The Truck Stop Shower

Last week one of the first things I appreciated about being home was the shower.  While I am now able to shower in the truck, it is still not like home.  At home I can stand in the shower and let the water flow, in the truck we only have 40 gallons (10 gallons of hot water and 30 gallons of cold) so conservation is key.  This appreciation of the shower reminded me of my first trip on the road when the main thing on my mind as we started out, was how the truck stop shower situation was going to work.

Now that first trip meant I was about to spend every waking and sleeping hour with Vince at his work, in a space which was not much bigger than our bathroom for a week. So was I worried that we wouldn’t get along or even worse possibly kill one another, maybe a little, but honestly my real focus was on the shower.  Vince had assured me that we would be able to go in together, but what exactly did that mean and what would it look like?  I pictured a stall like Elizabeth had in her dorm freshman year.  I envisioned a little space to undress and then step into the shower, but what if I had to go the bathroom one last time before getting in the shower?  Did that mean I would have to get dressed and go out into the main area of the truck stop to the women's room? As you read this, what do you picture a truck stop shower to look like? 

You would think that what I really should have been focused on was the fact that I would have to go outside every time I needed to go the bathroom.  Or how spending 24 hours a day with my husband was really going to work for us?  There was also the fact that I was about to sleep in a twin bed with my husband in the middle of a truck stop and on streets by theatres, shouldn’t I have worried about that? Nope, I was focused on the shower.    

I believe it is important to share that Vince did have the interior of the truck remodeled in May 2007, as part of his plan to get me in the truck and to make life on the road easier for me.  He had the double bunk removed and put shelves for clothes and food where the upper bunk had been located.  The bed had a table attached so when the bed was folded up it provided a table and bench seating for us.  He also had a small closet, microwave, mini refrigerator and sink installed.  All of this was done so that my life on the road, which he intended to make a reality, would be as comfortable as possible.  I can tell you without any doubt all of those changes made life much easier for us over those first two years, especially the sink but showering still meant going into the truck stop.  The pictures above and below give you an idea of how tight our quarters were those first two years.  I thought it only fair that the Kenworth get some exposure since many of our stories about my rookie and second year involve that great truck.

            So after our first trailer of that trip was loaded on that Sunday night we headed toward Jacksonville for a Tuesday morning load in.  As we left I started worrying again about how the shower thing was going to work.  However, by the time we stopped for the night at a Mount Eagle truck stop I was too tired to care how or what a shower looked like. 

            The next morning meant shower time, so as we headed to a Georgia TA truck stop, as we approached the truck stop I told Vince I would need to go to the bathroom before we went to the showers.  He looked over at me like I have three heads.  He then told me the shower had a toilet in it.  So now I had the image in my head of a RV shower which is actually what we now have in our new truck.  You know the ones I’m talking about where the shower and toilet is all part of the shower stall.  With this new information I really started worrying about how much space were we going to have? I pictured our clothes, bag, Vince and I all in this little space.  Was he kidding me?  What was I thinking when I agreed to go on this excursion?  Don’t get me wrong I am not a germaphobe or have anything against being outdoors but truthfully camping to me is staying at a hotel and I just wasn’t sure about being thrown into a closed area and I was internally wigging.

When we arrived at the truck stop we got our bag ready for the shower by filling it with shampoo, conditioner, and a change of clothes, a hair dryer and my make up bag.   Keep in mind this bag was now way heavier than when Vince is by himself. I wondered if when he picked it up he was seriously questioning the decision to have me join him.           

Once in the truck stop we headed to the kiosk so Vince could scan his card.  His card provides a free shower when he buys fuel. He got the receipt with a shower number and code.  We found a TV monitor to learn our shower room number; then headed down the hall to code into the shower.  Vince put the code in and opened the door but then suddenly realized we didn’t have enough towels and headed off to get extra towels.  After he left I stood in the doorway in total disbelief because the shower I had been stressing about and terrified of was actually a full fledged bathroom.  It was a beautiful white porcelain bathroom, way bigger than our bathroom at home. The shower, sink and toilet were all spotless; there was also a shelf for the bag and plenty of room for us to move around.

When Vince returned I told him that “this isn’t a shower it is a bathroom”.  He looked around and said “I never thought about it that way but yeah I guess it is”.  It is funny how little information men will share about some things while others they will go on and on about.  When I asked how something on the truck works, I got a detailed description.  I asked about the shower and all I got was we will be together and they have towels.  You can bet I made a “note to self” that day to ask more questions.  As you can see we were all clean for our photos in Jacksonville. Finally I must tell you that the trip to Jacksonville was not without incident and actually  resulted in the first of my homicidal thought moment stories but I will save that story for another day.

