Yes, that's right we traveled 10,342 miles in less than four weeks. When I walked into our dining room upon returning home I realized how much time we had spent in the truck, because the rooms in our home just seemed so big. It made me realize that we had probably spent 21-22 hours in the truck most days throughout the trip. I remember having to make this spacial adjustment after returning from my very first trips in the truck, but it had passed until this trip. After being in the small space of the truck for that long a period of time, it really does take a few hours to adjust to being home.When I figured up the miles for this trip I was really blown away that we had traveled that many miles because it was what I use to put on my car every year when I worked. I guess when you zig zag across the country that is what happens.
Our trip from Stockton, CA to New Jersey reminded me of my platform on toll costs. Our trip across I-80 through Illinois, Indiana Ohio and Pennsylvania cost Vince over $130 in tolls. I hope all of you will remember this post the next time you pay $1 for a toll. Remember that a trucker pays around $9-$12 for your $1 and when you pay $12 on the Ohio Turnpike, truckers with a trailer pay up to $40. Elizabeth learned not complain to me about tolls after she and Roman had paid tolls in West Virgina while on a trip to North Carolina. When I told her what Vince pays, she immediately promised to never complain again. I get that trucks put more pressure on roads due to the weight so they should pay more, but that much more, really? Don't forget trucker also pay fuel taxes that are suppose to go for road repairs each time they fill up and since Vince gets an average of 160-180 gallons every time he fills up, they are contributing plenty toward road repairs all over the country. But I have to wonder where that money is going, especially when we found bumpy and pot holed roads in most states on this trip. However, I must give a shout out to the Ohio Turnpike because it was definitely the smoothest road we traveled over and the clean service plazas with free showers for truckers are such a nice touch too.
This week is my time to adjust to home. After these month long trips it takes me about three days to adjust. I have mail, filing, laundry, a grocery list to figure out, and of course the adjustment to our home bed from the truck bed. It has been nice this time to have Vince home with me. Don't know why, but when I return home alone I am usually struck by an over powering feeling of loneliness. But for some reason when Vince is home with me, then leaves I'm not hit with that feeling. Vince heads out tomorrow for Appleton, WI but the good news is he may be back next week for a day or so since he is headed to Cleveland from Appleton.
After all those miles, I am looking forward to being home and catching up with friends. But hopefully I won't be home too long, because I would like to get more time in the truck in nice weather since it seems like I am always sharing stories about icy roads and cold temperatures. Finally, Happy Father's Day to all Dads who will be home or away this weekend! Hope you all have a great day!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
A House in the Middle of a Mall
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| Stage I - base of the house |
We had a great time at the Grove. For those not familiar with the Grove, because Vince had no idea what it was. It is an outdoor mall in Los Angeles
As I previously shared we hauled in a small house that was to be built in the middle of the mall for a 3 day promotion by Tommy Hilfiger. The house is promoting the company’s Prep Shop and will only be open at the mall from June 10th – June 12th. I was shocked to learn that all of this work was for only 3 days, but I guess that is how marketing and promotion works in big companies.
When we arrived Monday morning, the first truck was just getting in to place. Tony, the driver, had decking needed for the base of the house which was to be placed on sand that had been hauled. After the decking was down it was our turn. Vince believed the best way to get into place was to back into the mall. As I was at the back of the trailer helping Vince, a gentleman with the mall approached me and asked if it wouldn’t be easier for him to drive in. I shared with him that Vince was not under that impression and suggested he talk to him. I radioed to Vince that this gentleman was on his way up. After talking to Matt, who ended up being a top manager with the mall, Vince radioed Matt was jumping in to show him the way and asked if I was walking or riding. I said I would walk, because I wanted to walk the route ahead of Vince’s arrival so that I could see if there were any complications. I must say over the 3 last years I have become much more comfortable helping Vince get into places. I was confident I could assess the situation and see maybe not all, but most problems.
By the time Vince and Matt came around it appeared to me the only problem would be getting around the movie theater marquee. I believed it might stick out just enough that any pitch of the trailer might hit it. Another issue was 3 pickups and a van parked on the left side of the road by the theater. I radioed my concerns to Vince, who shared that Matt was already out of the truck preparing to get the vehicles moved. I knew that Matt was my kind of guy when he walked up to the security guards and told them that all four of the vehicles had to go. So many times theatre and other location representatives expect these drivers to work magic around vehicles that have no business being in the way, because they don’t want to upset people. Trust me I have seen many Clark drivers do just that, work magic to get in docks and along curbs all while dodging cars. But not that day, Matt was in charge and I loved it. He even shared with Tony and me that if they couldn’t locate the van driver they would be pushing it out of the way. I love a guy not afraid to take charge. After all the vehicles were moved, yes they found the van driver, darn it, Vince made it around the marquee with ease.
