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.