If you want to see the inside of our new truck.  Check out my post:
Could you live with your spouse in this truck that has a shower? 
Posted in January 2011

Happy Thanksgiving to Those Home and Away!

I would like to wish to those fortunate enough to be home or with family this Thanksgiving Day the best the day can offer.  To those away from home namely the truck drivers on the road and service men and women overseas, I hope you find a warm meal and companions to enjoy a conversation with, be it at the counter, in a booth or in the mess hall.  But most importantly I wish for you dry, clear roads and a safe passage home.

Home Safe and Sound

 

We made it home last night just in time to prepare our Thanksgiving feast.  Luckily I thought ahead and bought most everything before I left on this trip. Elizabeth was also kind enough to take the turkey out of the freezer for us last week.

This has been a whirl wind trip the last three weeks.  I caught up with Vince on October 30^th in Costa Mesa, California for the end of his Storytime tour on the 31^st.  He was on this tour from February to October, which means he was home off and on for approximately 4-5 weeks over the course of those 9 months.   

We then traveled to LA to work on the closing of Phantom of the Opera at the Pantages.  After running trailers back and forth from the Pantages to the drop yard for a couple days it was time to take a Phantom trailer across country to Wappingers Falls, NY.  After arriving in NY we ran a trailer to Harrisburg before returning to Wappingers Falls to pick up the Victoria’s Secret trailer.  So our total miles over this busy three weeks added up to 5000+ miles.   

We are hosting Thanksgiving at our place this year and hope Mom will join us, Elizabeth and Roman and possibly Elaine and John for a nice dinner.   But unfortunately she has taken to canceling more than attending things these days. After that it is time to decorate for Christmas and enjoy home time, especially for Vince who will head out again next week for three more weeks before arriving home for Christmas and a well deserved longer break.  Over the next weeks I plan to share some additional stories from this and past trips, however today I must get busy grocery shopping and cooking. Hope you all have a wonderful and tasty Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends. 

I Volunteer to Help Move Equipment - Harrisburg

 

We headed from Cleveland to Harrisburg, PA on Wednesday with a Billy Elliot trailer that was damaged while on the lot in Durham. As you may recall the home office is Harrisburg. The above pictures are of the home office building and trailer lot.

The first step for getting the trailer repaired was to unload all of the equipment.  I told Vince I would help him unload the equipment.  Before unloading the trailer Vince told me we needed to go in and see the dispatchers to talk about where to take this trailer and discuss which trailer we would be picking up.  As we were talking with them I heard one of them read off the numbers for the equipment on the current trailer. The standard package is 6 load bars, 12 straps, 12 pads.  So imagine my surprise when I heard what I thought was numbers much higher than that being read off.  I immediately asked “how many load bars”, to which the reply was 36 load bars, 48 pads, 38 straps.  For me the pads and straps weren’t as big a deal as the load bars.  The bars weigh approximately 20 pounds each and are roughly 100 inches long.  These bars are awkward for me to carry and the hooks on each end that allow the bars to be attached to the walls of the trailer slide out when the bars aren’t level thus changing the balance of the bars.  After hearing the number of bars I stood there thinking about how I needed to remember to ask more questions before I volunteered to help in the future. But there was no backing out, I had volunteered, plus I really do love helping Vince.

Once outside Vince backed up the trailer to the equipment trailers and we got started.  After getting rid of the blankets and straps, it was time for the load bars.  Vince slid them to the end of the trailer while I took them off the trailer and stacked them on the equipment trailer. The photos are of me placing the last load bar into the trailer.

You may be wondering why I didn’t move them in the trailer, well that would be because I have a fear of getting out of the trailer. Note I said out of the trailer.  You see while getting up there isn’t the easiest thing for me; I can do it, but the getting down part, not so easy.  There has been more than one occasion when I have gotten up there, freaked out and said I couldn’t get down.  When it has happened Vince very patiently stood down on the ground and told me to just put your foot on the bar underneath then step down.  I would start to do as he said but I think it is the fact I can’t see the bar underneath that freaks me out. So instead of getting down I would turn around and say “I can’t”.  Vince would continue to say “yes you can” until I would finally climb down. Trust me I know there have been at least two occasions when this went on for over five minutes before I finally got down.

So today I took moving the load bars over crawling up into the trailer.  Of course that was until Vince had to remove three bars from near the ceiling.  He couldn’t get leverage on one of them so he yelled “Honey you are going to have to help me with this one” in that I know you don’t want to but I really need you tone.  I stood there thinking are you kidding me, but then I realized if he were hurt in the trailer I wouldn’t think twice about jumping up there.  So up I went into the trailer to help.  Surprisingly I did get down on the first shot and without much coaching but I will continue to avoid it whenever possible because the thought of falling from the height scares me.

