November 26, 1989, 2009

FIRST 5 YEARS:(Sunday-Urbandale, Iowa)
Got up around 9 AM and got my logbook all caught up. Not excited about sitting at this truckstop all day. Went in and watched movies until I had the lunch buffet; then went back to movies until about 4:30 PM. I decided to go and sent the night at the rest area west of Casey, Iowa. I did and was able to caught a couple TV stations on my TV. Watched TV and went to sleep.

A Trucker's Tale: (dancing in Jamaica...)
While I was filling my tractor tanks in Olathe, Kansas, I started talking with a mid aged redheaded female driver from Canada filling up also. We talked and found that we both were going to be going east on I-70 and decided to run together. I was only going to exit 121 in Columbia, Missouri but in that distance she told me two tales that I never forgot. Her company did some special trucking jobs. She claimed she once picked up a load in some town in upper Quebec (Canada). As they loaded her, two black conservative looking cars pulled up. They talked with her and told her that one would follow her and she was to follow the other all the way to southern Florida. They went on to say that she was not to stop at any weigh stations or customs anywhere along the way. She was given the route they were going to take. All her stops were told to her. They would not tell her what she was hauling. When she got loaded they all moved out. They followed the route and she never stopped at scales or customs. Her meals were all paid for as she had to stop were planned. She had all her legal breaks. They got to the docks in southern Florida and she drove the truck onto a ship. She was to stay with her truck all the way to Jamaica even with a couple of the guys watching the truck all the time. She was given a gun and told to use it if anyone came near the truck-no one did. When the ship got to Jamaica, she followed the cars to a building and was unloaded. When unloaded, the men in the trucks checked her into a motel until the ship was to return to America. They asked if she had a dress to go dancing in and she said NO. A couple of the men took her shopping for a dress and they all went out to eat and dance that night. She said that they really had a good evening. The next day, the ship took her back to the states and she never saw the men again. She never really knew what she was hauling but she never had to put placards on the trailer. She felt she had been hauling flaked gold but wasn't sure.