Well... she's been a busy few days. We had our little run around Texas, then they gave us take a little run leaving us sitting yesterday morning unsure about whether we'll be back in Wisconsin for our home time. Its not really their fault, freight has been slowing down a bit lately (with fuel costs rising). Thankfully though they found us a load and we are on our way back there. In fact we're sitting just on the state line between Wisconsin and Illinois waiting to deliver to 3 places tomorrow, then we'll see how things go.
I cannot believe how quickly this year has flown by, we've seen so much while on the road this year this amazing and I'm extremely thankful for being able to experience it.
I've been trying to think of good new years resolutions but so far i've come up with only a couple:
~ Take more photos/Improve my photography skills
~ Write more, both in my blog and other forms of writing
~ Read more, and try new genres
so those are just a few, they rest are pretty much general things that people resolve to do in the new year but rarely stick too - oh well :) i'll give them a shot all the same.
Anyone else want to share new years resolutions? go on.. you know you want to :)
Take care guys
Love to you all xoxoxox
Monday, December 31, 2007
The last of the photo backlog...
Well this is the last of the photo backlog I had sitting here waiting to be uploaded (YAY) I wanted to space them out a bit so you guys didn't have lots to look through in one go.
I'll post again in a minute with a proper update (unless the website decides to go walkabouts on me again) :)
Beautiful Sunset, this was the last shot I got before running back to the warmth of the truck. It was sooo cold outside that even my gloves weren't helping keep my fingers warm! I only stayed out there taking shots for a few minutes, unfortunately most of them were too blurring from shivering hehe but this one and the one below it turned out pretty good I think.
Beautiful sunset on top of a plateau in New Mexico. We came back outside from having dinner and this was the scene behind the truck. The blur is due to the fact I was freezing and shaking from the cold wind and temperature that night.
This is a mountain near Flagstaff, Arizona (which is right by the grand canyon!!!) Beautiful morning drive through the mountains, this was also just before we saw the elk grazing on the side of the interstate.
Cliff area in Arizona pretty close to New Mexico
Cliffs in Arizona just before the state line with New Mexico
Welcome to New Mexico!
I'll post again in a minute with a proper update (unless the website decides to go walkabouts on me again) :)
Beautiful Sunset, this was the last shot I got before running back to the warmth of the truck. It was sooo cold outside that even my gloves weren't helping keep my fingers warm! I only stayed out there taking shots for a few minutes, unfortunately most of them were too blurring from shivering hehe but this one and the one below it turned out pretty good I think.
Beautiful sunset on top of a plateau in New Mexico. We came back outside from having dinner and this was the scene behind the truck. The blur is due to the fact I was freezing and shaking from the cold wind and temperature that night.
This is a mountain near Flagstaff, Arizona (which is right by the grand canyon!!!) Beautiful morning drive through the mountains, this was also just before we saw the elk grazing on the side of the interstate.
Cliff area in Arizona pretty close to New Mexico
Cliffs in Arizona just before the state line with New Mexico
Welcome to New Mexico!
Friday, December 28, 2007
New Mexico and Arizona
There were a lot of really awesome things that I got to see while going through New Mexico and Arizona for the first time. Some of them weren't at easily photographed and included:
* A tumbleweed, rolling down the interstate at us... it was really funny
* A rocky hill with "Fraggle Rock" written on it
* Lots and lots of cactus, I only saw a couple of the three pronged ones that you see in cartoons on tv and they were down in a valley.
Luckily though, I did capture some other really groovy things with my camera....
Travelling through New Mexico, there were mountains and hills all around.
This rock was across the road from the rest area we stopped at - it reminded me of a whale not sure why hehe.
Horse-Head Rock, It drew my attention because it looks kinda like a horse's head at the top. This was a formation behind the rest area we stopped at in Arizona
Lots of rocky area's in Arizona, this was the view behind the rest area we stopped at.
* A tumbleweed, rolling down the interstate at us... it was really funny
* A rocky hill with "Fraggle Rock" written on it
* Lots and lots of cactus, I only saw a couple of the three pronged ones that you see in cartoons on tv and they were down in a valley.
Luckily though, I did capture some other really groovy things with my camera....
Travelling through New Mexico, there were mountains and hills all around.
This rock was across the road from the rest area we stopped at - it reminded me of a whale not sure why hehe.
Horse-Head Rock, It drew my attention because it looks kinda like a horse's head at the top. This was a formation behind the rest area we stopped at in Arizona
Lots of rocky area's in Arizona, this was the view behind the rest area we stopped at.
Nighttime Photography - Lights
The follow are some photos I took while in Texas, I was messing around with settings and I'm pretty excited about the final results....
I was trying to capture the beauty of the sunset in texas, without blinding oncoming cars with a flash. I was looking through settings and I came across one that has a long aperture exposure (meaning the lens stays open longer, you get more light in - good for low light situations like sunrises and sunsets). I really like how this turned out.
