Beautiful Country, Nov 1-7, 2009

OK – I know each time I write I say how beautiful our country is. IT IS!!! I am in awe each time I look up and see the snow capped mountains, red rock mountains, and plains. We have traveled these roads (several times) for over a week now and WOW! There is so much to see and each time it holds a different source of beauty.

We see all sorts of wild life, unfortunately we see allot who have not made it across the highways. We have seen more deer in this past week than I think I’ve seen in my lifetime. Yesterday we were traveling US 6 Utah, where there are many areas of flat plains that are made up of packed down soil/sand mixture. When I looked closely I saw about 12 – 15 deer laying there in the sand. It was so cool because it was within 50 - 75 feet of the highway (separated by a small wire fence) but the deer were camouflaged with the earth. If you weren't looking closely you would drive by assuming they were part of the earth. Amazing!!! Horses run wild in many pastures and yards which is one of my favorite sights. I love watching them run and play with one another. Where re are vast areas of just land and mountains you see herds of cow, horse, lamb,the sheep, deer and more. When you look at the two pictures of the sheep you will see that they are all running together in one direction. It was funny to watch, as if the dinner bell had rung.

The highways are so different out here than in the Northeast. Houses are built right alongside of the main highways. Some areas are extremely built up while others seem so desolate. At one point we were traveling down off a mountain into a small town outside of Moab, UT. It was run down with piles of junk cars, wood, scrap metal and just about anything that a household could not dispose of through the local dump. About 98% (munchin statistics) of the residents have heaps of something (some with multiple heaps) in their yard. It was a shame to see such a cute “girly word” town marred by lack of resources.

A few miles down the road we entered the cutest “girly word again” little town of Moab, UT. It reminds me of the old western movies you catch on television with a modern twist. Moab has a welcoming aura that calls out, “come to one of our roadside cafes, relax and take in the moment with a cup of java.” My kind of town for sure!

Pictures of the bridge being constructed and the red rock were taken on the outskirts of Moab, UT. If you look real close at the picture of the red rock you will see that I was trying to capture a picture of the mountain tram. Look even closer and see that there are two cable cars hanging. One is a short distant after the pole at street level and the other is almost to the pole on the mountain.

The pictures of Richard with the truck were taken at the Flying J Truck Stop (we frequent) in Springville, UT on rte I-15 South. We just had the truck washed so it is looking good and temporarily “bug free” – lol. The color is metallic green which looks black at times.

Can you hear Richard doing the "he man" grunt .... isn't he cute!

The WalMart trailer is not the normal trailer we haul. We usually haul an England trailer but we were assigned dedicated to WalMart on November 2nd. What that means is that WalMart has contracted England to assist with the holiday surge, thus, Richard and I are one of a handful of England drivers that are hauling for WalMart right now. We anticipate this assignment continuing for the Christmas season.

The pictures of me in the canyons were taken at Wilson’s Arch in La Sal Junction, UT on rte 191 North in the Lisbon Valley Region. Most of the red rock pictures attached were taken along routes 191, US 6, I-15 in Utah.

Another update and more pictures will be coming soon!

So Much Has Happened, Oct 23-26, 2009

Oh My Gosh!!! So much has happened since our last update. We have taken many pictures. It is difficult to work on the computer while the truck is in motion. I make typos and sometimes I get a severe case of nausea.

Okay! We last left you when we delivered Heinz products to Fogelsville, PA. From Fogelsville we went to Anheuser-Bush in Newark, NJ to pick up a load which was delivered to Jefferson Distribution in Martinsburg, WV. Our pickup date was October 23rd with a delivery date of October 26th. We did make our pickup and drop on time. Yahoo!

Traveling from Fogelsville, PA to Newark, NJ we went over a high expansive bridge that overlooked a city. It was in Bethlehem, PA. Pictures 121 - 128 captured just a glimpse of this breathtaking sight. Most of the pictures you will see were taken when the truck is in motion at 65 mph so they don’t always come out great. These pics were taken in motion with rain, and at the last moment.

