I write this entry with mixed emotions.
We came out on the truck because we needed to pay off some debt and get some savings built up. We have not been consistently making enough money, so after much deliberation, we have decided to take up residence in Utah. We are going to live with my parents for a little while until we get our feet under us, and then find a place of our own. Josh and I both plan to work, and Josh will also go to school. We have applied for jobs and are waiting to hear back from the companies. I am here in Utah currently, and Josh is finishing up on the truck while he waits to hear about a job. We are both disappointed that this didn't work out as well as we thought it would. Some weeks were great, but others weren't. We have had a lot of fun though, and seen a lot of country, and we are so glad we were able to go on this adventure together.
It has also been very stressful at times trying to find places, and keeping our log book according to regulations, and backing up in places that don't have enough room, etc. That part I am glad we won't have to deal with anymore! But the best part has been being together 24 hours a day. For anyone that knows us well, knows how crazy we are about being together all the time. This time apart has been very difficult for us, but I guess we had better get used to it...
We are excited to begin this new adventure together in Utah, and hopefully it will work out better in the long run.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Louisana
When we were stopped at a truck stop one day I decided it was high time the boys got haircuts. So we got out our supplies, set up our camping chair on the ground next to the truck, and got to work. We were able to plug in our clippers to our inverter in the truck and put the cord out the door, and they both got top notch haircuts in the parking lot. The only problem we ran into was that the camping chair was too low, and so by the end, my back was aching like crazy!
There is a bridge in Louisana on I-10 that is 18 miles long. Yes, I said 18 miles. It goes across several swamps and bayous. The worst part about it is that trucks can only go in the right lane and they have to go slower than the cars. That drives Josh crazy! We have crossed this bridge at least 5 or 6 times.
We went to church in Baton Rouge, LA and as we pulled up to the church, we realized it shared a parking lot with the Temple! That was a fun surprise for us to be able to see the temple there. When we were at church, people just doted on Lizzy, just like they do everywhere we go. Everywhere we go, everyone makes comments about how cute and how small she is. Some of the descriptions used most often are petite, precious, delicate, and many have said that she looks just like a perfect little porcelin doll. They are always very good to include Mitch in the conversation and tell him how handsome he is and ask him questions about himself and his sister.
There is a bridge in Louisana on I-10 that is 18 miles long. Yes, I said 18 miles. It goes across several swamps and bayous. The worst part about it is that trucks can only go in the right lane and they have to go slower than the cars. That drives Josh crazy! We have crossed this bridge at least 5 or 6 times.
We went to church in Baton Rouge, LA and as we pulled up to the church, we realized it shared a parking lot with the Temple! That was a fun surprise for us to be able to see the temple there. When we were at church, people just doted on Lizzy, just like they do everywhere we go. Everywhere we go, everyone makes comments about how cute and how small she is. Some of the descriptions used most often are petite, precious, delicate, and many have said that she looks just like a perfect little porcelin doll. They are always very good to include Mitch in the conversation and tell him how handsome he is and ask him questions about himself and his sister.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Coolest Restaurants Ever!
The McDonalds in Des Moines, Iowa is hands down the coolest McDonalds ever. We went there because they had a huge play place for kids, which we thought would be good for Mitch. Unfortunately we got there after that was closed, but much to our delight, when we walked in, the first thing we saw was a grand piano! As we were being amazed at that discovery, we realized that it was playing music! So instead of the regular kind of music that McDonalds normally would be playing, we were treated to the music of a grand piano. It was in the room that adjoins the play place so that the parents can actually relax while watching their kids play. Then, as if that weren’t cool enough, as we were walking to the bathroom before we left, we saw a whole wall full of fish tanks! There were some really cool fish, and crabs in there too. Definitely the coolest McDonalds ever.
On Monday we were driving up I-55 through Missouri, and I started seeing billboards for Lamberts Café, Only Home of the Throwed Rolls. We didn’t think too much of it until Josh was talking to his friend, Sally, who told us that if we were going through there that we really needed to stop and eat there because it is something everyone should do at least once in their lives. So we took her advice and stopped for lunch. Boy was she ever right! Lambert’s ranks right up there with Olive Garden in my book! I was surprised to see a line to get in at two o’clock in the afternoon, but the line moved quickly, and we were soon seated. It was a large dining room, not unlike a cafeteria, and servers were walking around the room calling out things such as, “Black-eyed peas!” or “Fried okra” or “Macaroni and tomatoes”. Then when someone indicated that they would like some, they would scoop some onto their plate. And then there was the guy with the rolls. He would yell out, “Hot rolls!” after which someone would raise their hand, and he would throw the roll to the person! Even from all the way across the room. Then there was the food you actually ordered. It was fabulous, and a huge portion! I got the pot roast, and it was so delicious! The corn and mashed potatoes I had with it were fabulous too. But the hot rolls with the butter and honey were top in my book.
Later that day we were able to go through another town that Josh served in on his mission, Matoon, IL. We got to see Sally, John Wilson and his wife and son, and Sister Cain. I also got to see two more of the apartments he lived in. It was really fun.
Today we dropped our load off in Chicago, and picked up a new one, and now we are headed to Washington, IN.
On Monday we were driving up I-55 through Missouri, and I started seeing billboards for Lamberts Café, Only Home of the Throwed Rolls. We didn’t think too much of it until Josh was talking to his friend, Sally, who told us that if we were going through there that we really needed to stop and eat there because it is something everyone should do at least once in their lives. So we took her advice and stopped for lunch. Boy was she ever right! Lambert’s ranks right up there with Olive Garden in my book! I was surprised to see a line to get in at two o’clock in the afternoon, but the line moved quickly, and we were soon seated. It was a large dining room, not unlike a cafeteria, and servers were walking around the room calling out things such as, “Black-eyed peas!” or “Fried okra” or “Macaroni and tomatoes”. Then when someone indicated that they would like some, they would scoop some onto their plate. And then there was the guy with the rolls. He would yell out, “Hot rolls!” after which someone would raise their hand, and he would throw the roll to the person! Even from all the way across the room. Then there was the food you actually ordered. It was fabulous, and a huge portion! I got the pot roast, and it was so delicious! The corn and mashed potatoes I had with it were fabulous too. But the hot rolls with the butter and honey were top in my book.
Later that day we were able to go through another town that Josh served in on his mission, Matoon, IL. We got to see Sally, John Wilson and his wife and son, and Sister Cain. I also got to see two more of the apartments he lived in. It was really fun.
Today we dropped our load off in Chicago, and picked up a new one, and now we are headed to Washington, IN.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Nauvoo
The Department of Transportation will only allow truck drivers to drive a certain number of hours in a day and in a week. If you run out of hours for the week, you have to be off duty for 34 hours to restart the clock. This week we ran out of hours on our way to back to Chicago from Los Angeles. We ran out near Iowa City, Iowa, and since this was not too far from Nauvoo, we decided to go there to spend our 34 hours, instead of sitting at a truck stop. We had a ton of fun!
Since it was the end of October, there weren’t many people, or many bugs, or high temperatures. It was fabulous!! After a brief stop at the Visitor’s Center, we went to the Family Living Center where we got to make a rope and learn how barrels were made. Then we made our way walking down Main Street visiting the various shops and buildings along the way. We learned a lot and enjoyed ourselves. We got a small horseshoe and prairie diamond rings at the blacksmith shop, a cookie at the bakery, and I learned that Jonathon Browning of Browning Guns lived in Nauvoo. We walked down to the end of Parley Street where the Pioneers crossed the Mississippi River when the left Nauvoo.
That night we ate at the Hotel Nauvoo and then went to the Historic Nauvoo Cultural Center for a show called “Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo”. The senior couple missionaries performed this hilarious and touching show about what it might have been like in Nauvoo just before the Saints had to leave. We loved it!!
