We're Home!

Just finished delivering our load at Kent, WA and on our way to the Lakewood Terminal!  Yahoo, I am soooo happy to be home for the next week. I've downloaded new pictures to the slideshow. We'll be back again next weekend.  Love to all. 

Counting the Seconds Until We're Home

Talked to Cameron last night and we started out saying, "I'm counting the days till we get home!"  Cameron said, "I'm counting the hours!"  I said, "We're counting the minutes!" He said, "I'm counting the seconds!" I said, "I'm counting the miliseconds!"  We had to stop because neither one of us knew what came next.  Needless to say we're anxious for our hometime. Shannon and I have been out on the road since November 29th. We missed Christmas in December but we're going to celebrate it once we get home. It won't be the same but it will have to do this year.

We'll be home sometime on Friday, January 22 to Friday, January 29th. We'll have to be back on the road on the 30th.

I never thought I took for granted the ability to see my children and grandchildren on a regular basis but I can tell you that now I cherish each and every moment I can be with them. I miss not being there on the weekends so that one, two or all seven of them could spend the night with us - Justice is still a little young to be away from mama, yet.  I miss not sitting next to Cameron at church every Sunday morning for worship. I miss seeing all of my "adopted" grandchildren at AWANA every Wednesday and Sunday mornings (Karen, Matthew, Jonelle, Andrea, Joey, Abby, Steven, Promise, Anne Marie, and many others). I miss going out to eat on Sundays with our friends from church.  I miss taking our grandchildren to the movies, or shopping, or out for ice cream. I miss dinners at our house with all the kids running in and out the back door, down to the basement to swing on the rings, running outside to play on the toys or catching moths or bugs. But I think the thing I miss the most are the hugs and kisses from all my munchkins!

Less than a day and we'll be home! 

The Secret World of Trucker's Hand Gestures...Rated G

In the world of trucking, people who drive regular passenger cars are called "4-wheelers," for obvious reasons. Now, 4-wheelers probably won't have experienced a "trucker's greeting" so I thought it would be fun to educate my 4-wheelin' buddies out there about this ancient and secret world of hand gestures that the trucker, or as they call each other "driver," hold only for their own.

How one trucker greets another trucker as you pass each other on the freeway or in a truck stop says a lot about that trucker. You have the trucker who gives you the "James Dean" wave where he touches his finger to his right eyebrow and then extends his right forefinger out. This trucker usually has his hair greased, maybe even ending in a ducktail, and the possibility that he rolls his pack of cigarettes into his t-shirt sleeve is better than 80%. Then you have the trucker that is just too tired to make the effort to move his hand from the steering wheel at all and he barely lifts a few of his fingers while still holding on to the wheel.

Some truckers like to point their finger forward as a wave, I guess to indicate that they know which way they're going. I've even had these truckers add a wink with this wave but I don't know if that is an added feature given to just female drivers or if they wink at the guys, too. Younger drivers have modified this wave a bit and extend two fingers in a peace sign and then wave the two fingers forward a couple of times. Maybe they are saying "Go in peace" but I think that might be giving them too much creative credit. Quite a few truckers will give you a modified kind of salute and I'm supposing that these might be veterans and so in my opinion they can wave anyway they want to because they have earned it.

If a trucker is wearing a baseball cap he or she might just tug down on the brim or some will even take the whole cap off and dip it down toward the steering wheel.  If a cowboy hat is involved then you usually get the tipping of the front edge, either by moving just their head downward a little bit or they might extend their hand and touch the brim as they are tipping their head at the same time.

My personal style of wave is a modified "princess" wave where I place my hand up with all the fingers together, but instead of rotating it slightly from side to side, I freeze it in place until the other trucker has passed.  But I think my favorite wave of all is my husband's. Shannon has no pretense about trying to be cool, he just waves with all his might. He wants the other trucker to know that he has seen him and he is saying "Hi, how are you? Are you having a great trip? Isn't it fun driving for a living?" My husband is the best and it is my privilege to share this experience with someone as transparent as he is.

So, 4-wheelers, you now have a little bit of insight into the secret world of trucker's greetings. Maybe some day, if you live right and eat all your vegetables, you might experience one of these rare exchanges between road jockeys and you'll be able to tell your grandchildren about it.

What are you going to do when your truck is being repaired? We're Going to Disneyland!

