Wife Travels with me for a week
I finally reached the end of my probationary period and I was allowed to take my wife out with me for a week. It does get interesting having her along. She is helpful in making me meals and reading the maps/directions. I enjoy her company. We do get on each others' nerves occassionally, but who wouldn't being stuck inside a 9 by 12 foot truck cabin for an entire week together. We don't spend this much time together when we are at home! All in all, I have enjoyed having her with me, but it is not something that she would like to do all the time, so it will be solo driving for me until we get to the point where we buy our motor home and travel the country together. She will have more room in the back of the motor home and can enjoy herself while I am driving down the road. By the time we complete this trip, we will have traveled a total of about 4,500 miles together in the truck. Below is her story about the trip. Her name is Deb.
This is Rick's wife, Debbie. I agreed to ride along with him for a week. I am currently unemployed, having been laid off a month ago. So, I had the free time, and he wanted me to go, so I went.
He asked me where I would like to go, and I said Texas would be nice. I knew he had deliveries there in Atlanta, Texas, so we figured it would be a good chance we would go there.
Well, he got his assignment for 3 different deliveries in Texas - El Paso, Edinburg, San Antonio, and then we stop in Atlanta, Texas to pick up a load to take to Ohio. El Paso is right on the border of Mexico in the western part of the state, and Edinburg is one of the southernmost cities in Texas, and San Antonio is near the middle of the state, and Atlanta is on the east side of Texas.
I knew that Rick worked very hard at his job, but knowing that and experiencing it are two different things! It is a constant race with the clock to be a truck driver. He must log everything he does - when he stops for a break, when he starts driving, when he goes to sleep, etc. Everytime we stop for a break, he must make an entry in his logbook before we start back up again. The paperwork in this job is unreal! But it is necessary. He also must make an inspection of the truck before we start back driving - check the tires, the hitch, etc.
He puts in very long days - his day is 14 hours long! 11 hours of driving and 3 hours for breaks. Then he is required to take a 10 hour break. We have been going to bed anywhere from 2-4am every day and getting about 6 hrs of sleep,
getting showered, breakfast, and then starting all over again. I don't know how he does this every week - it is a very tiring job, and it is also very monotonous. But, he really enjoys it.
Another thing to get used to is the actual ride of the truck. It is VERY bumpy! You feel every bump in the road. I have been on my laptop alot of the time, and it is kinda hard to type with all the motion. I was communicating my friend, Sarah, on AIM, and alot of my words were garbled because I would try to hit one key and would end up hitting another, or even missing that key altogether! lol!
OK, enough about the mechanics of the trip - I also wanted to write about things that we saw here in this beautiful state.
I always heard that Texas is a big state, but believe me, it is HUGE! It took us 2 days to drive from El Paso to Edinburg. But along the way, we have seen some really nice scenery. We actually had to drive into New Mexico to get to El Paso.
This was the first time for each of to be in this state. It is very beautiful. We have seen some beautiful mountain ranges - the mountains are so different than what we have near Ohio/Kentucky/WV areas. The mountains in Texas aren't covered in large trees, but covered in cactus and rocks.
We also saw several herds of antelope - they are so pretty! I tried to take a picture of them, but it is hard to do from a truck window when you are driving at 60 mph! lol! Due to the schedule, we were unable to stop to take pics.
One thing that we saw that we thought was so amazing were dust devils! I had never heard of them before. Here is a link to see what they look like -
http://www.gc.maricopa.edu/earthsci/imagearchive/dust_devils.htm and a video of them - http://www.animalu.com/pics/dd1.htm. They travel quite a distance and throw dirt everywhere.
More unusual observations about Texas:
The speed limit:
The speed limit is 80 mph in some areas!! That is insane! It is 65 at night. And there are no cops on the long open stretches. I guess they figure if someone is stupid enough to go faster than 80 mph, then they deserve to get in an accident. lol! We were unable to go faster than about 63 mph due to the thingys they have on the engines to limit their speed. I forget what they are called.
