Days 26, 27, and 28

I did it again! Three days with no blogging. But it should be easier this time, as nothing of interest has occurred in the last three days. Very surprising, as I really thought I would see something good in Florida.

I remember waking up in Georgia, near Florida on Sunday morning and it was hotter than blue blazes. I had a lot of work so I hauled all my work garb into the truck stop and set up camp in the truckers telephone lounge. Very nice. It was hot, uncomfortable, and cramped, but I managed to work for about two and a half hours before it was time to leave. We drove and drove. We stopped in Ft. Pierce Florida and decided to stay in a motel so I could work some more. We stopped at a Motel 6 because it was cheap and had truck parking. Well, I will just say it was an experience, and not the good kind. We made it through the night and at check out, I complained about the situation and was granted a gift certificate for a free night stay anywhere in the country. HMMM, could come in handy! Off we went. We made it to our delivery at Publix in Deerfield Beach and headed back toward Orlando for another pick up there going to Covington Georgia, just outside Atlanta. We decided to go ahead and use our free night stay. We stopped about one hour shy of Orlando and had a much better situation, as far as the room anyway. We slept good but had to get up early. Twice I have been through Orlando in the past couple of days, two different routes, and I have yet to get so much as a glimpse of Disney World. I am not sure it exists.

We picked up glass of all things in Orlando and headed for Georgia. We made it to Covington about midnight tonight, Tuesday. We will sleep here in the parking lot until our 7:00 a.m. delivery and then head HOME about 10:00 a.m. or so. I am so ready to be at home. Again, not because I am miserable. I really enjoy this traveling, but when home time is so close, I get really excited for it. I am staying home this next trip. I have a lot of things to do at home and I am ready to stretch my legs and sprawl out in my own BIG bed for a change. Me (not petite), Bigfoot (less petite), and Sparkle (slightly smaller) trying to sleep in a twin bed gets a little too cozy! I am sure Sparkle will appreciate some home time, too.

I took no pictures, if you can believe it. We saw absolutely nothing of interest the entire trip to Florida. No ocean, no alligators, no Disney, no pretty flowers, no oranges in the groves. Just boring interstate. A big let down.

And I had another big let down yesterday. When I learned of our trip to Florida, I looked up where my cousin Steve and his family live near St. Petersburg to see if we were going to be passing close by. Nope. Then, I talked to him yesterday only to find out that not only does he NOT live in St. Petersburg, he lives in Ft. Pierce, which is exactly where we spent that first night. We were right in the same town and I did not know it. We could have visited with him and Rachel and Evan while we were in town. I am SO enormously disappointed. Someday, I will learn to listen to my momma. She told me to make sure I was right about where they lived and I did not do it because I KNEW I was right. Sigh!

I will blog about Wednesday, and then maybe during home time, if I do anything blog-worthy. I hope I don't lose any "passengers" while I am home. I will send an email about when I am leaving out again so you can ride along again on the next big adventure!

Day 25

We woke up this morning near the Kentucky/Tennessee state line. We grabbed a bite to eat and drove toward Nashville for our trek to Deerfield Florida. But along the way, we did stop in Nashville for a quick visit with my BEST FRIEND IN THE WHOLE WORLD, Susan. She and her husband, Guy, met us at a truck stop and we got to visit for about an hour. It was too short, but it was still just the best thing to get to see her. It has been TOO long. She loaded us up with lots and lots of goodies for the truck, which we dove right into! She thinks of everything. Hopefully it won’t be so long until I see her again.

We went over Monteagle again and through Chattanooga, but I had already photographed those areas, so I did not do it again. It is very pretty, though.

We are motoring through Georgia now. No idea where we will stop yet, but it should be soon.

Not sure why Bigfoot looks so grumpy, he wasn't!?

Me, Suz, and Guy!

Just the BEST visit!

Days 22, 23, and 24

Oh Boy……….Three days behind on my blogging! Good excuse, though. The air conditioner is on the fritz in the cab of the truck, so it is almost unbearable to hold this hot laptop long enough to sort pictures and turn out my witty commentary (HA). But here goes……I am going to hit the high spots of the last few days.

I remember we left Albuquerque and went through Texas and made it to Tulsa. We saw a partial rainbow in Texas and I managed to get a quick shot of it. In Groom Texas, we passed a sign that said Largest Cross in the Western Hemisphere. It was very pretty and I went to good ole www.roadsideamerica.com and found out that apparently it is the second largest, but hey, it was big and I am not going to measure it to find out which. It was pretty and the text about it on the website was interesting. I also remember coming into Oklahoma after dark and there was the most fantastic lightning storm, like you see on TV. It would flash and shoot bolts all across the black sky. It was VERY impressive. We watched it do that for a long time.

