So you're not going to believe this...

The Universe threw us a couple of curve balls the other day, the first of which involved losing place of something valuable to me, knowing I had it in storage, and spending and hour and a half not finding it. The other one came later when we had stopped off at our friend's place to start laundry and then head on to see a friend of ours. That was when Carrollton's finest pulled us over. Apparently they had run our regular truck tag and it came up uninsured. What followed was 15 minutes of digging to find registration, in failure, then calling James' entire family only to discover his father had taken his truck off the insurance policy without informing him. Next thing we know, we are standing on the sidewalk with all of our belongings piled at our feet as the truck gets towed away. 

The next couple of days involved James' entire family getting his truck out because we had to get back on the road. Ah, good times, good times. 

New Truck, New Perspective, New Life!

Dear Reader,

A few months ago I started a humble blog here to share my adventures while traveling across the country for the first time with my boyfriend. Today I come to you not as a vagabond stowaway, but as a slightly more seasoned traveler, a "professional" driver, a whole new way of life and, for the first time in my life, somewhat steady income.

Needless to say, quite a lot has happened since my last post to you so it is my sincerest hope to fully bring you up to speed on the happenings of my current life.

Today has been very special indeed. Remember the blog where I gave a tour of the truck? Well, that truck is going back to the manufacturer. We only had a 6 month lease on it and our options were to buy it or give it back and since it has 480,000 miles on it, we went truck shopping. The lot had its share of freightliners, internationals and one volvo and we ended up going with a 2012 cascadia in silver. Basically an updated version of what we already had since it is something we are already familiar with a few bonus features.
So what is leasing a truck like, you may ask?
Since I have never bought a vehicle in my life I don't really have a comparable experience to give you for it other than it involved two sets of contracts (one with the company handling the truck and the other with our company), lots of signatures and most of a day. Quick and painless, as long as you don't look at the numbers too hard. Most rigs range in the 125,000 ballpark, and believe me, that's on the low end.
Tomorrow we "move" to the new truck, put the old one to pasture and get back on the road. We already have a trip waiting for us headed to Ohio!
My only concern is if we will run into tropical storm Isaac along the way. Fingers crossed we won't.

"Work" talk aside, driving really is a lifestyle. The mentality is different, always moving, catching scenes on the fly. You drive hard, sleep harder and if you are lucky, catch precious moments in between to text family and friends or perhaps get to write your thoughts down. Lord knows driving for ten hours a day can give you TONS of headspace to vent your imagination.

So between driving, changing all sorts of living habits, not knowing what state I may be in from one day to the next (not a metaphor, by the by) and limited internet access have made writing and blogging (and most times thinking straight) challenging. The life is fast and it cannot be stressed enough how precious your time is in the grand scheme of things. That is one thing I have loved thus far: you live, eat, sleep and work in a very tight space with an unexpected schedule. If you really want something in your life, you HAVE to make the time for it. I don't know about other drivers getting into the industry but the life has really made me go back and reevaluate what is really important in this crazy journey called Life.

Ooh, which reminds me...one of my favorite things are TED talks. Gives me small glimpses into opportunities for learning post grad and are vastly entertaining as well. Anyways, here is a link to a particular talk that is shaping my everyday life.
This woman is a video game designer, and if you know me, you have an inkling as to my opinions on the growing gaming culture out there. Opinions aside, her speech is both informative, entertaining and can even turn someone like me onto the idea of playing more games in life. Enjoy!
http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_the_game_that_can_give_you_10_extra_years_of_life.html

Believe me, I have plenty of stories to tell, and will attempt to do so in the next few installments. With all the changes going on, I am working on transitioning my blogging to my smartphone which will hopefully work out for me.
From my personal perspective I've noticed life seems to have two speeds: snail and the speed of light. One is barely tolerable and the other leaves you breathless. The past two months have definitely been the latter, so when so much happens in such a short amount of time your brain can record it all but does not necessarily mean you have processed it all. Thus my current conundrum.
In the meantime while I untangle the matted ball of experience in my head, feel free to follow me on google plus, twitter, and facebook as I am usually posting on any one of them at any given time. My favorite thing lately has been to do the check-in features on facebook, google plus and latitude so friends and family can keep up with my goings on.
Oh! One more thing. Google plus has recently become my most favorite pastime. I did a check in a few days and from that check in other truckers have found me so now I have this whole group of people in the same boat as me! I'm so excited.

Anyways, that's all for now. I will most definitely put out the word when more is to come!

Lifestyle: The Truck

I've been getting a lot of questions about life on the truck. How big is it, is it very cramped, what is day to day life like inside? Well, I hope to answer most of those for you today!
First, let's take you for a little tour of the place, starting with the outside!

Here's the trailer, obviously. I think the logo is pretty darn classy.  The only company with a coat  of arms from what I've seen. 

