Back to blogging

Well we are back after a brief hiatus, hope you didn’t miss us too much!.

I’d thought I’d start out with my favorite subject, food and write a truck stop review.

We had a great lunch at a small truck stop in Stanton TN at the Exit 47 truck stop and Rick’s Restaurant. The truck stop is a small one, light on amenities, but the food more than makes up for any shortfalls. The service and the prices were A rated as well.

Joe had the half pound angus beef bacon mushroom swiss burger with home made fries and cole slaw. I took one bite and was ready to hold it hostage.

I ordered the mesquite seasoned grilled catfish filets with a baked ‘tater and a side of pinto beans and cornbread. I was served a plate of two large, very well seasoned fresh fish, which was about the best cat fish I have had in a long time. Luckily, the portions were large enough to bring one back and I’ll have that on a Sammie later.

The only bad part about it was we were both too full to sample the home made pies in the bakery case.

So, if you get off that exit, hang a Louie and bypass the Love’s. Your taste buds will be glad you did.

We have had the most beautiful sunny, hot weather here down south for the past few days, however, although it isn’t raining yet, its very overcast here in Tennessee. I have a feeling we will be running into the storms that have been hitting the Midwest on our way to Colorado. We have one stop there and then we final out in La Mirada, California, a suburb of Los Angeles on Friday. We have another load of cable reels from our friends at Okinite.

Things have started to very slowly pick up a little, but are not yet back up to the levels they were last year at this time. Time will tell. We drive and keep our fingers crossed.

Baltimore, Maryland

We unloaded a day early yesterday....whooo hoooo!!. The only bad thing about that was we ended up untarping and unloading in the pouring down rain, we were both completely soaked through and through by the time we were done and sloshing around in about an inch of water in our boots.

We are in Baltimore now to swap out our flatbed for a stepdeck, then back to that place in Virginina where loaded the utility trailers that we delivered for the Tractor Supplies in Michigan.
(Yes, the place that didnt load us until one in the morning!) These will be going to 5 different Lowe's stores, all in upstate NY, so that works out well for us getting home this weekend.

It seems like there might be signs that things are picking up a little. I sure hope so.

Happy Easter, Passover, Spring!

I'm hoping that everyone had a wonderful spring holiday!!

We spent the weekend in Gulfport, Mississippi, about 10 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. The weather was perfect, and we tried to enjoy the warm sunshine and relax a little.

We finally received a load offer that was worth taking, and Gulfport was only 80 miles from where were waiting in Louisiana. However, it wasn't picking up until Monday morning. The load is our first super load with this company, as its over 14 wide, which means at least one escort at all times from where we pick it up in Gulfport, all the way to Annapolis, MD.

Friday night I received a call from my son in NY, telling me that he totaled his car on his way home from work that night. He was on a very steep and windy road and lost control on the wet roadways. Thank God, he had some angels watching over him that night, the car skidded about 30 feet off the road, wedged between a tree and a boulder. I'm so relieved that his only injuries were some scrapes to his elbow and badly shaken. Cars can be replaced, but he is certainly irreplacable. It sure put a lot of things into perspective for me.

Saturday we tried to keep busy and keep my mind occupied, or should I say distracted, hmmm? We went to the beach on the Gulf and drove through Gulfport into Biloxi. There is still a lot of devastation in evidence from Katrina, and also, quite a bit of rebuilding, with several new casinos already completed. We pass a huge sign for a new casino "coming in 2010, Margaritaville,
a resort and casino". Thats Jimmy Buffett, never missing a marketing opportunity!! He's put his label on everything from blenders, restaurants, frozen foods, and now, casinos! You rock, JB.

We took advantage of it being off season and with ample opportunities to park, took a nice long walk on the beach together. I could listen to the sound of the ocean waves 24/7 and never tire of it.

That evening, we took a ride over to the local dirt track for some saturday night racing. That was quite an experience, one which I have no desire to repeat anytime soon. Rolling eyes here. They sure do things different down here that up at our track at home. We did have a good time though and it was a nice change of pace from sitting in the truck at the J.

Easter morning we went to one of our favorite places, Cracker Barrel and had a pretty fine meal indeed. Then we found a laundromat, got that job out of the way for the week, and a little shopping over the local Walmart. Back to the J to put a few touches on the truck for the super load and then it was movie time.

