Here, There and Everywhere

Its been several days since I've updated. So much going on and places I've been.......I will need to gather some notes to give you accurate information. I can tell you a couple of things I would put in the travail category - this job is not for sissies. It is hard, mentally and physically. I have run across some of the rudest people and those that seem to have nothing but contempt for the professional driver. I have been very surprised that this same type of "attitude" exist among the community of drivers as well. I had made an assumption that there was a kinship of sorts. At first I thought that maybe it was due to my gender but in speaking with few drivers I have found that the overall atmosphere has changed with those seasoned drivers due to all the government regulations and the economy. It seems that people have to work twice as hard to find work (trips and loads) and there is a bit of resentment for the new driver coming into the industry. Those I have spoken with say that drivers don't help other drivers the way they used too. Even customers treat drivers with contempt. I guess I shouldn't be surprised with that fact. The upper management of the last company I worked with treated the drivers in a way that was simply offensive to me. I have never thought of myself as being "above someone" and have no respect for tose that do.
I don't want to focus on the negatives as there are so many wonderful things I have experienced. Since the last post on 5/18 - I have been to CO where I experienced a wild hail storm. It was amazing and the ground was completely covered. Upon entering CO the weather was rainy and foggy so I wasn't able to see the mountaines as I had hoped to see. I was stunned to see some of the flat, neverending countryside in CO. It went on forever. There were also oil and water drilling wells. These were truely fascinating.
My next stop caught me completely off guard. IOWA. I had no idea of the incredible beauty to be found in this state. There are unbelieveable rolling hills that were lush green. The beauty was breathtaking and non stop. I saw farms of windmills/turbines that were fascinating. All I wanted to do was stop and just soak in this beauty. Unfortunately, no time to stop. We went back through KS where we stopped for the night in Topeka. You know the song "I Left My Heart in San Fransico" - Well - I left my cell phone in Topeka KS. I have no idea what happened or where it could possible be. I do know that losing that was tremendously tramatic. I am hundreds of miles away from everything and everyone that provides me security. I have never felt so isolated in my life. So - if you have tried to follow my adventures and found no post - this is why. My phone was my only way to post my travels as well.
This brings you up to date as of 5/21.

Kansas

Today was interesting. I began seeing this beautiful country of our. We left MO and drove to Kansas. I saw some spectcular countryside. The lush green fields and distant hills made for a breathtaking ride. I took some pictures to share with you but can't them to post. Ya know you have to be smarter than the blog to be a successful blogger. I guess that doesn't require further comment. :-)
A couple a great "trucker" stuff. Got to move my tandems back and then forward after the trailer was loaded. If you haven't ever "moved your tandems" you simply don't know what you are missing. LOL
Tomorrow we head to Colorado. I am super excited. Cindy,I know you must relate to my excitement. One thing in this job I have found - all my logs have to be recorded in my "home terminal" time zone which of course is EST, but today I was working in CST and tomorrow I will be working in MST. Heavens. I have clocks and watches set in 3 different time zones. I guess this gives a new meaning to not knowing if you are coming or going.
Hope to bring you a CO update later.
Keeping it between the lines! ;-)

The Journey Begins

The bus ride was - interesting. This is all new for me so the learning curve is high. I changed buses in Nashville where I had a 1.5 hr layover. Had it not been for the kindness of strangers, my luggage would still be on the curb. I had no clue that they wouldn't transfer it for you. Nashville was total chaos. The line for my next stop - St Louis -wound around nearly the entire interior of the terminal. I found people more than willing to show you to the end of the line.
I did have some entertainment while waiting. Seems tbe checkout lady at the snack/gift shop didn't respond exactly the way a "very loud" angry customer thought she should. All I did was pray there wouldn't be gun fire. The police were called and the situaton brought under control. There were so many passengers for St Louis it required 2 buses. As luck would have it, I was the last person to board the FULL bus. With no seats to choose from - you have to know where I'm going with this - my seat was directly in front of a bratty four year old that was wildly kicking the back of the seat and the foul mouthed Mother that threatened repeatdly to "kick your f....in ass" if you don't stop doing that. Now I KNOW I'm in HELL. Let's see - 14 hours of this and I'll be ready for a padded room. Well finally the little "angel" fell asleep. Everything was calm and quiet for about 5 minutes until Mom got on the phone. She talked - loudly - for close to an hour. I dozed for a short time and then there was a bump in the road that was a scheduled. I traveled through some type of time warp into another Galaxy. This leg of the journey became tolerable and peaceful until daylight which was about 5am CST.
We got into St Louis and guess what I saw? The arch! It was awesome! Had it not been raining so hard I would have taken a couple pictures, but it was a site I won't forget.
I'm now on the final leg of this trip and should be arriving in Kansas City in about 4 hours. More to come......

