Wilmington, North Carolina

We are enjoying the double luxury of getting a 34 hour restart for our hours 

AND 

doing it in a great place (basically that would mean any place other than a truck stop).

We are exploring Wilmington, NC today.

Started the day off at the Battleship North Carolina.

Tony was in the Navy, so it was a real treat for me to explore the ship with him.

I just love the "arm's length" photo.  

You never know what you are going to get.  

'Course I wish I didn't always take the shot with my nose up in the air!

Hope everyone has a safe and happy evening to welcome in the New Year.

We are parked within walking distance of our dinner choice

I feel a gin and tonic in my future . . . 

Whimsy

As I was going back through photos I ran across this fellow.

I have now idea which artist did him, but I love them.

We were in a gallery 

in a town 

in a state  

somewhere.

He makes me smile.

Diners

When we have a chance to eat a meal together on the road, we try to avoid chain eateries.

Instead, we usually take a chance on local diners and such.  

Especially if they are NOT in a truck stop!

McAlester, Oklahoma is a town that we have ended up in several times and even without a trailer now and then.  That is always a treat, because we can park in parking lots not made for trucks.

Angels Diner was one of our best finds this year.

Just take a look at this place . . . 

You can really tell that some good food is coming from behind that counter.

I had a patty melt smothered in delish grilled onions and Tony had a frito pie that would hold it's own in Texas.  

We also got to have one of my all time favorite starters - fried green beans with spicy dipping sauce.  Oh man . . . do I love those!

The cooks were focused on their orders while I was focused on those pies! 

 I love love love homemade pies.

We will definitely be visiting Angels again.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I tried to upload some photos, but the interwebs are painfully slow tonight.

We are tucked in our truck, warm and cozy.

Leo is curled up in his bed.

and

There are apple slices with cinnamon and sugar on them drying in the dehydrator.

The cab smells wonderful.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday.

My New Kindle

My sister and brother-in-law sent me a wonderful early Christmas present

a Kindle with 3G!

it has TOTALLY changed my life in the truck . . .

The first book I loaded was John Steinbeck's

"Travels With Charley".

I read this in high school and wanted to revisit it.

What a great read - just as relevant today as it was 50 years ago.

I also loaded up on free classics and indulged in a couple of new books.

What a wonderful invention this new way of reading is.

I was shut down in a snow storm last night and was quite happy to spend a couple of hours reading!

Thank You Brenda and Wayne.

I Made a Terrible Mistake Today . . .

We are have a 24 hour layover to pick up a load.

Love to have some time off to get laundry done,

showers taken,

and shopping dealt with.

We spend a lot of time shuffling through various manuals and books and notebooks -

believe it or not, trucking involves lots of paperwork.  And then triple the amount if any sort of Hazardous Materials are involved.

I spotted a Staples with enough parking and told Tony that I wanted to go in to look at paper containment devices and systems.

Walked in the front door 

and 

there 

it 

was . . . 

I had only seen them online.  

Never actually held one.

Now, I can't live without one.

Even worse,

I had been online shopping for the newer, smaller, cheaper model.

Still sweet

but

now

pale in comparison

to the DX.

Honestly,

It takes my breath away . . . 

Now We're Cookin'

We have a new cooker to use in the truck.

It is called a Burton Oven

or

a Lunch Box Oven

(cuz it looks like an old style black lunch box)

Basically, it is a slow cooker sort of thing that seals and locks.

This prevents those nasty floods of hot food when the driver needs to suddenly apply the brakes!

The inside is aluminum and can be cooked in as is.  

When you are in a truck without a sink though, liners are the way to go.

I hate cooking food in plastic, but I'd rather have good food cooked in plastic than bad food cooked in something else. 

It's all about choices out here.

 Here is the oven all lined and filled and ready to seal up.

This is a frozen stir-fry that I picked up at Wal-Mart.  Good ingredients and not alot of junk.

So. . . . 

a couple of hours later, we had a nice hot dinner ready to eat