Standard length of these trailers is 53', and you'll notice at the front is this black and white device. That's the refrigeration unit, called "the reefer." Still makes me giggle. This particular trailer has a plastic "skirt" on the bottom which helps in air flow and also aids fuel efficiency.

Here we have the cab, where the living and driving happens. This picture has a better view of the reefer (giggle). 

You might want to refer back to this picture as the tour continues. The inside will look bigger than you would think, much like the Tardis :P

Here's the view of front area taken from the top bunk. James is busy with paperwork. 

The Qualcomm system, hub of all trucker activity. All the trips, logs, and communication between trucker and company are made through this thing. The newer models more closely resemble a standard netbook. 

First off, the captain's chair. So many controls...

Now, for the living area. There is a heavy duty curtain between the front and back that can be velcroed shut for total black out for sleeping in the middle of the day. 

The bunks. James' truck has four porthole type windows  allowing for  a lot of light during the day.  There are  heavy duty covers that snap over the windows for total black out. 

Now you'll notice this net thing hanging on the back wall. That is the safety net which is essentially a human cargo net. Obviously safety is top priority in a rig so while someone is driving, if the other person wants to take a nap, they can snap themselves in just in case the driver has to slam on brakes. James told me it has happened that one time a driver slammed on brakes and the dude taking a nap woke up under his feet!

Oh, also the top bunk can fold up and snap onto the back wall and the bottom bunk lifts up for tons of storage underneath! Last, but not least, the back wall is padded, which kept me from beating myself up in my sleep :P

Now, there are cubby areas between the drive area and the bunks for various things. 

Here's our closet area. Everything is well secured.We tend to keep enough clothes for 7-10 days on hand. Located behind the driver's seat.  

Located underneath the closet is...

Our desk area and cubby for food. The grey handle you see pulls out to reveal a small desk, perfect for my little netbook as well as making a quick snack or sandwich. The black plastic edge with textured knobs is actually a foot hold to help you climb up into the top bunk. I got pretty good at it too. Also, if you look on the left side you'll get a glimpse of all the air, light and sound controls for the back area.

The cubby area opposite this one contains open areas for a refrigerator, tv and more storage. However, I did not take a picture because we do not have a fridge or a tv and instead have a cooler and are using the tv area for storage at the moment. 

Now, for the top bunk...This is my area! Note, Stanley, my bear peeking out on the right. Yes...I have a bear. There is plenty of head room up there, as you can probably tell and also there are massive speakers in the top corners. If you notice, there is part of a black handle visible on the right, which was one of the three major points of contact necessary to getting up there. Somehow I managed to never fall out or down from the bunk. One of my favorite things about being up there is that there is a small cubby for a tiny bit of personal storage. It became my personal library :P

The bunks themselves are quite comfy and are standard extra long twins. 

Now that you have gotten almost the full tour (minus a couple of other nooks and crannys), I can see how you would wonder about living in such a small space. Most of the time James is driving (and hopefully I will be too, soon) so I get to move about the space as I please, as long as it is done safely and obviously no getting on the top bunk. 

Heating and cooling. The back area has a separate system for heating called the Webasto. It's great for those cold nights, just not so good with the cooling. In fact, cooling became a problem, especially when we hit Texas and found out the hard way that our AC was broken(not the best news when in southern Texas). Fortunately, we were able to get it fixed while in Laredo and then we discovered the IdleAir system. 

Some truck stops offer it in their parking lots as complete support systems for truck life overnight.

On the outside it looks like this...

When you first sign up for the service, you get a free "adapter" which is actually this hard plastic piece that fits in your passenger side window for the device to slide and lock into. 

This is what it looks like on the inside...

IS THAT NOT THE COOLEST THING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN?

My apologies for the caps, but I seriously geeked out when I saw this. On the left is a touchscreen for all your controls and couple of ports, USB and telephone. On the right side is the main vent for the air conditioning, wired internet, more USB and AC/DC plugs! Is that not cool?!?! For 1.25/hour we were able to charge all of our electronics and keep the cab nice and chilly all night! Plus we got to keep our adapter for the next time we use one of these things. Honestly, one of the smartest inventions I've seen for truckers and believe me, there's a whole market out there for them. 

Well, that's about it for the tour. Living on the truck is similar to the thinking of living on an RV or in a tiny house. Keep light on the belongings, stay organized and all is well. Being in this environment really makes you reassess what you consider necessary for living. 

Hope you enjoyed it and if you have any questions, be sure to comment at the bottom!

The Road Back

The last stretch of road back to Georgia was a pretty straight shot on Interstate 10. By the way, if you want to do a southern United States cross country road trip, just take I-10. It begins in Jacksonville, Florida and goes all the way to Santa Monica, California.

This is I-10 in Lousiana. Notice the kamikazee bug splatter. 