The next day we went on a ride in a wagon that is built the same as the early saints wagons were, pulled by a team of oxen. Then we visited the Red Brick Store before we hurried back to go on a wagon ride tour of Nauvoo. We learned a lot about Nauvoo on the tour as well as a little about the river. After the tour, we went to the Brick maker and learned how they made bricks, which I found fascinating. They gave us a souvenir brick, and also one of the imperfect ones to Mitch. Then we went back to the Family Living Center and learned how they made fabric, wove rugs, made candles, and baked bread. We had time for one last stop at the Heber C. Kimball house before they all closed up for the night.
Next we headed for Carthage. We went to Carthage Jail where Joseph Smith was murdered. They were closed for the night too, so we didn’t get to take a tour, but we were able to walk around the outside of it. After that we went to Macomb, IL which is one of the cities Josh served in on his mission. I even got to see the apartment where he lived. We couldn’t get a hold of anyone he knew in that city though.
It was a very fun couple of days!! Another adventure we couldn’t have gone on if we weren’t trucking! We are really lucky!
Since it was the end of October, there weren’t many people, or many bugs, or high temperatures. It was fabulous!! After a brief stop at the Visitor’s Center, we went to the Family Living Center where we got to make a rope and learn how barrels were made. Then we made our way walking down Main Street visiting the various shops and buildings along the way. We learned a lot and enjoyed ourselves. We got a small horseshoe and prairie diamond rings at the blacksmith shop, a cookie at the bakery, and I learned that Jonathon Browning of Browning Guns lived in Nauvoo. We walked down to the end of Parley Street where the Pioneers crossed the Mississippi River when the left Nauvoo.
That night we ate at the Hotel Nauvoo and then went to the Historic Nauvoo Cultural Center for a show called “Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo”. The senior couple missionaries performed this hilarious and touching show about what it might have been like in Nauvoo just before the Saints had to leave. We loved it!!
The next day we went on a ride in a wagon that is built the same as the early saints wagons were, pulled by a team of oxen. Then we visited the Red Brick Store before we hurried back to go on a wagon ride tour of Nauvoo. We learned a lot about Nauvoo on the tour as well as a little about the river. After the tour, we went to the Brick maker and learned how they made bricks, which I found fascinating. They gave us a souvenir brick, and also one of the imperfect ones to Mitch. Then we went back to the Family Living Center and learned how they made fabric, wove rugs, made candles, and baked bread. We had time for one last stop at the Heber C. Kimball house before they all closed up for the night.
Next we headed for Carthage. We went to Carthage Jail where Joseph Smith was murdered. They were closed for the night too, so we didn’t get to take a tour, but we were able to walk around the outside of it. After that we went to Macomb, IL which is one of the cities Josh served in on his mission. I even got to see the apartment where he lived. We couldn’t get a hold of anyone he knew in that city though.
It was a very fun couple of days!! Another adventure we couldn’t have gone on if we weren’t trucking! We are really lucky!
Friday, October 26, 2007
October
Well, Josh started to write an entry a week or two ago, and I have been waiting for him to finish it and post it before I write any more, but I think that I better write anyway and just insert his entry later. We are alive still, and still driving.
We are currently on our way from the Hammond, IN to Montebello, CA. Basically from Chicago to LA. I don’t know what it is about disaster areas, but we seem to be sent to them a lot. Right after the Minneapolis bridge collapsed, we had to go through Minneapolis, and now in the midst of raging wildfires in southern CA, we get sent there. I’m sure we’ll be fine though. The good news is that we got to go through SLC on our way and see our family.
Our last two loads took us from the Chicago area to New Jersey and back again. We especially enjoyed the westbound trip. We were able to take our time, and really enjoyed the beautiful trees in Pennsylvania. It made me want to move there even more. We went to church in Brookville, Pennsylvania. They had a nice little ward there and were very welcoming. One family even invited us to their house for dinner after church. We enjoyed a delicious dinner and great company. That made me want to move there even more! Maybe we will…
When we were in Hammond to unload our last load, we drove by a really funny sign. The sign said, ”We believe in Community. We exist because of you. Thank you for your patronage.” What’s so funny about that, you ask? Well, it was on the side of a liquor store. It might as well have said, “Thank you for being such a heavily boozing community.”
We have definitely been enjoying the cooler weather. The northern part of the country is much more pleasant in October than the southern part. We even saw some snow as we drove across Wyoming. It has been nice to be able to leave the truck off at night and have it cool enough to sleep.
We are currently on our way from the Hammond, IN to Montebello, CA. Basically from Chicago to LA. I don’t know what it is about disaster areas, but we seem to be sent to them a lot. Right after the Minneapolis bridge collapsed, we had to go through Minneapolis, and now in the midst of raging wildfires in southern CA, we get sent there. I’m sure we’ll be fine though. The good news is that we got to go through SLC on our way and see our family.
Our last two loads took us from the Chicago area to New Jersey and back again. We especially enjoyed the westbound trip. We were able to take our time, and really enjoyed the beautiful trees in Pennsylvania. It made me want to move there even more. We went to church in Brookville, Pennsylvania. They had a nice little ward there and were very welcoming. One family even invited us to their house for dinner after church. We enjoyed a delicious dinner and great company. That made me want to move there even more! Maybe we will…
When we were in Hammond to unload our last load, we drove by a really funny sign. The sign said, ”We believe in Community. We exist because of you. Thank you for your patronage.” What’s so funny about that, you ask? Well, it was on the side of a liquor store. It might as well have said, “Thank you for being such a heavily boozing community.”
We have definitely been enjoying the cooler weather. The northern part of the country is much more pleasant in October than the southern part. We even saw some snow as we drove across Wyoming. It has been nice to be able to leave the truck off at night and have it cool enough to sleep.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Joyce
I just thought I would write a little note about my friend Joyce since I have mentioned trying to visit her in the blog. She passed away the night of the September 28th after a two year battle with lung cancer. She will be sorely missed by all who knew her, but most especially by her husband, 9 month old son, twin sister, and the rest of her family. Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this very hard time.
Now here's a picture of Lizzy with a ponytail in her hair to cheer you up.
Beaches
In the space of a week we were able to play in both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Do we have to coolest job, or what?
First we played in California in the San Diego Bay. We played in the water and drew in the 
sand. Pretty soon, we noticed that our drawings were under water. We were there just in time for the tide to come in. It was pretty cool. Lizzy loved walking in the water and sand there. There were also some tiny fish or tadpoles in the shallow water that would dig holes in the sand like little drills. 
sand. Pretty soon, we noticed that our drawings were under water. We were there just in time for the tide to come in. It was pretty cool. Lizzy loved walking in the water and sand there. There were also some tiny fish or tadpoles in the shallow water that would dig holes in the sand like little drills. 
Then about a week later we found ourselves on the other side of the country in Florida, so we decided to go to the beach there. We were right on the ocean this time, with the waves coming in. We played in the waves, built sand castles (Mitchell and Josh doing one, and me doing the other), and had a grand ole time. Mitchell found the flag for their castle, and he and Josh found me the shells for mine. This time, we made sure that Mitch did not go in the water without one of us holding his hand so the undertow wouldn't try to drag him out to sea. He was really good about doing that. Lizzy did not like this ocean nearly as well, and she would get scared and cry every time we tried to put her in the water. I guess the waves must have looked really big to her.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Sea World
We decided to take a day off and visit Sea World while we were in San Diego. It was the first time for Josh as well as Mitch and Lizzy. We had a great time!
Ready for a day of fun!
The first thing we did was go to the Shamu show called “Believe”. It was a flop. :) Okay, so the show wasn’t, but the whales did like to flop into the water! It was a great way to start out the day. We all liked the show, and Mitchell thought it was pretty cool that those whales could do all that stuff.
After the show we walked over to the feeding and interaction pool for the dolphins. They have fish available to purchase to feed to the dolphins, and you can touch them. We didn’t buy any fish, but we got to touch the dolphins anyway. It was one of my favorite parts of Sea World. I have always loved dolphins, so it was awesome to be able to touch one.
Next we stopped at the tide pool. They have a whole bunch of star fish, sea cucumbers, urchins, clams, and snails for people to look at, and even touch. We all got to pick up starfish and feel a sea cucumber. It was so cool!
