Inside the truck video

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Craig

OK, I have been planning on this for a long time and I finally got it done.  With apologies to our Producer/Director son for the shaky camera work and no script.

http://youtu.be/Pg0lGiWs9rg

Let me know if you have any questions

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Brutal

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Craig

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Air conditioning out in the truck. We are crossing Texas headed for Fontana California. Then on to Seattle for home time were we will put the truck in the shop. This is not fun.

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Beautiful day in Southern California.

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Anne Leonard

Maybe a little hot but we are getting our truck washed which is going to be so nice. I think we have about 100 pounds of bugs on and in our grill of the truck. She needs to be pretty again. Craig ran to Walmart and Costco while I have been putting laundry away and organizing the truck and waiting for the truck wash to open. Craig vacuumed the truck this morning so once we get our load we will be good to go.

Spent the morning dealing with some payroll issues. Some times things don’t always go our way but next paycheck will be really really good. We were shorted 2200 miles and 4 days of breakdown. These things happen and as annoying as it is. It always gets straightened out.

My son’s premiere is this Sunday in Beverly Hills. A little on pins and needles if we are going to make it. FM said we would even if they have to repower us. Just keeping my fingers crossed!!! Please keep yours crossed for me too.

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Mt Shasta

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Craig

In the gorgeous Northern California sunshine this morning.  The view is not too shabby from our front porch while I eat my oatmeal

ImageImage.

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I was a crabby girl!

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Anne Leonard

We just slammed from Ohio to Washington with barely any down time. Good news is we got our trip in for this weeks paycheck. With breakdown and family time we have had a rough couple months. Totally worth it but we need to build up our savings. I didn’t eat since breakfast and my loving husband received the brunt of my crabbiness. He did get me some food and now we are both happy. We are heading to Phoenix and then who knows where we will go.

As long as we end up in Colton on Sunday. My son is having a screening at The Directors Guild of America and we can’t wait to see it. He is up for some awards and once done hopefully we can share it. It is called Vertical Challenge and just so excited. Tyler is a senior at CSUN (California State University of Northridge) and he is a film major. This is one of his projects.

I need to go to sleep. My tailbone is still killing me and it’s been a long day. I’m way to tired to be witty.

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Great Breakdown!

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Craig

Sometimes the timing is just perfect.  We were very overdue for maintenance on the truck.  We get an oil change and lube every 35,000 miles and we were about 10,000 overdue.  Also had a couple of minor issues with air pressure and a small oil leak.  Dropped the truck off at Freightliner in Fontana Friday evening, grabbed a rental car (I ask Anne “what kind of car did you get”  She said “a cute red one”….love that girl) and headed to Steve and Lupe’s house in the Valley.  Cinco de Mayo and great friends.  We had such a blast and soooo relaxing.  I got some cooking done for the truck.  I usually cook up some taco meat and ground beef with sautéed onions, put them in a number of ziplock bags and we freeze for use in the truck.  We love taco salads and nachos and we also have a couple of great recipes for the crock pot that the browned ground beef makes super easy.  Sunday morning Freightliner finally got our truck in.  We hope it is done by today.  We had lunch with Anne’s awesome son and her oldest brother and his family.  We went to Buca di Beppo for a fun time and two and a half hours just flew by.  Afterwards we drove up to Yucca Valley to visit Anne’s mom for the evening.  So in the last seven days we will have seen a bunch of friends, both of our daughters, one of our sons, my mom and dad and Anne’s mom.  A pretty damn good week!  Wow I love this job.

Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks including my sons spring game at Colorado State University, a stop by home and our stay at Steve and Lupe’s and lunch with Eric and Sarah.

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I did get my shower AND I got to see my daughter.

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Anne Leonard

Gosh I love my job!! At least this week I do. We stopped and had showers and then discussed what time we were going to get to Oregon. We couldn’t arrive in the middle of the night so WE GOT TO GO HOME. For a few hours we did. I got some laundry done. Craig got a haircut and Lil Bit got her stitches out. We then went to lunch with my baby girl. The egg and I. Her choice for sure. Craig wanted Mexican but Shelby won. We spent a few hours with her. Did some shopping at Sam’s and hit the road.

I don’t know what it is but just that little bit of connection with home and I am good to go. More like connecting with Shelby. If it is too long in between I get really antsy. I was going to say a little but figure Craig would comment on that LOL. I am sitting typing this in Oregon at a Pilot. Craig is sleeping and we are going to pick up a load in Portland and run it to a couple stops. Ending up in Washington. I am sitting here thinking how lucky I am. Making good money when we run, being with my best friend, having my puppy with me and getting to stop everywhere to visit family. How freaking cool is that. Then there are all the people you meet out here. We have made some life long friends and keep meeting new ones. Not all are life long but we have a big family out here and it is growing everyday. As you know by now I love to talk. There are a few friends I am sure know that well. I love people and realize how amazing this world is and how cool people are, for the most part. No I have not been drinking. Just contemplating how our lives have drastically changed.

