If Picture is Worth 1,000 Words, Here's About 13,000 Worth

      Since my last entry was completely void of pictures, I decided to balance it out by making this one all about pictures :) Here are a few I've taken over the last few days.

This is of one of the many trailer yards Dad and I have been to. It's like an iSpy game trying to locate a specific trailer. They're identified by number and trucking company name.

Dad, getting a trailer hooked up.

Each time Dad picks up or drops off a trailer, he has to crank this lever to raise/lower the trailer's landing gear - it can be quite a workout from what I've seen!

Having fun with reflections :)

It's a pole! It's a tree! No, it's a pole disguised as a tree!

 Snapping pictures from a moving truck can be difficult, but I've been blessed with some good shots along the way :)

Driving, mile after mile

The little blue truck is why I love this shot - I was super excited to catch it! :)

Setting sun in the rear-view mirror

There are plenty of spots we pass that'd I'd love to be able to get out to snap pictures at, this was one of those spots.

I liked this tunnel :)

Some places look extra beautiful at night!

    
        I'll be sure and have pictures in the next entry too - and it'll be about snow!! :)

My Trucker Notions Debunked

      Before Dad got into trucking, I had a bunch of pre-conceived ideas of what truckers were like. Here are the main two:

1. Truckers have bad hygiene
2. Truckers aren't very smart - I mean, most people can drive, so how hard can it be?

      Well, this trip has de-bunked those notions and more, in fact, the longer I travel with Dad, the more impressed I become. Allow me to share my new-found viewpoints with you :)

      Being that I can get pretty germaphobic at times, notion #1 was a big deal starting out on this trip. How often would I get to shower? Would the showers and bathrooms even be clean? What about laundry?

      Thus far, I've found that truck-stops usually have pretty clean looking bathrooms and showers - a huge relief to me. I've also had ample chances to stop and take a shower during this trip. Basically, you have plenty of facilities available to stay as clean as you'd like :) I'm sure there are truckers that embrace the grunge, but so do other people who have bad hygiene by choice, not due to profession.

      Notion #2 was a big deal to me - I felt like whenever I told anyone my dad was a trucker, they would think less of him. I think this is because I was still dealing with my own opinion of truckers. I've since learned that trucking really is a complex job.

      For starters, before you get to truck, you have to make it through 6 weeks of trucking school, and 7 weeks of riding with a mentor - you don't just get to start driving on a whim.

        Then there is the simple fact that manoeuvring this giant machine takes major skill - every tight turn Dad takes, makes me grateful that I'm not driving. I've also been surprised to hear of the varying backgrounds different truckers have. Today Dad came across a guy who was a biomedical engineer for 20 years and just recently got back into trucking (a job he'd done before in the 80's). Seeing this guy, made me realize that Dad isn't the only trucker out there with a higher education.

       Finally, one of the most interesting things I've learned so far is what goes into fueling a truck. When we put gas in our cars, all we have to think about is how much money we are willing to pump into it pre visit, truckers don't get off that easy. If you have a heavy load (over 40,000 pounds) that you're pulling, you need to first weigh your truck on a scale. After weighing the truck, a little math skill is needed to see how much fuel you can take on while still keeping within the legal weight limit. Once you've crunched some numbers, and put in the fuel, you'll want to swing by the scale on last time to double check that your weight is legal. The exception to this is if you have a "light" load (under 34,000 pounds) - then you don't have to worry. This blew my mind - what a lot of thought for simply fueling a truck!

      There are many more examples I could give to debunk #2, but I'll stop there before I bore y'all with too many facts :P

      In conclusion, there is way more to trucking than just getting to drive around all day. I hope this encourages you to think a bit harder about other not to "glamours" jobs that you might have pre-concieved ideas about - are they factual or not?

Sweet Oasis

      Driving a toll road on our way from Illinois to Indiana, Dad and I stopped off at "Chicago Southland Lincoln Oasis". The idea behind it is to give toll-way drivers a place they can stop and rest, without paying fees to exit the toll-way and then get back on. This entry may be old news to some of you, who have seen and used these before, but considering I'd never seen one, I just had to say something about it!

