Tallulah,LA

We are at the Loves, there is a casino. This one is better hidden than the one in NV. Will deliver tomorrow, was able to confirm with Jay that is okay.

The magnolia trees are starting to bloom in MS on I-20. They have planted several trees along the I-20 corridor. Spring is lovely here in the south. Not muggy, but hot enough for the bugs and birds to be out in full force.

Trying to not just think but to also think right is challenging enough for myself sometimes, but to search for the right thing to say, the right encouragement to help someone else to think is certainly a greater challenge. Correct answers are not what I desire. Thinking, creating rational reasoning for making certain choices. I know that is sometimes more than I ask of myself, but "because" and "I don't know" are not rational reasons. I have tried those myself!

Zion Baptist Church

Welcome to Braselton,GA. I sent an email to the leadership of a local church of Christ; however, they did not answer back when I asked if I could park my truck (no trailer) in their lot to attend church. So Charlie and I walked across the freeway via the overpass, crossed the street and walked a total of 1/2 mile. Zion in is the warehouse district. The building has a warehouse appearance from the outside, but the inside is certainly far removed from the image. The drummer was inside a glass walled booth. It even had a roof on it. I reminded Charlie of Animal from the Muppets had to be chained to keep him in line. The imagery proved correct when they started playing. The drummer was good, but wow: An Animal! There were two songs done a cappella, the rest used the entire band. The three woman who sang the a cappella part were fantastic. The rest of the music was good, just it was current hits on the top 20 chart. Therefore minimal input from people over 40, but most were at least lip singing. It is always amazing to me that the instrument becomes the key rather than the words being the key. There is "music" playing right now on the truck that is Charlie's. Although the instruments are louder than I prefer I can most of the time still hear and understand the singers. The lesson had a slight shotgun pattern to it; therefore parts of it were very confusing. A fairly friendly congregation. If Jesse had been here we probably would have gone to lunch with someone! Pick up a load in Norcross at Kraft that delivers in Haslet,TX at the rail yard.

Danvers, MA

After driving from 2 AM several days to driving from midnight today, it was nice this load was finally off the truck. While waiting for it to be off loaded, I checked my email and discovered my pay record. $385-, yes boys and girls that is correct, a negative balance. Over joyed was not the emotion I was thinking of. I examined the settlement closely and discovered they had not included the longest portion of miles: Stockton-Salinas-Terrell, TX. Wow that will make a difference when you are paid by the miles! So contacted Dallas. Oh we found the error, we will pay you tomorrow. That is special. Paula is always paid a day later than me, so she will be paid on Friday instead of Thursday. What fun!

Tonight we are in Sturbridge, MA; unfortunately that does not include enough time to visit the many wonderful sights within this community. Trucking and tourism are not the same thing. Tomorrow pick up a load in Walton,NY with delivery in Norcross,GA. It is irritating because of the hour it is due. Pick up is 5PM and delivery is on the 25th at 7AM. Why can't they think through the delivery a little better?

Today is a great day to curl up in a comfy chair with a great book and maybe have a dream session with my wife. I will have to settle for the book.

Boonville,MO

We are on our way to Danvers,MA. According to the weather map it will be cloudy or rainy virtually everyday. Unfortunately it also means that today when I arrived here at 3:15 PM I need to arise at 1:30 AM to start driving by 2AM. 2AM Monday and Tuesday , then midnight on Wednesday. Hope everyone in MA enjoys the work!

Jess brought up a point of we revert to certain behaviors. I know this to be true in my own, which most often is to revert back to old songs of the church when alone; however, when your personal choices were poor early in life, reverting back is sometimes to put your game face on. You are making some progress toward the direction you say you want to go, but it is all superficial progress.

We did not attend church today. We needed to drive more miles yesterday to have the time today. I am glad that little voice inside my head said stay at Dodge City,KS last night and not drive onward to Newton. The road is a good road, but it is not marked as clearly as one might desire at 11PM with cloud cover. It is almost 6PM, time for bed!

Sitting in Aurora

Our load was changed from Longmont to Aurora. Delivery was changed to 5PM in the afternoon in Aurora. It was snowing a little in Limon; however, here... well let us simply say continuos deluge. They finally brought the snow plow out onto the property here at King Soopers.

Bunkie has decided to leave tobacco. Living a life clean and sober will be a challenge. Certainly part of your prayers.

Received pre plan of a load from KS to MA. It is supposed to deliver on April 22. The miles are nice; however, the weather will certainly add a challenge. No jake brake or no cruise control for the entire trip because of the weather. The multi day forecast shows rain from here to the east coast as we travel. Better rain than the crystalized water we are sitting with currently. They have still not started unloading our trailer, despite sitting here several hours already. Maybe we will enjoy the view of Aurora tonight from the parking lot of King Soopers. I hope we can at least make it back to Limon, but hopefully I can make it to Oakley or Garden City, KS.

