This Week - Shots Fired in Peoria, Beautiful Sunsets and a Chunk of Tread Missing from a Steer Tire.

Peoria River Walk - Beautiful Fall Colors

It was an interesting week for us as you might have gathered from the title.  When we arrived in Peoria we unhooked from our current trailer and moved over in front of the three trailers Vince would be shuttling back and forth in the morning.  As we settled down to sleep I heard what I believed to be three gun shots.  I did this thing I always do when I hear a strange noise which is half sitting up in the bed, this time it was with my back to Vince.  This is my nonverbal signal to Vince that I want to know what the sound is. He stated it was just fireworks and just as he said it, there was a series of shots or fireworks that followed.  Still not completely convinced I continued to sit up for about another minute then moved back into my resting position.  After that we heard a series of sirens which I thought could be in response to fireworks as well as gun shots.  I must admit I did have thoughts of bullets piercing the sleeper, but then thought what could we really do about the situation, and moving might actually draw attention to us.

The next morning Vince did his shuttling while I did my yoga and got dressed.  After he had moved the third trailer into place he joined me in the sleeper and announced he had found out what was going on last night.  He went on to tell me that someone, apparently upset with City Hall had in fact fired off several rounds into the City Hall building.  Now you would think at the moment I would have freaked out that just a half a block to a block away from us someone had actually been firing a gun.  But no, my first thought was how proud I was of myself that I actually did know the difference between gun fire and fireworks.  I also thought about how great it was that Vince told me about it.  He had to know he was risking having to hear the ever famous I told you so line or worse yet have to listen me freak out, but he weighed all of it and told me the truth anyway.  I so admire and love him for his honesty.  I really didn’t say much about it after that which I hope confirmed for him that telling me the truth really is a good thing.

An Iowa Sunset

I also wanted to share this beautiful sunset I snapped as we traveled across I-80 in Iowa.  The previous night as the sun set in Illinois I had been reminded of how much I love sunrises and sunsets on the road. So when we were lucky enough to have a second beautiful one, I just had to snap it.  Sunrises especially on mornings when we have been up all night are so exhilarating since the night can seem so long. As the sun comes up I get to watch everything come to life.  I sometime have the same feeling at home but it isn’t quite the same as on the road, probably because I am inside in a more enclosed area and honestly I don’t take the time like I can on the road to really appreciate them.  Also on the road I’m either in a wide open parking lot or traveling down a highway so the horizon is much more spacious. 

Sunsets on the other hand bring me such calm.   That evening in Illinois I found myself experiencing this overwhelming feeling of peace as I watched the sun slowly move beneath the horizon so much so that Vince even asked me what I was thinking.  I answered honestly “absolutely nothing, I am just watching this beautiful sunset”.  I hope everyone who reads this will try just once in the next few months to truly experience a sunrise and a sunset and like me, find energy and calmness from them.

So as we continued across I-80 to Sacramento, yes that’s right we headed back across this great country, we spent a morning at the world’s largest truck stop, Iowa 80 doing laundry and getting an oil change. That evening we stopped in at a truck stop in Nebraska for the night.  In the morning after doing my yoga I l went to the front of the truck  to look for Vince, since during yoga I had heard him get in, then back out of the truck.  As I looked out I could see in Vince’s side mirrors that he was unhooking us from our trailer.  His doing that told me that we must have some type of mechanical problem, because there would be no other reason for him to do so.  As he got back into the truck I asked him what was wrong with the truck.  Trust me I was holding my breath because there is no such thing as a cheap repair when it comes to semis. 

As he turned to look at me, his facial expression was very serious. So serious that when our eyes met I was scared that this was going to be a really big problem and as he spoke his voice didn’t put me at ease either. He stated “First off let me say I would never intentionally put you in any danger”.  To which I replied that I knew he never would. He then told me that we had a huge chunk of tread missing from our steer tire on the driver’s side that could have blown while we were driving. FYI - Steer tires are the tires on the front of the truck. He shared that he had only experienced a blow out with one of them in his 25 years of driving and it was not a fun ride. He was very thankful it had not blown on us because it would have been very scary especially for me.  It was touching how concerned he was for me and I told him it was okay, that he did not need to apology since he had not intentionally put me in danger. I knew it had to have happened the previous evening because Vince always looks around the truck and we both agreed the mechanic in Walcott definitely would have caught the problem had it been there at the time of our oil change.  So went over to the shop and Vince had both steer tires replaced since the other one had some cupping there was no sense putting it off. 

Great Salt Lake - my first chance to see it in the daytime

After the four figure repair bill, see I told you there is no such thing as a cheap repair in trucking; we were off to Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada.  In Nevada my lucky butt husband sat down at only one slot machine in a West Wendover Casino. He dropped $20 in it and was able to win two-thirds of the repair bill in a matter of minutes.  He can be so lucky sometimes.  He then cashed out, gave me some play money from it, which I was able to use to win $100 and then we high tailed it out of there. As we left the casino we walked right into 40 mile an hour wind gusts and a light rain shower.  I quickly learned as we fought the wind to walk across two parking lots to get back to the truck that rain can actually hurt when it hits your face.

 

Yesterday we unloaded early in the morning at a theatre in Sacramento then headed down to Ripon for a few days.  We had been moving every day for the last 15 so it’s great to have a few days of rest.  The truck stop is located next to an almond grove, a grocery store and a very quiet neighborhood.  It is nice because we can safely walk on sidewalks around the grove and neighborhood rather than dodging trucks in the truck stop.  There are also many restaurants around the area to choose from and last night we had our usually pizza date night that we always enjoy here, since there is a Little Caesars in the strip mall with the grocery.  The temperature today is in the mid 70s so we are soaking up the sun and warmth before it is time to head back east next week to cooler fall temperatures.