We got to Tulsa and stopped for the night and that is when we realized we had no A/C. We were able to sleep because it was not that hot and it had been storming. However, the morning was a different story. I tried to work but it was SO hot. Bigfoot got up and we left. The truck moving helped some with the windows being down, but did nothing positive for my hair. Oh well, I will take it if I don’t have to be hot.

A piece of rainbow in New Mexico

The Biggest, or second Biggest, Cross in the Western Hemisphere!


Our destination was Carthage Missouri. We had NO idea what was in store for us there. We pulled in and checked in at the guard shack and they gave us a map to follow. We drove around and followed a sign with an arrow pointing us to “Underground”. Interesting. We went that way and sure enough, the entire deal was in fact underground, or in caves to be exact. We had to park and wait to be called and then proceeded into the cave as directed. Inside the cave was the entire warehouse, even employee parking. Now, understand the scale here. Several 18-wheelers at a time, all moving around underground, maneuvering around stone pillars seeming to hold the whole deal up. There were many “roads” going in all directions underground, depending on where you needed to go. The docks where we had to back up to were even farther under the ground. I tell you, it was something else. We thought it would be cool in there, but we were wrong. It was still hot. I did the best I could to get pictures inside the cave, but even with the lighting, it was still darkish and my camera has trouble in the dark because I can’t hold it still enough. I sat the camera on the door and snapped would I could. It was certainly an experience. They did not turn out as well as I had hoped and they are fairly blurry, but I hope you can get some idea of what it was like.

Can this be right? Are we supposed to go in THERE?

That's what the map says!

Let me go check this out.........

This place is HUGE!

The docks we have to back into.

In the underground warehouse, Carthage Missouri.

In the underground warehouse, Carthage Missouri.

In the underground warehouse, Carthage Missouri.

Poor Sparkle, she just cannot relax and unwind. We were in the cave at this point. I was reading.

Let me try this angle.


We left there and went to the truck stop to wait until the next day for our pick up again at a different place in Carthage Missouri heading to Deerfield Beach Florida. Normally, great news, but without A/C, not so much. It is working intermittently, so hopefully it will hold out. Anyway, I became homicidal in the parking lot of the truck stop, so for my safety and the safety of others, I walked over to the Sleep Inn and rented a motel room for the night. I did laundry, and took a shower, and set the thermostat as low as it would go. It was nice to have room to move around and a bathroom right there and of course, to not be hot. Bigfoot watched TV all night. We ate a good dinner at the truck stop restaurant with the coupon we got from the hotel and went to bed, fat and happy and COOL!

Yesterday was Friday and we left the Missouri truck stop/hotel heading toward Florida. We have been following Route 66 for a week and Joplin Missouri (where the hotel was) is also along Route 66. Somewhere along the way, we passed the signs for the biggest rocking chair in the world, a Route 66 landmark, but we could not see if from the Interstate. You can see it on the roadsidemerica website, though. We made it to the Kentucky/Tennessee line last night while I was sleeping. We have A/C at the moment, so I am grateful.

I think that catches us up to the present time. I will try not to get so far behind again. I am afraid I missed something good to tell………


Hey Buddy! Momma told me you were riding along! Glad you are. Leave me some comments!

Day 21

We left out of the truck stop in Phoenix, going to Tempe Arizona. We picked up our load there and headed back toward New Mexico with our ultimate destination of Missouri. Did I mention it was hotter than Hades here? Well, it is. Even early in the morning. Nothing really notable happened all day, just driving and driving through Arizona, which is exceptionally beautiful, like New Mexico. We did pass through Winslow Arizona and an ad on the radio mentioned that we could visit Winslow, stand on the corner and have our picture made with the girl in the flat bed Ford. Come on Eagles fans, you know what that means! I would have done it in a heartbeat, but well, you know, we are truckers not tourists. We also could have visited Meteor Crater Road and seen a 2.5 mile wide meteor crater. That would have also been cool and they do have trucker facilities, but even Bigfoot the space enthusiast would not slow down for it. Sigh…….. Visit my favorite www.roadsideamerica.com and type in Winslow Arizona for info on both things we missed.

