Fri-Tues, Mar 26-31... Sun to Snow!

All good things must come to an end, or so they say... in this case, the warm weather, breeze and palm trees are now a memory!

We are hauling corn seed that was originally shipped from Chile to Illinois... (I hope it's corn seed!)

Friday - Um... we drove all day... out of Florida headed north to GA... NOTE to folks begging at rest area's... any rest area north of Florida, you will be out of luck... it cost $50+ bucks running the toll roads... (for a big truck) so there is NO CASH on BOARD!

And if you are begging for gas money at a rest area??? it would help if you were carrying a gas can.

However, if you are hungry, yes... we will gladly give you food.

Paducah, KY... we were through here during their horrific snow storm... the clean up has begun... miles and miles of piles and piles of tree limbs.

Random Picture... The Metropolis Water Tower.... I keep looking for Superman....

Saturday - Stopped at a rest area, I happened to notice the truck next to us.....

This is what I saw first... hmmmm... everyone says you can tell a woman's age by her hands.... hmmmm....

She was sitting in the truck looking over her log books.

As we drove off, I glanced over to look at the driver (and to be nosey) and she had to have been in her late 70's! This was amazing to me! First of all to be in good enough health to pass the DOT physical and second of all to be able to understand the log! (I leave that alone!) Not to mention the physical ability to live out here, back that trailer up, drive the truck, etc.

And the best part..... LOOK at what she is driving! I wouldn't want to mess with her! I could have only been more impressed if she had been driving a FLATBED!

I waved, in amazement, as we passed her. She smiled and waved back.

Our leisurely drive through the IL countryside headed to our delivery place. Where's the truck stop?

We arrived at our consignee's place and parked it there for the night. We were in Pontiac, IL. I knew I'd be confused Sun morning... I just knew there will be snow on the ground.

And there was... the weather here changes quickly!

Sunday - Our unloading people showed up and we were gone... to the local Wal-Mart. A quick nap, shopping trip and then big brother sends us to Gibson City, IL to pick up our next load on Monday morning which delivers in Minneapolis, MN on Tuesday morning. We decided to go ahead and make the trip to Gibson City so we'd be there bright and early Monday morning.

Monday - We were loaded and rolling again... Every state has it's interesting facts: Louisiana, the land of bridges; Texas, everything is BIG; Wisconsin... well... Fake animal statues placed strategically all over the place! These big mice, I still like them and will still take pictures.

Going around St Paul, MN


We found out today that our dispatcher took a promotion and now we'll be in the hands of a brand new person. We're, in other words, orphaned for the time being.

Our directions were horrible to the place we were delivering. The street we were suppose to make a right hand turn had a large "No trucks over 3 tons". We did manage to find an alternate route... eventually! We chose to stay at the consignor's place. We're in Minneapolis, MN... closest truck stop was 35 miles away!

Tuesday - We were unloaded and waiting... being orphaned is no fun... we don't have anyone to call and see where we are going (or even make an educated guess), so we sat in the parking lot... waiting... and now watching the snow!

Then finally! A destination! We're going to St. Cloud, MN. Oh man... the good, bad, and ugly of trucking. As I sat here, of course I checked out the weather and it looks like the further northwest we go, the worse it will get.... started out like this in Minneapolis this morning...

And within 40 miles.... we have no hammer lane!

A quick stop at Pilot, just before our exit... let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....

At least burgers are still selling.... A "Help Wanted" sign.... not totally uncommon across the country, but getting a little more scarce.

Whew... we made it to our pick up destination. We're at Electrolux in St Cloud, MN... when we first arrived, 6 hours ago, it was snowing hard and trucks were slipping all over the place. One guy was having a hard time getting the tractor turned around (bobtail) so he just cut a do-nut right in the parking lot! There's not a lot of room for error here... we're kind of in here like sardines and the ice is making it worse.

This was to be a drop and hook, but we're backed in the dock being loaded, as I type. We have to be in Dallas, TX by Thursday. Did it snow in Dallas today?