Missouri to Ohio, again.

I apologize for the delay in getting the odds and ends blog out, but the past few days have been interesting. We ended up delivering to this:

Yes, that’s right, an UNDERGROUND warehouse! It’s out in the middle of nowhere nestled in a former limestone quarry so the base temperature was around 60. (Not to worry mom, I got you a rock from here.)

On the way dowwwnnnn....

The opening on the way in (actually built to protect trucks from falling rocks!)

The inside! All solid rock. 

Here's one of the columns of rock, next to a car so you can get the scale. 

Because of a combination of his work clock running out and our next customer (which was in the adjacent quarry) we ended up spending the night in the open quarry yard. It was oddly comforting, especially when the rain came. I have to tell you, sleeping in a rig when a storm hits is an interesting experience. The rain hits the roof, reminding you of a tin roof and then the thunder can be heard and felt through the whole cab. I was nervous for a moment then I realized we were IN A QUARRY, which is about the safest place to be.

This is what most of the land looks like riding through the state. 

As we continue to drive through Missouri, I can see how you begin to get flavors of the old west with its curvy roads, untamed land, old signs promising relief (there are large expanses where there is no exit and the state roads aren’t given numbers, but letters) and abandoned buildings. You can almost get the sense of ambitious Americans coming to tame the Wild West and instead finding a sort of beautiful symbiotic relationship with the land instead. The state has a couple of large cities, Kansas City and St. Louis but beyond them it’s rolling hills and farmland.

Our next load is taking us through Iowa back to Illinois which will take us on I-80 and to one of the best truck stops around, Iowa 80. James waxes poetic about the size of the place and having everything you could want under the sun. Boy was I surprised. It started out as a mom and pop type stop and has evolved from there. 

 Their sign from the highway. Real subtle, don't you think?

First thing you seen when you walk in the door.

Amongst the regular gas and beverage services, it boasts the largest gift shop I’ve ever seen (with a wing JUST for trucker items to deck out their rig), a barber, a dentist, theater, food court and restaurant. It was ridiculous. We ended up choosing the restaurant with a full buffet that served fish, beef and fried chicken. The thing I loved: the buffet came with a free drink and I ordered a hot chocolate and it came with a whole POT full of hot chocolate!!! It was delicious and the perfect end to a long day.

What I could not believe is when we were in the quarry, temps were in the 80’s, but less than 24 hours later we were down into the 20’s with snow on the ground. Thank God we’re in the north since they are fully prepared for this.

The next day we ended up delivering to the WalMart distribution center in Sterling, Illinois. It was relatively uneventful waiting to get unloaded and really, really cold! Though they had salted the lot there were still small mounds of ice hanging around, making walking a little fun. The only notable thing I’m beginning to notice at every stop we make is the birds. Flitting and weaving through discarded crates, huddling for warmth under the water(which seems counterintuitive since the lake was partially covered in ice), these birds make a cold, lonely, industrial scene a little more hospitable.

The next stop brought many images of the family farm back to me. It was a hog plant with a slaughterhouse next door. When I was a little girl, I remember my Grandaddy having a few hogs on the farm, even a small building for the absolutely adorable piglets. His neighbors also had a field of roaming pigs but in the years to come their numbers would dwindle and disappear from South Georgia. The small hog house on my family’s farm was soon abandoned as well. Well, I found where they all went, into major plants. If you’ve ever been in a chicken house then you have an idea of what the smell was like. Thank God for the cold; kept the smell to a minimum. So you can imagine what we’re hauling this time. Destination: Massilon, Oh.