Empty!

Got to my drop about 10:30 last night. And slept very well!!  Gentleman here was afraid I would be upset b/c he had unloaded 2 others ahead of me....I got to sleep, so I had no problem with it!  :)  So now here I sit, waiting to see if Erin can find something for me. Trying to get thru Gadsden or a couple of days this weekend.

Headed for MS

Well, headed for MS with 5 coils of galvanized steel on board.  And hopefully I won't be hauling them again....they are rough on the tarps. I'll be there sometime tomorrow night.

I stopped at Buford, WY today....Don, the old owner, is back! The Trading Post will be open next week again. Can't wait to get back by & say hi. Have really missed having it open to stop at.

I'm in NE, not sure where I'm stopping for the night. I'll post this then.  :)

Morning Stroll

Just had to show you a family that came out for their morning walk!  They had been in the bushes right in front of the truck. They had stayed in there hidden while I had Abbie out running all around them without making a peep!  Very cute!

Early Morning Idaho :)

I forget that I'm an hour ahead of here!  So I am early at Thermoking to get my APU serviced. Time for another cup of coffee!..

My Rolling Apartment Basically Done! :)

Well, I have finally gotten my rolling apartment basically done!!  It  is still just a tad messy, have a few things that I need to get out of here, BUT, I am settled in for the long haul!!

This is the my Living Room/Dining area/Kitchen/Office!    Takes me about 30 seconds to drop the table down, move cushions, get bed linens from overhead bunk and have my bed set up for the night. In the mornings, takes about 1 minute to hide my bedroom and have this back up  and functioning!  :) The little Styrofoam ice chest will be strapped on my catwalk, I use it when I have to defrost my fridge.

Below is my closet and part of my pantry. My toaster oven is buried right now, but will in the open fairly soon!

Below is my passenger seat....as you can tell, no passengers!!  This is my "storage area".  The storage boxes are my "office desk drawer" on the bottom and the top is for socks and other useful items of clothing!!  ;)  I keep my water in the floor and my gallons are stored on the other side of the seat by the door. Keep 2 cases in the floor and 3-5 gallons by the door. Believe it or not, I go thru the 2 cases and 3-4 gallons each week.  :)

 This is the kitchen. Microwave works like a champ, and the two drawers are my pantry and utensils storage. Overhead is more pantry, mostly food stuff.

My little fridge does a good job and has improved my eating habits by leaps and bounds!!

And below is my office!!  Complete with stereo, CB, satellite radio, phone, GPS's and the ever present coffee mug and ashtray!

And almost forgot, you can see the curtain running around the front of the cab...this closes me in, so the whole cabin is home at night. And the driver seat swivels, so quite often I turn it around and use it as an easy chair for TV and relaxing.

So you have now had a tour of my rolling Office/Japanese Mobile Apartment!!  And it is big enough that when Abbie gets cabin fever during the day she can run laps around in here.  This is where I spend my days and nights....and love it!!  :D  

Weekly Wally Run :/

I really do wish that there was someplace I could get my weekly food stuffs as cheaply as I do at Wally - but alas, I'm stuck with this blasted place. Barely can get in and this one (Boise, ID) has up signs of "No Overnight Parking" for trucks AND RV's!  They are idiots!

Anyway ' got my weekly fixof salad, avocados. and Water. So much for my Ozarka water  -  Ozarka, Arrowhead, Ice Mountain,etc..........they are ALL owned by Nistle Waters!! I give up!

Time to put stuff up. Have a Great Day!   :)

Have a Happy 4th!!!

Hi gang,I'm headed for OR with a load of onions.  I'll be in Boise, ID for the weekend...think I just might be able to get my room clean/finished, the truck serviced and just maybe have time for 1 or 6 movies!!  I will also be figuring out how to get a bunch of pics uploaded for you.   Going to try to figure out how to setup DropBox with a couple of albums that you can log into and see them.  I have a ton of them to get uploaded.  I'm in Cortez, CO taking a meal break right now in one of the casino parking lots....free, fast WiFi!  But have to drive on and be in OR in the morning to deliver.  Have a great day and don't eat/drink too much!!!  :)

NM again lol

Dropped in Albuquerque this morning,  loading out of Deming tomorrow.  Onions for Ohio!  I looked over the little motorhome last nite and am getting it.  Mechanically it is good, aesthetically it needs a little love.  But overall it is in high side fair to low side good condition.  I'll be making another post tonight making an"report" on it and get pics up for you to see. Rest Area break!  More to come.....

One of these days.......

One of these days I will get on a more-or-less schedule and get this blog updated in a more reasonable time frame!  I got to my pick for in the morning this evening and by the time I got backed in, took Abbie out and ate something,laid out my run and took an unplanned nap, it was just too late to mess with getting pics moved over into the laptop...so I will just do a quick update.