Truck Stops are Really Just Neighborhoods!

While riding through Missouri on Sunday on our way to Peoria I was thinking about the walk we had just taken in the parking lot of the Petro truck stop in Joplin, Missouri.  As I thought about all I have seen on our walks around truck stops, I realized that truck stops are actually just like neighborhoods.  Here is a comparison so you can see how I came to that conclusion:

Neighborhoods Have those who park on the lawn, near the driveway openings and out from the curb Have those who never cut their lawn, leave their trash cans out too long or better yet leave their trash on the lawn  Have those who think their music is so good it should be heard by everyone Have those who keep their lawns and cars immaculate, cutting the lawn regularly and waxing their vehicles every weekend  Have those who would lend a helping hand, offering tools and helping with repairs Have those who walk their dogs that stop and chat with each other along the way Have those who will share a kind word or give a wave as you pass by their porch

Truck Stops Have those who park on the line, over the line, along the curb, or anywhere else that doesn't have a line but is close to the building Have those who think the parking lot is for throwing their chicken bones, cigarette butts, their trash and bottles filled with urine (God forbid we stop at a rest area or truck stop and if not at least put it in the numerous trash cans found all around) Have those who think their music is so good it should be heard by everyone Have those who keep their trucks immaculate by washing and waxing them (even the tanks and steps) every chance they get Have those who will offer assistance, tools, hoses, screws, etc to someone broke down or needing to make a repair Have those who walk their dogs that stop and chat with each other along the way Have those who share a kind word or give a wave from their truck as you pass by

As you can see truck stops are just like neighborhoods, but it shouldn’t be surprising since a truck is a drivers’ homes away from home. The big difference is truckers move to a new neighborhood every day and are always adjusting to their new neighbors.  Thankfully, like most neighborhoods the good neighbors always out number the bad, but better yet, unlike a home owner, a driver can move his or her house away from their annoying neighbor!

A Semi: The Epitome of “You can tell the men from the boys by the size and cost of their toys”

New Fenders known as double hump fenders

Our trip across the country was thankfully uneventful, except for a couple of stops.  One of those stops was in Talladega, Alabama at the Talladega County Fiberglass Unlimited shop to have new fenders installed on the truck.  These types of fenders are known as “double hump” and are great for keeping rocks from kicking up and hitting other cars and our own sleeper.  As far back as our first Louisville truck show in 2004, I can remember Vince talking about getting some type of fenders for the truck.  So as you might imagine it was an exciting day for him to get shiny new fenders for the truck.  I was never big on that saying about the men from boys and their toys until I came out on the road and discovered all the gadgets and shiny objects available for trucks.  Another example would be that I had commented to Nancy, my sister-in-law and Vince’s sister that Vince shouldn’t be left alone in chrome shops, just before I came out this time. Then what do I find on the dash of the truck my first morning in the truck: seven new shiny objects.

Along I-10 in Arizona

A good piece of news that we received on this trip was that we didn’t have to be in Los Angeles until Wednesday instead of Monday.  This great news allowed us to do one of my favorite things on the road – visit family.  We were able to spend Monday in Phoenix with Corey, Nancy and their five dogs. As I have shared many times visiting family and friends is so much fun and their assistance like letting us use their washer and dryer along with taking us to the grocery are always a great help. 

Bear aka Doug trying to get me to play catch

I had to feature their dog Bear in this post because he is so darn funny.  As you can probably see from the picture Bear likes for you to throw a ball for him.  The picture came about because as I was relaxing by the pool while talking with Elizabeth on Monday morning Bear decided to be like a kid when you get on the phone and kept trying to drop a tennis ball in my lap.  The more I kept telling him to stop, the louder Elizabeth laughed. 

He is affectionately nicknamed Doug (the dog from the movie “Up”) because of the way he acts.  He will bring you the ball, you throw it, and he retrieves it, then will either stay out in the grass thus not bringing it back or won’t drop it for you to throw it again.  When you go back inside he follows you in and keeps dropping the ball for you to throw it only to repeat the same trick again.  Another great Bear moment was when he dropped the ball in the pool, but instead of it floating, it sank.  He just kept leaning over the pool with his ears up looking at the ball for a very long time.  We don’t know if he was waiting for it to come back up or was trying to figure out how to get it, but either way it was hilarious.

Dust storm on I-10 Tuesday Afternoon in AZ

Coachella, CA this am before the rain

 During the rest of our trip to Los Angeles we experienced dust storms, heavy traffic and rain.  As you can see from the picture of the dust storms, coming across I-10 in Arizona and California can be tricky.  This morning it took us four hours to go 136 miles from Coachella to downtown LA, you got to love LA traffic.  I also love how California is all about making the truck manufacturers produce clean air engines and regulating the crap out of semis but trust me it wasn’t semis clogging up the freeways today.  But I digress, the day ended with this beautiful rainbow about 40 miles outside Barstow, California.

A beautiful rainbow after a long day of rain

Tomorrow we are off to Las Vegas then to Evansville Indiana with a stop off in Peoria to load in “Wicked” advance trailers.  It will soon be time for me to put my shorts away for good. But hopefully our trek back east will provide me opportunities to share the fall colors of a few states.