We got up this morning to the sound of pouring down rain on our roof. Normally I like that sound, but not when I know we have a couple hour tarp job to do soon. I'm hoping its just a shower and it will let up when we get to the shipper.

This load is just over 14 wide (our trailer is only 8 feet 6 inches wide, to give you an idea of how far this is going to extend out over the sides). Its a crated aircraft engine of some sort, and although it needs to be tarped, its only 5 feet high so it shouldn't be too bad (famous last words!)

We are here now waiting to get loaded and we are told that they were going to back us into the warehouse to load us, now lets hope they let us tarp it in there, as the rain has turned into a steady downpour.

To be continued........

Geaux Tigers!

We stopped at the Waffle House for breakfast/lunch today. Sometimes you just have to make sacrifices. TWH is one of my least favorite places to eat, and one of Joe’s favorite. (There is no accounting for taste). But, really, did I mention its one of my least favorite places to eat?

I just think that if you have a dirty kitchen, don’t broadcast the fact and put the customer seating right in front of your stoves. There are just some things better left to the imagination. Shudder. But, like churches down south, there is one on almost every corner, so they must be doing something right. (What it is I’ll never know). If you’ve never been to one, trust me, its nothing at all like an IHOP. ‘nuff said.

The worst part was, we left the Waffle House and drove up the road a few miles to a truck stop and guess what was right next door to the truck stop? A BBQ place!! (Now y’all can be very proud of me, I did NOT inflict any bodily harm on Joe when I saw that!) hmmm, it was probably closed anyway, right? Maybe I’ll just take a walk to town and walk through the daiquiri drive thru and get a go-cup.

Earlier today I spotted a Chinese & Soul food restaurant. That was one place, not one of each. I would have loved to have seen the menu there. What do they have? Sesame chicken with a side of grits?? Kuang Pao Collard green and crawfish? (hmm, that’s an interesting idea).

We also passed another interesting concept and one that you could expect from Louisiana as well. It was a mens hair-cutting "lounge". Now, you have lounges on every street corner in Louisiana too, which begs the idea, do they have topless beauticians there, or what?? A bar, for sure and the Tigers playing on the big screen TV. This has got to be the only place that the college football team is more popular than the pro team. We even saw LSU Tigers bottled water for sale in Wal-Mart!! And that’s ok by me, they ARE my favorite collegiate team!

Well, its 4 pm, and not even one load offer yet today……………A truck came in to fuel before, and the name on the door was Empty Pockets Trucking! We feel your pain, brother!

The "Greatest Show on Earth"???

I’ve come to the conclusion that hauling flat bed freight is a lot like working for the circus. You need to be an acrobat, a strongman, a contortionist, get to travel all over the country and work for peanuts!! Any one that has done this will know exactly what I’m talking about.

We unloaded our spools first thing Monday morning, and the we headed over to the truck stop with the other 2 of our drivers that unloaded with us. As we sit and wait for the entire day, the picture emerges that there are about 90 of our drivers also in the immediate area waiting for loads as well. Uh-oh, that’s not a good thing at all. It turns out we wait until almost Tuesday afternoon before we take another load, which doesn’t pick up until Wednesday morning. We have to go meet up with another driver and swap trailers, we need a flat bed for this load, and we have a step deck. The load is structural steel and its 60 feet long, so we will be over dimensional, and need permits. The good thing is its only going to Louisiana so we can deliver it on Thursday, and hopefully get something else before the weekend. That was the plan anyway.

The trip over to Louisiana goes very well. The weather is mid-seventies, sunny, no wind or humidity and just about perfect. I keep looking in the bayous for ‘gators, but all I see are wading birds, white egrets and blue and grey herons. We travel through miles of rice paddies and crawfish farms. Over the Mississippi river and over Lake Pontchartrain,with its view of N’Awlins. We are delivering in Belle Chasse, LA, which is south of New Orleans, on the Gulf, and we see a slew of tug boats and marine cranes. They have this enormous construction project, a huge cement sea wall and there must be 20 cranes in a row working on this.

Right now we are sitting here in Louisiana, waiting for the forklift to unload us, its about 7:30 am, the sun is shining and its already 60 degrees, its going to be another beautiful day, weather-wise.

