Out of the snow and on our own. . .

So, if the tow truck gets stuck while trying to pull you out and must then use you as an anchor to get out of the mud pit, do you still have to pay?  Yep, and you must pay a lot!  Well, the wonderful company you work for must pay and promise not to fuss at you for getting stuck in the first place.  All in all the fun and games in Mitchell, South Dakota wasn't enough fun to keep us there too long.  We headed up to St. Paul to meet out relay and then headed home to Texas via our main headquarters in Joplin, Missouri.  

We are in Odessa for some Dr's appointments, re-supply of favorite goodies and time with our oldest son, his wonderful wife and 2 precious grandkids.  Yea!  

IT IS SNOWING !@%#??

Who could dream this up?  We are shut down in a snow storm in South Dakota.  Winter's over you say...Spring has sprung...well, someone forgot to tell South Dakota!  The good news is that we were able to get off the interstate before too much slipping and sliding took place and find a truck stop.  We also have a great signal on the air card so I can use the internet.  AND, we have the 2nd season of Lost to watch, plus the 3rd season if it comes to that.  The bad news is that we are in a really muddy snowy bog with about 50 other trucks and are so gridlocked that we will have to be peeled out one at a time.  Our hope is that the mud will freeze enough to enable us to drive over it (okay, that's my hope.  Tony just looks at me with that "you are such a girl" look on his face when I say that).  One guy had a tow-truck pull him out, but he almost hit a couple of trucks in the effort.  

So, we are actually stopped for the night - not something that we get to do very often.  Luckily, we are well provisioned and have a great heater in the sleeper that runs independently of the truck electrical system.  It is fueled with the diesel that fuels the truck and has it's own power supply.  Smart thinking on someone's part.   

Time to turn in for the night.  I'll keep you posted on how this little adventure turns out.  Like my buddy Charlotte and I used to say, "It's not just an adventure. . .it's a job!"

Getting locked out is no fun!

Boy, do I feel silly.  I managed to lock myself out of here for a couple of weeks.  March was really busy for us on the road.  In addition, I had to finalize Rancho Fandango taxes and deal with Micah's financial aid stuff.  All of that is finally finished and now that I finally figured out how to get back into this thing, I'll work on keeping it up. . . Promise.

We are in lovely California right now getting ready to make a run up the coast to Seattle.  It is a really tight run as far as time goes, but one of the more scenic ones that we do.  Heck, I can't really think of a run that we have done that wasn't scenic.

Spring is busting out all over and I am absolutely loving it.  After living in the desert for 20 years, I had really forgotten what spring is like.  So far it is green and soggy and even smells like something is growing out there - what a change from spring in Terlingua.

More later as I get my "writer-thang back again".

We're Back

Sorry for the posting delay.  Our aircard malfunctioned and we had to coordinate getting another one by mail.  That is our biggest problem in this day of internet shopping and consequently shipping.  You can conduct almost any type of commerce over the internet now - shopping being my favorite.  We can't stop as often as we would like due to time and parking restrictions.  I never really thought about access for these behemoths that we drive.  I think about it now!  So, that leaves the wonderful world of internet shopping. . .  and a wonderful world it is.  You can buy anything - even groceries.  You need to have a ground address though.  We used my folks for some things and our oldest son for others, but knowing when we will be anywhere is tough.  Luckily, I was able to get the new aircard and find wifi (oh darn, I had to go to Starbucks) to install the new card and now we are up and running again.  I have lots of catching up to do and will get back into regular posts as soon as possible.  

I know that some of you have questions about how we do our job and more specifically how we live our daily lives while moving 24 hours a day.  If you will ask the questions, I'll do some postings on specific subjects.  Either leave the question in a comment or send me an e-mail if you have my e-mail address.

Until later. . . 

Wonderful Winter Driving

We got to Memphis and headed out to Chicago to pickup and head back to LA again!   Yiippeeee

Yesterday, we ran into that icky weather sitting in the middle of the country - up and back from Chicago.  Lucky for us it was mostly during our daylight driving hours and we just plodded through it.  Driving through a snow storm is really interesting.  What always strikes me first is how quiet it becomes.  Our truck is pretty quiet for these big trucks, but there is still quite a lot of road noise.  Even with the radio on, the driver's ear is always tuned to road sounds and engine sounds.  The snow eliminates the road sound completely.  And of course, the radio is off because you are concentrating so intently.  So, there is basically no sound.   The brightness is another striking thing about daytime snow storms.  There are special yellow glasses that we have seen, never thought we would need them . . . thought wrong!  Regular sun glasses work better than nothing, but there is still lots of bright white.  It really reflects from every surface and makes for tired eyes after a short while.

I always thought that driving through snow would be scary, but that isn't really the scary part.  Mostly, the fear is that it can become ice at any moment.  Now ICE is scary!  That slippery feeling really translates up through 18 tires and gets your full attention but fast.  We have 2 different mechanical helpers for traction.  