This was taken earlier in the evening while I was messing around with settings on my camera. I believe the best way to learn what your camera is capable of, is to play with it and try new things, you never know what you'll produce! This was taken with a car coming towards us, but because it had the long exposure setting - the flash didn't go off, so the driver wasn't blinded. I also love how it captured the sunset colours.
Going through a small town a prominent building was covered in Christmas lights, The lights were amazing, so I grabbed my camera for a shot, unfortunately I forgot I had the long exposure setting on and this is what I got - but I really like it despite the mistake. Has a very surreal and pretty feel to it.
I love this shot, I focused on a lighted sign, I think it was in the shape of a cowboy boot, and this is what I got.
I was trying to capture the beauty of the sunset in texas, without blinding oncoming cars with a flash. I was looking through settings and I came across one that has a long aperture exposure (meaning the lens stays open longer, you get more light in - good for low light situations like sunrises and sunsets). I really like how this turned out.
This was taken earlier in the evening while I was messing around with settings on my camera. I believe the best way to learn what your camera is capable of, is to play with it and try new things, you never know what you'll produce! This was taken with a car coming towards us, but because it had the long exposure setting - the flash didn't go off, so the driver wasn't blinded. I also love how it captured the sunset colours.
Going through a small town a prominent building was covered in Christmas lights, The lights were amazing, so I grabbed my camera for a shot, unfortunately I forgot I had the long exposure setting on and this is what I got - but I really like it despite the mistake. Has a very surreal and pretty feel to it.
I love this shot, I focused on a lighted sign, I think it was in the shape of a cowboy boot, and this is what I got.
Texas photos...
Wednesday 26th December:
Everything went fine with the delivery this morning, yay. Though the truck's drivers side door has decided to stop working... no idea what happened or how but it wont open/unlock or anything, so we're heading towards a yard to get it fixed.
Got our reload while we were being unloaded this morning, we've got 2 days to drive 300 miles! hehe this also includes stopping at the yard to get the door fixed, but we're hoping that wont take too long. Just as a point of reference, we can travel about 700 miles in a day, so you can imagine that this trip is only a fraction of what we can do in a day.
Thursday 27th December:
I finally got some time online with a decent connection so I can post some photos i've been promising. I'll do them over a series of posts so if I only get a couple up here, know that i'll be adding more shortly.
Had a good night last night, curled up on a big comfy couch in the drivers lounge and read for a couple of hours while pat tried to sort out some computer issues. He helps run a gaming forum and their site has been broken for about a week, he's been working on it as hard as he can but it requires a decent speed connection to upload thousands of files and trying to deal with the tech support for his hosting company. I feel bad for him because the company broke it and they're telling him he has to fix it but it requires going through a lot of code, which can be tedious at best. Hopefully he figured it out this time and he'll have another attempt at it again tonight.
anyway, onto the photos.....
I think this is one of my favourites of the shots I took. My favourite part of the photo would have to be the clouds and the detail of them. Took this one on the way to San Angelo, Texas
Just to give you an idea of how deserted some parts of Texas are. This was taken on the way to San Angelo, Texas
I was playing around with settings on the camera, and found one that zoomed in on the mirrors and eliminated the shake so it looks like i took this from outside the truck looking back at where we've come from.
Everything went fine with the delivery this morning, yay. Though the truck's drivers side door has decided to stop working... no idea what happened or how but it wont open/unlock or anything, so we're heading towards a yard to get it fixed.
Got our reload while we were being unloaded this morning, we've got 2 days to drive 300 miles! hehe this also includes stopping at the yard to get the door fixed, but we're hoping that wont take too long. Just as a point of reference, we can travel about 700 miles in a day, so you can imagine that this trip is only a fraction of what we can do in a day.
Thursday 27th December:
I finally got some time online with a decent connection so I can post some photos i've been promising. I'll do them over a series of posts so if I only get a couple up here, know that i'll be adding more shortly.
Had a good night last night, curled up on a big comfy couch in the drivers lounge and read for a couple of hours while pat tried to sort out some computer issues. He helps run a gaming forum and their site has been broken for about a week, he's been working on it as hard as he can but it requires a decent speed connection to upload thousands of files and trying to deal with the tech support for his hosting company. I feel bad for him because the company broke it and they're telling him he has to fix it but it requires going through a lot of code, which can be tedious at best. Hopefully he figured it out this time and he'll have another attempt at it again tonight.
anyway, onto the photos.....
I think this is one of my favourites of the shots I took. My favourite part of the photo would have to be the clouds and the detail of them. Took this one on the way to San Angelo, Texas
Just to give you an idea of how deserted some parts of Texas are. This was taken on the way to San Angelo, Texas
I was playing around with settings on the camera, and found one that zoomed in on the mirrors and eliminated the shake so it looks like i took this from outside the truck looking back at where we've come from.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Merry Christmas
Sitting here in Oklahoma, turns out the place we're delivering to is only about 1 minute up the road, yet it can't be delivered early. Oh well lol means we get to sit for a few days. At least we get to catch up on sleep YAY
This year has been amazing for me, and I'm very thankful for the opportunities I've been given. While I'm having a blast over here, we're planning on moving to Australia, and we're hoping that 2008 will be a good year for it to happen for us. But don't fret, we'll be popping over to kiwiland to catch up with family and friends.
