PUSH!  NO NOT THE BRAKE! PUSH THE CAR! :)

Battleship (it is not sunk! lol)

　

New York

We went into New York state!  It was far from New York city and I was amazed on how beautiful the rural areas of New York are.  I was assuming that it would be more like New Jersey and be full of roads, interstates, and trash but I have to say I was totally shocked that most of the state where we went to was very clean and very beautiful.  Even when we went into the small towns they had very beautiful buildings and homes, a lot of the homes were two to three stories high and very ornate and well taken care of for you can tell a lot of the homes are older homes.  We saw lots of mountains and streams and looked a lot like parts of Pennsylvania.  I guess I expected the eastern part of the United States to be very populated as most of the population does live in the east but it isn't as crowded as I was thinking.

I have been dying to get out of the truck and dip my toes in one of these beautiful streams and Josh found an area where he could pull off and it wasn't a heavily traveled road so I could do so.  I walked through the bramble and high grasses, hoping I wouldn't find a snake since I was wearing my sandals and capri pants.  I get to the stream and of course there was a rocky drop that I couldn't climb down but I did get pics of the stream but wasn't able to get my toes wet.  One of these days it is going to happen and I was just so happy that Josh made the attempt to get that goal accomplished. 

At one of our stops in New York we went to a salt plant it was right on the lake, and I do mean right on the lake.  It had a bit of rocks to mark the edge of the path that you had to take to get back to the loading docks, one miss step and you would be in the lake.  Once again it was beautiful, it was a large lake and had a good cool breeze going across it. When we were there there was a bird nearby and it was super loud and very shrill.  I am not sure what kind it was as I never did see it but could only hear it.  I at first thought maybe it was a loon but when I looked it up I was wrong and so now I am searching the internet for bird songs to try to find out what it was.

All too much

Steps up to a wooden box and starts ranting.  This is me today.  We recently went through Chicago on a different route than we usually take and was really saddened by the "urban jungle" and all of the decay of areas also the over industrialized areas.  I almost always get this feeling in the pit of my stomach when we travel into larger cities and it is usually a mix of sadness, anger, and disgust.  I can honestly say that I know for a fact that I am a country gal and have no desire to live in a bigger city.  As I have said before I am grateful for all the people that do live in those cities so all of our country isn't being eaten away by sprawling cul de sacs of the middle class, it is bad enough the way it is. 

Consumerism is also a gripe that I have.  I am tired of things being thrusted in your face no matter where you go.  I have been to Walmarts in other cities and while almost all them have the big television screens that have commercials on them now they also have these little screens that activate when you walk past them and advertise the product on the shelves.  It is an attack on my senses and I just want to run and leave as fast as I can.  It reminds me of the movie Wall-e and how the advertisements popup larger than life everywhere you go.  It is too much.

I have more to talk about but for now I am just going to share some pictures and I will be posting more things in the next few days as Josh and I have THREE whole days off this time! I am excited about that, and that also means I have access to free wifi and can share more while I am home. 
All of the pics below are in Chicago, Illinois.

Even semis need hugs

Farty Fart

Things have been going pretty smoothly around here. Josh has seemed to have found his groove and things don't seem as stressful and he seems to be enjoying the job again. He has been doing a lot of thinking lately and that always seems to get him into trouble, he is always thinking that the grass is greener somewhere else and I have been trying to instill positive thoughts into him about where he is now and trust me that has been an uphill battle. It is kind of nice to be with him and experience everything that he does and he can no longer say "you're not the one doing it" because now I am. He has even talking about how he is now embrassing my idea of living on a farm and wants to live more simply, more self sufficiently and is looking forward to doing woodworking and possibly metal work and see these hobbies meshing well with the farm type life. He has always loved doing woodworking but hasn't had the room or the time to do it and I love that he is getting excited about it again. I know not to get too excited about it as his mind will change but for now we seem to be on the same page again.

We have seen some weird named areas on our travels and it makes you kind of wonder if they just ran out of ideas on what to name either a road or town. Examples that come to mind are: Burnt Cabin, Burnt Shirt, French Lick, Black Lick, Licking County, Claylick, Dry Fork, Forty Fort (first time I saw this sign I thought it said Farty Fart) Flushing, Bald Knob and Pennsylvania and and parts of Ohio are really into naming everything with Beaver. There are some towns you wonder how you pronounce it, Lycippus, Daguscahonda, I am know there are better ones but can't think the name of them off the top of my head.