Then we went through the salt water aquarium building on our way to the skyride. Even Lizzy was fascinated with all the cool fish to look at! We went on the skyride over the bay next. Mitchell 
decided he liked to look out over the water and at the boats and birds, but he didn’t like to look down because it scared him.
We saw sharks, freshwater fish, penguins, flamingos, polar bears, walruses, and Clydesdale horses.
The dolphin show was pretty cool. Those dolphins can jump really high! 
They had a family from the audience help them out. They each did something different. 
The mom acted really freaked out when she was supposed to do her thing with the dolphin, and then later when she was taking a picture of her son, she fell in the water!! She looked like she was panicking and started swimming the wrong way. Pretty soon the dolphin came over to her, and started pushing her around the pool with its nose! It pushed her up onto the place where the trainers were standing, and then they finally informed us that she was really a trainer, not part of the family. They tricked us pretty good!
The coolest one of the shows was the one with the sea lions. They were so interactive! I had no idea sea lions were so cool. They would stand up and look at stuff with the trainers, follow behind them with their noses on the trainer’s backs, shake their heads yes and no, and all kinds of stuff. The mime from that show gave Mitchell a high-five.
It was a pretty great day!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
On the road again
We are officially back on the road. Things were hectic at home trying to get everything done. We didn't end up getting everything done on the truck that we wanted to, but we got moved out of our house. We had a lot of help from family and friends, and we couldn't have done it without them. Thanks Everyone!!
When we climbed on the truck last night Josh and I both agreed that it felt like home. We missed being on the road. We are going to enjoy it even more now that we have made some improvements to the truck. Josh made a fabulous dinette set for the back that folds down into a bed, and we got some new, very comfortable seats for the front. We are loving it!
We are heading to Chula Vista, CA with our load from Boise. That is near San Diego, so we are hoping to do something fun while we are there.
I will post some pictures soon.
Until then...
When we climbed on the truck last night Josh and I both agreed that it felt like home. We missed being on the road. We are going to enjoy it even more now that we have made some improvements to the truck. Josh made a fabulous dinette set for the back that folds down into a bed, and we got some new, very comfortable seats for the front. We are loving it!
We are heading to Chula Vista, CA with our load from Boise. That is near San Diego, so we are hoping to do something fun while we are there.
I will post some pictures soon.
Until then...
Monday, September 10, 2007
Home
We're home!! We had no idea how much we missed being here until we walked in our nice clean house (thanks to Steph). Too bad we are going to move out. We have rented our storage unit to move into. Now we just have the daunting task of packing up everything we own and moving it... I hate moving!
Mitchell is getting glasses today. He also has 4 cavities that he will be getting filled. And he is getting shots tomorrow. Lucky him. :) I am enjoying my new haircut, and we are all just as happy as clams!
Mitchell is getting glasses today. He also has 4 cavities that he will be getting filled. And he is getting shots tomorrow. Lucky him. :) I am enjoying my new haircut, and we are all just as happy as clams!
Friday, August 31, 2007
On our way home
As I was getting the computer out, Josh said to me, “What are you doing? Lizzy is sleeping so well right now.” It seems that anytime I get on the computer to check email, pay bills, or write on the blog, Lizzy decides to wake up and scream. Here’s hoping she won’t this time…
Trucks have to go through scales every time they enter or exit a state and sometimes in the middle of the state. This is time consuming because of having to stop and then get back to freeway speed. Obviously, no one likes to do it, so they have a little device that sticks to the front window of the truck that can communicate with the scale house to let the people know who you are before you get there. Then the scale house sends a signal back to the PrePass (the device) that gives you either a green light to let you know it is okay to bypass the scale, or a red light that tells you to come in and get weighed. This makes it very nice because you can save a lot of time and fuel. Unfortunately for us, for the past few days, we have got red lights at every scale house. Apparently, the computer shows we have to come in every time for a “safety” reason. This is usually a fleet wide reason, but no one else in our fleet has been getting it, so our boss is looking into it. Hopefully that will be resolved soon.
The good news is that we are finally on our way home. It took some doing, too! After we got to St Louis we got a preplan that wanted us to go to Houston, TX. We called our boss, and he called the dispatcher, and after a while he called back and said we could get a load going to Oregon, and they could push the delivery back a couple of days so we could spend two days at home. We told them there was no way that would work for us since we needed to make a couple of repairs and improvements to the truck, and move all the stuff from our house to a storage unit. That can’t be done in two days. So they tried to find something different, and finally decided to have us pick up a load going to San Antonio, TX, and take it to Mississippi to meet up with another driver who had a load going to Salt Lake City. So we picked up our load and took it to Winona, MS and swapped loads. Right now we just crossed the border from Iowa into Nebraska (Iowa being our 33rd state). We should be able to get about halfway across Nebraska today and then to SLC by tomorrow night. We are very excited to get home and get everything done!
Trucks have to go through scales every time they enter or exit a state and sometimes in the middle of the state. This is time consuming because of having to stop and then get back to freeway speed. Obviously, no one likes to do it, so they have a little device that sticks to the front window of the truck that can communicate with the scale house to let the people know who you are before you get there. Then the scale house sends a signal back to the PrePass (the device) that gives you either a green light to let you know it is okay to bypass the scale, or a red light that tells you to come in and get weighed. This makes it very nice because you can save a lot of time and fuel. Unfortunately for us, for the past few days, we have got red lights at every scale house. Apparently, the computer shows we have to come in every time for a “safety” reason. This is usually a fleet wide reason, but no one else in our fleet has been getting it, so our boss is looking into it. Hopefully that will be resolved soon.
The good news is that we are finally on our way home. It took some doing, too! After we got to St Louis we got a preplan that wanted us to go to Houston, TX. We called our boss, and he called the dispatcher, and after a while he called back and said we could get a load going to Oregon, and they could push the delivery back a couple of days so we could spend two days at home. We told them there was no way that would work for us since we needed to make a couple of repairs and improvements to the truck, and move all the stuff from our house to a storage unit. That can’t be done in two days. So they tried to find something different, and finally decided to have us pick up a load going to San Antonio, TX, and take it to Mississippi to meet up with another driver who had a load going to Salt Lake City. So we picked up our load and took it to Winona, MS and swapped loads. Right now we just crossed the border from Iowa into Nebraska (Iowa being our 33rd state). We should be able to get about halfway across Nebraska today and then to SLC by tomorrow night. We are very excited to get home and get everything done!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
On your mark, get set, GO!
We took a load of Fruitopia and other stuff from Coca-Cola in Charlotte, NC to Coca-Cola in Nashville, TN. After we unloaded there we went to Evansville, IN to get a load of stuff from Whirlpool to take to Denver. We thought they would get us a load from there to home, but that was not the case. Instead, we are headed back to St. Louis, MO with a load of rolled aluminum. We talked to Bill though, and he talked to the dispatcher about getting us home, and he said that they would try to get a load from either St. Louis or Murray, KY to Oregon or SLC so we could go home.
We completely lose all track of the days of the week when we are on the truck. We had no idea that it was Sunday until Josh’s dad call us and said they were home from church. Whoops! We still have to drive on Sundays, but we usually go to church, and then don’t buy anything all day. We also listen to Sunday music in the truck all day. Since we missed church, we took turns telling scripture stories, and listened to our cd of Primary music.
When we were leaving Denver, we tried to call my Uncle Dea, but I just had to leave a message. He called me back about an hour later, and I found out that we had been within a few miles of his house. By then we were too far away to get together though, but if we go through there again we will try again.
The last couple of days, Mitchell and I have had a lot of fun doing races. First, we pick out a course. At one place, we started at a crack in the sidewalk, then ran and touched the light post, then ran and touched the fire hydrant, and then ran and touched the light on the bottom of the trailer. Then I would get my stopwatch ready, and tell Mitchell, “On your mark, get set, GO!” He would run the course, with me yelling reminders of where to run next, and I would time him. Then I would take a turn. At the rest stop we slept at last night, he ran another course repeatedly to see if he could improve his time each time. He really loves to run, and everywhere we stop, he asks if we can do more races.