We will see what the rest of the day brings………..

Pig Candy for Easter

There are lots of reasons that I like the Sweet Potato Queens, but one of the biggest reasons is the recipe for Pig Candy. I guess the proximity to Easter has made me think of this, after all, Easter brings to mind candy, and ham, right? This would make a delightful appetizer for your Easter dinner this year.

Anyway, the beauty of this recipe lies not in its simplicity but in its mouth watering goodness. After all, how can you go wrong with bacon (pork fat rules) and sugar.

All you do is take the amount of bacon of your choice (the more the better, of course) and lay it all out in a single layer in a baking pan. I always put foil down and spray it with no stick spray so I don’t have to waste any time cleaning up and therefor, can dedicate more time to eating. See, there is a method to my madness. Then you sprinkle the bacon with brown sugar to your hearts content and bake ‘til your desired doneness (If you can wait that long) That’s it!!

The sugar cancels out the fat in the bacon, by the way.

You're welcome!!

Spring.....Glorious Spring

While I do love the newly green grass, the blooming tees and flowers and the cavorting of all the little baby critters, spring does not like me. Spring is usually known to me as zombie-time.

Spring has historically, both for myself and others that I know with Fibro, one of the worst times of the year. You would think going from the cold temperatures of winter to the warmer weather of spring would be beneficial, but it just the opposite. Perhaps there is an underlying allergic reaction in play, with all the blooming going on, but whatever the cause, it really takes its toll.

Wake me up when its summer.

Please bear with me while my body tries to adjust , postings will be at a minimum (and boring) during the next few weeks. Its pretty challenging to write a blog when you can’t finish the sentences you start………..the best way I can think of to describe it would be to take a couple extra doses of Benadryl, and

Oh, I forgot what I was going to say..........

See, my point exactly! Uhhh, what WAS my point??

Or this fine example: You know the feeling when you go into another room to get/so/eat something and you get there and forgot why you are there?? (OK, I admit I NEVER forget to eat something!). Its that feeling, but only at the end of every sentence.

Now where was I??

So yesterday, after a long delay, (would it be any other way?) we finally got loaded with our two spools of cable bound for the port of Houston, and then, ultimately Ecuador. FYI, each of those spools weighs in at around 16,400 pounds, and a little over 10 feet high.

Here is a brief synopsis of our trip so far:
Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas. The End.

Oh, and thanks to the dude that trotted his horse across the road right in front of us, I'll be needing that new box of Miss Clairol now. I know all y'all in your cars and pickups are always trying to beat the truck out, but on a horse?? C'mon now, I think your odds are significantly against you on that one. Get with the program. I thought I was bad.

Now be a dear and hand me that gallon of Mountain Dew , would ya? And enjoy that sunshine!!

My Old Kentucky Home

Ahhhh Kentucky, land of fine horseflesh and bourbon, what more could a person ask for?
We pass signs for several different distilleries, then a sign for the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
(http://www.kybourbontrail.com/)
It was a pleasant 52 when we got up at 6 yesterday morning. Magnolia's, my favorite, are in bloom and everything is verdant and lush.

Frankfort, despite being Kentucky’s capital, still maintains that small town feel. Surrounded by acres of blue grass farms, redolent with thoroughbreds and cattle, the area is one of serene pastoral, beauty. Sign me up folks.

The picture of the horses was taken at the Kentucky Horse Park, a sanctuary for retired race horses in Lexington. (you can read about it here: http://www.boston.com/sports/other_sports/horse_racing/articles/2007/12/11/post__time/)

We made it to the Kentucky national guard base while it was still dark and were unloaded in about one hour. There is a Love’s truck stop about 9 miles away, so we head there to wait for a new load. It takes about two hours to get the heads up. I don’t want to jinx anything, but we finally were able to get a load only 50 miles from where we delivered in Frankfort. it’s a load of cable reels going from Richmond, KY to Houston TX.

We stopped at a local Wal-mart for some supplies, and walked over to Chili’s for lunch. I have always wanted to try Chili’s; we’ve been to a Chili’s2 at one of the PA service plaza’s (which was awesome) and I liked the items on the menu on the website. We were not disappointed in the least. We both had a hard time narrowing down the extensive menu, but Joe had the Memphis dry rub ribs and Monterrey chicken combo, and I had the Margarita chicken. Both were delicious. Chili’s is definitely up there along with Cheddars as a favorite eating place.