To all my wonderful family and friends ... I want to say thank you, for being truly amazing, may all your holiday wishes come true and 2008 is filled with love, laughter and lots of happy times.
Okay enough of the sappy stuff..... Have fun and enjoy the holidays!
Anyone got some interesting or odd new year's resolutions? feel free to share peoples!!!!!! i'll share mine a little closer to new years :)
Tonight we'll be settling in with a movie and relaxing. Only another day and a bit until we can deliver and continue on our merry way.
Our next scheduled home time will be on the 1st January, so anyone wanting to call and chat, just let us know and we'll make sure we're home.
until next time...
lots of love to you all xoxox
This year has been amazing for me, and I'm very thankful for the opportunities I've been given. While I'm having a blast over here, we're planning on moving to Australia, and we're hoping that 2008 will be a good year for it to happen for us. But don't fret, we'll be popping over to kiwiland to catch up with family and friends.
To all my wonderful family and friends ... I want to say thank you, for being truly amazing, may all your holiday wishes come true and 2008 is filled with love, laughter and lots of happy times.
Okay enough of the sappy stuff..... Have fun and enjoy the holidays!
Anyone got some interesting or odd new year's resolutions? feel free to share peoples!!!!!! i'll share mine a little closer to new years :)
Tonight we'll be settling in with a movie and relaxing. Only another day and a bit until we can deliver and continue on our merry way.
Our next scheduled home time will be on the 1st January, so anyone wanting to call and chat, just let us know and we'll make sure we're home.
until next time...
lots of love to you all xoxox
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Friday and Saturday
Friday 21st December:
I hope you guys enjoyed the photo uploads today. I actually have more photos to upload its just a matter of resizing them so you can see them in one go rather than having to scroll. Thanks to my camera they come out at about 2000 x 3000 pixels! your average screen size is about 800 x 600 so you can imagine how much detail is in each photo. Now that my card is clear for the first time in a few days I can adjust the photo size on the camera, which means I can take a lot more photos on the memory card. I average about 70 photos at the current size, if i decrease it a bit I should get space for about 80-100 photos.
Over the past couple of days we delivered in Texas, picked up in Texas and headed to Arizona! Which is where we're sitting now. We swapped a load out with a driver who lives here in Az (the state abbreviation) so he could go home and spend Christmas with his family. This means we have 5 days to get to Oklahoma (which is about 2 day's drive). So we're staying here tonight, and making our way towards Oklahoma tomorrow. We got to go to a few new states this week - Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona so thats really nice.
Saturday 22nd December:
Whoops got sidetracked and didn't get back around to posting the above post yesterday.
Today has been absolutely amazing. Seeing the sun rising over mountains in Arizona is utterly amazing. I tried to get photos but there wasn't enough light and I didn't have a tripod to steady the camera for a long exposure shot. We stopped for a nap about 5am and continued on our way about 7am. The sky was this vibrant shade of green, blending into a dark deep blue with stars sprinkled throughout. The sky got lighter and lighter until the skyline seem to glow a white/yellow light. Words can't do the scene justice, you'll just have to take my word for it - it was the coolest thing I've seen. We didn't get to see the grand canyon though, but i think we were within an hour's drive of it.
I also go to see Elk! I've seen them once before in a zoo in Marshfield, but these were wild elk and were a lot bigger. I cannot imagine the damage they'd do to a car if you accidentally hit one. I tried to get a photo but it came out too blurry (i think i had the wrong setting on). They were happily grazing by the side of the road, seemingly oblivious to the snow and traffic around them.
Tonight we'll be staying in New Mexico, though unfortunately nowhere near roswell hehe. We'll only have about 8 hours to drive to our destination tomorrow so we'll be parked up early. The place we're staying is up on a plateau, and I gotta tell ya its pretty darn cold up here. There's snow on the ground and the wind is pretty harsh.
Unfortunately the internet speed here is really really slow, so i'm going to post this then maybe watch a dvd before dinner.
Take care guys, and in case I don't post again before... Have a good Christmas and a wonderful new years.
Love ya
Corina xoxox
I hope you guys enjoyed the photo uploads today. I actually have more photos to upload its just a matter of resizing them so you can see them in one go rather than having to scroll. Thanks to my camera they come out at about 2000 x 3000 pixels! your average screen size is about 800 x 600 so you can imagine how much detail is in each photo. Now that my card is clear for the first time in a few days I can adjust the photo size on the camera, which means I can take a lot more photos on the memory card. I average about 70 photos at the current size, if i decrease it a bit I should get space for about 80-100 photos.