Today we stopped for fuel and lunch, and there was a playground to play on. There was a gorilla
statue there too. We tried to tell Mitchell it was his brother, but he reminded us that he was a monkey, not a gorilla. He’s a pretty funny boy. The playground also had a slightly more sophisticated version of tin cans on a string. They have pipe that goes underground with a funnel shaped openings on each end about 4 feet high so that you can talk to each other from the opposite ends of the playground. Mitchell loved talking through those. Josh and Mitchell mooed at each other.
Mitchell just made a card for his dad that said, “Dear Dad I love you Love Mitchell”. It was really cute. It even had a picture of Mitchell and his dad. He is getting pretty good at writing. Even though we were driving down the road, his words were very legible.
We completely lose all track of the days of the week when we are on the truck. We had no idea that it was Sunday until Josh’s dad call us and said they were home from church. Whoops! We still have to drive on Sundays, but we usually go to church, and then don’t buy anything all day. We also listen to Sunday music in the truck all day. Since we missed church, we took turns telling scripture stories, and listened to our cd of Primary music.
When we were leaving Denver, we tried to call my Uncle Dea, but I just had to leave a message. He called me back about an hour later, and I found out that we had been within a few miles of his house. By then we were too far away to get together though, but if we go through there again we will try again.
The last couple of days, Mitchell and I have had a lot of fun doing races. First, we pick out a course. At one place, we started at a crack in the sidewalk, then ran and touched the light post, then ran and touched the fire hydrant, and then ran and touched the light on the bottom of the trailer. Then I would get my stopwatch ready, and tell Mitchell, “On your mark, get set, GO!” He would run the course, with me yelling reminders of where to run next, and I would time him. Then I would take a turn. At the rest stop we slept at last night, he ran another course repeatedly to see if he could improve his time each time. He really loves to run, and everywhere we stop, he asks if we can do more races.
Today we stopped for fuel and lunch, and there was a playground to play on. There was a gorilla
statue there too. We tried to tell Mitchell it was his brother, but he reminded us that he was a monkey, not a gorilla. He’s a pretty funny boy. The playground also had a slightly more sophisticated version of tin cans on a string. They have pipe that goes underground with a funnel shaped openings on each end about 4 feet high so that you can talk to each other from the opposite ends of the playground. Mitchell loved talking through those. Josh and Mitchell mooed at each other.Mitchell just made a card for his dad that said, “Dear Dad I love you Love Mitchell”. It was really cute. It even had a picture of Mitchell and his dad. He is getting pretty good at writing. Even though we were driving down the road, his words were very legible.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina
Sunday morning we finally got a message saying we had a load from Tennessee to Louisiana, and we had just enough time to go to the first two hours of church in Murray. So we got ready and went to church. There was a small ward in Murray, and they were all just as happy to have us there as the people in Pikeville were. There were even a few people that were from Idaho that lived there. The couple that sat in front of us complimented us on our singing and how good our kids were. After Sunday School, we picked up our trailer and went on our way. We got as far as Jackson, TN before we got a call saying that the load we were going to pick up wasn’t ready, and so we were supposed to stay in Jackson until we got a different load. We were sad because we could have stayed for the rest of church. After sitting there for about four hours we got a new message giving us a load from Eddyville, KY to Logan Township, NJ.
We went through West Virginia and Maryland on our way to New Jersey. The area where West Virginia meets Maryland was very mountainous. It was also very foggy, so we were going up and down hills with 6% grade for 13+ miles, and you could only see a few hundred feet in front of the truck. It wasn’t really very fun. We would prefer to not drive through that area again.
After we delivered that load, we drove to York, PA to get another. We love Pennsylvania! They have fun road games, like “Watch for aggressive drivers” (We saw lots of them) and “Maintain at least 2 dots between vehicles”. This is like connect the dots for vehicles, only you have to
connect them at the right speed. Seriously though, we did love Pennsylvania. It was so beautiful, and not as hot as the southern states. The trees and other vegetation were so thick and lush. One thing we noticed was the amount of mushrooms they must have. They had mushroom mulch, registered mushrooms, and just about every store and restaurant advertised mushrooms. There were also a lot of quaint little villages and beautiful farmland. They have to mow the grass around their fields of corn, and it looks so gorgeous. We are very tempted to move there when we are done trucking…
From York we headed south to Greensboro, NC. We went back through Maryland, through Washington DC, and Virginia. We got to see the Washington DC temple all lit up as we drove through. It was so fun to come around the corner and see it there in front of us. We unloaded in Greensboro and we are now on our way to Charlotte, NC to pick up our next load to take to Nashville, TN.
We’ve noticed there is a lack of respect for the speed limit in the East. The flow of traffic is consistently 10-20 miles above the speed limit. I guess the police don’t enforce the speed limit very much.
We went through West Virginia and Maryland on our way to New Jersey. The area where West Virginia meets Maryland was very mountainous. It was also very foggy, so we were going up and down hills with 6% grade for 13+ miles, and you could only see a few hundred feet in front of the truck. It wasn’t really very fun. We would prefer to not drive through that area again.
After we delivered that load, we drove to York, PA to get another. We love Pennsylvania! They have fun road games, like “Watch for aggressive drivers” (We saw lots of them) and “Maintain at least 2 dots between vehicles”. This is like connect the dots for vehicles, only you have to
connect them at the right speed. Seriously though, we did love Pennsylvania. It was so beautiful, and not as hot as the southern states. The trees and other vegetation were so thick and lush. One thing we noticed was the amount of mushrooms they must have. They had mushroom mulch, registered mushrooms, and just about every store and restaurant advertised mushrooms. There were also a lot of quaint little villages and beautiful farmland. They have to mow the grass around their fields of corn, and it looks so gorgeous. We are very tempted to move there when we are done trucking…From York we headed south to Greensboro, NC. We went back through Maryland, through Washington DC, and Virginia. We got to see the Washington DC temple all lit up as we drove through. It was so fun to come around the corner and see it there in front of us. We unloaded in Greensboro and we are now on our way to Charlotte, NC to pick up our next load to take to Nashville, TN.
We’ve noticed there is a lack of respect for the speed limit in the East. The flow of traffic is consistently 10-20 miles above the speed limit. I guess the police don’t enforce the speed limit very much.
We have now been through 30 states plus DC, and still loving it!
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Sittin' in Murray
Well we made it to Murray KY on time and since it was 9:00 p.m. central time we weren't expecting to get a load til this morning. Just as we suspected we didn't get a load so Tania thought y'all would want to hear from me again. The last couple days haven't been to exciting we went through a bunch of states we have been through before. The most exciting thing we did was stop at a rest stop, and while walking in I noticed a sign that said we were in Grundy county. For those of you who won't get it(which is probably all of you) Grundy county is mentioned in a country music song about a Grundy county auction. Today we have been sitting and waiting a lot at the PTL lot. In front of the truck parking is a big lot for cars, and since there isn't many cars I got Mitchel's bike off the back and he has been riding around quite a bit we mostly have been being spectators from the cab of the truck since it is 100 degrees outside and I mean that seriously not exaggerating. Mitchell made a new friend today he is black, about a foot tall, and is tied to the front of the building by us. Yes he is a dog and his name is JOJO. I was told today that I should be getting a load to Delaware but nothing has showed up yet. The other day while I was sitting in my thinking chair I realized why I am SO poor. It is because I always give people my Two Cents, and the most I ever get back is a penny for my thoughts. Well so far I like being on the truck. Most of the time the kids are good. Occasionally I want to drop them off, but, who doesn't. All in all this over the road stuff is fun. I get to talk to a lot of new people from all over and hear all kinds of accents. Most of the time people probably wonder if I'm wierd or what is wrong with me, because I give a lot of blank stares when they speak. Most of the time it takes my brain a long time to realize they are speaking english, and from there my brain has to figure out what they said. The other day when we unloaded in El Paso for instance the guard at the gate had a very thick spanish accent. It took him and me both about five minutes to figure out I was coming there to get a load. Then another five minutes to get all the information taken care of. I enjoy getting to spend a lot of time with my family and seeing a lot of new places. We will try and keep everyone posted on what we are doing and where. Until next time this is Josh saying take care and we hope to see you soon.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Texas to Georgia
We are now on our way through Atlanta taking a load from Riceboro, GA to the drop lot in Murray, KY. We have 9 rolls of paper in the back that weigh 5,000 lbs each. At the paper plant where we picked up the load, the air smelled horrible, and we think there must be some sort of chemical that settles out of the air because when the people that work there leave, they drive through a place that sprays their car off every day.