We made it through Arizona, into New Mexico, and past Albuquerque to a little town called Moriarty. It’s claim to fame apparently is that it is on Route 66. When we got there, a horrible storm was brewing with the darkest clouds you can imagine and wind and lightning. I scrambled in to the bathroom before the flood gates could open and trap me in the truck for who knows how long. When I came out, I was sure I was in Kansas and the flying monkeys were on the way. The wind was whipping and howling and dust was blowing all around in little miniature cyclones. I could hardly open the door to get outside. I had to shield my eyes from the blowing dust and I high tailed it to the truck and grabbed Sparkle so she could get her business done too. We jumped in the truck, expecting a torrent of rain to close in behind us and it never rained a drop. Not one!

I got out the trusty cigarette lighter pan and whipped up another serving of my famous Big Rig Dirty Rice. It was the best EVER! I think I have my technique down pat now. We had to scarf down our meal, as once again we got a bum reefer unit and our 40,000 pounds of cheese is in peril. We have to turn around and go back to Albuquerque to ThermoKing to get it looked at/repaired. I feel like hell tonight for some reason, so I am going to bed NOW! Hope to see ya tomorrow.

Cacti in Arizona

Arizona, between Phoenix and New Mexico on I-40

Arizona, between Phoenix and New Mexico on I-40

Arizona, between Phoenix and New Mexico on I-40

Going down..........

I think this area was called Black Canyon?

Arizona, between Phoenix and New Mexico on I-40

Again, maybe Black Canyon in Arizona?

WEEEEE.......Bigfoot likes to coast down!

See the road ahead going down down down.....

So pretty........

Arizona, between Phoenix and New Mexico on I-40

We are UP there!

Standing on the corner in Winslow AZ, it's such a fine sight to see..........Sing it with me!

Arizona, between Phoenix and New Mexico on I-40

Dry river bed...........I don't wonder why it's dried up!

This is actually into New Mexico on I-40

This is actually into New Mexico on I-40

This is actually into New Mexico on I-40

This is actually into New Mexico on I-40

This is actually into New Mexico on I-40

Day 20

OMG!!!! I may spontaneously combust. I have never been so hot in all my life. It feels like we are sitting on the sun. This has been the hottest July on record in Arizona ever. The high today was 114. The thermostat on the truck, which is a few degrees off when it is sitting still, registered 128. We are in Avondale Arizona, just beside Phoenix. I took Sparkle for a very quick walk and the asphalt burned her little feet and made her yelp out loud. There is no grass so she had to do her business on gravelly rocks, which were also hot. It is absolutely miserable here right now. I don’t know how anybody stands it.

On a better note about today………I have a friend, Debbie, who I worked with at a crappy transcription company that will remain unnamed here, who lives here in Phoenix. We have never met before but I promised if I was ever in the area I would call her. So I did and since our next load does not pick up until tomorrow morning, we made plans to go to dinner. She and her mom, Donna, picked us up and took us to Glendale to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. It was in the coolest outdoor mall (not like any mall I have ever seen!) with a pretty fountain and cool shops and restaurants and the road runs right through the middle. Margaritaville was SO much fun. It was very colorful and lively with great music and a man on stilts making balloon shapes and lots of cool stuff to look at. You could sit in a boat/booth with your own little TV playing beachy music videos. I had an enormous plate of nachos that I swore I would eat all of and did not come close and everyone else had some variety of Cheeseburgers in Paradise! We had a great time visiting and getting acquainted face to face after the many hours of talking on the phone over the last year or so. She was so generous to take us to do something so fun and special and to treat us to a great dinner with awesome margaritas! Afterwards, we walked around a little and went to the Smuggler’s Hold gift shop in Margaritaville and I got a pretty T-shirt and a magnet to commemorate my visit to the Valley of the Sun. It made my HOT trip to Phoenix very COOL to be able to spend time with my friend and be a tourist for a little while. Thanks, Debbie for a wonderful time.

After a big night out, I am pooped and am calling it a day. We head to Tempe Arizona in the morning for our pick up and our destination is Carthage Missouri. I am excited to see Arizona tomorrow, since it was dark when we came into the state last night. Should be another good photo day!

There is absolutely no excuse for it to be this hot!

Home of the Arizona Cardinals NFL team......

and host of the Super Bowl a year or so ago.

Probably a cool bar to go to. I liked the name.

Our destination!

A very cool restaurant on the same strip as Margaritaville.

More of the outside of the Saddle Road Chop House.

Inside Margaritaville.

My Volcano Nachos........

On the ceiling.

Me and Debbie on the Margaritaville bench with mom on the side!

Me and Bigfoot on the Margaritaville bench!

Me and Bigfoot on the Margaritaville bench!

Gift shop at Margaritaville.

It's US!

Me and Debbie, the Arizona hostess with the mostest!

The main drag through the "mall".

Bigfoot watching the fountain water dance.