A night in Limon,CO

We received a repower load from Lancaster,TX. I scaled out the load only to discover it was 2300 pounds over on the drive axles. Over all the weight was okay; however, it could not be adjusted any further. I was a little nervous, but company said role with it heavy. I wish I had checked the map first. I would have known the weight was okay for Colorado. Instead we wasted valuable time in Lancaster/Dallas area. I was unable to deliver the load today. We found someone who could repower it, so now I am delivering a load tomorrow in Aurora,CO. About 30 miles shorter, oh well, lessons learned.

In the analogy of children to fledglings in the nest, one often hears about the little one's leaving the nest. If you think of your fledglings as sparrows then if they fall out you encourage them to fly, you even risk your life to chase away the cat; however, ultimately it is up to the fledgling to fly. Moving that to eagles we are told they will lift the young up to get them to fly. The point? Which camp do I fall into with my own fledglings? Do I let them "fly," but when they fall only encourage them and attempt to keep somethings of the world off of them or do I rescue them from the perils of life? Sometimes that fine line must be done on an individual basis. Prayerfully I do not attempt to rescue the child that must run among the grass or let fall the child that needs to be lifted up.

Traveling with Charlie

Charlie arrived on the truck Saturday. He was not at the agreed place, I had to collect him in Modesto, but it worked out. We have now traveled to El Paso,TX from Modesto/Salinas. We have not had in depth conversations yet, but we are making progress. Pray for slow and study wins the race. Totally different in so many ways that Jesse.

Heard that Randy dressed as a bunny for the Easter Eggtravaganza. For some reason all I can think of is Gilda Radner on SNL when she would miss understand something and go on and on until corrected. "It is not right for a male minister to wear black stockings, high heels, and a fuzzy bunny tail..." No it is the Easter Bunny. Oh, never mind.

We are on the journey to Terrell,TX. I should be on the yard for the rest of Wednesday and part of Thursday. Then back on the journey.

For those who read this blog, please keep Jesse in your prayers as he learns to surrender to God, Charlie as he learns to truly trust, Christopher that he will have a back bone not just be a follower to every whim, Matthew who is struggling with many issues, for their biological Aunt Kim who was admitted to the hospital for an infection (she suffers from diabetes and does not control it very well) and finally for Paula. Paula fights the good fight one handed. I am thankful we could spend a little more time with each other for my home time. It was wonderful to see Jean.

Lake Point,UT

Just a few miles from SLC at the edge of the Great Salt Lake, is Lake Point. Spending the night at the TA. When entering UT is was selected at the way station for a complete DOT inspection. I passed, my log books/paperwork passed, my trailer passed; however, my truck did not. Left rear light was out so was issued a simple fixit ticket. Better than the fixit tickets in CA. When I arrived at the TA I thought simple process: just unscrew a few things, replace the bulb and be done with it. Not so lucky. Kenworth designed the lights to be a one unit replacement part. Did I mention they do not make the lights anymore? So I will stop at the Kenworth dealer in Sparks,NV tomorrow to have the wiring harness and both lights replaced. Supposedly this is a Kenworth replacement item. We'll see.

Charlie called yesterday. He sounds excited to come onto the truck. We will surely need to be added to the prayer list on Saturday night! I so desperately desire to be used by God so Charlie can see the bigger picture: God Loves you and wants to have a relationship with you.

Altoona,IA

Spent the night in Walcott,IA at "the world's largest truck stop." Free WiFi (most truck stops charge ridiculous fees) huge shopping area for truckers, trucks on display, several restaurants and wonderful showers. I should have stayed put. I drove to Altoona. The truck stop is very nice, very clean; however, the WiFi does not work consistently and the ATT connection is 2.5G at best. This is the worst weather I have been in so far. I shut the truck down. Poor visibility, blowing snow and consistently falling snow made stopping an easy choice. However, stopping was not easy. Ten brakes covered with lots of snow do not like to stop as quickly as ten dry brakes. I did not create a problem for myself since I was using good following distance, but still; when you apply the brakes and go for twice the normal distance before anything even begins to slow down, it is not fun.

Read online article in LA paper about truck accident where the trucker came down a hill to fast, could not stop and killed people in the intersection. Today the same paper has an article on the FBI tracking serial killers believed to be truckers. Certainly makes on want to choose where to stop more carefully.

Today is Sunday. Should have stayed in Walcott and attended Truckers Chapel. Did I mention the showers?

Best laid plans

Dropped load in Indianapolis, drove just out of town to a TA, when they called asking if I would go back to where I had been to verify a trailer was at a specific location. I did and went back to the TA. Then they give me load from Chicago to French Camp. So finish my dinner and drive to Chicago. Get there with an hour to spare before my 14 hour clock expires. "Sorry that load will not be ready until Monday." So contact Stevens...and at 1230AM Stevens calls back to inform me they confirmed with Nabisco that the load would not be ready until Monday. So he worked the books and got me a load that delivers on Thursday in Tracy from Champaign,IL. So dead head in the morning then drive. Yeah.

So here I sit on the edge of Chicago. Not the best way to travel the globe.