1- Twelve Months, Eighteen Wheels
I remember my first date with my husband. We were supposed to meet at the restaurant, because, hey, I just met this dude two weeks ago at Graham Central Station. I didn’t know him from Adam.
He was rushing to make the date, just got off work, so he showed up in his 18 wheeler. Needless to say, this princess was freaking out. I saw him park, but I just walked ahead into the restaurant like I wasn’t paying attention. I was on the phone so I thought that would be a good excuse!
A few weeks prior in July 2006, he asked me to dance at Graham’s. A good dancer, I was immediately impressed with him. We didn’t make much of it, only dancing a few times together during the night, but at closing time, he scored my number. He was nice and seemed respectful. It was going to take a lot more than dancing to impress me, though.
Well, impress he did on our first date. As I walked across the parking lot to the restaurant, I called a girlfriend and said, “Oh, my gosh. He just showed up in his rig.” I needed support – I couldn’t walk to the restaurant alone!
Well, I gave Joshua a chance that night, and he sure did make me laugh on our first date, asking so many good questions and making good conversation. Six months later, he proposed at the same restaurant.
- Proposal Night – Feb 2007
That leads us to where we are now, October 2008. Married in March of this year, and now beginning our life on the road, living and working out of an eighteen wheeler, across 48 states plus Canada.
- Our Truck
This is truly my husband’s passion. He has done this over the road living before. Me, well, it’s kind of like my backpacking through Europe, except it’s across the United States. I left my good job behind and packed our apartment.
There are a lot of places to go and things to experience. Me, I’ve been a few places here and there: Colorado for camping, New Mexico to visit my in-laws, Las Vegas, Nevada for our friends’ wedding, Florida for a cruise and New York for a girls trip. So that’s six states I’ve been to including our state of Texas.
I have been working for an excellent company as a marketing assistant for a year and a half. I told my co-workers, family and friends that this over the road business is like camping. . . for an extended period of time. Living and working out of a truck, this princess is bound to have her moments of “Get me out of this truck – and drop me off at a mall!!”
A newlywed couple of almost seven months, we have packed up our two bedroom apartment, and put everything in storage, minus the six pair of shoes, hot rollers and makeup we crammed in the cab. Those items are all Joshua’s by the way. 🙂
It’s our time to shine, our time to travel. We have no kids, no house, not even a pet. Our first load is to the state of Kansas. Bring on the truck stop showers. Bring on the hours of riding in a truck, all to see what I will never get a chance again to see.
As the path to a road less traveled begins for us, read about our adventures on this blog. Twelve months on eighteen Wheels.
March 2008
2- Red Bull & Five-Hour Energy
Twelve months, eighteen wheels. Have I counted the wheels yet? Nope. Maybe later today I can complete the rookie task.
Speaking of being a trucking rookie, yesterday I learned how to unhook a trailor. I was also pretty excited about helping grease the fifth wheel – that’s the horseshoe looking thing that connects to the pin on the trailer. It has to be greased so that the fifth wheel slides right under the trailer. Greasing is dirty work, but it’s nothing a few plastic gloves can’t handle. Just don’t get it on your clothes. That would be a doozy.
I’ve taken a few truck stop showers. Even with me being anal about germs, so far I have been able to take the precautions and wash my hands enough, and what soap doesn’t cover, we brought along plenty of hand sanitizer.
Our first destination is Marienthal, Kansas. Never heard of it, and it’s definitely not a major town. I’ve never been to Kansas. I hear it’s full of corn fields. Time will tell. Right now we’re just leaving Beaumont, Texas. We loaded out of a port in Beaumont that had pretty tight security.
Joshua said the trick is to focus on where you’re going, not to focus on inside of the truck. That way you won’t get claustrophobic. Well, I’m sure I will at times it will be nice to stay at a hotel or resort. J Yes, I’m already thinking about the day or two we can take to sleep in a hotel room!
We just passed a huge, 25 foot statue of the late Sam Houston off Interstate 45. I said, “What is THAT?”
We’re not even out of Texas and I’ve seen, and smelled, some interesting things. I saw a fleet of Brad Paisley tour trucks in the truck stop we stayed at the first night, probably full of sound and light equipment for his road tour. I asked Joshua, “Well, where do you think Brad Paisley is?” He said, “Not at a truck stop”! J
Something not so pleasant is that we were walking around the truck stop for exercise and we passed by an empty, empty – thank gosh, bull trailor. Man, I definitely had to hold my breath for a good while. Pee-uu!
