runnin in circles......

sometimes i think this company we drive for has flipped their friggin lid.......they give a load...we head to pick it up....they change their mind....we change direction......they pile up the computer screen with loads stacked on top of each other......we actually run maybe 1 of them......they giveth....and then they taketh away........geesh.......all i know is that if brad and i handled our end of this freight haulin deal the way they handle their's, none of our loads would ever get anywhere......and when the nonsense gets really outta hand and you voice your concerns, all you ever hear is that you just don't "see the big picture"............

now, frankly, i love my job.....when i started out years ago i was coming out of a messy divorce and going thru a period where no matter where i was, i was restless to be somewhere else....i hit the road runnin and what could be better than wakin up someplace new everyday when you've got itchy feet???.......i couldn't wait to see what was over the next hill, around the next corner....thru the next gate.....after 11 years, i haven't lost that.....oh, i'm much more settled in my life with brad, but i still love the travel and seeing places i'd only read about.....all that is even more special with brad to share it with.........

the hard part is the constant frustration in dealing with the incompetence.....i have zero tolerence for stupidity....and that makes it hard since stupidity runs rampant around here........

actually, i really do see "the big picture".....i've been doing this long enough, that while i learn something new every single day, i can pretty much put this together like a milton bradley 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle!......ok, i've vented ....i'm better now........

now where did that corner edge piece of sky go?????

best sight of all........

traveling around the country the way we do, brad and i see some amazing views.....serene and inspiring sunsets and sunrises, architecture that runs the spectrum from cozy country log homes and farmhouses to 30 story highrise buildings in new york city.....we cross beautiful wide rivers and listen to the ocean waters lapping at both shores of our great country......we get passed by all types of interesting vehicles and freight and we experience just about every kind of weather this hemisphere has to offer......but the one that makes our hearts perk up......the one that brings a smile to our faces.....the one that warms us from the top of our heads to the tips of our toes sits along a little two lane road in the middle of west virginia, in a little town with a population of 413 when we're........

HOME

bravo! cheese!!

we spent most of sunday running up and down highway 99 in central california........started out in san bernadino after we delilvered our fed ex load there and then they sent us up to modesto, which is just a little ways south of sacramento to pick up a load of bottled water to bring back down to riverside for a delivery this morning..........after we picked up the load, i only had a couple of hours left to drive and we were trying for brad not to drive at all so that he could do a 34 hour restart on his hours, so we made it back south as far traver, california and shut down for the night......this worked out really well for us since we'd been wanting to stop in traver for a long time and just hadn't had the opportunity.......traver's claim to fame seems to be the bravo farms cheese factory at exit 106......their signs on the highway boast that they have a zillion flavors of olives.....and since we love olives in everything.....and brad is always in search of the perfect martini olive, it just seemed to be a must stop for us.........it's a very quaint looking set of buildings that are home to a wine and cheese shop, gift shop, ice cream shop and fruit stand.......yes i let brad get near a fruit stand, but this time we just came away with strawberries and grapes!.....well, that was all from the fruit stand.....we couldn't buy any wine since we can't have it on the truck, but they assured us they'd ship anything we wanted to order off their website.....we did buy some awesome cheeses.....white cheddar with cabernet, creamy pepper jack, chipotle cheddar.....mango chutney, fig and raisin chutney , some jellies and, of course three different olives......

brad got a deck of marilyn monroe playing cards to add to his marilyn collection and we also picked up the cutest set of cheese knives.........we opted to have our supper in the little restaurant there.....very good food.....we ate outside on the patio tho and as soon as our food was set down in front of us, the flies dive bombed us......it's a little hard to eat your steak with one hand while you're waving the other wildly across the table......lol.....we didn't realize until almost halfway thru the meal that they also had a dining room......next time we stop there, that will definately be our choice.........

all in all it was a very pleasant evening......we went back to the truck and cleaned our berries....watched a little tv and called it a nite......

brad goes banana shopping

on our way down thru oregon the other day i'd was feeling like i really needed some potassium......legs a little crampy, just a blah feelin....you know the drill.....we'd stopped at a couple of truck stops, but they were out.....we stopped at a couple of small markets.....they were out too.....i was beginning to think there'd been a banana recall and no one had told us!....finally we stopped at a market in madras, oregon....and since bananas was all i thought we needed, brad said he'd just run in and see if they had some.....well, evidently he's easily seduced in the produce aisle........

he came back with red raspberries, blackberries, grapes, strawberries, and, yes, bananas!.....oh!, and a box of ritz crackers!....go figure!

bring on the sun!