      This is what it looks like from the highway, SO AWESOME! There's even a gas station off to the side of it.

The entrance

 A glimpse of the inside. They had lots of tables, and plenty of places to shop at. (from food, to coffee, to touristy shirts and things - they had it all!)

      

        By definition, an oasis is: "A pleasant or peaceful area or period in the midst of a difficult, troubled, or hectic place or situation." This "oasis" definitely lived up to it's name :) It was such a welcome break from the endless road. I went inside, got some Starbucks, and blogged - it was fantastic, and very needed!

You could even be entertained simply by watching traffic go by :)

Chewy enjoying getting out of the truck too :)

      With all the cool things I get to see from the road but am not able to stop at, going inside the oasis was definitely a highlight :)

Truck Stops, IHops, and Empties

     By the time Friday rolled around, all the driving had been done at night. I almost magically seemed to wake up in a brand new place each morning. When we arrived to Illinois I was awakened by what felt like mini earthquake tremors. Thankfully it wasn't an earthquake, but rather the tremors caused by workers unloading the trailer we'd be driving around. You see, when you drop a load one of three things happen:

1) You leave the enitre trailer at the drop off location, and "bobtail" out (bobtail is the term used whenever a cab has no trailer behind it)

2) You leave the trailer at the drop off location, and immediately take a  different trailer out with you (this could be an empty or loaded one).

3) Or, you wait for them to unload the trailer, and then drive off with an "empty".

      We did the latter option, and, after the trailer was unloaded, set off to a truck stop. The cold weather made me not want to leave my bunk. You ever had that feeling of a lovely warm cocoon of blankets that you don't want to leave? - yeah, I had that.

      Dad mentioned getting IHOP, and, well, that perked me up. :) We braved the blistering cold (I seemed to be alone in this perception) to make it across the street to an IHOP. Warm pancakes were the perfect pick-me-up that morning :) Chewbacca also joined us for some coffee.

Even wookies need a little java to get their days going!

       

       After eating, Dad went back to sleep in the truck (he was driving all night, remember?). This left me alone to come up with interesting things to do. I watched some "Leave It To Beaver" episodes in the truck (yes, I invested in buying Season 1 on dvd before this trip :) After a while, I left the truck and made a phone call, then wandered the inside of the truck-stop. It had some interesting things in it, such as:

 A little wooden band (very Pinocchio like). Dad and I later put a quarter in, but all they did was move around - no music. Sad. One of the little figures was even decapitated!

These sailers were the cutest of the dilapidated figures :)

They also had this fun giant cupcake pastry holder! How cool!

      After Dad rested up, we headed off for a night of moving "empties". Basically, it was Dad's task to help Swift get trailers that had been left at a drop off location (like in option 1 or 2 earlier) and move them back to the Swift terminal, so that they could easily be picked up and used again. This meant we had a lot of late night driving to do around the outskirts of Chicago. I did manage to get a few night pictures though:

Here Dad is using the QualComm, figuring out where we'd been sent to go, and then messaging to say when a job had been completed. - Headlamps are often utilized in my family :P

 

A close up of QualComm

 Some cars zipping by while we waited on a light

And lastly, one of the many underpasses we drove under.

Fun fact: Chicago is a very dangerous place for truckers to drive, in that, they have lots of underpasses that are too low for trucks to pass under. Therefore, truck drivers have to stay alert to notice the heights marked on all the entrances.

      After shuttling empties around, the next place we headed off to was Indiana!

Allow Me To Introduce You To The Truck

      In an effort to help everyone reading this blog be able to visualize the truck, this entry is dedicated to showing you around it a little bit :)

      To start it off, here is the front, "cab", of the truck - Dad included!