Now, backtracking a little… We went through our company headquarters, Colorado Springs, on our way to Texas. Our boss and his wife, Bill and Gayle, took us to dinner. We went to the Marigold on Cameron’s recommendation. It was pretty good, but I think it probably would have been better at lunch so Josh could have had soup in a bread bowl. Gayle gave Mitch a book and even read it to him at dinner.
That night we looked online to find where there was a church we could go to and found one in Walsenburg, CO that started at 1:00pm, so we drove that far, and parked for the night. The next day we took our time getting ready and then we drove to the church. We got there at about 12:45 and waited until 1:30, and no one showed up. I guess either the website had the wrong time, or they had stake conference or something. We were pretty disappointed though, especially after the fun we had in Pikeville.
New Mexico ranks among our favorite states to drive in. The roads are very smooth. Not like the motocross track roads in some of the other states that have jumps in the roads. We got lost on our way to the place to unload in El Paso. They gave us directions coming from the wrong way, and then used the wrong street name. After we crossed the border back into New Mexico, we called the company and got more correct directions, and turned around. Before we could get going again, we were stopped by a very long funeral procession. There were probably about 200 cars in it. We had to wait for 5-10 minutes for it to go by. Luckily, we were still able to get to the company on time.
People keep trying to run into us. In New Mexico, a pickup tried to merge onto the freeway, and never once looked to the left to see if it was clear. We had to hurry and move over so he didn’t hit us. He was probably only 6 inches away before he ever looked. Then just now, a lady in a car passed us in the left lane, and then tried to merge right into the front of the truck. Did she not see the big white semi as she drove past it?
In El Paso, we unload our load of sunflower seeds, took our empty trailer to a drop lot, and picked up a loaded trailer to take to Electrolux in Port Wentworth, GA (just north of Savannah). We had to drive our full 11 hours each day to get there in time, so we didn’t have time to stop and enjoy the scenery as much as we usually do.
The lady in the guardhouse in Port Wentworth hadn’t ever met anyone from Idaho before, and she asked Josh if everyone in Idaho dressed the same as him. She said he looked like a cowboy. He told her that he probably dressed that way more than most.
There are some funny signs in Georgia. Every few miles there is a sign that says, “Speed checked by detection devices”. What else would it be checked by? We decided that they must be really proud of their radar guns. The other funny sign we saw last night was when we were driving on the freeway in a place where the two sides of the freeway are divided by a large median with trees in the middle. There were two lanes going each direction. There was sign that said, “Trucks over 6 wheels must use 2 right lanes”. There were only two lanes to begin with! They have those signs every few miles throughout Georgia, but usually when there are three or more lanes. We thought it was pretty funny.
Lizzy is getting so big. She can drink water or milkshakes through a straw. She loves to eat big people food. Every time we eat, she will look up at the person holding her, and whine. If that doesn’t work, she starts arching her back and throwing a fit. She’s not even six months old yet! I think we’re going to have our hands full. Her hair is long enough to put up in a little ponytail on the top of her head. She’s pretty cute!
Mitchell always wants to play the arcade games at the truck stop. He is still to smart for his own good. He can count to 100, do simple addition, and this morning he started figuring out multiplication. He told me to ask him what 2+2+2 was, and when I did, he told me 6. I told him that was the same as 2x3, and he started doing other ones. Now he knows 2 x 1, 2, 3 and 4. He knows how to figure out other ones as well. He is doing really well learning to read too. I think he probably needs glasses, and when he gets them, I think his reading will really take off.
We are all still loving being on the truck, and we are planning on moving all our stuff from our house into a storage unit since we don’t plan on being home much. We can use our rent money a lot more wisely. We put in a home request yesterday, but we don’t know how long it will take them to find a load to there. They don’t normally haul to Idaho, so they will probably have to find us a load through a broker. I guess we’ll have to see what happens.
Now, backtracking a little… We went through our company headquarters, Colorado Springs, on our way to Texas. Our boss and his wife, Bill and Gayle, took us to dinner. We went to the Marigold on Cameron’s recommendation. It was pretty good, but I think it probably would have been better at lunch so Josh could have had soup in a bread bowl. Gayle gave Mitch a book and even read it to him at dinner.
That night we looked online to find where there was a church we could go to and found one in Walsenburg, CO that started at 1:00pm, so we drove that far, and parked for the night. The next day we took our time getting ready and then we drove to the church. We got there at about 12:45 and waited until 1:30, and no one showed up. I guess either the website had the wrong time, or they had stake conference or something. We were pretty disappointed though, especially after the fun we had in Pikeville.
New Mexico ranks among our favorite states to drive in. The roads are very smooth. Not like the motocross track roads in some of the other states that have jumps in the roads. We got lost on our way to the place to unload in El Paso. They gave us directions coming from the wrong way, and then used the wrong street name. After we crossed the border back into New Mexico, we called the company and got more correct directions, and turned around. Before we could get going again, we were stopped by a very long funeral procession. There were probably about 200 cars in it. We had to wait for 5-10 minutes for it to go by. Luckily, we were still able to get to the company on time.
People keep trying to run into us. In New Mexico, a pickup tried to merge onto the freeway, and never once looked to the left to see if it was clear. We had to hurry and move over so he didn’t hit us. He was probably only 6 inches away before he ever looked. Then just now, a lady in a car passed us in the left lane, and then tried to merge right into the front of the truck. Did she not see the big white semi as she drove past it?
In El Paso, we unload our load of sunflower seeds, took our empty trailer to a drop lot, and picked up a loaded trailer to take to Electrolux in Port Wentworth, GA (just north of Savannah). We had to drive our full 11 hours each day to get there in time, so we didn’t have time to stop and enjoy the scenery as much as we usually do.
The lady in the guardhouse in Port Wentworth hadn’t ever met anyone from Idaho before, and she asked Josh if everyone in Idaho dressed the same as him. She said he looked like a cowboy. He told her that he probably dressed that way more than most.
There are some funny signs in Georgia. Every few miles there is a sign that says, “Speed checked by detection devices”. What else would it be checked by? We decided that they must be really proud of their radar guns. The other funny sign we saw last night was when we were driving on the freeway in a place where the two sides of the freeway are divided by a large median with trees in the middle. There were two lanes going each direction. There was sign that said, “Trucks over 6 wheels must use 2 right lanes”. There were only two lanes to begin with! They have those signs every few miles throughout Georgia, but usually when there are three or more lanes. We thought it was pretty funny.
Lizzy is getting so big. She can drink water or milkshakes through a straw. She loves to eat big people food. Every time we eat, she will look up at the person holding her, and whine. If that doesn’t work, she starts arching her back and throwing a fit. She’s not even six months old yet! I think we’re going to have our hands full. Her hair is long enough to put up in a little ponytail on the top of her head. She’s pretty cute!
Mitchell always wants to play the arcade games at the truck stop. He is still to smart for his own good. He can count to 100, do simple addition, and this morning he started figuring out multiplication. He told me to ask him what 2+2+2 was, and when I did, he told me 6. I told him that was the same as 2x3, and he started doing other ones. Now he knows 2 x 1, 2, 3 and 4. He knows how to figure out other ones as well. He is doing really well learning to read too. I think he probably needs glasses, and when he gets them, I think his reading will really take off.