Chili’s Margarita Grilled Chicken
Serving size: 4

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup liquid margarita mix
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Pour margarita mix over chicken breasts, and marinate for 2 hours in refrigerator.

When ready to prepare, drain and dust chicken breasts with black pepper.

If you do not have a grill use an iron skillet. Bring to medium high temperature and spray skillet with an oil coating. Braise the chicken breasts until done on each side. Place chicken breasts atop Chili's Black Beans.

Serve with a serving of your favorite Mexican rice and Chili's Pico de Gallo.

I haven't been posting that much, I have been having a terrible time trying to get internet service lately, I’m not sure if AT&T changed something in their software or their towers, but it will work for a minute or two, then get hung up and I have to sign off and reconnect again. Constantly. Certain areas it works fine, like it used to, but other areas its almost worthless, however, I will try and post as often as I can. So bear with me, and I will post the promised photos when I am able.

You really never get what you pay for these days. AT&T does not live up to the promises it has made with its products and service, but if I were to cancel my contract, I am liable for the balance remaining on the contract. Why is it that we, the consumer, can never void a contract without recourse when the promised service is not provided?

I’ll have that julep now, Jeeves.

Back to Civilization!

Well, folks, we’ve finally made it back to civilization, did you miss us? Back to the land of (sometimes) working internet service. I don't know what AT&T changed on their internet card software or towers, but whatever it was made it a lot worse. If you are shopping around for a cell phone provider, go with Verizon, for sure. Especially if you travel in the western part of the country.

Anyhow...........

The weather has really been working against us lately, we were shut down for bad weather more in the past week and a half than we have been all winter!

I’ve got lots of pics to try and post later, but here is an update of the last few days:

We arrived at the power plant site late Sunday afternoon. The sun was still shining and the temps are still hovering in the mid-fifties. It was a beautiful ride up, with no threat of the promised rain or snow.

The gates are closed at the site, so we park in front and watch the antics of a herd of about a dozen pronghorn and 4 deer in the fields across the road from us. I can think of worse things to do. They seem agitated and constantly on the move, probably sensing the incoming storm.

The security guard takes a ride over to our gate and gets us all checked in, she lets us know the gates will be open at 5 a.m.., and if we want to avoid waiting in a long line, to be there bright and early when they open for business.

We set the alarm and are waiting at the gates at 5 a.m., however the world has undergone a startlingly transformation over night. The blizzard has hit hard for about 2 hours and the foreman advises us that they will be shutting down operations for the day. He brings us to our unloading area, where we can leave our trailer and then bobtail to the truck stop to wait out the storm.

The truck stop lot is packed full, another bobtail calls us over the radio that we can park in front of him, his tranny is down and he isn’t going anywhere. He had been sitting there for a week. Another driver announces the manager of the Kmart across the street says we are all welcome to park in their lot. After taking showers, we head over to Perkins and Walmart, which is in the same lot as Kmart and park there for the night.

We manage to make it back to the jobsite in the morning, the roads are in pretty bad shape. Once we get through the gates, the wait isn’t too long before the crane gets us unloaded. We head back to Gillette, and the truck stop to wait for another load. Nothing worthwhile comes over the boards, our driver manager advised us to head to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. On the way there, we come to a roadblock, the interstate is shut down due to blowing snow. The weather had been clear, so we were surprised, but SD doesn’t have snow break fences along their interstate like Wyoming does.

Finally at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, they open I-90 back up. We can see why they had closed it down, parts of it are a real mess. We finally get a couple load offers and after much deliberation, decide to take one going from Rosemount, a suburb of the Twin Cities, to Frankfort, Kentucky.

We made it to the National Guard facility at about 8 a.m. this morning. Its one military truck (I believe its some type of emergency shelter on wheels), which we get loaded and chained down in less than an hour. We have to deliver this tomorrow morning, so its hammer down time.

We will be heading through Wisconsin (yipee!!) then Illinois, Indiana and finally into Kentucky.

Let’s hope the weather starts cooperating with us for a change.