In Streetsboro, OH for the night.  Load out in the morning, run down to Cincinnati, do another pick for this run, then turn west and head for Aurora, CO.  Will be there Sunday night, make my drop Monday morning and then turn south for Albuquerque, NM for the 2nd drop on this run.  By then I will be out of hours again and be doing a restart. So will lounge around there for 2 days, look at the little motorhome I'm looking at and then do another 6 days, run out of hours and do it all over again!!

Been storming here all day/evening...wish some of it would go out to the Southwest....they are really hurting for water.  Be that as it may, I will be glad to get west of the MS river again!!

Oh, and today I finally got my lightweight tarps...it is a 3 piece set and each piece weighs about 1/3 of weight of the other 2 tarps that I have had to use.  Thanks to Cavin for letting me get the light weight ones....as I told Erin (my dispatcher), I really don't mind tarping...it was the picking up and moving around 130-185 pound tarps that was just in the plan for me to do!!  LOL

Anyway, 11:24pm so it is bedtime, 5:30 still comes early.  See you in the next couple of days and hopefully there will be a bunch of pics for you to see!

Reset time again...In MO this time! :)

In the middle of another 34hr reset...in southern Missouri this time.  I deliver in Jackson, TN in the morning, then turn and run back to W Memphis, AR to load out for Greensboro, NC.  Supposed to be in NM Tuesday morning...that is not going to happen.  But should be able to get there by Tuesday afternoon, late.

Have been working on the inside of the truck last night and today...between cat naps!  LOL  I'm about 90% done with the cabin...just a few things to get put up or thrown away and then some light cleaning and my mobile apartment will be pretty well setup!  :)  I've been going thru stuff that I have not used in 4 months and it went in the circular file box!  And I finally went thru my clothes and got rid of all my old stuff (have bought new shorts and shirts...don't look ragged any more!).  So all my clothes are either hanging or in one small tub, most of my food stuffs have homes now, electronics either in a case or cabinet, tools put away in tool box under dinette seats.  Just have stuff in one dinette seat to find homes for and a small amount in passenger seat!  Can almost see the whole floor!!!  It will get cleaned this evening and the throw rug will be taped in place and it will look like an actual living area!!  My bed linens get folded and put on the top bunk, along with pillows, and figured out how to get the top bunk raised up about 70% of the way up so that I now have head room all day!  Just drop it down at night and set up bed and ready for sleep!  Takes about 45 seconds to make my bed and 30 seconds to put it up in the mornings!  :D

You can tell when shipping is down a bit....the rest area I have been camped out in is a brand new one on the southern end of I-55 in MO (they closed down 2 on N bound and 2 on S bound) and they have only been opened a few monthsl  Last night the truck parking area never got much over 1/2 full!  So it was peaceful and the view is not bad. 

I think I'll listen to the end of the race and work on the cabin for a while and when I get done later I'll get back on here and post a few pics of my "cleaned up, set up mobile Japanese Efficiency Apartment!! 

I shall return!!  ;)

Trying to get on a Schedule! :)

I guess that I am about to get my act together and start being able to make additions to this blog on a more regular basis.  I though I would take this opportunity to more or less bring you up to speed on where I have been the past couple of months. 



I spent several months hauling sand for the fracking of the wells in south and west Texas.  During that time I had to come to the realization that I am a driver that is an OTR (over the road) driver.  Sitting in the middle of the desert waiting to be able to unload my sand for use at the wells, making a fairly good income, was actually getting to me!  I got really tired of having so much time to just

sleep, watch TV & just vegetate!!

 

 
 
 

West Texas and Southern Texas are not what you could call garden spots! It is dusty, windy and not a whole lot to look at! 

 And after several months, I had to face the fact that when I got a few days off.....I didn't want to return to the fields!

Have you ever spent a whole night sitting out under the stars and having a campfire & listening to the sounds of the night???  WWELLLL.....in the oilfields you see stars....and have VERY bright lights for "safety" and "the sounds the night" diesel engines running full-bore to build the pressures needed to accomplish the mission!  LOL   :)



 

 

I had to admit to myself after a few months that this was not the life for me!  I like being mobile, being on the road every day,

 

seeing a different sunrise and sunset every day!

 

 
 
Seeing different signs of the past!!





Having the opportunity to  go see businesses that are doing things the same way that they were done 100 years ago....as in getting a load of logs that had been cut to be the final shipment for a log home!  The logs came from Oregon....and went to Pennsylvania.

 

 Getting to drive along byways of the US that will just take your breath away...and make me want to stop and take pictures and  just be at peace for 5 minutes!!

 

 

 

 

 

 Seeing snow covered mountains in 90 degree weather!

 

Making deliveries next the ocean and seeing the glory of the waves!

 

 

Driving down roads that only the "locals" see each day!

 

 

Heading down an interstate highway and seeing a trailer full of someones whole life and wondering just how many miles they will get before the little tires that they are trusting their possessions to BLOW UP!!!

 

 



 And seeing little pieces of the history of the roads in the US being preserved for the future!!