Other than the 20 mile stretch of bridge crossing swampland in Louisiana, my mind was on what was to come. Going back after a long vacation always leaves the feeling you have had the time of your life and you simply don’t want it to end. Life calls, time for you to get back to the old regular routine. Same job, same home.

The thought crossed my mind… I didn’t want to go back. Don’t get me wrong, I needed to go back, missed my family and my oldest friend was in need of my presence.

This journey has been a tease. I have traveled 8000 miles in 6 weeks and in that time I’ve seen things I didn’t think I’d ever see. Majestic mountains, snow drifts that reshape the landscape and land that stretches as far as the eye can see. Believe me when you are out there things like the curvature of the Earth come into play… you begin to measure miles when the colors of the land turn a bluish hue. Then I heard this small voice in the back of my mind say, “you know…this doesn’t have to end. You could choose this life.” Sure, with all the time spent on the road we have had plenty of discussions about the job, life on the road, and all the possibilities it could spell out for us but could I honestly make that leap?

So I started to think about it and by the time we got back to Georgia a plan has been devised.

I would spend two weeks catching up with my family and helping Jenny in any way possible and then head up to Carrollton for the big pack. I’M GOING TO BECOME A TRUCKER! HA! Who would’ve thought? Honestly, not me.

With a blend of excitement, melancholy and anxiety, it is on to Macon for me. Let’s see what the next few weeks hold for me. 

The Border

Laredo, Texas. A town situated on the border between Mexico and the U.S. I have heard many things about Mexico but I believe the reports have been a bit dramatized. As far as the news is concerned, the border is heavily guarded with patrol agents laden with weapons and edged with razor wire fencing to keep the heathens at bay. This was far from the truth.

Laredo has two parts of the city from my eyes: the residential/shopping area and the commercial district. My first introduction came as James and I headed to the company’s local yard, a place James described as “the real Mos Eisley.” For those of you unfamiliar, Mos Eisley was the trader town in Star Wars: A New Hope, where Luke and Obi-Wan visit the cantina. Turns out, James was not far off the mark. Set in the desert, a community of truckers making a pit stop between runs with a couple of Mexican ladies fixing authentic fare the likes of which you would be hard pressed to find elsewhere. The food was great, the company pleasant and the chairs comfy. Remember earlier in the trip when we had to give this guy named Kevin a ride to Salt Lake? He was there! We got to catch up a bit; he was in the process of completing his phase 2 training and doing what the rest of the guys there were up to: waiting on a load. Apparently getting shipments across the border never really goes according to schedule.

What were we there for? A load to Georgia, of course, as well as some much needed maintenance on the rig. Let me tell you it is NOT fun driving in south Texas with your air conditioning broken. Also just as important, James was in need of a rollover of his work clock, meaning we got to stay for at least 34 hours before we could roll anyway. Within an hour and a hearty meal later the AC was fixed and we headed to the local truck stop hub which, considering it was on the edge of the commercial end of town was crazy. A couple of these stops received so much trucker traffic they actually charged drivers to park overnight! We stayed across the street at the Pilot, one of our favorite stops. The biggest highlight of this place: the IdleAir service provided in the parking lot. More on that in the lifestyle post (with pictures!)

So what did we do during our downtime? Went to the local mall, of course! Located one mile from the border was the Mall Del Norte, a place with an array of stores, decent food court and a large movie theater. We made a date of it browsing shops, having lunch and watching a movie. It was a wonderful afternoon. What surprised me was the enormous amount of foot traffic for the middle of the day on a Tuesday. We found out that holy week was going on in Mexico and everything was closed in observance, so we were surrounded by people taking advantage of their vacation. See culture down this close to the border is very unique because it gets very hard to tell where one side ends and the other begins. Everyone speaks Spanish down here, the local fare is a mix of everything and half the vehicles have Mexico car tags on them. Traffic crossing at the border is frequent here and good for the economy and everyone I met was very nice.

Speaking of border traffic, it is a daily occurrence here for 4,000-6,000 commercial vehicles to make the trip and there are companies whose sole purpose is to get trucks through border patrol. As for James’ company they have a separate fleet working on the other side and their guy will drive the load to the yard for James to pick it up. It is definitely impressive to see how smoothly everything happens. I got a taste of border patrol when we started our last leg of the trip leaving Laredo. When you are driving towards the checkpoint, there are infrared scanners over the highway that have already checked you and know if you are carrying anyone with you. When you get to the officer (after you’ve already passed the one with the drug sniffing dog) he asks you three questions: 1. Are you an American citizen? 2. Do you have anyone else in the vehicle with you? 3. Are they an American citizen?

If you comply politely and shortly, they wave you on and wish you a good day. According to James a student driver replied to the first question by saying “sí,” which resulted in a two hour inspection and one hell of a headache for his trainer. Needless to say, be nice to the border patrol people. The thing I found funny was the border patrol agents came to the truck stop we were staying at for their lunch breaks. It was definitely interesting to see these guys in their off time.

