It was just a matter of time.

A truth universally known to commercial drivers, is that you go where the stuff IS, and take it where it GOES. 

With that in mind, we have gone to factories, warehouses, shipping companies, any place that has stuff to move, and delivered that stuff to wherever they need it to be. 

We have been to most of the states east of the Mississippi River, except Florida and New England. We've been to the American Southwest and California. We have crisscrossed Texas so many times!

In all those miles, we've seen the landscape and people, but it's mostly been zipping by at 65 miles an hour. We've been able to focus on the truck, the girls, and us without too much difficulty. If the truck is running rough, if the girls need another layer because the weather turned colder than we expected, or if Nick or I aren't feeling 100% and need an over-the-counter medicine, we stop somewhere and take the time to do what we need to do. We have the financial and occupational luxury to do this.

Every time we come up from the Mexican border, we drive through a Border Patrol Checkpoint. Lots of cars and trucks driving up to the guard to tell him, "Yes, I'm an American citizen," or show him the appropriate documentation. It was almost a joke between us.....until the other night.

We got waved through the checkpoint, and suddenly all lanes were stopped. They held us back so they could move 40-50 people, hands on their heads, across the traffic lanes from the semi that had all doors open, while two guards were looking through EVERY part of that truck.

We were right there, front row, watching desperate people being herded away from their dreams. Someone in the next truck was taking pictures. I felt bad enough just watching, there was no way I was going to record this.

And just that quick, the illegal aliens were gone, moved inside the BPS office, and the trucks started moving, except the one being torn apart.

I'm not making a  political statement about this, that's not my thing. It was just so sad watching people who had risked so much to follow their dreams, to the point they were truly risking their lives, being forced to make the walk of shame in front of the drivers setting there. 

What is the take-away, when the best thing you can say is, "At least they didn't die in that trailer"?

Set off the serious tone with cute baby!

Am I REALLY cut out for this?

 Oh my gosh! I think I had the WORST LOAD so far. 

Nothing wrong with the load itself, a bunch of containers, box floor was full, going to an auto manufacturer, but when we got there WE COULDN'T FIND THE DOCK TO UNLOAD!

 We went the location we were told, it wasn't the right one, so a yard jockey took pity on us and sent us to the correct place. It turns out, you go to this location, the Linker Dock, and they tell you which dock around the plant you need to go, and the Dock is the building. You go in the man door and they tell you which dock door, or bay, in that Dock you need to back into. 

So the nice woman at the Linker Dock sent us to Dock 1. 

When we passed Docks 1A, 1B & 1C, we could be forgiven for stopping there. The nice smoker told us Dock 1 was right down there, in the direction we were going, following the directions from the nice lady at the Linker Dock. 

We followed our instructions to Dock 1. We went to the first empty bay we came to and the guys out smoking there, said "You're at the wrong dock. That isn't what we get. We only get seats, so that doesn't go to this Dock." 

So we go back out, looking for another Dock 1, another man door, anything so we can unload. 

In the meantime, these little cars that have been recently put together are zipping around to be parked. 

So this one guy at Dock 1 tells us we might want to go to this Dock at the end of the building, there are bays over there. So we go looking for the Dock at the end of the building, dodging these little cars, and discover we can't get to the end of the building this guy told us about. We realize this about the time Security stops us. 

I tell the Security Guy we were told to take our load to Dock 1 by the nice lady at the Linker Dock, but the guys at Dock 1 won't take it because it isn't seats. He says we need to talk to security at the gate, follow him and he'll lead us there. So we head back to the gate and the security guy stops outside Dock 1. 

He goes in the man door at the other end of the bays, where we found nothing but a thru-way where the forklift drivers zoom back and forth. He comes back, tells us Robert will take care of us, and to be safe and have a good evening. Robert comes out, tells us to go to the next empty bay, probably bay 4. 

Well we go to the next empty bay which is 6. Robert comes out and says you're supposed to be in bay 4. I pointed out he said the next empty one and he said 6 is a designated spot, we need to move to bay 4. Ok, we move. Robert comes out at 1:27am and says they'll unload your at 2:00. They take their dinner break from 1:30-2:00. 

So we sit, relax, check our phones, get a drink, and about 2:05, we start getting shaken around as they unload the truck. About 10 minutes later, they are done and no one brings out our paperwork. 

We won't get paid without this paperwork, so I'm not leaving without it. I go in the door, see my paperwork on a shelf next to the door, unsigned, so I look for Robert. This time a few people walk by and ask if I need help. I tell them I'm unloaded, just need my paperwork signed, so they start looking for Robert. 

Finally, the paperwork is signed, we get out of the Dock, around the plant, and back to the road that goes to the security gate. The security guys wave us out and we're done, out of there, EXHAUSTED. We get to the nearest truck stop, find a spot (THANK GOD!) and park.

 Nick shuts the truck down and settles the log for the night, I get the girls and take them out real quick, then we hit the bed. 

O. M. G.

At least Esme is clean, is up-to-date on all her maintenance, and has nice, cold AC. 

My biggest pet peeve out here!

Nick, the girls, and the HUGE rocks we have to walk on when the dogs need to go out.
If you look close, you can see trash in the rocks, and boxes & such in the background.

Growing up in the 70's, I saw all the ad campaigns against littering: Woodsey the Owl, "Give a hoot, don't polute", the crying native, Iron Eyes Cody. The Cuyahoga River caught fire in 1969, I was 2 years old, I've heard about it my whole life. So it runs through my bones like marrow, to be appalled by trash on the ground.

We make most of our stops at Love's Truck Stops. Our fleet owners encourage it because Love's gives them the best discount, and we willingly comply, because our company started us off with our Love's cards instantly raised to Platinum Level, which gets us at least 1 free shower per day, per driver. We have gone to some of the other truck stops, because in some areas, there aren't any convenient Love's, or we are stopping later than other trucks, and all the free parking spots are taken. This leaves the truck stops who have reserved parking (about $15 - $25 per night). All of these places have varying degrees of my pet peeve:  GARBAGE ALL OVER THE PLACE!!!

I will say that Love's usually has trashcans all around the truck parking, and most of the Love's where we have stayed at least overnight, they go around and pick up the trash in the cans. The Pilot/Flying J & TA/Petro truck stops tend to have more parking, and they have reserved parking that we can reserve online, but they don't clean up quite as much as Love's. 

The worst truck stop I've seen so far? It's probably a toss-up between a no-name place in LA (just basically run-down, no fence, poor lighting, few facilities for the drivers), and a Stripes truck stop. The Stripes location was truly a surprise to me. The building, fuel lanes & parking areas looked almost brand new! But there was SO MUCH GARBAGE!! 

The worst trash act I've seen was when we stayed the weekend outside St. Louis. A hot-shot truck parked next to us, unloaded a huge pile of junk behind his parking spot, and took off. It was clothes, food, and some kitchen appliances, in a plastic tub and a few trash bags, just dumped on the ground. Disgusting. 

I'd like to say we are a shining example of how to exist out here without leaving any trail of garbage behind us, but I really don't want to lie to you...

We try. We gather our trash and make sure it gets put into a trashcan. We try to clean up after the dogs. We pick up garbage to make it safer for the dogs. But when you drive for 11 hours, it isn't that important to clean up something that isn't your mess. When it is dark, and you can't tell if there is an unwelcome desert resident where you are walking your dog, cleaning up her poop isn't my top priority. So, we do the best we can in the moment, and always try to do better.