Carolina Coast

We had a quick run from Charleston, SC up the beautiful Carolina Coast to drop an empty flatbed and pick an empty trailer.

Along the way, I got to do something I have wanted to do for many years . . . 

I got to stop and buy a SweetGrass Basket from the woman who made it.

These baskets are handmade by a small group of Gullah women on this piece of the Carolina Coast.

Angelika with her baskets

Each basket usually combines sweetgrass with long leaf pine needles and palmetto strips as the binder.

This was a Grand Prize winner - priced at $3,500.

I only had a few moments to chat with Angelika, but left with a hug from her and a very special basket for me.  

I have managed to coil 2 tiny pine needle baskets in the past and I can tell you how laborious the prep work is in addition to the actual coiling and binding.  This craft is also pretty hard on your hands.

What a treat for me.

Getting Settled

Our new truck is an '07 Kenworth with lots of power and the transmission that Tony and I both prefer (i.e., lots of finesse with the gears . . . all 13 of them!)

However

the inside is the smallest we have been in since our first truck just out of truck driving school.

We are 

adjusting 

and

sorting

and 

cussing

and 

sorting some more

and 

finding places for all of our crap

Oh . . . 

and we are doing it while touring Lake Champlain and UpState New York.

I guess it is going to be okay!

UP AND RUNNING AGAIN

We have . . . 

New Jobs (both of us driving together)

Truck

Load

Dispatch

Destination

Updating as soon as we get settled in and have internet access.

Yipeeeeeee

We Interrupt Our Regular Programming . . .

Well, just when you think you have all your ducks collected up into a nice neat flock . . . 

All Hell breaks loose.

As I write this, Tony, Jana and Leo are ensconced in a Penske rental truck with the faithful old '93 Taurus on a dolly behind.  We parted ways with our fleet owner and with FedEx in Atlanta and are headed back to Joplin.  All is well . . . we are healthy and in good spirits and have very loving family surrounding both of us to help us over this slight hurdle.

Stay tuned . . . there will be more interesting stuff coming soon (like next week).

More From Manhattan

If you know me, you know that I love food and I love to take pictures of food.

This was a bowl of noodle soup that we had for lunch at a hole in the wall Noodle place just off of Broadway. 

 It was very hot and steamy inside and was the perfect lunch on a cold day.

Manhattan

We had a grand day in Manhattan.

Not a big deal, unless you have never done anything like that before.

We rode the train into Penn Station and checked out Macy's first thing.  I had to indulge in just the tiniest bit of "Martha" and bought 2 mini rubber scrapers - just perfect for the truck.

On to the Subway system to wend our way to The Museum of Natural History.  First up on the subway was a great show by 3 enterprising young men who put on quite a dancing/spinning spectacle.  Wouldn't see that in Joplin or Terlingua - for sure!

We enjoyed our navigations on the subway and actually were getting quite good at it by the time we were worn out and took the train back home.

Changing My Tune

Okay . . . 

That last post should have stated that we don't like driving around NYC in a 70' big rig.  That experience is NOT fun.

However, we hope we are going to enjoy exploring NYC with out the big rig.  We are on a layover waiting to pick up in the area on Sunday.  That leaves us with time on our hands to dive into the city and see what we can see!  We are layingover in a rest area on The New Jersey Turnpike and are armed with just enough information to hopefully find the train that will take us to The Port Authority Terminal on 8th Ave. and from there make our way to The Museum of Natural History.  That is basically our only agenda and the rest of the day will be spontaneous.  Got some good info from a blogger friend and we'll make up the rest as we go . . . 

I'll be sure to take pics and post.

Quick Post from New York

Oh how we love New York.  Especially NYC . . . (NOT NOT NOT).  We finally got moving and did a quick pick up and deliver from Atlanta to Columbia, SC.  Then jumped up the coast to Richmond, VA and plowed our way through Washington D.C., Baltimore and on up the East Coast to Queens in NYC.  

As I was sliding through D.C., I was just able to catch a quick glance of The Washington Monument shining in the twilight.  What a sweet glimpse.  That is as close as I have ever gotten - a visit is very much on my list for lifetime achievements.

So, we are getting unloaded here in Queens and turning down load offers (more about load offers in a later post) that will keep us tied up on the Eastern Seaboard for the weekend. 

Interwebbing is spotty at best, but I will get something posted as often as possible.

Thank you for your comments, always appreciate them.

Presenting . . .

When Tony and I first started driving in 2007, we would look at the FedEx Custom Critical rigs as they went by and wonder what their life might be like and how it would be different from the life of an Over The Road type company driver.

We are about to find out . . .

Mid October, we started packing up the old white '93 Taurus and started out on a 2,000 mile journey that would hopefully end in the picture you see above.  

Let me tell you . . . 

We are feeling every single one of those 2,000 miles right now - but we are about to fly off the launch pad from Atlanta, Georgia.

We hooked up with a small (3 trucks) fleet owner via the interwebs and telephone.  After working out details, we embarked on the journey to Akron, Ohio (900 miles from Joplin) to begin orientation with FedEx Custom Critical.  After stuffing our brains for 3 days, we headed down to Atlanta to pick up the truck.  Some details still needed to be ironed out and some actually needed to be steamed pressed, but after all was said and done, we are now installed in that beautiful truck and ready to go on the FedEx Custom Critical board in the morning.  

Due to some equipment issues, we will only be running as a solo right now, but we will both take turns with the driving and get some time behind the wheel of our new rig.

So . . . that is the news from this end.

Please send me comments and let me know you are there and want us to continue this blog.