FIRST 5 YEARS:(Friday-Santa Rosa, New Mexico)
Boy, I was up and ready to go at 7 AM MST. I meant Cookie and Cookie Monster(who I started running with yesterday) for breakfast. We fueled(96 gallons) and were headed west on I-40 by 9 AM MST.
I am really ahead of the schedules I run to Utah but that is because Cookie and Cookie Monster want to get to Las Vegas-their destination-and have extra time there. I will just take time on the other end. We got to Albuquerque at 11 AM MST and split up; him going west and me going north on I-25.
I went up I-25 a short distance to Hwy 550 and took it west up into the Navajo Reservation. I stopped along the road in San Ysidro, New Mexico and got me the largest strawberry malt from the fast food restaurant. On up to Bloomfield and west on Hwy 64 to Shiprock, New Mexico. At Shiprock, I grabbed Hwy 666 north into Colorado, getting to Cortez before 4 PM MST. At Cortez, I stopped at the truckstop behind the weigh station and got me two Buffalo burgers, with a large order of fries, to go. I continued up Hwy 666 into Utah and turned onto Hwy 161 in Monticello. Followed 161 through a beautiful part of Utah, as I have seen several times. The darkness had set in but the moon shed light on the terrain even though it was only 1/2 full. Got to Green River at 7:45 PM MST and parked at the convenience store with all the truck parking. The lot was dark and no one parked around me, so I sat in my drivers seat and eat my last Buffalo Burger and listened to San Antonio, Texas on the radio. Went to bed...
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 9, 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)
- church (2)
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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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