July 3

Rex extended his home stay at least one more day, so I have some time to write. I did a quick tote and I've driven over 6000 miles since June 16 through parts of at least 17 states from South Carolina to California east to west and Louisiana to Ohio south to north. My shifting is improving day-by-day, though I still have problems downshifting going up a steep grade. I've learned how to move the trailer tandem axles (yes, they move) to balance load weight. I can "drop" a trailer and "hook" up to a different one (the transaction is called "drop & hook"). I'm getting familiar with the paperwork truckers have to do and there's lots of it. With about three weeks left in the training I still have a lot to learn, but Rex and I agree that I'll be able to do the job when I get my own truck.

Here are some random takes and observations.

During one of our longer layovers, at a truck stop near Little Rock, I took a walk to get away from the roar of idling diesels and found quiet less than a quarter mile away along a paved road next to a farm field. The road dead-ended in a way that led me to think it might have been part of an aborted sub-division. On the side opposite the field, the road was bounded by a thick stand of trees and shrubs that masked the sounds of the truck stop almost completely. I could hear birds and frogs and even the breeze, such as it was, blowing through the foliage. I found a shady spot to stand and make a few calls. It was a very welcome respite on a very hot day. Trucks are just noisy beasts.

At that same truck stop, I encountered a forlorn looking woman I judged to be in her late thirties or early forties who was asking male truckers if they were headed to Oklahoma. A sad character, she seemed to me like she had leaked off the pages of a Lucinda Williams song.

For several days last week, we ended up on what they call in this business a dedicated run, carrying Proctor & Gamble products between Alexandria, Louisiana and Lima, Ohio. We made that 945-mile run four times! I saw some beautiful countryside in Louisiana and Arkansas on U.S. 82 and other blue highways before getting onto the Interstate system again.

As of last Saturday, I am no longer a "rookie" driver, but a full student! That is to say, I can now drive between midnight and 6am. Rex took advantage of that Monday as I started a 7-hour stint at 11pm and drove though the night mostly on U.S. 285 through the Texas panhandle heading for a delivery in Albuquerque. I was OK until just before dawn when I got pretty drowsy. Unfortunately there was NO place to pull over, so I applied heavy will power and made it OK. Rex says everybody has trouble around that time. Not much comfort.

Once we leave El Paso, we'll be truly driving as as team, making long hauls and switching off with one of us driving while the other one sleeps. That will be interrupted periodically with longer stops, but it will be a heavy dose of driving. Since I find I can sleep pretty well while the truck is rolling and I can pile up those required driving hours more quickly this way, I'm OK with it. However, that will be all the team driving I ever expect to do.

It's been 95 in El Paso the last two days, a fairly dry heat. Apparently, they're in the rainy season, though, with the real heat still to come. I can attest to the season as I was marooned in a Wal Mart near my hotel yesterday during some very heavy thunder storms.

More as I can.