The last thing we experienced in Laredo was this one rest area James had seen before but never got a chance to stop at, so we did. It turned out to be the best rest area I have ever seen! Take a look! 

Yes, this oasis in the desert had a pond full of Koi!

The welcome center

This looks like a Spanish villa, don't you think?(minus the caution sign)

I have to give it to Texas because they really went all out on their rest areas. Every one was unique and inviting.
So there's plenty more on the way! The trip back, the lifestyle post, and what I'm currently up to! Stay tuned!

The Road Turns

Dear Reader, 

I apologize for slowing my writing as of late. My adventures have taken a personal turn lately and thus spending time with family and friends has been the priority. Thankfully now things have opened up and I can now regale you with where I am now and how I got here. Last time, I was traveling through Colorado and here is what I wrote. Started in the mountains, finished for your enjoyment here it is!

Alright, I admit it. Getting back to help my friend is proving to be more challenging than I thought. This time we have a load taking us to Colorado…tiles. I asked, “why give a refrigerated trailer tile?” Well, at the end of the day, money is money and a trailer can haul many many things. Anyways, our journey has thus far taken us to the heart of Denver which looks to me similar to Atlanta but more spread out and with the beautiful backdrop of mountains.

What did I see while driving through the suburbs of Denver? A full service, public indoor dog pool. Granted it was next door to a canine rehabilitation facility and animal hospital, which I thought was awesome. A store titled “creative leather” made me question what they meant by the word creative.  Last, but by no means least there was a McDonalds almost every mile down the same street we rode. Crazy.

The best views came the next morning when we drove through Vail Pass, the highest pass in North America. Home to the Eisenhower Tunnel, this modern marvel is over a mile and a half long(though it felt longer)! 

Can you imagine looking at a mountain, a large one mind you, and saying, yeah, let’s blow a hole through it. A little knowledge for you, the tunnels took over a decade to complete, are one of the highest tunnels in the world and are 14 feet high on the inside. It is the gateway to America’s winter playground, some of the best snow you will ever encounter. Getting through the tunnel wasn’t the only thing (there were five other tunnels, just not nearly as impressive), it was amazing driving up a continuous grade and seeing raw nature, then turning a curve to find a bustling mountain town nestled in a nook with 5 star resorts that resembled castles. The high point of this leg of the trip was feeling the anticipation of dawn and seeing her break over the peak of a faraway mountaintop, majestic and bright.

Fortunately, we got to make a quick rest stop in one of these towns which turned out to be a sort of historic site/welcome center set next to a beautiful stream.

Once the sun was up and traffic a buzz, the mountain range broke into a beautiful gorge with a winding stream. Driving through the bottom of a gorge is awe-inspiring, slightly nerve-racking and breathtaking. You really get a feel for how tiny you are in the vast expanse. 

After rubbernecking myself for most of the morning, it was time for a well needed nap and the bunk made for a perfect rest to the last customer for our tile. I woke to find we were already docked and being unloaded with new orders coming for the next run: Texas, again. This time Laredo, a town set at the border of Mexico. 

Show and Tell!

Hello everyone! My apologies for taking so long to update but I'm back and ready to catch you up on everything! So much has been going on, but first I thought it was time for some show and tell. Enjoy!




Idaho –

wrought iron sculpture of wine with glass, signifying a vineyard nearby. 

a church in the distance

ripples in the sky

a break in the clouds for the sun to peek in

frozen lake. So pretty!

BUFFALO!

this we thought so cool! What happens when the mountains meet the clouds. 

one of the tallest peaks in south Idaho. 10,810 feet!

Kentucky

The Most Amazing Flea Market in the WORLD

 this one is for my cousin Christian cause I know he would love to have a few of these! 

Missouri

Trucker’s Christian chapel. I thought the hands overlapping the truck was unique. 

Monster Rooster!

Montana

one of many beautiful mountain and lake scenes

Apparently there is a habit in Montana where each of the towns put their first letter on a mountainside. After a while, James and I thought about playing mountain scrabble.

I love how the rock juts out. Truly unique. 

 I thought this was really cool. In parts of the mountains the downhill can be intense and older vehicles, especially big rigs needed these runaway ramps in the event of catching your brakes on fire! 

Seen at a "parking area" passing through the Rockies. Awesome. 

Actual outhouse in previously mentioned "parking area," and no, I didn't use it. 

I just loved the colors of this sunset. God's painting. 

These are in every other small town while riding through the state.  Some of these were also accompanied by fossil museums. 

Montana, day one

Montana, Day two. WHAT?!

ok, a little hard to see but if you look around this map there are little crooked house symbols. Those are official GHOST TOWNS! On the state map!

Next time, the tallest pass in the United States!