CHICAGO

DOWNTOWN CHICAGO.  I LOVE THIS PLACE

Lions and Tigers and Bears....Oh My

RANDY WAS DRIVING LAST NIGHT NEAR COLUMBUS OHIO,  WHEN HE SAW A DEAD ANIMAL ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD.  WE SEE LOTS OF DEER ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD.  THIS LOOKED DIFFERENT TO HIM, IT HAD A LONG TAIL.  AS HE DROVE BY  HE NOTICED IT WAS AN AFRICAN LION.  WHEN I WOKE UP HE TOLD ME ABOUT IT.  I WAS THINKING "A LION IN OHIO?"  WELL MOST OF YOU PROBABLY HEARD BY NOW ABOUT THE MAN THAT LET ALL OF THESE EXOTIC ANIMALS OUT, THEN KILLED HIMSELF.  WELL RANDY SAW ONE OF THE LIONS THAT HAD BEEN HIT BY A CAR.  WE LATER READ THAT THE LION WAS STILL ALIVE AT THAT POINT.  THE POLICE HADN'T FINISHED IT OFF YET.  GOOD THING WE DIDN'T GET OUT OF THE TRUCK TO LOOK AT IT!

OOPS

OK SO.......WE PARKED FOR THE NIGHT AT A TRUCK STOP.  AS I WAS BACKING OUT I HEARD A SCRAPPING NOISE.  YOU MIGHT KNOW THE NOISE; WHEN YOU PARK OVER A CURB AND BACK OUT AND IT SCRAPES NO BIG DEAL.  WELL WE FOUND OUT IN A SEMI IT IS A BIG DEAL, STOP AND LOOK!  WELL WE DIDN'T STOP AND LOOK, AS WE WERE ENTERING THE ON RAMP WE COULD HEAR LOUD SCRAPPING, THEN WE HEARD SOMETHING FALL OFF, THEN WE HEARD THE TIRES RUN OVER SOMETHING.   WHEN I COULD I PULLED OVER.  RANDY RAN BACK (IN THE DARK) AND RETRIEVED OUR FRONT BUMPER, LICENSE PLATE AND ALL.  OOPS.  WE STOPPED AT A REST AREA AND RANDY DID HIS MCGYVER THING AND FIXED THE BUMPER BY DRILLING HOLES IN IT AND ZIP-TYING IT ON. YOU CAN SEE THE ZIP TIES BY HIS HAND.  THANK GOODNESS FOR ZIP TIES AND DUCT TAPE.

AMISH COUNTRY MILLERSBURG OHIO

We dropped a load off here.  I was so impressed at how clean it was.  Also we got there late in the night and all the stores alone the street had all of their merchandise still out on the porches of the stores.

OUR VISIT TO MY MISSION, ROANOKE VA

This is where the mission home use to be in Roanoke.  The church sold some of the land. There is now a retirement and rest home on part of the property and this chapel.

This door on the right is my first apt on my mission.

The famous Roanoke Star.

Randy and the Hoffmans

Me and the Hoffmans. This is a family I taught on my mission.  They picked us up and gave us a tour of Roanoke.  We spent the night with them and I got to take a bath in her huge tub.  I must say,  I miss my bath time in my big tub I use to have.  People ask me if I miss any of the comforts of having a home.  I tell them I miss my tub and I miss my lawn.  I loved mowing the lawn.  Other than that I love the freedom of not having a home and the stress of keeping up.

OOPS AGAIN!

This is what happens when you listen exclusively to the GPS not your brain.  I took a wrong turn and ended up on a country road. 

Randy's version:

Dena woke me up with one of her "Randy??? I need your help....." and this is what I saw.  We were on a dirt road in the middle of a corn field.  With no place to turn around.  I didn't know how far into it we were or even where any paved roads were.  We had to drive around it (about 2 miles) to get back to pavement.

MORE VACATION PICTURES

She's gone country!  I'm just dressing the part of a trucker.

French Quarters.  New Orleans

The Mississippi River

Shop in the French Quarters.

We stayed in New Orleans a day after our cruise to visit the French Quarters.  The architecture of the French Quarters was beautiful.  It's quite the party place and some VERY dicey areas.  I actually was glad to get out of there after a hour or so.

CRUISE FROM NEW ORLEANS TO COSTA MAYA, ROATAN, BELIZE, COZUMEL

This is a very rare encounter with a Hammerhead Shark while diving in Belize.  Randy took this picture of me and a 15' hammerhead.  It came to within 30' of us.  We also had a dive master with us. The dive master has only seen 3 others in the 30 years he has been diving there.

FUTURE TRUCKER MOMMAS

Shari, Brooklyn and Taylor (daughter-in-law and grand kids) came and visited us near Buffalo, NY.  We took them to dinner and had a good time.  Matt couldn't make it because of work.