Our next step was to take the trailer to the repair shop 45 miles away.  That ride gave us the opportunity show how smoothly a tractor can ride with a trailer.  The attached photo is of some items Vince had placed on our tool box in Harrisburg.  He forgot to put them in the tool box before we left and when we got to the trailer repair place there they were, exactly where he had left them.

After dropping the trailer off, we returned to Harrisburg to pick up our next trailer which we are taking to Hobart, IN, just outside Chicago.  This trailer will be used for the closing of the first Billy Elliot touring show that is ending in Chicago.  By the way, this trailer had 16 bars, 12 pads and 12 straps in it.  When we went inside to verify the equipment needed for the trailer take a guess what they told us?  Yep that’s right no load bars, just 4 pads and 12 straps.  So back we went to take 16 bars and 8 pads off the truck.  Needless to say we got plenty of exercise on Thursday.

Billy Elliot Load In – Cleveland

 

Greetings from Cleveland!  We made it to Cleveland this morning after a long night of rain and fog.  I did my best cheerleader as I tried to think of things to talk about as to not make the trip any longer for Vince than we already knew it would be.  Below is a picture of Pilot Mountain in NC that I snapped as we headed through last evening.  Above are pictures of the front and back of State Theatre.  Our truck is the one in the middle.  Still am amazed how Vince can make backing in between the trucks look so easy.  So far it appears we will be here tomorrow as well shuttling trailers, because a show this big can take two or even three days to load in.

Billy Elliot Load Out – Durham

We are into hour 11 of the Billy Elliot load out in Durham.  Trust me I am using the term “we” very loosely as I crashed about 10:30 and had my pajamas on by 12:30 am.  Vince and many of the other drivers have been up all night.  This is the first load out for this tour which means the crew for the first time has to make everything go into 15 trailers.  It is actually not easy and as you can tell does not go quickly.  The photo above was taken at 8:30 am this morning.  Don’t you love how the white pick up stayed in the lane even though he had plenty of time to get over.  This is the kind of thing that happens all the time when the trucks are backing in and out of docks.  Reminds me of the jerks you encounter on the freeway who have notice for 5 miles that the lane is ending but they continue up the closing lane anyways and snarl up traffic.

The Victoria's Secret Load Out - NYC to Baltimore

Have you ever driven a car in NYC? If so you know how crazy traffic can be. Now imagine driving a semi tractor with a 53’ trailer attached to it through those streets with cars cutting you off while you are trying to maneuver down those narrow streets.  Well that is what Vince did Friday morning.  Now this wasn’t the first time we had traveled to the city but since we usually go into the city in the middle of the night I had no idea what it would be like in the middle of the day.

Friday, we drove into the city mid morning and it was crazy.  As we headed up Broadway I could not believe how many cars and cabs cut us off as we attempted to change lanes and make turns.  Don’t even get me started on how many pedestrians took their lives in their hands crossing against the light in front of us. But the real challenge came after we got to the Lexington Armory to pick up decking from the Victoria’s Secret’s show and learned they were running behind so there was no parking space for us.  That meant we needed to find parking, somewhere on a street in NYC.  Well let me assure you finding parking was a big challenge if not impossible.  As we went up and down the streets dodging cars, pedestrians and trees, I thought this is going to get ugly.  But then thankfully as we were traveling up and down streets around 26^th and Park Ave, we got a call from Roy, one of the other drivers telling us a spot had opened up.

Within a few hours we were loaded and ready to go.  I could not believe it took us over an hour to wind our way from 26^th to 179^th and onto the GW Bridge. However, our day was far from over when it took us another five and a half hours to go 200 miles through heavy traffic in New Jersey and Maryland to deliver the trailer in Baltimore.

But after we dropped the trailer and Vince stated we were heading to Ruther Glen, we encountered our first moment of this trip.  As I realized that we were going to be traveling another 2 hours I lost it and said “I am protesting, I’m sorry but I am protesting.  I don’t want to do this.”  I have no idea what I thought this was going to accomplish because it wasn't like I could get out or go to another room.  But I just didn't want to ride any longer after all those hours of dodging traffic. Vince looked at me like oh boy here we go.  Then I’m sure he remembered you pushed for her to come out here. So God love him, he said “There is a truck stop in Jessup a couple miles down the road and I have a headache and am tired so I am ready to stop now too”.  We ended up having a nice dinner, got a chance to watch some TV and today had a relaxing uneventful trip to Durham for the load out of Billy Elliot on Sunday night.   

You do realize you're in America?