Over the past couple of days we delivered in Texas, picked up in Texas and headed to Arizona! Which is where we're sitting now. We swapped a load out with a driver who lives here in Az (the state abbreviation) so he could go home and spend Christmas with his family. This means we have 5 days to get to Oklahoma (which is about 2 day's drive). So we're staying here tonight, and making our way towards Oklahoma tomorrow. We got to go to a few new states this week - Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona so thats really nice.
Saturday 22nd December:
Whoops got sidetracked and didn't get back around to posting the above post yesterday.
Today has been absolutely amazing. Seeing the sun rising over mountains in Arizona is utterly amazing. I tried to get photos but there wasn't enough light and I didn't have a tripod to steady the camera for a long exposure shot. We stopped for a nap about 5am and continued on our way about 7am. The sky was this vibrant shade of green, blending into a dark deep blue with stars sprinkled throughout. The sky got lighter and lighter until the skyline seem to glow a white/yellow light. Words can't do the scene justice, you'll just have to take my word for it - it was the coolest thing I've seen. We didn't get to see the grand canyon though, but i think we were within an hour's drive of it.
I also go to see Elk! I've seen them once before in a zoo in Marshfield, but these were wild elk and were a lot bigger. I cannot imagine the damage they'd do to a car if you accidentally hit one. I tried to get a photo but it came out too blurry (i think i had the wrong setting on). They were happily grazing by the side of the road, seemingly oblivious to the snow and traffic around them.
Tonight we'll be staying in New Mexico, though unfortunately nowhere near roswell hehe. We'll only have about 8 hours to drive to our destination tomorrow so we'll be parked up early. The place we're staying is up on a plateau, and I gotta tell ya its pretty darn cold up here. There's snow on the ground and the wind is pretty harsh.
Unfortunately the internet speed here is really really slow, so i'm going to post this then maybe watch a dvd before dinner.
Take care guys, and in case I don't post again before... Have a good Christmas and a wonderful new years.
Love ya
Corina xoxox
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Feline Photos
Some photos of our two cats... Tommy and Dishrag
He's such a cutie, but can get into some real trouble when he wants to. He loves watching animal shows on Sunday morning on tv, and playing "Shadow" with people. We got him through Pat's brother's work, where he turned up one day. After putting a notice up that they'd found a kitten, and no one claimed it, they decided to keep him as a store cat. Unfortunately Tommy's trouble streak got the best of him and after falling through the ceiling panels they decided that it would be best if he went to someone's home. So we adopted him (or more like he adopted us), and its been crazy ever since.
A close up thanks to my camera's lens. I can take macro (extreme close up shots) without having to be in his face.
Dishrag was absolutely fascinated with Pat's new shoes, he spent a good 2 hours just rolling on them and around them trying to make them smell like him!
Dishrag, perfect timing in this photo thats for sure. I really love this photos of dishrag, it really matches his personality. Remember we are talking about the smart cat who dragged a big bag of cat food down the hallway and woke me up because there was only half a bowl of cat food left and he was worried it would be gone before more would appear! He also spent months working on pushing a screen out of a window so he could explore the yard one night - then broke his way through the screen door and was banging his head on the inside door to get someone to open up at 3am. Boy was he glad when Pat opened the door.
He's such a cutie, but can get into some real trouble when he wants to. He loves watching animal shows on Sunday morning on tv, and playing "Shadow" with people. We got him through Pat's brother's work, where he turned up one day. After putting a notice up that they'd found a kitten, and no one claimed it, they decided to keep him as a store cat. Unfortunately Tommy's trouble streak got the best of him and after falling through the ceiling panels they decided that it would be best if he went to someone's home. So we adopted him (or more like he adopted us), and its been crazy ever since.
A close up thanks to my camera's lens. I can take macro (extreme close up shots) without having to be in his face.
Dishrag was absolutely fascinated with Pat's new shoes, he spent a good 2 hours just rolling on them and around them trying to make them smell like him!
Dishrag, perfect timing in this photo thats for sure. I really love this photos of dishrag, it really matches his personality. Remember we are talking about the smart cat who dragged a big bag of cat food down the hallway and woke me up because there was only half a bowl of cat food left and he was worried it would be gone before more would appear! He also spent months working on pushing a screen out of a window so he could explore the yard one night - then broke his way through the screen door and was banging his head on the inside door to get someone to open up at 3am. Boy was he glad when Pat opened the door.
the photos..finally!
Happy Birthday to us! hehe one of the first photos I took with my new camera. Made for us by Marj (thank you!!!!!!!) it was delicious! They decided to put "49" on the cake, as they added both Pat and my ages together rather than trying for 24 and 25 candles hehe. Personally i think this was a lot less of a fire hazard and meant we got to eat yummy cake.
Bottom Photo: our yummy banana pudding.
Snowy Bridge in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. December 2007
Stevens Point, Wisconsin. December 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Sunny Texas
Tuesday 18th December:
WOW time flies, I cannot believe its almost christmas/Yule! Before you know it 2007 will be making a fast retreat out the back door and 2008 will be breaking the front door in. I hope everyon has had a great year this year, and that next year is even better and brighter.
We've had a fun couple of days since I last wrote...