I think its a hoot when people find out what we do. Most are shocked. Some wonder why. Some are snobs and that got me thinking about being a trucker and how many people are truckers due to the economy and what is happening today. I’ve said it before. If you had told me I’d be a truck driver I would have laughed. Me. Daughter of a diplomat, California girl (okay no longer but still in my heart) I was born overseas and now I drive a freaking 18 wheeler. God has a great sense of humor is what I am thinking. Ironically, it’s an amazing job. I see beautiful places every single day. The weather is always changing and so are the people. Keeping track of us can sometimes be hard. My kids and mom are always asking where we are and then seem surprised at how far we went. Truthfully sometimes I am surprised too. 7000+ since we came out of hometime  7 days ago.

The thing that got me thinking about this lifestyle we have now was a person who is unemployed, no money, not very happy…… thinks being a truck driver is beneath them. I was offended when I first heard this but then I thought about my life today. I have never been happier. I smile everyday and laugh all the time. How sad that someone is so narrow minded that they thought that. BUT what made me laugh was how wrong they are. Life is too short.  I realize that and I want to enjoy everyday and never regret what I didn’t do. Traveling, learning, growing and seeing this amazing country are gifts I would have never received if I hadn’t taken this path. I’ve been all over the world but I had never seen the USA. If you listen to country music and that new song about seeing it from the plane. Wow does that hit home. Listen to it.  Jason Aldean Fly over states. Awesome song. Continue reading →

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I want a shower and I want it NOW

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Anne Leonard

Unfortunately we are taking the back roads up through Colorado on our way to Oregon. Love the fact we will be driving by our house and may be able to see some of the kids and get Lil Bit’s stitches taken  out. Still don’t know if we will do that or just drive so we can get another load. Problem is the time we will arrive at receiver would be middle of the night so I’m a thinking we should stop by home. That is my personal opinion and will have to wait to see if the master agrees with me. (I typed that with a straight face).

I really really want a shower and we are still a couple hours away. Running around like a chicken in Texas and did Craig mention how hot and muggy it was. This is one of those times I really wish we had access to a shower/bathroom when we want one. Not when we can find one. Usually we don’t have this issue but going the smaller roads there aren’t as many truck stops and when we should have stopped I thought, I’ll just drive a little further. Famous last words. Well a little further ended up in Limon Colorado which happens to be our fuel stop too. Oh well. This is definitely one of those times I wish we had baby wipes on board. They are now on my grocery list. LOL. I was just thinking how crazy that must sound to anyone who doesn’t live in a truck and how anyone that does is nodding their head.

Keep your fingers crossed we get home for a few hours wink wink wink.

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Never Know How To Dress

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Craig

It is so funny, the weather extremes can be…..extreme.  In the last week we got stuck in Rock Springs Wyoming due to a very light load and very high winds. (3375 lbs and 65 mph respectively) We had to wait 13 hours to continue.  We were on a load that could not deliver in Memphis TN until Monday at 9:00 AM and we were going to be there by Saturday at noon.  Our Fleet Manager had sent us a drop number so we could drop the load at our Memphis Terminal and we had a FedEx load planned picking up Saturday at 17:15 heading to Phoenix.  That plan died with the 65 mph winds in Wyoming.  We got another load so we dropped in Memphis on Sunday Morning at 3:00 am and ran to Dallas, it was a live unload at a very disorganized place.  Pretty much a driver free for all in the street.  No idea who out of the ten or so trucks milling around was first in line.  We all had a 14:00 delivery time.  I released my secret weapon and Anne walked up and dow the trucks to figure out what was going on.  Not surprisingly, the pretty blond lady ended up at the front of the line.  After the unload we ran over to FedEx in Irving and grabbed a short load to Austin, I then drove back to Fort Worth and we are getting loaded with empty aluminum cans heading to Portland Oregon.  It was 23 degrees in Rock Springs Wyoming, 77 degrees in Memphis at 3 AM and 82 overnight here in Fort Worth.  I just wear shorts all the time as it is not worth changing 3 times a day.

We have had a great week coming out of home time and should end up with about 7000 miles on this weeks check.  I am starting to miss a regular life a bit.  Home time with the kids will do that to you.  Been thinking of buying a truck so we can be a little more in charge of our schedule.  I would like to make what we are currently making with working 22 days a month instead of 27.  The research has begun.  Hard to make the leap because we are happy and pretty darn secure.  I will keep you updated on what we decide.

I thank God every day (a bunch of times every day) for this job and the awesome abiity to see our kids and familys and for beeing able to spend every day with my amazing wife.  I cannot believe how blessed I am.

I th

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My son’s research project for college.

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Anne Leonard

My son needs some additional surveys to finish his research project. If you could take 3 minutes to fill out the survey that would be great!!! Thanks a bunch.

 

 

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