Yes, we pulled into La Mirada, CA, to the Watkins Shepard shop with an armlong list of problems with "Clifford" our Big Red Truck. The most serious we thought was a worn head gasket that allowed  dripping oil to drop on the hot engine and send fumes into the truck as we drove along but it turns out that wasn't our biggest or deadliest problem.  The heater that runs independent of the truck running also had a problem and was spewing carbon monoxide fumes into our truck. We've felt sick off and on for the past month and now we know that God must have been watching over us. First on our list of items to install in the truck is a CO detector. I'm sure Shannon and I have lost some brain cells over this, and to be quite honest, we didn't have that many to begin with!

So, while the truck was being worked on we rented a Mini Cooper and drove all over LA for one day and then went to Disneyland the next. The Cooper is cute and quick and handles great, but I really didn't like being so close to the ground, after living in the upper stratosphere of a semi. After visiting Los Angeles countless times over the past 40 years, we drove Mulholland Drive for the very first time. The two to three miles that we covered consisted of s-curve switchbacks the whole way. The HOLLYWOOD sign can be seen from this roadway, as well as the Griffith Observatory, and a great view of downtown LA. Shannon had a blast driving the sharp turns in the Cooper - I held on and TRIED to keep my mouth shut. Didn't succeed.  :{  There were several tour buses that stopped at the park where the HOLLYWOOD sign can best be viewed and the tour guides were telling stories about the stars who lived on Mulholland Drive but I could only catch partial sentences here and there so maybe next time we'll take one of the tours, too.

We drove around Sunset and Vine streets and I must admit that there are some very interesting people who call LA their home - VERY interesting.  I will say no more because we are all God's children but I imagine that even God does a double take once in awhile. 

Another first for us is we stopped at one of those big, elaborate miniature golf places in southern Cal and played a round of golf.  I beat Shannon by only 1 point so it was a good, competitive game!  We've driven by these places every time we've visited California and always said how much fun they looked like they would be but never, ever stopped. I'm so glad we did because we did have so much fun. 

We ended the day at one of the huge theatres that southern California seems to be so fond of. We watched the best movie, "The Blind Side" with Sandra Bullock.  Go see this movie - it is sooo good and it is based on a true story. Sandra Bullock does a knockout job in her role, but the boy who plays her son steals every scene he is in. Actually all of the actors did a superb jobs. The story is one of redemption and unconditional love and what can happen when your faith means more than sitting in a pew each Sunday.  I don't believe there is any swearing in it and I would not hesitate to take my 9 year old granddaughters to see it and I believe they would understand and appreciate its story and meaning.

Yesterday we spent the day at Disneyland. I hope we never get too old to enjoy "the happiest place on earth." We did enjoy it, too! We rode all of our favorite rides - Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, the Matterhorn, Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, and the Autopia. Shannon saw a girl in one of the Autopia cars talking on her cell phone and we had a good laugh about that. I was amazed at how many people were texting while standing in line next to their kids, or sitting down next to their kids, or walking along next to their kids...my point, instead of interacting with their kids they were texting to who?  Who could be so important that you had to be texting them while you are at Disneyland with your kids?  I don't get it.  I'm probably showing my age but I really don't understand it. Okay, I'll get off my soapbox - oops, another age identifier.

Shannon and I splurged and ate at the Big Rodeo Roundup and although the $20 per person price made us gulp once or twice before we took the plunge, it was worth it. It is "all you can eat" family buffet style lunch (or dinner) of BBQ chicken and ribs, baked beans, coleslaw and cornbread. The ribs were to die for. They were so tender and the BBQ sauce was just the way I like it - not too spicy, not too tangy, and not too much.  Every 30 minutes or so a trio of country singers played and sang to us, even strolling among the tables serenading us individually.  I felt as though we got our monies worth and if you are going to eat at Disneyland, I think this is the best value - especially when you consider a cheeseburger, by itself, is $8.50. Of course the best value is to bring your own food and drinks. 

We were wore out at the end of the day and thankful to get back to our home on wheels. Most of the items on our "fixit" list had been fixed, the oil smell is gone, and although we won't have our independent heater until we get the new part installed, we can at least keep the truck running for heat if we need it without getting asphyxiated by oil fumes.

We returned the Mini Cooper to the rental agency, picked up our new load from Rancho Dominguez in California, and we're headed to Jacksonville, FL for a delivery there at 8am on Tuesday morning. We have requested that we have hometime from January 23 through January 29th.

Pictures from our last couple of days are on the slideshow. The Lord has been so good to us and I just want to praise Him for giving us such good things to enjoy and not what we deserve.  Love to you all.