In another hour we’ll get out and stretch again, check the load, and I’ll run to hopefully a clean restroom. We have to run pretty hard tonight in order to make it to Kansas by 8 am. Red Bull and Five Hour Energy, you’ll be our best friends! God speed.
3- Lime Green for a Splash of Color – Yea, Pretty Girly
Coffee ended up being our drink of choice that kept us going last night into the early morning. We got into Marienthal, Kansas this morning at 4:30am, slept a bit, got up around 1 to take a shower and get something to eat.
We stopped in the quaint town of Scott City, Kansas and ate at a cute little restaurant, one of the two sit-down restaurants in the town so our waitress said. It was so good! We were the only customers on a Thursday afternoon.
We’re headed to Sweetwater to load, then to Houston where we will deliver materials to Home Depot. But already I’ve been to two states I’ve never been to before – Oklahoma and Kansas. The parts we were in are really full of just fields. Fields and industrialism, factories and that’s IT! I wasn’t impressed, although it was cool when we honked the horn when we crossed the state lines! I’m sure I will make Joshua stop a few times to take a picture in front of a few state lines.
When you’re coming home or going back on the road from being home, your schedule gets messed up. When you’re out on the road, for the most part you will have a pretty regular schedule. You know when your load needs to be at its destination, you plan your route and know about how far/long you need to run each day, or how hard you need to push.
I’m still figuring things out about how I “feel” about OTR (over the road), but mostly right now I think that I just need a good night’s rest. I do have my girly things, computer and stuff to read/write on stashed throughout the cubby holes. All that stuff keeps me busy for a few hours a day, to get some relief from sitting in the passenger seat, which I like to do to experience it all. I kind of alternate between the front and sleeper in the back.
Doing what I can - Want to Get Curtains to hide stuff
Close Up of the Flowers I put up
Brad Paisley Tour Bus - one of them
Pillow - I'm doing Lime green & Mauve in the truck
Both Joshua and I are pretty particular about keeping the truck clean and me, about our hands being clean! J
Tonight I saw three wild boars for the first time! I told Joshua we should go catch ’em (Such a girl threat). Yea right, they would be chasing me probably!
Over and out.
4- Live, Love & Line Dance of Course
One of our first trips together
That George Strait sure is a good one. “Well, the house of Cash just burned down. . . Goodbye fancy livin’ room. . .” Like that song, and thanks to mom, we have the new Troubedor CD of his. Very good!
Good music is a must on our long “road trip,” but we also enjoy silence during some parts of the day. It just gives you so much peace to ride for just a bit in silence. Usually 30 minutes is sufficient to get a break and clarify your mind, clear it, have a chance for me to read to us.
Right now we’re reading the book of Daniel from the Bible. It’s a neat story of how King Nebucknezar built a gold idol and wanted people to bow down to it but there were three of Jehovah’s witnesses who refused to bow down, so the king got mad and condemned them to a fiery pit.
The funny thing was that the men who put them in the pit were the ones who Jehovah let die of the flames or heat. When the king looked into the pit, he saw not three people but four, the fourth being an angel, walking around in the pit. It is written that the fire did not even touch a hair on their head. Talk about how God protects His people.
At the truck stop today after breakfast, I browsed the gift shop and I saw a “country” sign that is now my new motto:
Live, Love, and Line Dance
Um, who loves line dancing? Me! Me! I got such a kick out of it.
We are headed to Laredo to pick up a load (probably Caterpillar parts) to North Carolina! Never been of course! So far we’ve been to Kansas and Oklahoma, both of which do not excite me – at least the parts I saw. It’s nothing but fields, fields and more fields and then some major industrial sites. Pretty boring for me. I’m excited to go out east!!!!
We have to go through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina just to get to North Carolina. You can go a day and go through 2-3 states in a day, but when you’re driving through the great state of Texas, man, you’re just driving and driving, and you’re still in Texas.
Our dilemma for today: stopping for dinner in Birmingham, Alabama or Atlanta, Georgia. We settled on Atlanta because trucks weren’t allowed to go through Birmingham from our direction. Two more hours until Atlanta.
