The Trip to Milwaukee – Better Weather and Some Fun!

After surviving the blizzard Buffalo threw at us. We headed west toward Milwaukee.  While on our way we learned that our friend Jim Walker would be in northeast Ohio approximately the same time we would be passing through the area.  So we made plans to meet up with him for dinner Thursday night. 

As some of you may recall Jim was with Clark Transfer a few years back and the lead driver on Story time, a show tour Vince was on for about 10 months in 2010.  Jim has also been a guest poster on this blog. His post titled “Does Kalamazoo know it is 2011...” is among one of my highest viewed posts.  He is now with a company based out of Texas that provides him the opportunity to be home on a weekly basis.

Now most people when they get together with friends for dinner it is easy. Everyone meets up at a restaurant, possibly right after work; you have dinner and are home by 8:00 p.m.  When truck drivers want to meet up it isn’t so easy.  Getting to see Jim meant first figuring out a place where we could meet.  Vince did a search and found a Walmart in Streetsboro, Ohio that would be convenient for both of us to get to without going off route.  Now unlike most people whose day ends at 5:00 pm, that night Jim’s day didn’t end until 9:45 pm when he pulled into the Walmart.  We bobtailed (a tractor only is a bobtail) over to a Steak N Shake that was nearby to have dinner at 10:00 pm.  Not most people’s typical dinner plans with friends, but not that unusual for anyone in trucking.

While Vince and Jim had seen each other on the road since his leaving Clark, this was my first chance to catch up with him in a couple of years.  It was great seeing him, sharing stories and having some laughs.  Even though we miss seeing him on a more regular basis, it was great to see him looking well and content.

In addition to seeing Jim, on Saturday we were able to catch up with our niece, Kerry and her family who live in Milwaukee in a more regular type setting.  Our arrival on Saturday gave us the opportunity to hang out at their home Saturday afternoon and evening. It has been wonderful to see the girls grow and change over the years.  Right behind my chance to spend time with Vince, the opportunity to see family and friends still remains my second favorite thing about the road.

Over the years, Kerry, Tom and their girls, Elizabeth and Grace have been the family we have had the chance to visit the most. I believe this is most probably due to the strong supporters of the arts that can be found in Milwaukee, which results in more shows going in and out of there and most assuredly plain darn luck. The fact that they live 10 minutes from the truck stop helps too. Our trying to meet up with friends and family sometimes is very difficult especially depending on their proximity to a truck stop.  As you might imagine, we can’t just get into town and pull up in front of someone’s house with our truck.  For some reason most neighbors just don’t appreciate the beauty of a semi.

On Sunday, the weather in Milwaukee was clear and the temperature was in the high 30s.  It was a pleasant change from the previous week’s load out in Cleveland of torrential rains and the blizzard conditions of Buffalo’s load in.  Since we were one of the first trucks to get loaded in Milwaukee we were not there long last night. We were on our way in a few short hours and are now on I-80 eastbound heading to Schenectady, NY.