Christians Are Not Perfect, Unfortunately

It would be so much simpler if once a person accepted Christ as his/her personal savior that we would be made "perfect" in such a way that we would reflect our God "perfectly." That we would be to those we encounter here on earth a mirror image of our Lord. But Christians are not perfect and many times our reflection of our Heavenly Father is distorted because we are still growing in our faith and learning about the nature of God. Therefore, when Christ shines through us its usually through the cracks of our brokenness and humaness. Lately, I've talked to several people whose opinion of God has been warped by their encounters with people who identify themselves as christians. Unfortunately, as a result of these poor interactions they throw God out with the proverbial bathwater of religion.

Christians have such a great responsibility to reflect the true nature of God. There are so many hurting people who need God but because God falls under the heading of "religion" which they've already thrown out, they look for satisfaction from what the world has to offer, which is exactly what Satan had in mind all the time. How do we reflect the true God when we aren't perfect? The times when I felt I failed God the most by being more human than Christlike to someone, I've had to go back and ask forgiveness of the person on the receiving end. Humbling oneself has a redemptive quality that people seem to identify with and the relationship, in my experience, has been mended and usually becomes stronger.

So maybe that's the answer - learn as much as possible about the God we are to reflect, be aware of Satan's schemes, and when we mess up, mend it!

States in the Continental 48 We've Visited

States (41)

We've Visited Since Becoming a Team

on November 11th

Washington

Oregon

California

Idaho

Montana

Utah

Colorado

Wyoming

Nevada

Arizona

Texas

Oklahoma

Kansas

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Ohio

Nebraska

Arkansas

Louisiana

Mississippi

Alabama

Pennsylvania

New York

Maryland

Rhode Island

Connecticut

New Hampshire

Massachusetts

New Jersey

Vermont

Virginia

West Virginia

Tennessee

Kentucky

Missouri

Georgia

Florida

Alabama

North Carolina

South Carolina

States (7) yet to visit --

when it warms up!

North Dakota

South Dakota

Wisconsin

Michigan

Minnesota

Delaware

Maine

More Cold Weather and More Electrical Problems

What can I say...we woke up this morning and our breath inside the cab was visible once again. No power, no heat, no fun! The fact that the temperature this morning was a balmy 10 degrees versus our present temperature of minus 13 doesn't make it that much more palatable. After finding fellow truckers willing to spend some of their time giving us a jump - twice today alone - we finally received authorization to take it to a shop in a truckstop and have the batteries, once again, checked to see if they were holding a charge. Three out of the four batteries were not holding enough of a charge to start the engine so we had all four replaced. We're not convinced that there isn't an additional problem with the alternator but at least we know that these batteries are new and we'll have to go on from here. The trucking industry is like most industries these days that are stretched to their financial limits and try to get by on the least amount of outward cashflow but sometimes the decisions made are short-sided and probably end up costing the company more after all the monkeying around with band-aid fixes. The cost to the drivers are lost miles, which means lost wages.

The family of truck drivers is just that, a family.  These guys and gals are the most giving and generous people, outside of our church family, I've ever met.  I'm sure it comes from the fact that they've all been in tough situations themselves and they know what life on the road is like. You try to help each other as much as possible.  We've had guys get up out of their bunks where they'd been sleeping to try and help us get started again. Sure there are bad apples in any bunch, but 90 percent of the time we have felt that if we needed help, we would receive it in short order from our fellow truckers.

I wish I could tell you the names of all the trucker "angels" we've met in the past week with our continuing electrical issues, but most of them wouldn't even allow us to buy them a cup of coffee to pay them for their time. Several said they were just doing their good deed for the day -- Shannon and I felt very fortunate that we were on the receiving end of those good deeds. We will definitely pay it forward and help wherever or whenever we have the opportunity! 

We've just pulled into a truckstop near Grand Island, Nebraska, and it is cold but we're leaving the truck running all night so we won't have any problem getting it started in the morning.  Nighty-night!

I Am Such a Whiner; My Husband is a Saint

I knew I was a whiner before taking off on this new adventure, I just didn't know how much of a whiner I could be. I wish I could say that I have been the perfect helper to my husband and that as a "team" member I've carried my own weight, but in all honesty I have been a real bugger at times. Getting use to not being able to wash my hair and take a shower everyday, trying to provide nutritious meals, colddddddd weather, salt and grease from the road tracked into the cab, being with someone 24/7 who is sometimes a little particular about things :), and just trying to learn how to drive this monstrosity of a vehicle has unfortunately stretched me to my endurance and limit at times.

