FIRST 5 YEARS:(Monday-Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)my son Bill is riding with me...
6 AM CST and I was awake and ready to go. I got up and called the company answering service to see if there was a load for me. No luck. I drove to "Just a Truckstop" the in Oklahoma City and Bill was still asleep. Time was now a little after 7 AM CST as I prepared to go in and the breakfast buffet. I was able--a miracle--to wake Bill up and and get him in for breakfast.
We had the buffet breakfast and after checking for a load, still nothing. We went to the movie room where we were the only two there. I had the movie people play Logan's Run and Live & Let Die. We watched both of them before I was able to get another run...the run came in just before 2 PM CST.
We got to Sapulpa(Oklahoma) to pick up glass bottles going to Coke bottling in Eagan, Minnesota at 3:30 PM CST. I checked with the shipping department and they had me back up to a dock and wait. It was 4 PM CST when they started loading our trailer with two forktrucks. We were loaded and headed northeast on I-44 by 4:45 PM CST.
We got to Joplin, and the companies headquarters, at 6:45 PM CST and hung around long enough to check with dispatch and get my truck checked for problems. I was going to fill my fuel tanks but decided to wait until I get to our Kansas City terminal; the reason why was that I will fill in Kansas City if I fill in Joplin or not...I had enough fuel to get to Kansas City. If I fueled in Joplin, I would have to log it as "working, not driving".
We were headed northeast on I-44 by 7:30 PM CST. Shortly we reached Hwy 71 and headed north darkness overtook us as we headed for Kansas City. We got to I-435 and went north on the east side of the Kansas City area to our terminal. We got to the terminal at 10:30 PM CST.
It had been a long day so I decided to stay here for the night. We didn't have to be there until the 21st...Bill enjoyed sitting up and talking with the truckers at our table in the terminal lounge....
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...
August 19, 2011
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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)
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- caught but... (2)
- caught-almost (3)
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