We have seen our share of accidents while on the road and makes me thankful everyday that we are safe and pray for safe travels the next day. We ran into an accident that they had shut down the interstate completely, the accident itself wasn't overly bad but a truck pulling a camper had run into a truck hauling fireworks, because of the explosives they shut one side down completely and part of the other side too. We also saw a truck that had caught fire while sitting in a rest area and the fire department hadn't gotten there yet. It didn't look like the fuel tanks had caught fire yet and there were people sitting fairly close on the ground watching the fire! Ummm.. MOVE! Those could explode! I hope everyone was ok in these accidents and just proves you just have no idea what is going to happen from day to day.

Josh wanted to mention (or boast) that we have been averaging about 511 miles a day, yesterday alone we drove 630 miles. He was also kind enough yesterday to take time and stop at a Walmart so I could pick up my prescription for my thyroid pill, I haven't had them for 3 days and was needing to get them soon. Yesterday was interesting too when it came to getting our next load assignment. They sent us a load, and took it back, sent us another one, and took it back, and then a third time, finally the fourth time I guess they decided that was the load for us. Geez. At least this was all in the time that we were still on our way to our load drop off and we didn't waste any time starting our travels to the other load sites. I am impressed though on how they keep up rolling, most of the time they are right on top of things when it comes to giving us our next assignment.

This is a metal light pole in walmart, we tried to figure out if this tree was really growing inside the pole or if it wasn't real.

　

Jiggity Jog

Home again home again jiggity jog.  We have been running against our 70 hour clock and so we haven't really traveled too far.  Been to St. Louis and up to Chicago and we delivered to Olney and so we are on time at home and that will restart the clock and we will have more time to make longer runs.  We have been averaging about 500 miles a day, not too shabby.  I know we will be leaving out on Monday but not sure where we will be going yet.

We did have something interesting happen on Thursday.  We were driving through Noble and we saw these two women standing on the side of the road with their thumb out and so we stopped and picked them up.  They didn't need a ride they just wanted to take a ride in a semi truck and so we took them on a little trip and dropped them back off where we picked them up.  Of course we knew them, it was my mom and sis and this way we could talk with them for a bit while we worked.  It was nice to see sis again as I don't get to see her as often as I would like and of course I miss my mom too but try to see her as often as I can too. 

I have notice now that Josh and I are getting a bit on each others nerves, not much mind you but just occasionally and wondered how this is going to play out the longer we are together.  In all of our years of being married we have never spent this much time together and in such a close proximity it is different to say the least.  I guess we can't run away from each other when we are mad or upset but we have ways of cooling down and sometimes just getting into bed helps.  I think I would like some time away from the truck but yet I don't want it either.. I can't make up my mind I guess.  I have printed out some new patterns for crocheting and knitting that I am excited to work on and I know that will help me tremendously.  I would like to read but find it frustrating to do while the truck is going down the road with all the bumps. 

Hope everyone is doing great and will keep you updated on the fascinating stories of the road.

Million Dollar Recipe

I had grand ideas of coming up with healthy meals for us to eat on the road and was hoping to share them with other truckers so they enjoy them too without having to plan and wonder what they could eat. With my hands tied with no way to refrigerate items or no way of cooking anything I guess I have become creative in a whole new direction. I know it isn't healthy and most times it doesn't even taste good but I am willing to share with you my recipe for the day: Tuna salad with tortilla chips.

Here are the items that you will need:

Paper Plate

Plastic silverware

Tuna in a pouch

Mayo

Onions

Relish

Tortilla Chips

Scissors

Set out your paper plate, I prefer the ones with the high sides so items stay on the plate better, I also get the ones that kind of have the waxy coating on them so liquids don't soak through the plate.

Rip open the tuna pouch. I get tuna in a pouch so that way I don't have to worry about draining any liquids off but there are draw backs to the pouch. Once you rip off the top of the pouch better check the top part that you ripped off for any lingering tuna that is hiding there and pick it all out, I am anal about getting all the little pieces out, it is too dang expensive to waste! Use your plastic silverware to dig out the rest of the tuna that is in the pouch and because the pouch is square you are really gonna have to get in there and be persistant to get the tuna out of the corners. Now notice I just said silverware and not something specific like spoon or fork, that is because all plastic silverware is crap and it really doesn't matter which one you use because you will fight them the whole way of the process so just use the one you don't mind throwing across the truck.