We are all still loving being on the truck, and we are planning on moving all our stuff from our house into a storage unit since we don’t plan on being home much. We can use our rent money a lot more wisely. We put in a home request yesterday, but we don’t know how long it will take them to find a load to there. They don’t normally haul to Idaho, so they will probably have to find us a load through a broker. I guess we’ll have to see what happens.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Very short
This will be very short because it is late and I am tired, and we just arrived at our destination in Port Wentworth, GA. I have not been writing as often as I should, and I apologize for that. I will try to do better. We picked up a load in El Paso and brought it to Georgia, near Savannah. We didn't have time to do anything too exciting because we really had to hurry with this one. We would have tried to visit Joyce as we went through Fort Worth, but wouldn't you know, it was her chemo day again! We were very disappointed, but since we have already been through there twice, we will probably go through again, and hopefully not on a Tuesday! I will write more about our trip to Texas and then to Georgia tomorrow.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
The Dakotas
I told Josh a couple of days ago that it was his turn to write, but he hasn’t had the time yet, so I’ll have to do it.
We made it through Minneapolis, and didn’t even experience much traffic. We made it to North Dakota with plenty of time to spare. We took our time through Wisconsin, and thought about stopping in Wisconsin Dells because there are some very famous water/amusement parks there, but they were all too expensive. So we settled on stopping for frozen custard. Mmmm, frozen custard… It was not quite as good as Nielson’s in SLC, but still nice and creamy!
After delivering our load in Fargo, ND, we went to pick up a new load in Grandin, ND (about 20 miles north). Josh dropped the kids and me off at a park to play while he was loading. They had one of my favorite pieces of playground equipment, the merry-go-round! We had a lot of fun playing. I would even sit on the merry-go-round holding Lizzy, and Mitch would run around pushing us until we got going really fast, and then jump on. While we were at the park, Mitchell and I decided to play “Simon Says”. He was really good at it! I hadn’t ever really played it with him, but he must have played it with his friends or something, because I couldn’t ever trick him into doing something that Simon didn’t say to do. I was really impressed.
Right now we are in South Dakota (our 21st state) on our way to El Paso, Texas. We are hauling sunflower seeds. Last night we stayed the night in Mitchell, SD. Mitch thought that was pretty cool that there was a town with the same name as him. Mitchell (the town) is famous for a corn palace. 
The first corn palace was built there in 1892. The building is decorated entirely with corn, grasses and grains that are native to SD, both the outside and inside. Each year it is redecorated using a different theme. This year the theme was the rodeo. It was pretty cool.
Although Sturgis, SD is still over 100 miles away from where we are, we have seen hundreds of motorcycles, and every where we stop has signs that say, “Welcome Bikers”. Come to find out, the Sturgis Motorcycle rally is August 6-12. We are in South Dakota right in the middle of it! There are also hundreds of RV’s which I assume are so abundant for the same reason.
South Dakota has very bumpy roads. Everything that is not well secured falls down, usually on me! We had a box of leftover pizza in an overhead compartment, and on any other road, it would’ve been fine, but instead it fell out, and of course all the pizza fell on the floor of the truck.
We went through a cool rest stop the other day. It had a place to hike up to a scenic overlook, so we took a 
little hike. It was very refreshing to get some exercise in the middle of the trees.
As we were going through Illinois on our way to North Dakota, we stopped in Champaign and had dinner with a lady Josh knew from his mission. We found an Olive Garden (my favorite) that was near a place we could park, and we ate there. Sally drove about 45 miles to meet us there. It was really great for me to finally meet her after hearing so much about her. We hope to be able to go through his mission more in the future.
We made it through Minneapolis, and didn’t even experience much traffic. We made it to North Dakota with plenty of time to spare. We took our time through Wisconsin, and thought about stopping in Wisconsin Dells because there are some very famous water/amusement parks there, but they were all too expensive. So we settled on stopping for frozen custard. Mmmm, frozen custard… It was not quite as good as Nielson’s in SLC, but still nice and creamy!
After delivering our load in Fargo, ND, we went to pick up a new load in Grandin, ND (about 20 miles north). Josh dropped the kids and me off at a park to play while he was loading. They had one of my favorite pieces of playground equipment, the merry-go-round! We had a lot of fun playing. I would even sit on the merry-go-round holding Lizzy, and Mitch would run around pushing us until we got going really fast, and then jump on. While we were at the park, Mitchell and I decided to play “Simon Says”. He was really good at it! I hadn’t ever really played it with him, but he must have played it with his friends or something, because I couldn’t ever trick him into doing something that Simon didn’t say to do. I was really impressed.
Right now we are in South Dakota (our 21st state) on our way to El Paso, Texas. We are hauling sunflower seeds. Last night we stayed the night in Mitchell, SD. Mitch thought that was pretty cool that there was a town with the same name as him. Mitchell (the town) is famous for a corn palace. 
The first corn palace was built there in 1892. The building is decorated entirely with corn, grasses and grains that are native to SD, both the outside and inside. Each year it is redecorated using a different theme. This year the theme was the rodeo. It was pretty cool.Although Sturgis, SD is still over 100 miles away from where we are, we have seen hundreds of motorcycles, and every where we stop has signs that say, “Welcome Bikers”. Come to find out, the Sturgis Motorcycle rally is August 6-12. We are in South Dakota right in the middle of it! There are also hundreds of RV’s which I assume are so abundant for the same reason.
South Dakota has very bumpy roads. Everything that is not well secured falls down, usually on me! We had a box of leftover pizza in an overhead compartment, and on any other road, it would’ve been fine, but instead it fell out, and of course all the pizza fell on the floor of the truck.
We went through a cool rest stop the other day. It had a place to hike up to a scenic overlook, so we took a 
little hike. It was very refreshing to get some exercise in the middle of the trees.As we were going through Illinois on our way to North Dakota, we stopped in Champaign and had dinner with a lady Josh knew from his mission. We found an Olive Garden (my favorite) that was near a place we could park, and we ate there. Sally drove about 45 miles to meet us there. It was really great for me to finally meet her after hearing so much about her. We hope to be able to go through his mission more in the future.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Pikeville, KY
Our last load was our worst so far. The load came through a broker instead of through Paschall, and they were not nearly as nice to haul for. They gave us horrible directions to get to the place in Sebewaing, Michigan to get our load, and we had to use mapquest to find it ourselves. Then after waiting 4 hours to get loaded we were finally off. We didn’t get loaded until 6 o’clock pm, and then they expected us to get to Pikeville, KY by 11 o’clock am the very next day. That was pretty much impossible. We got down to Pikeville by about 6 o’clock pm, after going about 50 miles out of our way because of poor directions. We had to go up in a canyon on some state roads that were very narrow and curvy. They hadn’t found another load for us by the time we unloaded, so we spent the night in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Pikeville.
The drive to Pikeville was through the mountains, and not on very big roads, so we were very surprised to find a lot of businesses there. There were several restaurants, both fast food and sit down, and many stores including Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and a couple of strip malls. There is even a college there.
We went to church in Pikeville. They had a fairly small branch there, and everyone was really nice to us. They were just disappointed that we were only passing through instead of moving in. There was one particularly nice couple that we talked to for about an hour after church named Jason and Brooke Cavanaugh. They even had kids the same age as ours. We exchanged phone numbers and addresses so if we ever go through there again we can give them a call and get together.
From Pikeville we went to Carrollton, KY. We picked up a load this morning from a company that makes plastic stuff that gets mixed with bottles and things to strengthen them. They were really strict on their safety policies and Josh had to wear a long sleeve shirt and pants along with a hard hat and safety glasses. The worst part was that they wouldn’t even let the kids and I inside the fence at all, so we had to wake Mitchell up at 5:30 am MST and go sit outside on a bench to wait for Josh to switch trailers. Josh had to watch a little video about safety and what to do in case of an emergency. If the sirens sounded, for instance, he was supposed to look at the windsock on the top of the building, walk crosswind, and then upwind to a safety point.
We are now hauling some sort of liquid up to Fargo, ND. It is weird to feel the truck rock every time we stop or start. Our route takes us right through Minneapolis, MN which we are not particularly excited about after the collapse of that bridge, but we will be going through a different part of the city, so hopefully it will be okay.