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| Stage II |
After we were in place Matt introduced himself to me and shared that Extra would be filming in about 20 minutes down the way and if we wanted to see a movie he would arrange it. We thanked him, but shared we didn’t know how long we would be there. He said “oh you are going to be here all day, so just let me know”.
As we were being unloaded, Tony, Vince and I were hanging by our truck, when I noticed a woman taking pictures of the truck. It is not unusual to see people taking pictures, it happens all the time. European travelers are fascinated with American trucks because they have nothing like it in their countries. Little boys are also very drawn to our trucks. People are always getting up on the side boards and having their picture taken when we are in the big cities. Vince and I have given many tours of our trucks. Vince likes showing off the trucks to the little boys because he would have loved to have had the opportunity to see the inside of one when he was a kid, but didn’t. So he is always open to giving a little guy or gal the chance to see inside.
As we saw the woman, Vince looked over asked me if I felt like giving a tour. Of course, I love showing off our truck. As I approached the lady, who turned out to be an American living in California was thrilled to learn we were the owners and jumped at the chance to see the truck. I gave her a tour and learned her name was Linda. She and her husband and I exchanged stories about our travels and lifestyles. When I shared that I had a blog she asked for the link and made a suggestion that we put the link on the side of the truck so people could follow us. It was nice to share our truck and story and I just wanted to take a moment to give Linda thanks for the opportunity and suggestion.
About an hour later, Sam who was in charge of the project stated he would need Vince to drop the trailer and then come back at 2:00 pm to pull it out of the mall. He then needed him to return at 11:00 pm to complete the unloading. The crew working on the house was only called in for 6:00 am to 2:00 pm shift, the next crew was scheduled from 11:00 pm to 7:00 am. Unhooking from the trailer for the first part was not a problem because Vince could park the tractor next to the parking garage, but leaving between 2:00 pm and 11:00 pm was a different story since the closest truck stop was 50 miles away. Fifty miles in LA traffic is way different than it is in most other cities. It could take us 4 hours to go that far, which yes, did happen to us once.
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| Linda and me by our truck |
So with only a couple hours left, I told Vince I wanted to at least go down and watch some of the taping of Extra. Matt had by this time introduced us to one of the gentlemen from the Extra crew, who had shared that the guests were Wendy Williams and Linda Carter and their appearances were scheduled for 1:30 pm and 2:00 pm. I knew we wouldn’t be around for those times, but it looked like they were filming some other segments so we wandered down. Well, let me tell you that Mario Lopez is as cute in person as he is on TV and also just as nice. He talked with people and encouraged people to get into the shots; it was really nice to see.
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| Mario Lopez during taping of Extra |
After making an attempt to be the audience of the Extra show, sadly I didn’t make it but the guy to right did, so I was close. We were talking again about the parking/truck stop issue, but never fear, because it was Matt to the rescue when we ran into him again. He was checking to see how we were doing and wondering what movie we wanted to see. We shared that we had to leave at 2:00 pm so that wouldn’t be possible. He acknowledged knowing we need to move out of the mall, but shared that we could park by the parking garage and if that didn’t work there was a dock area in another part of the mall. We were so grateful to hear that we didn’t have to head to the truck stop. He stated “it’s LA you aren’t going to find parking.” He then walked us over to movie theatre to get us tickets to the Hangover II.
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| Stage III |
After dinner it was a nap then back at 11:00 pm for the completion of the house. Due to the darkness I was not able to get the completion of the house but hope the pictures give you a good idea. It was a great day but now it's time to truck back across the country.
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| Stage IV - a wall up |
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Delivery for Mr. Hilfiger @ the Grove
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| Our trailer with the Tommy Hilfiger promotion on the side |
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| Flooding in Louisiana |
After we left Louisiana we spent the next 2 days and a morning going across Texas and let me assure you it is right up there with traveling from south to north in California at 55 mph. You just think you are never going to get there. We traveled through New Mexico in what felt like record time and then stopped in Eloy, AZ for the night. Eloy is about an hour outside Phoenix and due to the three long days of travel (remember Vince can drive 11 hours in a 14 hour period) we stopped there instead of pushing into Phoenix later in the evening and finding out there was no parking. We called Nancy who was happy to hear we had time to stop and even cancelled plans for the evening so she could hang out with us. So we were up early Saturday morning, took showers and were in Phoenix by 10:00 am. It was great to be out of the truck for a day. We even got to the movies to see the latest Pirates movie. Unfortunately Corey was on trauma call Saturday so we were only able to have a quick visit with him at the hospital when we first arrived.
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| Flooding in Louisana |
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| Storm approaching on I-10 southwest TX |
Yesterday we delivered a house that is part of a new promotion for Tommy Hilfiger called the Prep Shop. We spent the entire day at the Grove while they built the house in the middle of the mall. We had a great time and will try to get our stories and pictures which include Mario Lopez taping Extra, posted tomorrow. However, today we must get trucking to Stockton, CA to pick up a trailer that needs to be in NY by the weekend.
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| Southwest TX |
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