tile floor at dos amigos restaurant, weed, ca. after driving in rain all day, from new mexico thru st. louis, i am so ready for the sunshine......and another one of their steaks wouldn't be bad either!.....lol.....just sayin......

weed, ca.....

we picked up a heavy paper load friday nite in lewiston, idaho and headed west on us12 into washington state, down thru walla walla and on down to i 84 west in oregon.......we'd loaded at lewiston before but had always gone east on 12 over to missoula, so this was a treat to be running a different road than we'd been on before.....us 12 leaving lewiston runs along the snake river for quite aways.....the snake river isn't as large as the columbia, but it's still breathtaking along most of it's way......after watching the saturday morning sun come up over the columbia as we ran across i-84, we cut down south at biggs, thru oregon on us 97.....there is absolutely nothing about this road that we don't like.....gorgeous scenery, quaint little towns and a shoe tree....(yes, diane, we remembered to wave at craig's flip flops!....lol).....97 brings you down into california and to i-5 at the little town of weed....

we love weed!

we haven't gotten to explore this little town nearly as much as we'd like.....we did get to stop at the weed store for some coffee cups and other souvenirs.....then on down to the south weed exit where we spent the nite at the truckstop there......at the risk of sounding more like food critics than truckdrivers, i will have to tell ya that we had another fabulous supper......we walked over to the little mexican restaurant beside the truckstop ....dos amigos.......very cute little place that had come highly recommended by our blogger/truckdriver friends craig and diane, over at HEADS CAROLINA/TAILS CALIFORNIA ......brad, being a seafood lover had some sort of mix of shrimp, scallops and halibut with grilled peppers and onions that you could wrap in a tortilla if you wanted.....and i had an amazing t-bone steak, seasoned with mexican spices, charcoal grilled to perfection and smothered in onions, peppers and mushrooms.....ummmm...ummmm, good.......both suppers included refried beans, spanish rice and salad.....diane had told us that we would be well taken care of and she wasn't kidding.....the staff was so friendly and made sure we had everything we needed..... including a complimentary dessert of fried tortillas with honey, cinnamon and drizzled with chocolate and topped with whipped cream......oh. my. god.......you have to check out dos amigos when you get a chance......there is a little bbq place there too that we want to try sometime.....the smells coming from their outdoor grills made me want to have two suppers......lol.....

weed sits at the southwestern base of mt. shasta.....the walk back over to the truck was amazing as the sun was starting to set in the west and gave mt. shasta a golden glow......it's hard to call what we do work when your day winds up this way.......

being children of the sixties, we found it kinda of ironic that we were sitting in weed with a load of rolled paper........hmmmmmmm.......

our little celebration!

yesterday i had to renew my dot physical for the year.......i hadn't said anything to anyone about this coz, frankly, i was a little concerned about it......i'm bad about taking my medication for the diabetes and blood pressure like i should.....it makes me nauseous......and although i had been trying to take it regularly, i also knew i hadn't been eating as well as i should , and i don't mean just eating too much or the wrong things, the last few days i'd felt kinda bad, like i was coming down with something and i hadn't been eating much at all.....which, when trying to keep your glucose regulated is just as bad as overeating...........anyway, i was really concerned about taking the physical, and i had till te 20th on it, but we were shut down for a 34hour restart here in missoula, montana and so i figured it was just as well to get it done and face the music......i guess my body didn't think it felt as bad as i did, coz i passed!!.....it's always a wonderful thing when you see the doctor sign their name on that little card......i wonder sometimes if they really appreciate what that signature means.....sure, a person's health is one of the most important things in life, but that signature also means that they can continue working.....that their very livelihood will go on as they know it.......it just seems to me that it has so many more conotations than a routine physical.........

on the way back from the clinic to the truckstop, as you pull into the lot there is a cute little restaurant ....it's called the river city grill.....

it's housed in an old buidling that used to be the main office of a lumber company.....it's cute as can be inside and the food was absolutely fantastic.....brad had the rib eye steak.....

and i had the chicken fried chicken.....yeah, i know, wayyyy too rich for the way i'd been feelin, but it looked so good on the menu i couldn't resisit.....

i have to tell ya, it was worth the ache in my tummy i had the rest of the evening.......the chicken was perfection....the gravy was as good as any i've ever made....the potatoes were homemade.....even the peach was ripe and sweet......

so this was our celebration dinner.....it was wonderful and so nice to have that weight (no pun intended...lol) off my shoulders.....if you're on i-90 on the east side of missoula, take a stop at the exxon travel plaza, exit 109 and try out the river city grill.....you won't be dissappointed....the food is awesome, the atmosphere is quaint and inviting and the service was great!