The drive to Pikeville was through the mountains, and not on very big roads, so we were very surprised to find a lot of businesses there. There were several restaurants, both fast food and sit down, and many stores including Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and a couple of strip malls. There is even a college there.
We went to church in Pikeville. They had a fairly small branch there, and everyone was really nice to us. They were just disappointed that we were only passing through instead of moving in. There was one particularly nice couple that we talked to for about an hour after church named Jason and Brooke Cavanaugh. They even had kids the same age as ours. We exchanged phone numbers and addresses so if we ever go through there again we can give them a call and get together.
From Pikeville we went to Carrollton, KY. We picked up a load this morning from a company that makes plastic stuff that gets mixed with bottles and things to strengthen them. They were really strict on their safety policies and Josh had to wear a long sleeve shirt and pants along with a hard hat and safety glasses. The worst part was that they wouldn’t even let the kids and I inside the fence at all, so we had to wake Mitchell up at 5:30 am MST and go sit outside on a bench to wait for Josh to switch trailers. Josh had to watch a little video about safety and what to do in case of an emergency. If the sirens sounded, for instance, he was supposed to look at the windsock on the top of the building, walk crosswind, and then upwind to a safety point.
We are now hauling some sort of liquid up to Fargo, ND. It is weird to feel the truck rock every time we stop or start. Our route takes us right through Minneapolis, MN which we are not particularly excited about after the collapse of that bridge, but we will be going through a different part of the city, so hopefully it will be okay.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
The Petro and the Park
Dallas was the hardest city to drive through! The signs are horrible and we missed the roads we wanted several times because of it. Then because of how the off-ramps just merge in with the road on the side of the freeway, we couldn't get back to the other side of the freeway to go the other direction, so we just had to come up with different ways to get places. It was such a pain! The good news is that we were able to see our friends Joan and Chad, but we were unfortunately unable to see Joyce and Stu as well.
From Ft. Worth we headed north to Springfield, MO, and are continuing on from there to Jackson, MI. We spent the night last night in Effingham, Illinois, which was in the southern part of Josh’s mission, although he didn’t ever serve in that city. We stayed at the Petro truck stop. They had an actual restaurant there instead of the usual Arby’s or Subway. They had a fabulous breakfast buffet with unlimited French toast and bacon. There was a lot of other stuff too, but that is what I ate the most of. Their showers actually had doors on them too which was an improvement over the other places. The shower rooms are private and have locked doors, but the shower itself is usually open to the room. This one was much more conducive to the whole family showering in one room.
Yesterday we stopped to eat lunch at Robertson State Park in Illinois. It was about a million
degrees outside! In reality it was only 102ish, but with the humidity, it might as well have been a million. Note the sweaty little boy. It was a fun place for Mitch to ride his bike and Lizzy to play in her walker. They even had a little playground to play on. Lizzy found the picnic benches particularly appetizing. I went to clean our picnic stuff up, and Mitch was playing on the playground, and I told him that we would honk the horn when we were ready to go. A few minutes later, I saw him walking back from the playground, and I continued cleaning up and talking to Josh. All of the sudden, I about jumped out of my skin when the semi horn honked. Mitchell had decided it was time to go and honked the horn to let us know! It was really funny!
From Ft. Worth we headed north to Springfield, MO, and are continuing on from there to Jackson, MI. We spent the night last night in Effingham, Illinois, which was in the southern part of Josh’s mission, although he didn’t ever serve in that city. We stayed at the Petro truck stop. They had an actual restaurant there instead of the usual Arby’s or Subway. They had a fabulous breakfast buffet with unlimited French toast and bacon. There was a lot of other stuff too, but that is what I ate the most of. Their showers actually had doors on them too which was an improvement over the other places. The shower rooms are private and have locked doors, but the shower itself is usually open to the room. This one was much more conducive to the whole family showering in one room.
Yesterday we stopped to eat lunch at Robertson State Park in Illinois. It was about a million
degrees outside! In reality it was only 102ish, but with the humidity, it might as well have been a million. Note the sweaty little boy. It was a fun place for Mitch to ride his bike and Lizzy to play in her walker. They even had a little playground to play on. Lizzy found the picnic benches particularly appetizing. I went to clean our picnic stuff up, and Mitch was playing on the playground, and I told him that we would honk the horn when we were ready to go. A few minutes later, I saw him walking back from the playground, and I continued cleaning up and talking to Josh. All of the sudden, I about jumped out of my skin when the semi horn honked. Mitchell had decided it was time to go and honked the horn to let us know! It was really funny!
Lizzy and Mitchell really seem to like each other.
She loves to just stare at him and will readily give him big smiles. He loves to hold her and help take care of her, and is a really good big brother. Here is a picture of her staring at him while he sings her a song.
She loves to just stare at him and will readily give him big smiles. He loves to hold her and help take care of her, and is a really good big brother. Here is a picture of her staring at him while he sings her a song.Monday, July 30, 2007
Lost Mitchell, crazy drivers, and weird signs
This morning we had a little fright. After we got done showering at the truckstop, we were going to go back out to the truck, but Josh wanted to look at something else in the store. So I motioned with my head for Mitchell to follow us over there, and walked with Josh. A minute later I realized Mitch wasn't by us. This is unfortunately not very uncommon. Although we repeatedly tell him that he needs to stay right by us and why, he still gets distracted by everything he sees, and often stops to look at something. So we began looking through the store for him. We looked through all the aisles and didn't see him, and I started to get a little worried. So we checked the Subway reataurant that is attached to the store, and the restrooms and the shower area. No Mitchell. So I went outside and looked around the building and where the cars are. Still no Mitchell. I came back in and had the whole store looking for him and paged him overhead. Josh went out to the truck to look for him. By this time I was mildly panicked. Finally Josh came back in and had Mitchell with him. He had gone out to the truck looking for us. Needless to say we have had a long talk about what to do and what not to do when he can't find us. I sure hope that never happens again!
Most of the people on the roads go within ten miles of the speed limit, but this is not the case in Atlanta. We were going 70 mph in a 55 mph zone and 9 out of 10 cars were flying past us like we were standing still! We never once saw a cop anywhere on that road, and we almost made it out of the state without seeing one, but then we ended up seeing one at the side of the road where there was an upside-down car crunched in the trees.
From Atlanta, we headed west again. We are taking some Keebler "baked goods" to Fort Worth, TX. We have driven in and out of rainstorms all day today, but they are becoming less frequent. Now we are in Texas (our 15th state), about 73 miles to Ft. Worth. We are planning to go see our friends Joan and Chad while we're there. Maybe if we are there long enough tomorrow, we will be able to see Joyce also.
As we were going Louisiana there were a lot of billboards advertising casinos, and at the bottom of every sign it said, "Gambling problem? Call 1-800-###-####". I thought that was so funny to have on the casino billboard!
As we drove into Texas we saw the weirdest speed limit signs. They had a lower speed for nighttime driving!
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Visiting Cameron
Greetings from Conley Georgia. Today I, Josh, the driver of the family had a slow day and am getting a chance to write the blog for once. If you think anywhere in my ramblings , and proper lack of punctuation that I have been in Georgia to long you are mistaken I have always wrote this way. Well Friday evening we arrived in Hebron Kentucky where Cameron (Tania's brother) lives. There we enjoyed a fabulous dinner with salmon potatoes and cantaloupe. Before dinner I decided to give Lizzy a bath this is what it looked like.
Now that you have stopped laughing and are ready to read again. After dinner I tried to take a shower but ended up taking a bath something about the whole 10% rule. Meaning I needed to be at least 10% smarter than the shower, as you can tell I wasn't. We enjoyed a good nights sleep thanks to a nice comfortable bed, but mostly because elizabeth liked the crib and slept pretty good. In the morning we had breakfast, that is everyone else had breakfast, and I, being the breakfast lover that I am had a piece of toast and some watermelon. Than we loaded up the truck and made our way out of the very narrow roads and corners of the subdivision, and only had to run over one curb. From there we got on the freeway and headed south for Conley GA . Along the way we went through a bunch of towns none of us had ever been through. Such as Lexington KY, Knoxville TN, Atlanta GA, and Conley where we still are today. I dropped the trailer at a lot here and I am still waiting to know what or where to go next.