Firstly, I did try to upload those photos but blogspot decided to spazz, so I couldn't do anything. I intended on doing it later that night but after dinner whatever cold/bug I have hit me and I was pretty tired. So I curled up in bed and read - Pat was even so kind as to run inside and get me a chocolate bar (isn't he sweet?). I'll upload them soon, the connection where we're at tonight is horrible.
We delivered Monday morning, and ended up having to drive to the yard in Texas and wait. Got a small run over about 30 miles to deliver a load, then our reload was coming out of Oklahoma, and going to two stops in Texas which we'll be delivering tomorrow.
Had my first ever experience at "IHOP" (International House of Pancakes) and wouldn't ya know it? I didn't have pancakes hehe. I was very tempted to try the chocolate-chip pancakes, but the cheeseburger on a cheese roll was a little too tempting (I was really hungry). Had a good amount of lettuce on the side too, and they put a good seasoning on the fries - so all in all, very good. I'd rank it up there with Cracker Barrel, Though I definately want to go back to IHOP and try the pancakes.
I'm sitting here re-watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix before dinner, in about an hour. Not sure what we'll have but we'll find something good i'm sure, the place we're at has a Subway and a McDonalds (i'm leaning towards subway).
In the past few days I've done quite a bit of reading as we waited for loading/unloading/while driving. I've finished 5 books since we left the house, unfortunately I've only got 4 more left. There's always e-books downloaded onto the game-boy though.. but thats mostly obscure texts and classic fiction that were written ages ago - like Jane Eyre, Emma, Dracula. I even managed to find a website that has the diaries of Lady Mary Anne Barker who wrote "Station Life in New Zealand"! I'm about 1/3 of the way through it. If anyone else is interested in reading it or finding interesting books online, and free to download then check out Here
Well thats all for now, time to head in for dinner :)
WOW time flies, I cannot believe its almost christmas/Yule! Before you know it 2007 will be making a fast retreat out the back door and 2008 will be breaking the front door in. I hope everyon has had a great year this year, and that next year is even better and brighter.
We've had a fun couple of days since I last wrote...
Firstly, I did try to upload those photos but blogspot decided to spazz, so I couldn't do anything. I intended on doing it later that night but after dinner whatever cold/bug I have hit me and I was pretty tired. So I curled up in bed and read - Pat was even so kind as to run inside and get me a chocolate bar (isn't he sweet?). I'll upload them soon, the connection where we're at tonight is horrible.
We delivered Monday morning, and ended up having to drive to the yard in Texas and wait. Got a small run over about 30 miles to deliver a load, then our reload was coming out of Oklahoma, and going to two stops in Texas which we'll be delivering tomorrow.
Had my first ever experience at "IHOP" (International House of Pancakes) and wouldn't ya know it? I didn't have pancakes hehe. I was very tempted to try the chocolate-chip pancakes, but the cheeseburger on a cheese roll was a little too tempting (I was really hungry). Had a good amount of lettuce on the side too, and they put a good seasoning on the fries - so all in all, very good. I'd rank it up there with Cracker Barrel, Though I definately want to go back to IHOP and try the pancakes.
I'm sitting here re-watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix before dinner, in about an hour. Not sure what we'll have but we'll find something good i'm sure, the place we're at has a Subway and a McDonalds (i'm leaning towards subway).
In the past few days I've done quite a bit of reading as we waited for loading/unloading/while driving. I've finished 5 books since we left the house, unfortunately I've only got 4 more left. There's always e-books downloaded onto the game-boy though.. but thats mostly obscure texts and classic fiction that were written ages ago - like Jane Eyre, Emma, Dracula. I even managed to find a website that has the diaries of Lady Mary Anne Barker who wrote "Station Life in New Zealand"! I'm about 1/3 of the way through it. If anyone else is interested in reading it or finding interesting books online, and free to download then check out Here
Well thats all for now, time to head in for dinner :)
Monday, December 17, 2007
A rare moment of relaxation...
Sunday 16th December:
The load we're currently on has brought us to Texas, its meant to be delivered tomorrow morning.
Yesterday was pretty boring, got up early - picked up our load. Headed west across, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and most of Mississippi :) Which just left the rest of Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas today. Had some minor truck issues yesterday, but it wasn't anything too serious just the heating/ac unit had a little fit, but it thawed and everything is fine now. We'll talk to the dispatcher on Monday about it, but since it fixed itself we shouldn't need to head to a yard to get it looked at.
Later that day....
Arrived at our destination, yay. Caught up with some emailing and photo stuff i've been meaning to. I've uploaded some shots i took in Wisconsin to the computer (snowy type ones), so i'll upload them when I upload this. Its really nice to have days like this, we start early and get to our destination with time to relax and not stress about traffic, time, miles, or idiots. I know it'll be back to normal, rushing around and being busy tomorrow (especially if the company decides we should have the heating/ac unit looked at before we head up north towards the snow and cold weather) but thats okay. I'm enjoying this afternoon/this evening while it lasts.