Flat stretches of land:
In some areas of the state, it is so flat that you can see for what seems to be 20 miles away! There are no trees, buildings, or anything to block your view. This is amazing to me. In Ohio, you are lucky to be able to see across the street before a shopping center blocks your view.
Miles and miles of nothing:
On the way from El Paso to San Antonio we were on Interstate 10 and there were miles of nothing, and then there would be a house. There was nothing in-between - just cactus. I would hope that there aren't many emergencies out there, because there is no one around to assist!
Windmills:
We passed large windmills that were on the mountains. I believe these massive machines are used to create wind energy? They are so beautiful! Here is what they look like: http://www.palmsprings.com/services/wind.html.
Large crosses:
We saw 3 HUGE crosses in Illinois and in Texas. Here is a link
to one that we saw - http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tips/getAttraction.php3?tip_AttractionNo==4116 and http://www.crossministries.net/. We saw one in the daytime and another one at night. It is more beautiful at night - it almost glows!
Longhorn cattle:
We have cows in Ohio, but not the Texas Longhorn cattle. I wouldn't want to mess with these animals! Check them out here - http://cattle-today.com/Texas%20Longhorn.htm.
Dry environment:
We live in Ohio, which has very high humidity. When we first got to Texas, we were hit with the dry environment. I didn't realize at first what was going on with my eyes - they were constantly dry - which is unusual. I was putting in eyedrops almost every hour! lol! Then we realized it was the lack of humidity. It took a couple of days for our bodies to acclimate to this environment. It is similar to the dry environment that we experienced in Arizona a few years ago - I love the dry air, but it takes a little getting used to.
Living at Walmart?
This is no lie - we stopped at a Walmart in San Antonio and in the parking lot, next to the street, was a house. At first we thought it was just like a museum, or something like that. But, no - it was a real house and someone lived there! It was like Walmart built this superstore around this house? WTF??
Right now, we have made the first three deliveries and are now on the way to Atlanta, TX to pick up a load that goes to Ohio. We should be home this Friday. Yay!!!
Overall, I am glad that I came on the trip - it was very nice to spend time with my hubby, but I will be very glad to get home! It was also nice to see more of this great country of ours.
This is a trip that I will never forget! I really had a great time! It was quite an adventure.
Luv ya, Sweetie! Thanks for letting me tag along!
This is Rick's wife, Debbie. I agreed to ride along with him for a week. I am currently unemployed, having been laid off a month ago. So, I had the free time, and he wanted me to go, so I went.
He asked me where I would like to go, and I said Texas would be nice. I knew he had deliveries there in Atlanta, Texas, so we figured it would be a good chance we would go there.
Well, he got his assignment for 3 different deliveries in Texas - El Paso, Edinburg, San Antonio, and then we stop in Atlanta, Texas to pick up a load to take to Ohio. El Paso is right on the border of Mexico in the western part of the state, and Edinburg is one of the southernmost cities in Texas, and San Antonio is near the middle of the state, and Atlanta is on the east side of Texas.
I knew that Rick worked very hard at his job, but knowing that and experiencing it are two different things! It is a constant race with the clock to be a truck driver. He must log everything he does - when he stops for a break, when he starts driving, when he goes to sleep, etc. Everytime we stop for a break, he must make an entry in his logbook before we start back up again. The paperwork in this job is unreal! But it is necessary. He also must make an inspection of the truck before we start back driving - check the tires, the hitch, etc.
He puts in very long days - his day is 14 hours long! 11 hours of driving and 3 hours for breaks. Then he is required to take a 10 hour break. We have been going to bed anywhere from 2-4am every day and getting about 6 hrs of sleep,
getting showered, breakfast, and then starting all over again. I don't know how he does this every week - it is a very tiring job, and it is also very monotonous. But, he really enjoys it.
Another thing to get used to is the actual ride of the truck. It is VERY bumpy! You feel every bump in the road. I have been on my laptop alot of the time, and it is kinda hard to type with all the motion. I was communicating my friend, Sarah, on AIM, and alot of my words were garbled because I would try to hit one key and would end up hitting another, or even missing that key altogether! lol!