 

I guess that I have rambled on enough for one night. I took a few days off to rest and try to finish getting my truck set up. I am about halfway thru my list of things I want to get done.  Hopefully tomorrow will be the completion day of my setup of my rolling Japanese efficiency apartment?

 

Rest time

I am here
Playing with the TA/Petro app for my phone. Just seeing if it will post to my blog. :)

Rainy Oregon

Just a quick update on location....got to Eugene yeaterday and in the middle of pulling a 34restart.  I found a nice little truckstop that has free wifi and it is a good signal, so i will be putting up some pics and getting the blog caught up tonight.  But first, time to wander the stop and get a LONG HOT shower!!!  The rest of society will appreciate it!!  Talk to you more later!

OTR Again!

Well, haven't posted in a while, but I'm out of the oilfields and back Over The Road. And it feels good back out here. I'll be posting here at least 3 or 4 times a week. Right now I'm in Salt Lake City, UT taking a 34 hour restart.

The truck I have is a 2013 Volvo vn780. Only 90,000 miles (still smells new!)  Will be going back thru the yard in a day or so & taking my tubs out. Have enough storage in here I don't need them &half the stuff I don't use. So I'll be sleeping on top bunk and the dinette will stay set up. Just my little rolling Japanese efficiency apartment!  Lol

Hometime almost over

It has been a nice few days off!  Tomorrow will be the run back to Texas and then back to work on Friday.  It was good seeing the kids and the new grandchild!  Everyone is growing up so quickly!  Pretty soon they will be going their ways and I will hopefully still be around to see that happen also!

Had a chance to visit with my longtime friend Steve Bolick, we had not seen each other since 2 days after high school graduation.....amazing how fast 41 years can pass!  And we just sort of picked up where we had left off way back there in the days when we both had hair and no glasses!  Look forward to getting together again real soon!

Well, I had better get myself to bed...will be a long day tomorrow.  :)

With the Kids

Having a weekend with the kids. Funny, had to come back east to go & have Mexican food with them!  LOL

3 days off to heal!

Well, been sitting for the past 3 days letting my shoulder hopefully get back into working condition. Pulled it somehow/someway a few days ago & almost reached the point that I couldn't shift. Feels a lot better today. See how it is doing in the morning.

This has been a windy spring day here. Been gusting to 40+mph, calling for 50+ by this evening. Don't know if it will show, but half the sky on the horizon is yellow/brown from the dust today.

But it is in the mid-seventies and clear skies!  Nice comfortable weather.

And I know I'm getting older...sitting here watching March Madness. ... I never watch b'ball, but I am learning to enjoy watching the college games!

Oh, and if you get a chance to see the new Die Hard movie-go see it! It is quite good. Watched it yesterday-yes, I went to a theater-and it was very good!

Nice & Clean

I really like this laundry....clean & basically peaceful.

Laundry Time!

You know it's time to wash when you pull on your last clean shirt to go to dinner!  Lol

Odessa, TX - Still out West :)

I'm still out West, contributing to the "Fracking Controversy"...and loving every minute of it (mostly...LOL).  I am driving a semi-truck pulling a pneumatic trailer that allows me to blow the sand into either a storage container (called a chief) or into a silo.  The locations for these wells is really out in the boonies....

From the time we leave the pavement to the wellhead can at times be close to 20 miles.  And I have driven thru creek beds that were smoother than the "lease roads" the we traverse.  Basically, they say "start at point A, make a road to point B" and out come the road graders and dozers and they make a road.....that most of the time you can really fly on....why, you can get up to 11mph if you're lucky!!!

One thing for sure, this is the place to see some really gorgeous sunsets...

and sunrises....

Now, there is the issue of the roads and having to travel down them....they are just plain a pain in the butt - literally!!!  In fact, some of them you run in and back out with other trucks just in case you have an issue.  The hill in the next couple of pictures  was on a road that the wellhead was 19 miles off the pavement.  :)   

The hill above 9 miles off the pavement, and it took me 3 tries to get up this one...

But this is where I like to be and I enjoy what I'm doing, so I will just keep on doing it for a while!  :)

The scenery out here is breath taking at times, you can see the weather changing as it is coming towards you!

Tonight I'm just chilling, getting caught up with my blog, checking email (first time in a week), cleaning my "room" some. Today I did my laundry, so have all clean clothes again!!  :)  Tomorrow will be PM (preventive maintenance) on the truck, putting my driving lights and fog lights on, and making a list of what needs to be done on the truck and trailer while I'm off and in AL the first of March.  Then tomorrow night, football, the All Pro game!! Next weekend....SuperBowl Commercials!! Let's hope that they are better than last year's!

Waiting On Truck :)

Just sitting here, all packed up & ready to go! But the shop is trying to finish up getting my windows all working on my truck. Hopefully I'll be rolling this evening.

It has been steady raining for the past 36 hours, in a break in the rain right now. But by the looks of the radar we have several more hours of rain coming soon.




The Frog
From my iPhone

Location:Greenacres Dr,North Richland Hills,United States