He was focused on backing up, hence no smile - all focus :)

      This is called a "Sleeper Cab" because it has bunk beds. These are for long distance truckers like Dad. Truckers who just move loads around short distances have "Day Cabs" - they look basically the same, except they stop right after the door, since there's no need for beds. Try and identify the next semi you see! Is is a longer "sleeper cab" or shorter "day cab"? This has actually been a source of entertainment to me ;)

      Taking you inside the cab, this is what the front section looks like (the part that is the same in sleeper and day cabs).

      As I've said before, the chairs are pretty comfy - very springy. You can see I've made myself at home with a pillow and blanket :) My dad keeps it freezing in the cab while driving, so without layers and blankets I'd probably not survive this trip. Also, notice the yummy Cheerios on the dash ;) The purple arrow points to our state-of-the-art Walmart trash bag, haha.

      The yellow arrow is directing your attention to the "QualComm lady" (we call it that because of the lady voice it uses). This device is how Dad communicates with Swift (the company he works for), how they track him, and it has a mapping software so that Dad never gets lost (basically, it's a fancy GPS).

       If you're like me, you've always seen weight station signs, but have been fuzzy on the point of them. Well, the blue arrow is pointing out a little blue box on the wind-shield, which is called a pre-pass. When Dad is approaching a weight station on a highway, some states have a place in the road will weigh the semi as it drives over, and if the weight is acceptable, the blue box blinks a green light meaning he can pass the weight station by; if the wieght might be over, the box blinks red, telling him to go in and get weighed.

        Why does it matter what it weighs? Well, too much weight can tear the road up, so you are only allowed so much weight per axle - the only exception is if you have a permit.

      Behind the seats (where I stood to get the picture of the front) are the bunk beds, as seen below:

       

        I have the bottom bunk, and the top bunk is Dad's. The blue arrow is pointing the "human cargo net" - a name that I just now gave it :P I buckle this net in around me whenever I sleep, it acts as a seatbelt, giving me the ability to sleep while the truck is moving.

      

       The above picture shows what's near the foot of my bed. The blue arrow points to the fridge, and purple arrow points to the tv/dvd player (Hallelujah!) You'll notice a yellow arrow, that's to show the curtain that can be pulled out to close off the front of the cab from the back (useful if I'm sleeping while Dad is driving, and allows the back to turn into a changing room).

       I hope this gives everyone a better idea of what the living quarters for truckers are like! :)

A Thursday in Missouri

     Thursday found Dad and I in Missouri, we parked at a Pilot gas station (a truck stop). I actually liked this place better than the Swift terminal, I think that was due to the fact that it was less crowded and in the middle of no where (relaxing).

     After we got there, Dad and I took a 6.5 mile (round trip) walk to WalMart and back - Dad and I like to walk, can you tell? ;) It wasn't too terribly scenic, but it was nice nonetheless. On the walk, two nice people asked us if we needed a ride. I found this pretty exciting, a nice testament to the thoughtfulness of the people of Missouri. Dad, however, decided to joke that they were really trying to get us in the car to kill us, "They both had mini-vans.." he said. I blame my father for my over-active imagination. One lady had a poodle with her though, and you can't put up with a poodle's hair and not be kind-hearted ;)

All throughout this town there were businesses owned by "Secrest", so we found if funny that on this old billboard someone had stamped "VOTE NO Gary L. Secrest" on it :P

 

     We had, yet again, 8 hours to burn here. So, at Walmart I bought a frisbee which Dad and I tossed around in the giant empty part of the truckstop parking lot. It would have been so cool if all the truckers sitting around had gotten out of their trucks and joined us for a game :P For some reason they didn't ;)

 Here is the semi! Truck sweet truck

We parked right at the end edge of the parking lot, this was the view off the edge.

A makeshift sign at the edge of the parking lot

Sales tip 101 - Don't be too cheap on advertising, it makes people question your legitimacy...

        This truck stop had a Subway connected to it, so I went there for lunch, and then got some headway done on my reading while Dad slept. I'm working on "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" by Josh Harris, a book that's been on my "to read" list FOREVER.

