Enjoying North America while earning a living...

I kept a day by day journal the first 5 years I was enjoying North America. While earning a living,I kept track of where I went, often what I did, feelings I had and various other details. I am writing this blog day by day as I lived it. The month/day I lived it is the same as the month/day I write about it. The years are obviously different...thus the days title: ie: August 30, 1989, 2009.

About Me

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Starting as a preschooler, I remember my Grandfather bringing me rocks from his trips he took after he retired. Each rock had a story to tell. In the sixth grade, I watched a freeway be built and then wondered where all the trucks would go. I remember in high school looking at the mountains and wanting to travel. I did many jobs BEFORE trucking but I always wondered what driving would by like. I really wanted to see things and drive a big truck. So after almost finishing nursing school, a divorce and three cute little kids, I became a truck driver. While earning a living, I found myself enjoying North America and seeing the land and people. NO ONE ENJOYED TRAVELING MORE THAN ME. There are two things I have enjoyed in this life and they are traveling and writing. I use to call myself "Protourist" but my Mother-in-law and Wife would become upset with me as they know I really love THE "travel" and not THE stopping to see things. I now call myself "protraveller"(I like it with a double "L") and my Mother-in-law and Wife are now happy!!! I love to write and this blog gives me the opportunity to share my past and thoughts with the public.

About this blog's layout...BLOG UPDATED ONCE PER DAY...

I follow my journal daily by writing under the daily title, "FIRST 5 YEARS:" The first five years will strictly follow my 5 year journal. If I find the day I am writing about to be boring, I will either write about thoughts I remember(placed under the title of "SECOND 5 YEARS"), write a trucker tale(placed under "A Trucker's Tale"), give a helpful trucker hint, ask a "student driver" question or do something.....When a location appears after the day of the week after "FIRST 5 YEARS:", it is where I am at the start of that day((IE: FIRST 5 YEARS: (Sunday-Kansas City, Missouri))..... I would encourage those that find themselves enjoying North America to follow me day by day.....REMEMBER: THIS IS A BLOG ABOUT WHAT LIFE IS LIKE FOR A TRUCKER THAT DOES NOT HAVE A DAILY ROUTINE ROUTE(called a "dedicated" route). THERE WILL BE MANY TIMES WHEN THE ROUTING, SCENERY AND DAY'S ACTIVITIES WILL BE SIMILAR(boring???) TO PREVIOUS DAYS; THAT'S TRUCKING! THERE WILL BE DAYS WHEN THE ROUTING, SCENERY AND DAY'S ACTIVITIES WILL BE TOTALLY NEW; THAT'S TRUCKING. Frustrations? I mention the frustrations I had as a driver. I loved my job while earning a living and realized that all jobs have frustrations; truck driving is, and was, no different..... Many pictures on this blog can be left-clicked and made larger.....Questions?...Please E-mail PT at fabalt2000@centurylink.net


Blog Dictionaries...

The Trucking Dictionary...words in this dictionary will many times appear highlighted. If a word isn't highlighted or in the blog dictionary and sounds "different", check it out in this dictionary. Please note: Many times when clicking on these dictionaries anywhere in the blog, the first thing that comes up is an advertisement which I have no control over.
The Blog Dictionary...This dictionary contains words I use that aren't "trucker" words and thus not in the "trucking dictionary". I separate them--the dictionaries--in case someone wants to copy the trucking dictionary for personal use. This dictionary also contains names of people(not real names) that I dealt with many times through my trucking career. Blog word found in this dictionary often will be licked to it.
DAILY UPDATES SHOULD BE UP BY NOON CST...

November 24, 2009

November 24, 1989, 2009

FIRST 5 YEARS:(Friday-Hannibal, Missouri)
Woke up and looked over the routing to Des Moines, Iowa. Studied several possibilities and decided on going up to Iowa City, Iowa and them going west to Des Moines. Headed north on Hwy 61. I remembered that the bridge into Iowa, on Hwy 61, was closed to big trucks. I started asking truckers how they handled the crossing. Well, there is a small toll bridge that I followed a driver to. The toll was $1.00. I got to it by taking Hwy 61 to Hwy 394 north. On the Iowa side, Hwy 394 hooks up with Hwy 218 that goes to Iowa City, Iowa. I stopped at the truckstop in Mt Pleasant, Iowa for a break. I liked the restaurant so I sat down and had a hamburger and fries. Followed Hwy 218 to Iowa City and them west to Exit 220, Williamsburg, Iowa where I stopped. I had dinner here and then watched movies with other drivers until midnight. Slept here....

SECOND 5 YEARS:(rejected...)
I had not been a meat hauler very long when I got a 42,000 lb load of hamburger to a store warehouse in Elloree, South Carolina. I had a couple interesting experiences in this town but I am only concerned with the meat now. I hired a lumper(person who loads/unloads trailer) and when he got done there was one box of hamburger rejected. All the boxes I had on this load were 80 lbs...8 ten pound plastic tubes. One box had been damaged with 2 tubes ripped opened(not bad). The warehouse rejected the box and I called it in. My dispatch told me to throw it away per the meat company. Another truck driver told me he would buy me a cooler, since I didn't have one, and give me $20 for 3 good tubes and one bad tube of meat. That left me with the same. I said OK and carried the hamburger with me until I got it home(1 1/2 days). Over the almost 4 years of hauling meat, I had only a few loads where the meat was rejected and I got it.
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