last post.......

as i said, it was very cold.....even down to -4 degrees!

this may very well be our last post....marc and i are pretty much done with trucking for now. the whole experience has been quite hard on our relationship, as well as dangerous! just this last week, we had a run from chicago to boise....right through a very cold arctic storm that swept through illinois, iowa, nebraska and wyoming. it took us 5 hours just to get out of illinois, after which we sat at a truck stop in iowa for 24 hours, waiting for road crews to sand the icy roads. once we started rolling, we saw 151 vehicles wrecked off the interstate, including 18 semi trucks! it was unbelievable...and a wake up call that it could have happened to us! here are a few of the many accidents we saw....

                                            not us, but it could have been.....

christmas in nashville...

we were able to spend one week in nashville with marc's daughters and son in law....sarah, stephanie and ben. we had a great time, though it was VERY cold for nashville! our truck didn't want to run when it was time to leave.  while there, we surprised little stuart with a spiderman bike for christmas. here are some pics of marc helping stu ride his new bike!

karl's "snow wear"

Yes, annie, karl does have a "coat" for the really cold weather....only it's a little tight. (we can't do up the velcro underneath.)...but still, it keeps him warm. he is so funny when we go out in the snow...barely walks anywhere. he pretty much just stands in one spot, pees, and waits for me to pick him up!

it's COLD here!!

marc on the computer, dreaming of mexico!!

sitting at the dock, getting loaded with Sun laundry detergent.....(i know, exciting.)

everything was covered with frost.....brrrrr.

we were dispatched to salt lake city, and ended up staying one extra day....which was nice because we got to see jace and jackson. we couldn't get up to see breck, being confined to "truck routing"...and figured that she wouldn't enjoy "hauling the kids" down to the west side of town where we were staying . it was soooo cold while we were here, with temps down into the teens. even chubby karl didn't want to spend much time sniffing the frozen tundra.

double duty...

the great mississippi river!

new orleans....another big city, only this one is on the water.

i made marc drive the other truck, and i followed him in our truck....(because you never know where someone else's hands have been.....marc sanitized thoroughly after the drive!)

so marc and i had to go do a "recovery"....which means that you pick up and drive another person's truck that has been abandoned for whatever reason. this particular truck and trailer were confiscated by the police after they were called to a truck stop for a "fight between truckers". we found out that the owner of this truck had been having a bad day, and for whatever reason, attacked the guy next to him with the window squeegee that is provided for us to clean our windshields. they are on a 6' handle, but other than that, just a squeegee. so the driver ended up in jail with assault charges, and we had to go get his truck out of hock at the yard, and drive it to a storage yard. (this happened in louisiana, so the tow charge was ONLY $335....which is cheap compared to most states.)

chili anyone??

chopping "les onions"!

marc holding the pot so it doesn't spill as i drive.

lots of yummy "secret stuff" goes in his chili!

marc decided to make some "homemade chili".....well, as much as it can be done in a truck! he bought the ingredients, chopped up some onion, and added lots of spice into our mini crockpot. it actually turned out quite tasty, and was such a nice change from all the truck stop and restaurant food that we usually eat. i miss the freedom of being able to go for a run.....and he misses having a real kitchen to create tasty meals in.

the lost photos!

endless fields of corn in iowa...

low flying planes as we deliver to fedex in atlanta.

st. louis arch (people actually go up  in the thing via little trams)....."no thanks!"

hershey, pennsylvania.....where even the light posts are chocolate kisses.

rural west virginia

not sure what happened to the other five photos i thought i uploaded to my blog, but i will once again try to put them on!  right now we're down in rainy florida, waiting for a load to leave this muggy place!