        I also took a shower at this truck stop, and - praise the Lord - it wasn't bad at all. Dad has a shower card for the main truck stops he goes to. The way it works is, if you fill up with more than 50 gallons, you get a free shower. You don't have to use it right away, but it does expire after a while. Dad hasn't put any fuel in the truck since I've been riding with him, so we used some showers he'd earned before. If you don't have any showers left on your card, you simply pay to use it.

        The shower was actually very well kept, I don't think I contracted anything ;) I've been told that showers at truck stops are usually pretty nice (since you're paying for it, they clean the shower after each use), whereas showers at the terminals are a little less nice (since they're free "company showers"). I've committed to trying to not get too grungy on this journey, so far so good :)

       Well, we left Missouri, and headed out to Illinois around 8pm, so far it keeps getting colder each time we move! 

Hurry Up And Wait

     Wednesday started at 3:30am for me. Actually, due to an impromptu game night with my mom and sister - and last minute packing - I was still awake by the time 3:30 came around. Around this time, Mom and I drove a little ways from the house to where Dad had parked the semi for the night, and we made my bunk, unpacked my things ext. Then we went back home where I was able to get a scant amount of sleep.

     I was awakened around 5:45am. Myself and early mornings DO NOT mix, but seeing as this was the start of my first trip in the semi, I tried staying awake up front while Dad drove – to commemorate the moment and all. My resolve died quickly, and, after getting in my bunk, I fell asleep in no time. By the time I awoke, we were almost to our first little stop at a terminal in Dallas. It was big, and full of trucks and people.

 Picture rows and rows of these - "Swift" is the company Dad works for

     The terminal had bathrooms, showers, a lounge with a tv and vending machines in it, and a place you can get your truck worked on or checked out. Walking around, I felt like I could easily be spotted as being an “outsider”, and found the crowded lounge too intimidating for my taste. (I'll try and be brave and get a picture next time) Therefore, I went back the truck and "hid".

      We had to stay at this terminal for 8 HOURS. Yep – you read that right, 8! The reason for this was, Dad was doing a "split sleeper birth". Which basically means he gets a ten hour break that he needs to take throughout his driving time, but he can split it up into two parts - an 8 hour break and a 2 hour break. He had used his 2 hour break in San Antonio, so we had the 8 hour one to do here. The prospect of finding things to do with those hours were daunting.

     Before Dad slept though, we took a short walk around - boy was it nice to get out of the truck and move!!

There was a little section of beat up trailers.

The fence-line we followed out of the terminal, here's Dad

After exiting the terminal, we walked down a road and came to a very strange open field with a mound of lush green grass right in the middle of dead grass.

It looked like someone had dumped a concentrated amount of Miracle Grow, not to mention a pile of extra dirt, on that one strip:

It was quite deep and lush!

Me and the steroid grass!

If I'd had a blanket with me, I would have been very tempted to take a nap out there...

     After the walk, the rest of the 8 hours were full of me sleeping or watching the tv in the truck. Since we didn't want to run the gas, the truck was turned off the whole time, therefore no ac. Sitting in the truck sweating, I couldn't wait to get out to cooler climates, because even though windows were opened, it was still pretty sauna like in there.

     We left the terminal close to 8pm and headed off to Oklahoma (we were making our way to drop a load in an area outside of Chicago).

     The truck itself is pretty comfy, the chair I sit in has adjustable air pocket things, and is springing – so it bounces with the bumps in the road.

     Oh, and to answer the question from Kailin, "What do truckers do to entertain themselves during all the hours of driving?" Well, in gernal Dad said, “I pass the time driving, by driving”. He explained that when your out on the road, you have to be looking for road signs, checking gauges and just being alert. (The semi is a standard car - so shifting gears adds to things to pay attention to). He does listen to music though, and, since I've been around, we've listened to Odysseys.

       I have noticed though, that almost every trucker I've seen at truck stops (including Dad) have a headset of some sort. So, even though phone conversations while driving is not wanted, I'm assuming some truckers make the odd small phone conversation here and there - via a headset of course.