Next step is one that you have to be prepared for is the mayo, onions, and relish. I cannot buy these items as they have to refrigerated once opened so every time I am in a truck stop and scan the condiments section that is there for when you puchase their sandwiches or hot dogs. Now ketchup and mustard are easy finds as they are available almost anywhere including restaurants but the real finds are the ones we need for this recipe. Once you find a place that has these don't be afraid and hork those suckers into your pocket, trust me they don't mind. Once you get a collection going I find it easier to seperate them into zip lock bags to keep them organized and easier to find what you are needing. For this recipe you will need: 2 relish (this really helps hide the taste of the other ingredients) 1 onion (it is more like onion water) and 2 mayo ( I would prefer something with more zing like Miracle Whip but hey). Now comes in the scissors. Notice on the packages it says "tear here" um yeah. I would say the tear here tab only works 10% of the time the rest of the time you are cussing and chewing on the dang thing trying to open it, save your sanity for other things and open them with the scissors.

Now mix thouroughly, you don't want to have any big clumps of anything that can be recognized. Use your plastic silverware to put small clumps of this "stuff" on a tortilla chip and enjoy. I find that if you imagine you are eating something good and hold your nose it isn't too bad.

Now for clean up when done, wipe your hands on your pants as you are going to have some salt and oil residue on them from the chips. Take your plastic silverware and lick it feverishly so as to not leave anything left on it and dry it with a napkin you got from a restaurant. Thow away plate and don't leave the trash sitting too long in the truck on a warm day your will smell rotten fish for a long time after.

Seriously it isn't that bad but compared to a home cooked meal it is severely lacking. I guess I look on facebook and talk to my mom and they are all canning their items from the garden and makes me jealous because I was wanting to do that and bet it tastes heavenly. I am still bored out of my gourd and it is still raining and I am getting cabin fever and so I tried to be creative on my blog today to relieve some of that boredom. Happy canning all!

I would like to mention too that I am thankful that I have things to eat and I am not starving by stretch of the imagination.

This is what a full belly looks like, just don't tell Josh I put up this pic.

This is someones "artwork" that was in Buena Vista, Virginia

　


 

New News

Here we are sitting in Pennsylvania with no more hours to run on today and we are still about 2 hours away from delivery point. This load was supposed to be there today but with our limited hours (because we are running against our 70 hour clock) and we also ran into a construction site that had traffic backed up for 8 miles we have to wait til tomorrow to deliver. I am going bonkers in the truck today as it has been raining all day long and there is nothing to do and we have been sitting since around 3 p.m. I feel like I am vibrating inside. Sigh...

It is weird being out in the truck as I really don't have any way (except the internet) to keep up with the news. I never was a big news watcher on television but I always managed to stay on top of things and Josh REFUSES to listen to the news on the radio. I have managed to read the front of some newspapers in the truckstops and once in a while when we are in a restaurant they will have the news on and I can kind of catch up. I didn't know anything about the ISIS and what is going on over there til Saturday when we got data to have the internet. I can't even imagine what kinds of horror is going on and I would hope that I would have the courage to stand up for my beliefs even if I was to be killed for them. I understand there are many religions and there are many different beliefs but believe that killing others just because of their religion I can't imagine any religion supporting that. I know people through out the ages have delt with this very thing and have been persecuted and killed because of this but I would have hoped we have emerged from the dark ages and have progressed but I guess that just shows that humans can't live peacably no matter how many Miss Americas wish for it. I just feel helpless in the fact that there are so many things wrong and no matter what you do or what you say you aren't really going to change anything but all you can do is try. I know it is cheesy but in the movies Bruce Almighty and Evan Almighty it really hits home when they talk about "be the miracle" and "one act of random kindness" is all it takes to make a difference. I may not be able to change the world but I can do small things for others and hopefully make a difference in their lives though small. Prayer is always the best medicine too.

I was also saddened by the news that Robin Williams the actor is no longer with us. I have always loved his work and he will be missed.

Sorry for being such a downer today but I guess with the rainy skies the past few days it is wearing on me. I would like to give a shout out to the people that are reading my blog, especially the ones over seas, there are some in Germany, Poland, and Ukraine, how awesome is it that my corny little blog is being read by people I don't even know! Coolio!

I believe this was in Tennessee

My finished afghan! On to the next project... not sure what it will be.

It is no wonder why I missed this the first time we went to St. Louis, the sign is very small.

A few more pics from the amish country