The load we're currently on has brought us to Texas, its meant to be delivered tomorrow morning.
Yesterday was pretty boring, got up early - picked up our load. Headed west across, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and most of Mississippi :) Which just left the rest of Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas today. Had some minor truck issues yesterday, but it wasn't anything too serious just the heating/ac unit had a little fit, but it thawed and everything is fine now. We'll talk to the dispatcher on Monday about it, but since it fixed itself we shouldn't need to head to a yard to get it looked at.
Later that day....
Arrived at our destination, yay. Caught up with some emailing and photo stuff i've been meaning to. I've uploaded some shots i took in Wisconsin to the computer (snowy type ones), so i'll upload them when I upload this. Its really nice to have days like this, we start early and get to our destination with time to relax and not stress about traffic, time, miles, or idiots. I know it'll be back to normal, rushing around and being busy tomorrow (especially if the company decides we should have the heating/ac unit looked at before we head up north towards the snow and cold weather) but thats okay. I'm enjoying this afternoon/this evening while it lasts.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Back in the truck
Tuesday 11th December:
We're back in the truck and have our first assigned load for this trip out. We've got 3 pick ups and 4 deliveries going to North Carolina/ South Carolina area.
Thank you for all the wonderful birthday wishes and pressies! We had a wonderful day and a very relaxing weekend yay. We went to the movies on saturday to see "The Golden Compass" which was awesome in case you're wondering. A couple of friends came over and we had bbq ribs, birthday cake and lots of good food. Ended up watching movies, playing a little world of warcraft with our friends and lots of good conversation.
Our next home time will be scheduled for around new years eve, but we'll let you guys know a definate date if anyone wants to call and catch up with us.
At the moment, we're sitting at the terminal waiting for our trailer to come out of the truckwash, too bad they didn't our truck in there with it - its looking a little grubby, oh well maybe they'll do it next time we're here.
One of the house mates taught me how to make this really yummy chanukah food called "Latke's" they're like potato fritters/hash browns. It was a lot of fun, she even let me make the batch of them one night. I really enjoyed it because as we were making them she was sharing stories from chanukah celebrations with her family when she was younger and telling me about various traditions that her family did.
Thursday 13th December:
I was meaning to post Tuesday's entry right away but once we finally got our trailer and left the yard it was chaotic at best, the first place we had to pick up from had machine breakdowns so there was a back up of about 6 trucks before us so we had a long wait. Then we made it to the second place (there was no hope for the 3rd because they'd already closed up), only to find out they had a back up as well - we waited 2 hours there for 1 roll of paper to be loaded on. Because of bad weather we ended up parking in wisconsin that night, and got told that we could pick the last part up wednesday morning before we left...so we did and eventually got on our way.
Last night we drove until late, had to run inside and have a quick dinner before bed, we were up again early this morning, but have had to stop due to bad weather/slick roads and hubby being tired so he's having a quick nap before we continue on our way.
To top it all off? i'm coming down with a cold/flu or something. My entire body is aching, i'm sniffly, have a really sore throat (i think i've got an inflamed tonsil or gland cos one side of my throat is a bit more sore than the other). It sucks but i'll get through it. I'm taking vitamins, using anti-bacterial gel on my hands whenever i go anywhere, drinking plenty of water and trying to sleep as much as i can.
In other odd news, we saw a total of 3 semi's in ditches due to bad weather, and people not being careful. tsk tsk you'd think people would learn by now huh?
Took some photos in wisconsin on tuesday/wednesday morning so i'll upload those if i get a chance tonight. Its looking like a busy night because we're a few hours behind and we've got to try to deliver at least one part of the four tonight.
Right now though, we're back on the road. The roads are a lot better.
....about 4 hours later. Well, we just got caught in traffic for about an hour due to a car accident in the mountains in Tennessee. I don't think anyone was killed thank goodness, but people were taken away in ambulances. We happened upon it about 5 minutes after it happened, the cops hadn't even arrived on scene when we caught up with the back up. I hope everyone is okay. Turns out that a pick up truck pulling a camper van was going too fast, and tipped. its a really good thing there was a guardrail there.
We called the dispatcher and told her what was going on and that we've had a lot of issues this trip, we've got to deliver to 4 places, we might get to one of them tonight, might. I'm not stressing about it though, we'll get there when we get there.
I'm gonna go post this while I have a connection, take care guys...will update again soon. luv to you all xoxoxox
We're back in the truck and have our first assigned load for this trip out. We've got 3 pick ups and 4 deliveries going to North Carolina/ South Carolina area.
Thank you for all the wonderful birthday wishes and pressies! We had a wonderful day and a very relaxing weekend yay. We went to the movies on saturday to see "The Golden Compass" which was awesome in case you're wondering. A couple of friends came over and we had bbq ribs, birthday cake and lots of good food. Ended up watching movies, playing a little world of warcraft with our friends and lots of good conversation.
Our next home time will be scheduled for around new years eve, but we'll let you guys know a definate date if anyone wants to call and catch up with us.