The truck (or "tractor" as it is called in the trucking world) has 2 axles on the rear and we can lock the differential into a way that puts power to both axles.  This really functions much like 4-wheel drive and is used in the same manner.  We have another button on the dash that is called "Traction Control"  I still haven't figured out what this one does and everyone I ask about it gives me vague answers about how it "controls the traction".  Well duh!  I really hope I don't get into a situation where I need that extra bit of traction control.

Driving through snow and even ice isn't so bad during the day and especially if you are not in the mountains.  Adding either darkness or steepness really raises the intensity level.  On our first run up the Pacific coast from LA to Seattle, we both got to experience the trifecta of STEEP/DARK/ICY.  Not fun . . .  really, really not fun.  In fact, we have pretty much decided to avoid that particular type of driving again.  Any 2  of the 3 are doable, but all 3 is pretty hard to deal with.  Luckily for us, we work for a company that does not force you to drive when you feel it is unsafe.  They are really good about accepting your word for it - no pressure at all that we have run into.  Of course, if we aren't rolling, we aren't making money - but we aren't much about the money.

So we are headed to Sunny California again.   Right now we are driving across New Mexico and Arizona.  Pretty blue sky with scattered clouds.  Forecast is for snow, but so far we haven't had any coming out of the sky.  The snow on the red cliffs of New Mexico was beautiful - much more dramatic than other times we've been through.  Temperature is holding in the low 40's and the roadway is dry.  What more could you ask for!

Until later...

LA Freeway

"If I can just get off of this LA freeway

Without getting killed or caught".

Great lyrics from Guy Clark to one of my favorite songs - have a whole new respect for them.  I spent 4 hours driving from Ontario to Long Beach and back again this morning.  The traffic moves amazingly well, but there is just so MUCH of it.  I just got into the groove and decided to consider it as really intense shifting practice.  With 13 gears to run through, you stay pretty busy working the gear shift.  

Our truck is a Kenworth with a Cummins Diesel engine and it is really nicely set up.  There is the granny gear way over to the left - that one is only used to creep around freight terminals and such.  Then there are the first 4 lower gears - standard "H" pattern.  There is a little flippy thingy (aren't I technical!!!) on the front of the gear shifter.  To shift into the upper set of gears, you flip that up with your thumb and then go back to the beginning of the "H" and you are in 5th.  Once you are in the upper gears, you then have 2 settings for each of the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th gears.  There are different ways to refer to them, but Tony and I have settled on 5/high and 5/low, etc. 

 So...you flip the little front thing with your thumb to get to the higher gears, then, you toggle a side thingy again with your thumb to move between the high and low of each gear.  Are you lost yet?  THEN, you have to add the left foot/clutch program into this mix.  Actually, the right/throttle foot gets into the dance pretty often as well  Now can you imagine what happens in traffic that goes from 55 to 5 to 30 mph all in the space of a couple of blocks.  Very busy.

And when you are truly in the groove, you can do what is called "Floating the gears".  Doesn't that sound great?  It is.  Floating is when you are so tuned into the truck and what's going on that you can shift (either up or down) without using the clutch.  This is really magical and what I strive for when I drive.  I especially feel good when I can float the gears in intense traffic situations.  I have this sense of being hyper-aware, but above it all in a bubble of calm.  That my sound odd, but when driving is your job, there is a real sense of accomplishment there.

So, we got a sweet dispatch back out of LA and headed to Memphis again.  The weather is great, the sky is wonderfully blue and clear and we are looking forward to 2 days of smooth sailing.  Until later . . . 

Los Angeles - the Fondue Pot of America

I hitched up my britches and decided to forge ahead from Oklahoma City.  The temp had risen just above freezing so the rain was just really, really wet.  Clear skies the rest of the way on out to LA.  We arrived noonish on Sunday, scoped out our drop sight for the next morning and headed on into the truckstop.  Since it was so early and the day was so beautiful, we decided to venture out and see what was happening here.  A cab ride landed us at Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga.  This place is awesome - basically it is a really big mall that has been turned inside/out.  First stop was a great pub called "The Flying Pig" for some adult beverages.  After fortifying ourselves, we strolled out onto the mall and entered the stream of humanity.  I had only been to LA once for a night drop that we did a couple of weeks ago - Tony didn't have a whole lot more experience here.   

My overall impression is that "anything goes" here.  It is like the Creator tumbled everything and everyone together here and said, "There are no rules - do as you please...just be nice to each other".  We saw every combination of ethnicity and gender possible, but the overwhelming unifying factor was how well behaved and pleasant everyone was.  Multigenerational families were out strolling with babies in strollers and grandma's on walkers.  Huge families - often  10 or so members in one group.  The weather was mild - just cool enough for sleeves.  The mall has actual streets running all through it and cars were parked along the curbs.  The cars were all sparkling clean and gleaming . . . just like the people.

I know that America and more pointedly New York City have been called "The Melting Pot", well; LA is more like a "Fondue Pot" with everyone covered in a coating of warm white "niceness".  I really can't put into words how incredible our experience was last night - I guess I'll quit trying and just get on with my day.

I have a delivery to make this morning and then we will go "On the Board" and see where we head to next.

Until later...