FIRST 5 YEARS:(Saturday-Laredo, Texas)
Checked out of my motel room and went to breakfast. After breakfast I drove to the terminal and checked in with dispatch. They told me that I would be out today so I hung around terminal with hopes of getting something good. My trailer came into the yard and was ready for me at 1:30 PM. Got my paperwork for this load to Plymouth, Michigan. I was excited about the load when the dispatch told me to drop the trailer at the Joplin, Missouri terminal so that a team(two drivers in the same truck rotating driving/sleeping time) could hurry it on up to Michigan. I was not too happy about that. Oh well, I hooked up and did a vehicle inspection and did my paperwork. I was on my way. I had another driver from my company behind me going to Joplin, Missouri also. I told him-Kerry-how I was going to run and where I was going to stop and he said he would run with me. We went up to “Just A Truckstop” in San Antonio, Texas where we had dinner and we both got fuel(I got 66 gallons). We headed north on I-35 and when we came to the two leveled interstate in Austin, Texas I went to use the upper level and Kerry was a little surprised. He had never used it. He followed me and liked the upper level. When I-35 divided into I-35E and I-35W, we took I-35E. We continued up to the truckstop at Red Oak, Texas where we took a short break and were on the road again by 10 PM. When we got through Dallas, Texas we took Hwy 75 north toward Oklahoma. As our day was coming to an end, we were going over the Red River into Oklahoma and getting close to the city of Durant, Oklahoma...
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
- The Protraveller...
- 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...
January 20, 2010
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What's in my blog...???
- 666--Highway (2)
- A Trucker Tale-introduction (1)
- A Trucker's Tale (33)
- abandonment of truck (1)
- accidents (12)
- animals (3)
- backing (2)
- buffalo burgers (1)
- bull haulers (1)
- Catch 22 (1)
- caught but... (2)
- caught-almost (3)
- check trailer (1)
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- computer portable desk. (1)
- computer stuff (1)
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- diabetes and driving (3)
- dispatcher's mistakes (1)
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- interesting (3)
- jackknife video (1)
- Just in time trucking (1)
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- logbook violation-see violation (1)
- logbooks (2)
- loyalty to a company (1)
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- Mayberry and Andy Griffith (4)
- mining--me??? (1)
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- restaurants-good ones (5)
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- violation (51)
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- weapons-weird ones (1)
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