At the moment, we're sitting at the terminal waiting for our trailer to come out of the truckwash, too bad they didn't our truck in there with it - its looking a little grubby, oh well maybe they'll do it next time we're here.
One of the house mates taught me how to make this really yummy chanukah food called "Latke's" they're like potato fritters/hash browns. It was a lot of fun, she even let me make the batch of them one night. I really enjoyed it because as we were making them she was sharing stories from chanukah celebrations with her family when she was younger and telling me about various traditions that her family did.
Thursday 13th December:
I was meaning to post Tuesday's entry right away but once we finally got our trailer and left the yard it was chaotic at best, the first place we had to pick up from had machine breakdowns so there was a back up of about 6 trucks before us so we had a long wait. Then we made it to the second place (there was no hope for the 3rd because they'd already closed up), only to find out they had a back up as well - we waited 2 hours there for 1 roll of paper to be loaded on. Because of bad weather we ended up parking in wisconsin that night, and got told that we could pick the last part up wednesday morning before we left...so we did and eventually got on our way.
Last night we drove until late, had to run inside and have a quick dinner before bed, we were up again early this morning, but have had to stop due to bad weather/slick roads and hubby being tired so he's having a quick nap before we continue on our way.
To top it all off? i'm coming down with a cold/flu or something. My entire body is aching, i'm sniffly, have a really sore throat (i think i've got an inflamed tonsil or gland cos one side of my throat is a bit more sore than the other). It sucks but i'll get through it. I'm taking vitamins, using anti-bacterial gel on my hands whenever i go anywhere, drinking plenty of water and trying to sleep as much as i can.
In other odd news, we saw a total of 3 semi's in ditches due to bad weather, and people not being careful. tsk tsk you'd think people would learn by now huh?
Took some photos in wisconsin on tuesday/wednesday morning so i'll upload those if i get a chance tonight. Its looking like a busy night because we're a few hours behind and we've got to try to deliver at least one part of the four tonight.
Right now though, we're back on the road. The roads are a lot better.
....about 4 hours later. Well, we just got caught in traffic for about an hour due to a car accident in the mountains in Tennessee. I don't think anyone was killed thank goodness, but people were taken away in ambulances. We happened upon it about 5 minutes after it happened, the cops hadn't even arrived on scene when we caught up with the back up. I hope everyone is okay. Turns out that a pick up truck pulling a camper van was going too fast, and tipped. its a really good thing there was a guardrail there.
We called the dispatcher and told her what was going on and that we've had a lot of issues this trip, we've got to deliver to 4 places, we might get to one of them tonight, might. I'm not stressing about it though, we'll get there when we get there.
I'm gonna go post this while I have a connection, take care guys...will update again soon. luv to you all xoxoxox
Monday, December 3, 2007
Raining...winter pics from our trip to california
Snow capped mountains in Wyoming
Wind farm in the mountains
Snow drift across the highway in the mountains.
Mountainous area in Wyoming or Nevada, i'm not entirely sure which.
Donner Pass on the way to California, This was taken at the summit... the whole place was surrounded in mist despite the sunny day it was. The highest point is about 7300ft above sea level!
Donner Pass Summit
Another shot from the rest area at Donner Pass Summit.
Moon showing itself during the daytime, taken in Utah
I really hope you guys enjoyed these photos, and i'm very sorry it took so long to get them uploaded for your enjoyment :) take care guys..have a good one. Now off to catch up on emails and messages!
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Update time from Missouri
Tuesday 27th November:
Today is a pretty huge day over here in America. The state of Maryland was hosting an international peace talk summit between a number of middle eastern countries. Take a wild guess what state Patrick and I had to go through today? Boy was security tight, and we only just barely entered the state before catching a different interstate that took us back out!They ran both us through every list possible, including my maiden name/married name in the immigration lists. Patrick was the one inside dealing with the cops, and apparently some guy in there who was a truck driver probably got arrested - he had a suspended license from new york (3 states over) due to unpaid parking tickets, and he was being really belligerent to the officers who were just trying to do their job.
Besides that fun and games things went really well, we delivered in West Virginia and we're now in Virginia picking up our next load, which is going to Illinois. Shouldn't take us more than a day to get up there, if we leave tomorrow about 5am. Dinner tonight will probably be a combination of peanut butter sandwiches or ham sandwiches (thank goodness we got the cooler a few months ago) and rice cakes. Its all good though, we've got plenty to eat in the truck.
I wont be able to post this until we get back to "civilisation" in other words somewhere that has an internet signal.
Only 9 days until we get back to the house yay. I have word that the gift Patrick got me for my Birthday/Yule has arrived at the house! i'm so excited, although I have to confess, I do know what it is because I gave him the idea for it and did the research for a good price on it. What is it? a digital camera! my currently one has been dying a sporadic death for awhile now, and Patrick knows how much I love photography so he was happy to get me one.
Saturday 1st December:
Whoops, I'm about a week behind on all this blog stuff and replying to emails...sorry!