We’ve passed two state lines today; about to be three. I got Joshua to pull the big horn at the Mississippi line and then he told me I should do it for the Alabama one. Well, Mississippi looked adorable from what I saw. Not too impressed with Louisiana really. I’m sure they have some cool places, but I’m looking forward to Georgia.
Our goal tonight is to get to South Carolina, not sure which city. Last night I had to wash my face with a water bottle, and we slept between a Home Depot and a WalMart. The truck stops were full so we drove on a bit to Slidell, Louisiana but there were no truck stops, and even the WalMart parking lot had 12 foot entrances, purposely so trucks can’t get in there. I wouldn’t blame them but it made for a tiring night.
I’m looking forward to getting internet but it is quite relaxing now, just being able to write when I feel like it.
Don’t EVER take a shower for granted. Ever, ever. They are wonderful! Well, after six days of driving, we are almost out of driving hours for the week (seventy). Thank goodness, because that means we get to do a 34-hour restart in North Carolina. That means the truck sits and we rest or go see the town!
We are going to find a Sprint store this Wednesday the 15th to get a wireless internet card. Yippee!
Yea, when we rolled through Louisiana, even on the highway, it just felt nasty to me. When we drove through Mississippi and now Alabama, it is just so green and beautiful! I bet Montana is just absolutely beautiful. Right now, we’ll stick to the east coast. That’s fine with me because that’s the part of the U.S. that interests me most.
I took a picture the other day of our floor mats – just to show you that Joshua is so particular, and me, well, I’m. . . Well, just look at the picture with my three pair of shoes (of the six that I brought) stuffed under my leg room. J
Hahaha!! We just heard some good ol’ Alabama boys on the CB radio, and oh my goodness! Do they sound REDNECKKKKKKK. I can’t wait to hear some Georgia peaches tell me anything – just let me hear your accent!
Some of my shoes. . . That's where they go!
We stop for sure about every three hours to check our load so that allows for potty breaks and stretching, getting some walking in a bit.
The moon has been full the past two nights; so beautiful on those Louisiana swamp lands.
Joshua says that we might have to pass through a place two or three times before we get to stop there but we will eventually get there! Like in North Carolina we need to gain driving hours so we’ll do a restart there. WOO HOO. We are dropping a load in between Charlotte and Raleigh in a town called Sanford, NC.
I’m typing with newly painted nails, which, on the streets of I20 is not an easy task! The trick is, wait until you pass over the bridges, then it’s usually smoother. So not only do I have to make sure I’m getting the paint in the lines, I have to look ahead in the road to see if any bumps are coming up! But it’s all worth it – to remain a lady and not look totally like a trucker’s wife.
Well, we’re stopping at Olive Garden here, gonna split something for din din. Over and out.
After dinner, we made up a game. We go through the whole alphabet, alternating letters and making it up as we go. The trick is, you have to say the whole sentence before you get to your word. Just keep adding the next letter on, making up a word. Here was our first “sentence”:
About
Boggling
Concubines
Defienciencies
Excrutiating
Foremost
Georgia
Hierarchy
Igloos
Jaywalkers
Kingpins
Loudmouths
Mimicked
Negotiations.
Ostentatiously
Postponed
Quirky
Residual
Scallops
To (the easiest word!)
Undermine
Vindication.
Well,
Xlophone
Yonder
Zebrabutts.
“Now we know our ABC’s. Next time won’t you play with me?” Yea, that made about 30-40 miles pass by real quick, and it was really mind-engaging; made you think and remember and be creative! I was feeling a bit silly so I encouraged Joshua to be silly with me. We were laughing at each other over how the other couldn’t remember the words! J
We’ve listened to the radio but a lot of times it’s silence, just driving, or we’re talking. Music is a must though, fo’ sho’!
We will spend the night in South Carolina tonight and deliver the Catepillar buckets in NC tomorrow afternoon.
Catepillar Backhoes We took from NC to TX
I’m still trying to come up with ideas for my “handle.” Ideas?
Our Night Out in Houston - FUN!
Happy as can be, thanks to God
A few weeks ago, I came across a saying “Don’t Settle For a PrePackaged Life.”
That really hit home with the decision we had been facing for months and months. Living out of public bathrooms and out of a small truck wasn’t how I pictured my future. Let’s be honest, shall we.