OK, enough about the mechanics of the trip - I also wanted to write about things that we saw here in this beautiful state.
I always heard that Texas is a big state, but believe me, it is HUGE! It took us 2 days to drive from El Paso to Edinburg. But along the way, we have seen some really nice scenery. We actually had to drive into New Mexico to get to El Paso.
This was the first time for each of to be in this state. It is very beautiful. We have seen some beautiful mountain ranges - the mountains are so different than what we have near Ohio/Kentucky/WV areas. The mountains in Texas aren't covered in large trees, but covered in cactus and rocks.
We also saw several herds of antelope - they are so pretty! I tried to take a picture of them, but it is hard to do from a truck window when you are driving at 60 mph! lol! Due to the schedule, we were unable to stop to take pics.
One thing that we saw that we thought was so amazing were dust devils! I had never heard of them before. Here is a link to see what they look like -
http://www.gc.maricopa.edu/earthsci/imagearchive/dust_devils.htm and a video of them - http://www.animalu.com/pics/dd1.htm. They travel quite a distance and throw dirt everywhere.
More unusual observations about Texas:
The speed limit:
The speed limit is 80 mph in some areas!! That is insane! It is 65 at night. And there are no cops on the long open stretches. I guess they figure if someone is stupid enough to go faster than 80 mph, then they deserve to get in an accident. lol! We were unable to go faster than about 63 mph due to the thingys they have on the engines to limit their speed. I forget what they are called.
Flat stretches of land:
In some areas of the state, it is so flat that you can see for what seems to be 20 miles away! There are no trees, buildings, or anything to block your view. This is amazing to me. In Ohio, you are lucky to be able to see across the street before a shopping center blocks your view.
Miles and miles of nothing:
On the way from El Paso to San Antonio we were on Interstate 10 and there were miles of nothing, and then there would be a house. There was nothing in-between - just cactus. I would hope that there aren't many emergencies out there, because there is no one around to assist!
Windmills:
We passed large windmills that were on the mountains. I believe these massive machines are used to create wind energy? They are so beautiful! Here is what they look like: http://www.palmsprings.com/services/wind.html.
Large crosses:
We saw 3 HUGE crosses in Illinois and in Texas. Here is a link
to one that we saw - http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tips/getAttraction.php3?tip_AttractionNo==4116 and http://www.crossministries.net/. We saw one in the daytime and another one at night. It is more beautiful at night - it almost glows!
Longhorn cattle:
We have cows in Ohio, but not the Texas Longhorn cattle. I wouldn't want to mess with these animals! Check them out here - http://cattle-today.com/Texas%20Longhorn.htm.
Dry environment:
We live in Ohio, which has very high humidity. When we first got to Texas, we were hit with the dry environment. I didn't realize at first what was going on with my eyes - they were constantly dry - which is unusual. I was putting in eyedrops almost every hour! lol! Then we realized it was the lack of humidity. It took a couple of days for our bodies to acclimate to this environment. It is similar to the dry environment that we experienced in Arizona a few years ago - I love the dry air, but it takes a little getting used to.
Living at Walmart?
This is no lie - we stopped at a Walmart in San Antonio and in the parking lot, next to the street, was a house. At first we thought it was just like a museum, or something like that. But, no - it was a real house and someone lived there! It was like Walmart built this superstore around this house? WTF??
Right now, we have made the first three deliveries and are now on the way to Atlanta, TX to pick up a load that goes to Ohio. We should be home this Friday. Yay!!!
Overall, I am glad that I came on the trip - it was very nice to spend time with my hubby, but I will be very glad to get home! It was also nice to see more of this great country of ours.
This is a trip that I will never forget! I really had a great time! It was quite an adventure.
Luv ya, Sweetie! Thanks for letting me tag along!
posted by RickSmith | 3:41 PM
1 Comments:
What a nice write up Debbie~ hmmm your entry is so much longer than any of Ricks :) LOL
Post a Comment
<< Home