Things are going well. We've been to Illinois, Wisconsin and we're now on our way to Arkansas where we are set to deliver tomorrow morning. Unfortunately it meant we hit part of the snow and ice storm heading its way towards Wisconsin, but it only lasted for 30 minutes or so and then we were clear of it. The area we're parking up in tonight will have slightly gusty weather but most of that isn't set to hit until tonight, after we're parked. So no need to worry about it.
I'm hoping that our destination tonight will have high speed internet so I can finally get those photos uploaded here.
The one thing I realised today is that its amazing how many idiots there are on the road in such a short space like say over 20 minutes. There were 3 major accidents and 4 minor along the same stretch of road where we encountered the ice storm. As far as I know everyone survived, but boy were the police and ambulances busy. You'd think that after seeing the state of say the SUV that had rolled over that they'd slow down and stop changing lanes like nutters but no, pat happened to look in his rear vision mirror and saw a guy race out into the left lane and spin around, landing in the grassy median facing the opposite way of traffic (yep he was fine and was damn lucky he didn't end up skidding across the median into the traffic on the other side).
Only a few more days until we get back to the house yay, got a lot of stuff to do and only a few days to do it in but its all good, especially since its our birthdays next Saturday *insert happy dance here*.
A few hours later...
Its now about 6pm here, and we've been parked at our destination for a little over 3 hours which was nice. Got to spend a bit of time reading before dinner. Just got back from dinner actually, and I'm about to post this. Unfortunately our connection is really slow here, so I'll try tomorrow for posting those photos - I promise I haven't forgotten about it. The connection here is worse than dial up, which can be slow on the best of days, this connection has trouble signing into emails! thats how slow it is. Oh well, its only until early tomorrow morning when we head off to our delivery destination.
Today is a pretty huge day over here in America. The state of Maryland was hosting an international peace talk summit between a number of middle eastern countries. Take a wild guess what state Patrick and I had to go through today? Boy was security tight, and we only just barely entered the state before catching a different interstate that took us back out!They ran both us through every list possible, including my maiden name/married name in the immigration lists. Patrick was the one inside dealing with the cops, and apparently some guy in there who was a truck driver probably got arrested - he had a suspended license from new york (3 states over) due to unpaid parking tickets, and he was being really belligerent to the officers who were just trying to do their job.
Besides that fun and games things went really well, we delivered in West Virginia and we're now in Virginia picking up our next load, which is going to Illinois. Shouldn't take us more than a day to get up there, if we leave tomorrow about 5am. Dinner tonight will probably be a combination of peanut butter sandwiches or ham sandwiches (thank goodness we got the cooler a few months ago) and rice cakes. Its all good though, we've got plenty to eat in the truck.
I wont be able to post this until we get back to "civilisation" in other words somewhere that has an internet signal.
Only 9 days until we get back to the house yay. I have word that the gift Patrick got me for my Birthday/Yule has arrived at the house! i'm so excited, although I have to confess, I do know what it is because I gave him the idea for it and did the research for a good price on it. What is it? a digital camera! my currently one has been dying a sporadic death for awhile now, and Patrick knows how much I love photography so he was happy to get me one.
Saturday 1st December:
Whoops, I'm about a week behind on all this blog stuff and replying to emails...sorry!
Things are going well. We've been to Illinois, Wisconsin and we're now on our way to Arkansas where we are set to deliver tomorrow morning. Unfortunately it meant we hit part of the snow and ice storm heading its way towards Wisconsin, but it only lasted for 30 minutes or so and then we were clear of it. The area we're parking up in tonight will have slightly gusty weather but most of that isn't set to hit until tonight, after we're parked. So no need to worry about it.
I'm hoping that our destination tonight will have high speed internet so I can finally get those photos uploaded here.
The one thing I realised today is that its amazing how many idiots there are on the road in such a short space like say over 20 minutes. There were 3 major accidents and 4 minor along the same stretch of road where we encountered the ice storm. As far as I know everyone survived, but boy were the police and ambulances busy. You'd think that after seeing the state of say the SUV that had rolled over that they'd slow down and stop changing lanes like nutters but no, pat happened to look in his rear vision mirror and saw a guy race out into the left lane and spin around, landing in the grassy median facing the opposite way of traffic (yep he was fine and was damn lucky he didn't end up skidding across the median into the traffic on the other side).
Only a few more days until we get back to the house yay, got a lot of stuff to do and only a few days to do it in but its all good, especially since its our birthdays next Saturday *insert happy dance here*.
A few hours later...
Its now about 6pm here, and we've been parked at our destination for a little over 3 hours which was nice. Got to spend a bit of time reading before dinner. Just got back from dinner actually, and I'm about to post this. Unfortunately our connection is really slow here, so I'll try tomorrow for posting those photos - I promise I haven't forgotten about it. The connection here is worse than dial up, which can be slow on the best of days, this connection has trouble signing into emails! thats how slow it is. Oh well, its only until early tomorrow morning when we head off to our delivery destination.
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