In spite of the hard parts of this gig, this Texas princess has enough cowgirl in her that allows her to be completely satisfied in it and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I get to see beautiful scenry from states I’ve never been. It’s different when you drive the state – you get a good feel for it. Whereas if you fly to a city, you can experience it a lot quicker, but driving allows time for me to write, probably more writing I’ve done in a very long time. Not to mention I get to study my bible more than ever now.
Ramblin’ life is the one I chose, sittin’ here between the doors. The yellow lines keeping time of the thoughts running through my mind… Roll on Big Mama! I like the way you roll. Roll on Big Mama. You are my very soul. On through the snow and the driving rain… Ain’t no road that we ain’t seen… Roll on Big Mama. The highway is our home.” Joe Stampley
And so the highway is our home. In the hands of Jehovah God we rest, taking in his beauty and meeting our fellow believers across the nation in our weekly meetings.
As long as I’m showered and I’ve eaten, I’m good to go. Our normal routine, and some days it’s not normal, is to shower first, then we head out to the truck to put our stuff up. I stay behind to do my makeup, and Joshua goes inside to enjoy a morning cup of coffee. If he remembers, J he’ll order for us so it takes less time. By the time I’m done getting ready for the day- yes, you know it takes a woman twice as long- breakfast is served!
We had decided we would go over the road in February 2009, but the road forked sooner than we thought. So we prayed about it and talked and talked about it, he applied for a certain driving position he’d been looking into, and got hired. From that point, say September 2008, he had 60 days to start driving or else he would have to apply again.
We decided that it would be best if he went on the road a few weeks ahead of me. This way, he got broke into the whole gig again. He did this over the road business for three years, November 2002- January 2006. Fate had it that he would come back to Austin and in July 2006 we met. Took him two years for him to get back on the road, but here he is after the wedding. He got the girl and is livin’ his dream.
The King of the Road
The first week was hard and very exciting at the same time. It still is exciting at the second week. Today though was hard in the beginning. I was going through 140 emails that had built up in a week’s time! I’m a lot better in the front seat where I can see everything.
That’s where I’m typing right now, in the front seat – watching the sun set in Tennessee, on our way from Nashville to Memphis. The hills, the trees, and WAIT! We just saw a deer with whiskers! Lol. That was perplexing! No horns, just white whiskers, like an old man! Oh, Tennessee, we shall be back. We’ll be back, with the grace of God of course.
What is it about Tennessee that I love so much? It just feels homey. We talked about taking a few days in Nashville when we come back through, take a few tours and learn about the rich music history in the area.
I’ll tell you what, there’s nothing like going across the Tennessee River at sundown. Beautiful, big and calm.
Camden, South Carolina - Highway Flowers
I told Joshua I wanted to stop in Nashville to eat dinner tonight, and that we did. O’Charley’s is such a neat little place for “good food and good times” as they say. It’s a mix between Bennigan’s (but better food) and Sherlock’s (but less like a meat market) J.
O’Charley’s had this cotton candy cosmopolitan I wanted to order, but I will save it for next time and let you know how it is. It’s a ball of pink cotton candy in a martini glass and then they pour the vodka and cranberry juice over it. YUM.
We’re looking forward to some home time beginning of November when we’ll go to my annual family reunion, Joshua’s family now, too. They loved him the first time they met him of course. “Nikki. Nikki who? Where’s Joshua?” 🙂
I think we’re gonna have to play the song “Smokey Mountain Memories” before too long. Gotta keep an eye out for any “local yokels” (cops). Ha, before long I’ll be talking like that.
It’s getting a little chilly here during the day, in the 60s and now at 7:45 eastern time, it’s 56 degrees. That’s COLD, COLD for a Texas girl. This is that time of year when I pray, “God, are you sure you want to bring winter back? It’s such perfect weather right now…” Ha. Literally every year I have a conversation like that with Jehovah, you know, who happens to be the creator. He has winter for a reason – although I can’t quite figure it out yet. Fall, yes. Winter, oh, let’s hibernate!!
This chick is signing off to go “LIVE, LOVE & LINE DANCE.” Line dancing might have to come a little later, unless we find somewhere in Memphis. We’ll throw our cowboy boots on in a heart beat. Right, Boo Boo?
Over and out.
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