The past couple weeks have been a combination of two things – work and play. First came a week of work. After driving from Omaha to Washington D.C., we made it down to Dallas, Texas to pick up a show headed out west. We let the company know we had decided to take a few days off in Vegas so they wouldn’t bother trying to keep us busy with any other work. From Dallas we headed toward San Francisco and were able to just drop off the trailer. That was Tuesday morning and by Tuesday afternoon we were in Vegas having dinner with family. It had been since we left New Year’s Eve that we had been able to spend any length of time there. Our work behind us, we were finally able to play. We had a chance to visit with both our nieces, Allison – who just graduated from high school, and her sister Emma – a happy little two-year-old who made us laugh often. In addition, my step-mom Gerry was there visiting from Minnesota and in town for the graduation. With my brother Steve and his girlfriend, Francis, we had a whole house full of people. We played a lot of card games, and even a game of Clue for old time’s sake – and everyday we’d get in the pool. At 105 degrees, it sure felt good. I was able to get to a doctor’s appointment where I learned how much giving up my Coke habit and walking in the sweltering heat this month had paid off in the form of nine pounds being shed. After all the great meals we had this week, I’m going to have to double up on my walking to make up for it. Too bad we couldn’t stay longer but all good things must come to and end. We left for southern California last night and that’s where we are hanging out today. We are driving from Costa Mesa, California to Vienna, Virginia tonight and taking ‘Mamma Mia’ with us.
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In the past week our path has gone from Louisville, to Joplin, to Omaha, and finally to Washington D.C. Once we finished the trip to Louisville, our next destination was really Omaha. We had a few extra days and took the opportunity to go a bit out of route down to Joplin, Missouri to pick up the big storage box – or headache rack as we say in trucker lingo – which had been custom made to fit Big Red. We were in the shop for two days while they made the modifications and necessary changes needed to install this big 700 lb. box around our back door. It adds a plethora of extra room for anything we may want to carry along with us. In fact, it has more room than we currently have stuff to fill it with. I’m giving some serious thought to picking up my sewing machine and my keyboard on our next trip to our storage trailer. I bet I can make room for them both somewhere. Jorge has an idea to make a pull-out bbq on one of the shelves so he can just go out the back door, stand on the ‘porch’, and whip up some dinner on the grill. I am NOT opposed to that idea at all but the logistics of making it happen may leave that more of just a dream than a reality. In any case, it will open up a few new opportunities and possibilities for us, as well as likely expand Jorge’s collection of tools. Before we left Joplin, enroute to Omaha, we made a little circle thru the town. We had watched the pictures on the news and as bad as it looked there, we were not prepared to see the amount of devastation that Joplin, Missouri had experienced. We took a few pictures but that didn’t begin to show the vast area just completely demolished from last month’s tornado that hit the city. There were still people picking thru what was left of their property. Meanwhile work crews were out in force just scooping up what had been recently been homes and businesses and tossing them into the backs of the trucks that would carry it off to the dump. It was very hard to look at. Back up in Omaha we had a couple days to relax before the next trip. We found a quiet spot to hang out with some friends and even threw together a fantastic bbq with some of the other drivers. A trucker’s bbq has to have plenty of room for parking the big trucks and plenty of nice grass for all the dogs to play in. We found that behind a Shopko store. Jorge removed the cover of our huge generator, covered it with a tablecloth, and lo and behold, we had a serving table. It was all very nice and lots of fun until the mosquitoes finally put an end to it. Finally back to work, we picked up ‘Wicked’ in Omaha and twenty-four hours later we were parking in front of the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. We were hoping to be there awhile so we could check out the surrounding area but unfortunately they unloaded us quickly and soon enough we were back in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania dropping off our empty trailer. Before parting ways with our traveling buddies, Don and Dale last night, we met up at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants to celebrate Dale’s birthday. They are heading back to their Florida home for a couple weeks off, while we continue our travels and head toward Dallas. We have until Sunday to get there so we will be taking our sweet time getting there. It’s been so nice to be in the cool northern temperatures - even sleeping with the windows open the past week- and I’m in no hurry to get back to the Texas heat. We made our delivery in Pittsburgh this week and from there it was back to New Orleans. With summer in full swing, it was a long hot ride. The trip was made fun by traveling along with our friends, Don and Dale, who were also headed to the same destination. One day we stopped along the way in Kentucky for a barbeque. Except for the heat, it was a nice time and the dogs loved their free time and exercise out of the truck too. We took a detour and some backroads thru Tennessee and went out of our way to get to a chrome shop in West Memphis, Arkansas. Jorge and Don were like two kids in a candy shop in that place but by the time we got done there, we both had various new chrome pieces installed. Notice the new mudflap chrome, license plate light, and a new license plate. If we get any more lights on the back we'll look like a fire truck. We already have strobe lights on it. (these two pictures will enlarge if you click on them) Yesterday we were almost to New Orleans when we decided to stop at a campground for the night. We'd heard that other drivers have ventured into rv parks before but this was the first time we ever did it. It made good sense though. We had a whole day before we had to be at the theater and running the generator nonstop for a/c is actually more expensive than parking at a campground and plugging in to their electricity. We did attract a bit of attention with our pretty trucks from our neighbors. It’s amazing how many people live in a campground on a permanent basis. I guess it’s one way to own your home without having to pay property taxes. We discovered an excellent catfish restaurant right next door so we walked over there for supper. Today we are in New Orleans, waiting for our trailer to finish getting loaded. The theater is only two blocks from the French Quarter so Jorge and I took a walk over there for a bit. Such cool old buildings but it’s a shame the place is just as dirty as it was when we went to Mardi Gras several years ago. Jorge washed the bottoms of our shoes with alcohol before we got back into the truck. That’s bad. In all the heat and humidity this week, I have to pat ourselves on the back a bit. Dale, Jorge, and I got up every morning and walked a mile or two every day this week before we started driving. In addition to that, Jorge and I have kicked our Coke habit. Coca-cola, that is. We are about three weeks into that. I guess we figured it was time to get up and get moving and time to make wiser choices in our eating habits. Our sedentary lifestyle can be a bit unhealthy so we’re trying to nip that in the bud. I’m working on how I can get a bicycle on board next. I'll spare you any pictures of us sweating profusely. Tonight we are off to Louisville. We’ll leave New Orleans in the wee hours of Monday morning and deliver it in Kentucky later the same afternoon. |