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NEW YORK

We got a good surprise today. Our route got changed at the last minute. Instead of going to Dallas they sent us to Buffalo area. That's about 1 hour from Matt and Shari and the 2 grankids. So Shari drove out with the kids and we got to go to dinner. It was a fun visit. Matt couldn't make it. We go to see him last week when he was in Salt Lake.

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Loading in Rexburg ID

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More taters

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A warehouse full of Idaho Taters.

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TEN THINGS I HAVE LEARNED FROM TRUCKING

1. America is really Beautiful.
2. The grain really looks like amber waves.
3. Port-a-pottys build internal pressure when driving in high elevation. This was a hard lesson to learn.
4. Yes! I do like being around my husband this much.
5. Most people in the world are nice, hard working, honest people.
6. I generally have to go to the potty every 4 hours.
7. Most people don't know how to merge onto a on ramp. They go way to slow, or stop.
8. Motorcycles don't have a chance if they crash on the freeway.
9. I couldn't do this job by myself. I need 2 things: my husband and the GPS
10. I'm surprised at how much I like this job.

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Downtown Pittsburgh

We are in Pittsburgh this morning. Then we pick up aload here and head to Dallas.

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Pedi on the Road.

I've been trying to keep up on the toes.

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Truck Stop

My friend Maryann sent me a beautiful sunset picture from the beach in San Diego where she was visiting. In return I sent her a beautiful picture of the truck stop where we were staying.

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Omaha Zoo

We had some extra time and decided to go to the zoo. If you get a chance to go here it's a great zoo.

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THE NET

Randy made this "make shift" net out of rope.  We store all of the important things we need to take with us on the top bunk.  As I was driving and Randy was sleeping I kept hearing bumps and bangs, when I finished driving and stopped to see what the noises were, I saw we had a big pile of things that had fallen.  (He is a heavy sleeper).  They make a bunk net for the top bunk.   We have one on the sleeper bunk below, that keeps you somewhat safe if you are sleeping and get in a accident.  We tried to get one before we left for the top bunk but they didn't have any in stock.  Hence the creation of Randy to keep things in place,

DOOBIE BROTHERS

We got side tracked and stopped and saw the Doobie Brothers tonight. It was so fun. Off to Laredo now.

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OUR FIRST TRIP IN "BIG RED"

We finally got out of SLC. We are headed to Laredo TX. So far it's been a great trip. Our truck runs so much smoother than anything we have driven before. We stopped in Monticello UT last night for some rest at a beautiful rest stop. If you're ever up that way be sure and stop there.
The funniest thing I saw today was a elderly man walking down the side of the highway holding the reins of his horse in one hand and rolling his oxygen tank in the other. He was just out for a stroll with his horse.
One nice thing is since we were in SLC for 6 weeks it gave the weather a chance to get all that rain finished.
We also got to make our first pizza in our toaster oven. It was good. Now we just need to try out biscuits in it. (Family joke)

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LINDZ MEETS "BIG RED"

Lindsey came to see our new truck.  We gave her the grand tour.  Took about 10 minutes. haha

Grandmas Guppies

We are still in Salt Lake City. Matt and Shari are visiting Utah.  I got to go swim with all my grandkids.

Hopefully our truck and us will be on the road Wenesday.

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R V LIFE.

We are still just hanging out in the parking lot at England waiting to get our truck on the road.

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The Swimming accident

I hit my elbow going down a slide with my grandson.

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The accident

This is the love kiss I gave this trailer with my trailer.  Big oops.

It was a stupid accident.  I should of been more careful.

We have been driving for about 2 months now.  We have been back and forth across the US many times.  It's amazing how beautiful America is.  With one exception. I 80 in Wyoming.  When the wind blows it wants to throw you off the road.  The ice on the roads is terrible.  For the past few months we have been driving a red England truck.  This is our truck at the rest stop.  A lot of people tell us they look for us in the big trucks.  We will be in a truck that has a trailer that has CR England written on the side.  Randy is in AZ today getting surgery on his hand and when he is better he will pick out a truck for us to buy.  When he gets it I will be able to tell you the color and truck number then you all can find us on the road.

At the worlds largest truck stop in Iowa.  They have everything there.

They have 2 semi's in the building

I don't have any idea where this is at.

This is what was left after we sold everything.  We also have our truck and RV.  We live out of the RV at England parking lot.

This is Blue Moon ice cream only to be found in Wisconsin

Everyone asks us how we like driving.  We like it.  Sometimes we look at each other and can't believe we are doing this and like it.  I guess we are just weird.  It's fun to see all the country.  It's nice if you loose something you have such a small area to find it in.  Our luxury item is a port-a-potty.  That has saved us many a time.  You get to meet lots of different people.  You learn lots of new words not spoken in Utah.....for example..... oh never mind.  I can just say this and not get into to much trouble.  "Me and my old man enjoy being together."  The worst thing about trucking for me is, well there is 2. #1 is diarrhea. #2 is backing up.  I will try and be better about updating my blog.  We have been really busy.