# Travels vs # Travails

We're going to have to put this week in the Travails column. I have progressed to Chattanooga and the Greyhound bus station. Yep - Lord help me - didn't even know these places still existed. My bus leaves tonight @ 9:30 and should arrive in Kansas City by noon tomorrow. My new trainer will meet me there and take me to a hotel where I can shower and get some sleep. My training should begin with our first assignment on Monday morning. Don't know where but I'm excited and will update you later. I just know sitting in the Tunnel Hill/Dalton terminal was wearing on me.

Still in Georgia

Well I'm still in Dalton awaiting my assignment. Today was some final paperwork and drugtest. They say I should be ready t o "rock n roll" tomorrow. (For you non-truckers that means hit the road - ha ha). I hope things will get underway tomorrow and I will have something interesting to share.

It All Began:

Since I was a child, the "BIG TRUCKS" have always fascinated me. While I loved dolls and all the "girly" things, I loved trucks and playing with miniature cars. On family road trips, I would make the universal gesture of asking for a horn blow from the big rig. Generally, the kind driver would oblige with a quick "HONK" and my day would be made. I dreamed of one day begin the driver of that BIG TRUCK and creating such joy to another child with such a small gesture. This dream would remain a secret for decades. One day, I heard of a truck driving school. Thinking this was such a long shot, I decided to investigate. On a lark, I applied and before I could even think of what I had done, I had a call from the school and a recruiter on my doorstep. It was at this point that I realized that this long ago dream could somehow become a reality and I would share this with some family members to get a gauge of what they thought.
As always, Randy was supportive. I guess you can't be married to me for over 30 years and not learn to expect the total "unexpected". He told me to go for it and that he would support my every decision. Well the others were a little less, shall I say, easy going about it. Most said - - - "YOU WANT TO DO WHAT!!!!!!" I can't say that I blame them, this did come from out of the blue, but they too thought I should go for it. I am not sure that they believed this would go much further than talk but....more on that later.
At the time of this craziness, Greg was in the toughest parts of his battle against cancer. My God what a courageous person he was. To be just half the person he was would be a nearly impossible feat. After the shock of my announcement Greg and Cindy were both extra supportive. I believe their lives had been put on hold for so many years - to see someone have a true goal and dream - they believed in me with everything they had and it was so obvious. Greg always made me feel like I could do anything....sure had him fooled, as he was the one that could take on anything ever thrown at him and be a tremendous success and this turned out to be the case time after time, event after event and challenge upon challenge.
And so.....I went forward with the application process. I scored very high on their placement and was thrilled. The only problem was the school was in VA. Since I would continue to work, my only option was to go to school on the weekend. With this in mind and the school length of 10 weeks, both Saturday and Sunday I could see problems immediately. I took a ride up to the school just to see the distance and surrounding area. I would either have to make the 6 hour round trip or rent a room for one night each weekend. Neither option sounded good to me and I could see this becoming a dream unrealized. As I was pondering my choices, Greg's health continued to decline and I also began to have more and more doubts about the time that would be dedicated to something when what was REALLY important was here with Greg. God had given us what seemed to be such a short time with him and I couldn't imagine missing time that could be spent in pursuit of a selfish silly thought that I could be a driver. I told Greg that I had decided to put my thoughts of school on hold for just a short time. Little did I know how this would effect him. He felt that he had deprived me of the one goal I had. He blamed himself for me not going full speed. I tried to tell him that I had to be true to my own heart and my heart told me that this was not right, not now. Regardless, Greg took the full blame upon himself.
Greg and I had a talk and he told me that I should follow my dreams. He said he realized that life was too short to stay in a job which made me miserable and have unfulfilled dreams. He said that if he only had more time.....it made sense to me. We get one shot and one only. Greg was right, I had to follow my dream. But, I had to listen to my heart to tell me when the time would be right. Shortly after this, my precious brother lost his battle with cancer. I believe with my heart and soul that God told me through a heavy heart to hold off on this schooling. My family was so much more important. I am so happy I had those last months with Greg although I will never forgive myself for him dying with guilt that he was at fault for my holding off on school.
I am a firm believer that there are things that happen for a reason. That square pegs do not go into round holes regardless of how much you want them to.
After Greg's death I found out about another Truck Driving School that was - get this - 3 miles from my house!!!! It was also a 10 week course that I could do on the weekends. This was an answer to my prayers. If only Greg had lived to see that this could actually happen like he wanted. I checked into this school and was received with open arms.
What a journey this has been for me. Through all of school and the sacrifices my family has made by loosing me for seven days a week for months - the dream is now coming true. This week I begin a new chapter in my life. This new chapter is the reason for this blog. I want to share this with all my family and friends, those that are just curious as to what the heck this 50+ year old woman is thinking to do this, to my close friends that have never wavered in their belief in me and to my family that continue to be my cheering section and constant support system. I am scared beyond anything I could ever tell you and yet excited about the future and what it holds. I know that I want you all to be a part of it.
And so the story continues..............................................