Wednesday was a busy day for us. We awoke in Harrisburg, PA at the home office after bringing a trailer down from one of the company’s lots in Wappingers Falls, NY the previous night.  After showering, which happily we are able to do in our new bigger sleeper truck, we went in to find out where Kevin, the dispatcher wanted the trailer unloaded.  After getting unloaded, Vince dropped off paper work and pick up needed supplies before we were off to the Petro truck stop in Carlisle, PA.

Vince dropped me off at the Petro so I could do laundry while he went off to get a Pennsylvania inspection for the truck.  Since the home office is in PA part of having the truck registered in PA means Vince must get an inspection every six months. Rather than me sitting around a shop waiting, I asked for him to drop me at the truck stop so I could do the laundry.  By the time Vince returned the laundry was done and we were both ready to eat since we missed lunch, so we grabbed an early dinner at the Iron Skillet inside the Petro.

Around 9:00 that evening I was a little hungry since we had technically ate lunch/dinner at 4:00 pm.  So I hinted to Vince that I might be a little hungry. He picked up on the hint and asked if I would like to go into the Iron Skillet for dessert.  Since they have a great cherry cobbler that is the perfect size for us to share, I jumped right on his suggestion.

When we arrived at the restaurant we grabbed a booth in the trucker’s area.  As we were talking the waiter came up from behind me and stated “Hello sir, do you need a menu?”  We in unison stated we were just having dessert. He then asked “what would you like to drink sir?  Let me also add, the waiter is standing with his back to me addressing Vince the whole time, never acknowledging me.  So Vince ordered a Sierra Mist and I said I wanted water into the air because I didn’t believe anyone was listening.

Now the waiter we knew was a foreigner but I have never had any problem at any restaurant with a foreign waiter not welcoming and acknowledging me.  Also I am almost 5’6’ and 150 pounds so I am neither short nor petite so trust me he couldn’t miss me sitting in the booth.  As we sat there we began talking about the situation and agreed it had to be a mistake, that the service would get better and when he returned with both drinks we were encouraged.

But we were so wrong because when he returned he continued to keep his back to me even when I ordered the Cherry Cobbler which Vince informed him we would be sharing.  When he returned to the table he proceeded to put it down directly in front of Vince then quickly hurry away.  Well rest assured I knew when he came back I was going to confront him.

As he returned and again began to address Vince, I jumped in and asked very loudly as I finally caught his eye “You do realize you are in America?”  Well he was stunned and looked at me bewildered.   I went on to tell him he was in America and in America he needed to address woman and wait on woman.  He then told me “I am not an American” with which I quickly replied “right but you are IN America and you need to acknowledge woman.  He then looked at Vince like he didn’t understand or maybe it was a, you need to shut her look but since I couldn’t see his face I don’t know.  Vince then told him “Do you not see my wife sitting here?” “You have ignored her like she isn’t here, she is here and you needed to acknowledge her”.  He then just walked away like he didn’t care.  I don’t believe he didn’t understand what we were saying I believe he was choosing to ignore it.

So then when we got up to the counter the cashier/possibly the manager asked if everything was okay Vince told her no the service was not good, since the waiter ignored me the whole time.  She then had the nerve to say “well I guess that is how they may do things in his country".  I jumped in and stated “but he is in America and he needs to acknowledge and wait on woman or he is going to have a lot of problems.  It was like a light went on in her head (duh) and she got this look like wow yeah and she stated “you’re right”.  To say I was ticked off the rest of the night is an understatement but trust that guy will never wait or should I say not wait on me again.

I have absolutely no problem with people coming to this country to start a better life. I have some very special people in my life who have done exactly that, but for others I say please know you need to adjust to our culture especially if you are going to be in the service industry.  You shouldn't think you are going to take our money but not serve us.

Why I am here!

In 2008, my husband Vince, an owner-operator, truck driver leased with a company that moves Broadway shows convinced me to leave the business world behind and join him in his truck.  Over the last two years, I have learned how tough the life of a truck driver can be, the hours and hard work that goes into moving a Broadway show.  I knew plenty about the business world but the world of trucking from a business  and life style standpoint is totally different than anything I have ever experienced. Thankfully, I learned that my worries about, what if any toll our constant togetherness would have on our relationship were unfounded, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have our moments. 

Therefore, on our travels I have received a first hand education in the world of trucking. So, in this blog I hope to provide a humorous look at life on the road.  While also furnishing readers with a view into the challenges of living with a spouse on the road 24/7 and providing a glimpse into my struggles with being part of the sandwich generation. My struggles mainly center around the guilt I feel as I attempt to find a balance between life on the road with Vince and life at home caring for an elderly parent and finding enough time for my grown daughter.