FIRST 5 YEARS:(Thursday-Fort Worth, Texas)
In Cowtown this morning waiting to unload at a toy warehouse. I was up when the guard let me in the told me what dock to back up to. I was backed up to the dock and the unloading got started. I had to help unload with two of the building employees. Not bad and we were done by 9:15 AM. I called dispatch and was told to stop at a business about 2 miles from here, drop and hook and then bring the loaded trailer to the Lancaster(Texas) terminal. I took the loaded trailer to the terminal and checked in with dispatch. It was now 1o:45 AM and dispatch gave me a tire load to Utah.
I got the paperwork for the load and another driver started to talk with me; he had a tire load to Las Vegas. We decided to run with each other to Albuquerque, New Mexico where he would continue west and I would go north. We found our trailers and got hooked up and did the things we needed to do. Oh, he had his wife with him and her handle was "Cookie"; his was "Cookie Monster".
We left at noon, after I got a pizza from the pizza guy who delivers them to the terminal. Cookie Monster had a different way he wanted to go to get to Hwy 287 toward Amarillo(Texas). I was game and always like learning and seeing new things. We went up I-35E to Hwy 183 northwest and then Hwy 114 northwest. Followed that to Hwy 287 and headed for Amarillo. We talked on CB radio channel 17 the whole time. We stopped in Vernon for a half hour break and they bought a whole bunch of things to eat while on the road. We then continued to Amarillo, passing there at 7:15 PM CST.
We kept going to Santa Rosa, New Mexico, where we stopped for the night at 9 PM MST. All three of us went into the truckstop and took a break in their restaurant. I wasn't in there long before I went out to my truck and to sleep. We agreed to meet tomorrow at 7 AM MST.
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...
November 8, 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)
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- animals (3)
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- caught-almost (3)
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