My husband has been a saint with putting up with my griping and complaining. He says he's use to it which just sets me off again!  As if he's had a lifetime of my whining - can you imagine?!  I hope I'm not unique in that I love the idea of the new adventures but when it comes down to the grit of putting up with the harder elements of this lifestyle, I am found lacking. I try to rely on the Lord to help me be strong during these times but my carnal side seems to win over every time.

This blog is a tribute to my husband who is the most incredible man I have ever met. He takes everything in stride and tries to protect me whenever he can. I will be forever thankful to the Lord for giving to me a man like Shannon!

Enough of the Cold Already!

We went from 80 degrees in Los Angeles on Jan. 2nd to minus 15 degrees in Utah on Jan. 3rd (the lowest we got a picture of was -12).  It's strange going from sandels in the morning to snowboots at the end of the day. Last night in Manooka, IL we took showers at the truck stop and by the time I'd walked back to the truck my hair was frozen and I couldn't get a brush through it until it had thawed!  Then the power went out in our truck around 2am and by 3am the temperature was 12 degrees in the cab. You could see our breath inside the truck. The truck has a weird electrical problem and seems to present itself at the most inopportune times! It drives Shannon crazy because he can't figure out what causes it. The only thing that seems to be constant is that it happens when we've been bobtailing (truck without a trailer attached). But nothing really makes sense.

On Tuesday evening we met up with our good friend Matt for dinner at a truck stop in Las Vegas. Matt and I went through truck driving school together at Watkins. We had a great time talking and eating dinner together. But alas, no Dairy Queen Moolattes were available to us. Matt and I are Moolatte addicts. He was on his way to LA and we were on our way to Illinois. We never seem to run in the same direction. Matt is a uniquely special young man and he's become family to both Shannon and I. I hope to one day introduce him to my family back home.

We have seen some beautiful country the last couple of days so I'm uploading a new set of pictures into the slideshow. I hope you enjoy them.

My New Year's Resolutions

I'm not big on New Year's Resolutions but upon reflection of the big changes that we made in our lives this year, I have considered making a few...

• I resolve to smile as much as I can this year - life is too short not to.
• I resolve to flirt more with my husband.
• I resolve to spend less and save a lot more.
• I resolve to only keep possessions that don't possess me.
• I resolve to sing and dance more, even though I can't do either very well.
• I resolve to do better at being God's hands and feet to those I come in contact with.
• I resolve that my family and friends will know how much they mean to me in word and deed.
• I resolve to make my earthly life count for eternal purposes.
  

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!

MAY GOD BLESS YOU BY DRAWING YOU CLOSER TO HIM THROUGHOUT THE YEAR!

Day Off in La Mirada, CA

We had an unexpected day off today and spent it doing some of the things I like to do the most -- drinking coffee, eating, and going to a movie. Pretty sad, right? We were going to go to Knott's Berry Farm and then found out that they were closing early and we'd gotten a late start anyway, so we decided to bag it this time and plan on going the next time we have some free time in the LA area. But here are some pictures of the Farm at sunset as we drove by.

We had a day off because the loaded trailer we tried to pick up last evening was buried behind 15 other trailers in this shipping yard and there was no one there last night or today who could move these other trailers in order to get to the one we were suppose to pick up. Some freight companies are run better than others and this one was maybe the poorest we've encountered. When we called to make sure that they would be open so we could pick up our assigned load, Shannon as transferred at least 8 times before he got in touch with someone who could tell them, yes, they would be open. Well, they were open but apparently no one thought to bring our trailer to the front of the yard before everyone left for the New Year's holiday. Argh! 

Oh, well, I really can't complain because we had a fantastic day just playing. We went to breakfast at IHOP, did you know that their orange juice is fresh squeezed with unlimited refills. Like I said, I learn something new everyday. Did I say they were important things?

We went to the new Sherlock Holmes movie. It was really good. It stars Robert Downey Jr as Sherlock and Jude Law as Dr. Watson. It has Sherlock Holmes as a much more "physical" character than the traditional role portrays; Holmes and Watson get into a lot more fistacuffs than normal. I loved the way the movie laid out the deductive reasoning process of Holmes. It, too, was not done in the traditional manner. It did have a storyline concerning the occult which Holmes proved to be bogus, but its probably not something for kids under 15 or so to see.

Afterwards, we went to Marie Calendar's for dinner and pie. It was very, very good and I ate way, way too much.

We're hoping to get our loaded trailer tomorrow morning and then we're off to Las Vegas to meet our friend, Matt, who I went through school with and then on to Macys in Malooka, IL.  We ended the day by having to witness yet another fabulous sunset...I hope I never get tired of seeing the gorgeous sunrises and sunsets that the Lord gives us to enjoy!