We were traveling the highway on our way to Martinsburg, WV, when we came up over a hill and Richard said, “Look at all the hot air balloons!” I thought is he seeing things? He shouldn’t be driving if he is this tired. I continued to scan the sky for “all of these hot air balloons” and sure enough way out on the horizon there were nine hot air balloons. They were so far away they looked like tiny basketballs in the sky. If you look real close out on the horizon you can see the balloons. I couldn’t wait to get closer to them so I could capture the sight with my camera. We finally caught up to them but I was unable to get some good pics of the nine of them together because they were in the direct sun. So I did my best as you will see in attached photos. We pulled off the road into a Pilot Truck Stop (yes, we stop mostly at Pilots), and I was able to get a few close shots.

If you look closely at the upper left corner of picture number 13, you will see a green balloon coming up out of the valley. I had watched him for awhile and believe that he was stuck in the valley unable to pull himself out until the last moment. I followed him out of the valley and up above the Pilot Center as you can see in pics 18, 20, 23. It was an awesome sight to see the balloons enjoying the open sky.

God has blessed us tremendously with safe travels, incredible sights, time together and all of your prayers and well wishes for our journey. We pray blessings upon you all!

Our Journey Begins, Oct 18-23, 2009

WOW - our journey up to this point has been action packed with packing, moving, and getting on the road. We left Worcester, Massachusetts Sunday afternoon around 2:00 pm. Richard had detached the trailer from the tractor and left it parked at the Mr. Mike's Truck Stop on Rte 117 while we moved. It was a difficult but exciting time for me as we left our home behind to begin our new life on the road.

Our first pickup was scheduled for pickup at 2100 hours/9:00 pm in St. Albans, Vermont, which is up by the Canadian border. Our load: 44,000 pounds of chocolate chips for Bakeries. On our way we ran into heavy snowfall which made driving slow but didn't stick to much other than our truck. In the midst of the snow we were also slowed down due to an accident. We stopped in Concord, NH to fuel and pick up load-locks for our load of chocolate. We ended up sitting there for two hours waiting for authorization to fuel and purchase the locks. We finally made it back on the road and to our pickup point in St. Albans, Vermont around 11:15 pm, Sunday, October 18th, 2009. We left St. Albans and immediately headed for Jackson, Michigan where we had to drop the load of chocolate at a Bakery distribution center. Our scheduled drop-off time was

Our next load pickup was scheduled for Tuesday evening, October 20th @ 6:00 pm in Napoleon, Ohio. We arrived to find that our load would not be ready until 10:00 - 11:00 pm. So, Richard and I went to Home Depot and purchased some white wire shelving to put in the truck cabinets so we could organize the truck. We made it back for 10:00 pm to find that our load still was not ready. We laid down to catch a few minutes of sleep while waiting. At 1:00 am came a knock on our door stating that our load was ready. YEAH!!! We are hauling something for Campbell's Soup. Campbell's distribution facility had a factory size Campbell's Tomato Soup can outside the plant. Our drop-off point was Cedar Falls, Iowa at Target's distribution facility, for Thursday, October 22nd @ 6:30 am. We arrived early and ended leaving there late morning to head to the nearest truck stop. This plant was amazing! It was immaculate. When you look inside (from the trucker's waiting area) through the plant door window, you feel like you are looking into a sterile warehouse. Up above near the ceiling are conveyor belts that carry product all over the warehouse. I was in awe at the organization and production system they have.

Last night we stayed at the Pilot Truck Stop in Elk Run Heights, Iowa. After pulling into the truck stop yesterday afternoon we dropped (detached from the tractor) the trailer and Bob-tailed across the road to a Frieghtliner Service Center to have the truck looked at. We were there for roughly four hours. It was a long four hours. We got up about 9:00 am and began our chore list for the day: laundry, cleaning, organizing, stop at Home Depot and WalMart for necessities. We left the truck stop about 2:00 pm this afternoon and headed for our next pickup @ 3:30 pm in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We are delivering this load to Fogelsville, PA. We are hauling 42,500 pounds of Heinz products. We need to be there, Saturday, October 25th, @ 11:00 am.

We already have our next load assignment for pickup on Saturday, October 25th in New Jersey after we drop the Heinz products. It will be delivered and dropped off in West Virginia. I will update you on the details.

We have seen shooting stars, beautiful star filled skies, huge cows, statue art, wind mill farms, unbelievable farm land (miles upon miles of it), incredible fall foliage and so much more. I am so amazed at how many trucks are on the road. At night they light up the highways. It is an awesome sight.
Well our dear friends and family. We will be in touch. Thank you for your prayers and support. We love you. Take care and God speed!