Going through St. Louis
Now that you have stopped laughing and are ready to read again. After dinner I tried to take a shower but ended up taking a bath something about the whole 10% rule. Meaning I needed to be at least 10% smarter than the shower, as you can tell I wasn't. We enjoyed a good nights sleep thanks to a nice comfortable bed, but mostly because elizabeth liked the crib and slept pretty good. In the morning we had breakfast, that is everyone else had breakfast, and I, being the breakfast lover that I am had a piece of toast and some watermelon. Than we loaded up the truck and made our way out of the very narrow roads and corners of the subdivision, and only had to run over one curb. From there we got on the freeway and headed south for Conley GA . Along the way we went through a bunch of towns none of us had ever been through. Such as Lexington KY, Knoxville TN, Atlanta GA, and Conley where we still are today. I dropped the trailer at a lot here and I am still waiting to know what or where to go next. Going through St. LouisEveryone in Idaho and Utah has been praying for rain to put out the wild fires. I think they need to specify a little more that it is needed there, because It has been raining a lot here lately. It started thursday and has been on and off since than. Some times bad enough that people pull to the side of the road because they can't see. So the driving, is sometimes interesting.
Mitchell and Elizabeth seem to enjoy things as far as I can tell. Mitchell has a bunch of learning toys and books. He is getting really good at reading Tania works with him a lot, I think by next year when he should start Kindergarten he will be ready to start second grade. Mitchell likes it when I let him do things that I do like starting the truck or releasing and applying the parking brakes. He likes that he has his own bed that is kind of his own space, because he sits some of his toys on the top bunk shelf and always puts them back there. Elizabeth we think is starting to teethe. Occasionally she will start crying and won't settle down very easy and she loves to chew on stuff. She is getting very good at eating. Yesterday we had milkshakes at Arby's, and she learned how to suck it through the straw, she acted like she would have drank the whole thing.
I still think that Tania is crazy for wanting to go on the truck with me for weeks at a time. I'm sure you would all agree. I can't believe we have already been doing this a week. I feel like I am getting the hang of things. It took me a little while to get used to the qualcomm but I am used to it now. I hope things go as good or better for us as they have been. Well we will keep you updated on all the new and exciting places to come.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Traveling games
We have now successfully unloaded our first load, and now we are on our way to Lafayette, IN to pick up our next load. We will take it to Georgia. Once we get there we will have traveled through 10 different states since we left home. I am having fun keeping track of the states we have been in, as well as the different license plates we see. I have a list of the states, and we are keeping track of the cars and trucks we see. So far we have 26 truck states and 22 car states.
We have also been having a lot of fun playing the "alphabet game" and "I spy". Mitchell isn't always very patient with the alphabet game when we get stuck on a hard letter like "q", but he absolutely loves playing "I spy". He also has a little handheld game player that has mazes and tic tac toe and some other preschool level games that he has been having a lot of fun playing.
It is so fun and exciting to always be going somewhere new. It seems like several times a day we will be driving through a city we have never been. I love seeing new places. I love the cities and the country. It is so green and beautiful in the east. Everywhere you look there are trees and grass. The medians look better than our front yard back home, and we water it every day! You can also see the humidity everywhere you look. It looks foggy outside, and you can see halos around the streetlights at night.
We have also been having a lot of fun playing the "alphabet game" and "I spy". Mitchell isn't always very patient with the alphabet game when we get stuck on a hard letter like "q", but he absolutely loves playing "I spy". He also has a little handheld game player that has mazes and tic tac toe and some other preschool level games that he has been having a lot of fun playing.
It is so fun and exciting to always be going somewhere new. It seems like several times a day we will be driving through a city we have never been. I love seeing new places. I love the cities and the country. It is so green and beautiful in the east. Everywhere you look there are trees and grass. The medians look better than our front yard back home, and we water it every day! You can also see the humidity everywhere you look. It looks foggy outside, and you can see halos around the streetlights at night.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
A note about the blog title
In response to a comment, I thought I should explain the title of my blog. For anyone who has seen the movie, "Sound of Music", it should be self explanatory, but for the rest of you I'll explain. The main characters in the movie are a family with the last name of Von Trapp. They are referred to as the Family Von Trapp occasionally, and I thought that Family Von Truck sounded a lot like that, and kind of catchy, so there you go. Now go watch the movie, it is fabulous!
Our first load!
We arrived in Murray, KY yesterday evening and got the Qualcomm installed on the truck. It is a satelite tracking and information thing. It is how information is exchanged between us and the company about loads. After that was installed all we could do was wait for our first load. The request for it came this morning at about 11 o'clock and we had our first load to leave Murray at 8 pm! Since we had time to spare, we got the truck washed and went to Walmart. Then we went to the pick up location early. They already had our trailer loaded so we left early. Now we are on our way to Indianapolis.
I love listening to the Kentucky drawl. I think it is so interesting how we can all speak the same language and sound so different. I can understand how a child grows up to speak like his parents, but why are accents so regional?
I love listening to the Kentucky drawl. I think it is so interesting how we can all speak the same language and sound so different. I can understand how a child grows up to speak like his parents, but why are accents so regional?
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
A little bit random
This morning we took our first shower in a truck stop. They charged us $9.00 for it! I had no idea it would be so expensive to shower. The good news is that the shower was clean, and now I am too!
The country defineately gets greener the farther east we go. We are now in Missouri (here is a picture I took with my phone because the camera batteries were dead) and there are a lot more trees and rolling hills than were in Kansas. The countryside is quite pretty. This morning Josh started driving before Mitchell was done with his cereal, and it spilled all over the bed. We won't be trying that again.
The country defineately gets greener the farther east we go. We are now in Missouri (here is a picture I took with my phone because the camera batteries were dead) and there are a lot more trees and rolling hills than were in Kansas. The countryside is quite pretty. This morning Josh started driving before Mitchell was done with his cereal, and it spilled all over the bed. We won't be trying that again.
It is nice to finallly be on the road. With all the repairs that had to be done on the truck, it seemed like it was never going to happen. We are very excited, but still a little nervous and apprehensive about the unknown. That should lessen as time goes on though. Once we've been on the road for a couple of weeks, we should have a good idea of what to expect and the anxiety will leave.
We saw some signs yesterday that advertised an 8000 lb. groundhog and a 5 legged live steer. We decided they must be really desperate for tourists or something. We didn't go check it out.
I am a little bit random today. There is so much to see and experience, and I am not sure which things to share. So feel free to email me or make comments on what you want to hear more about or less about.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
It's Official
We are officially on the road! Josh signed all the paperwork last night and this morning in Colorado Springs, and right now we are about half way across Kansas on our way to Murray, KY. Up until the last few miles there have been miles of corn fields stretching as far as the eye can see in all directions. These are only occasionally broken up by already harvested wheat fields. It is strange to be able to look in any direction and not see a single mountain! We can see miles up the road and it is straight as an arrow. I think the strangest thing I've seen so far though is random oil wells in the middle of the corn fields! The kids are doing fine. Keeping Mitchell occupied is proving to be a challenge. He gets bored and then starts annoying me. Hopefully we'll get the hang of it soon!
Monday, July 23, 2007
The Family Von Truck
For those of you who were previously unaware, Josh found a trucking company, SZL Inc., that will let him bring his whole family along on the truck with him as he hauls their trailers across the country. So he finished up doing his local hauling, and began to get his truck ready to go over the road. He rebuilt the motor, purchased all new tires, and had several other small repairs done including the all important air conditioning repair. Several weeks and several thousand dollars later, we packed half of our house into the truck, and we set off to Colorado after spending a week in Utah for my sister, Trista's wedding. Thus begins our journey as the Family Von Truck...
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