Got a Load to Nebraska

We spent the night in the back lot of the client we delivered to yesterday. Thank God.

We stopped by a TA to drop off our Trip Pak envelope, and ate some breakfast, then we got a load heading for Nebraska. We ran over to the pick-up place in Baltimore... but they weren't ready for us.

The load we are to carry to Nebraska... is coming in to Baltimore from the port. So we have to wait for it to get here. Our appointment was a 2pm, we got here at 12:30pm - I know... a little early, but that way we didn't have to pay anything to sit at the TA for a few hours. So we decided to come over here and wait at the shipper's place instead.... There was already one guy ahead of us. So we are still waiting, but at least we have a load. Thank you God! and our wonderful dispatcher, Jay.


Hurry up and wait... but it's all Good!

I'll keep you posted.

Stuck in Maryland

I was just reading some other blogs and realized that I don't give nearly enough effort to this blog as others give to their blogs... and I should.

We knew (heading into the east) that truck stops would be few and crowded... so we did two things:
1. tried to get provisions (food) to last til the next day at least. That way - if you're lucky - you can deliver, get the next load and get out and NOT have to stay overnigt.
2. we called ahead to our drop client to see if there would be some place for us to park at their place over night.

Thank God, there was. "Just park in the back and no one will bother you. There is lots of space, and it's an ok neighborhood. Mostly industrial."

We just had no idea that we would be here, at the same clients place, another night AFTER our delivery. Tomorrow morning we are heading over to a TA that is close (about 8 miles away) for breakfast and to mail our Trip Pak envelope. If we don't get our Trip Pak envelope in the box soon... we might not get paid this pay period.

This company has a two-week pay period. 1st-15th, then, 16th-end of the month. If your envelope isn't in the office by the last day of the payperiod, it goes on the next paycheck... which is usually not big deal... except that this time we had a longer that normal hometime.. so this is our ONLY trip this payperiod, so far, so it better get there. Boy is this check going to be short!

Luckily... we had showered at a Love's in VA, yesterday, on our way here. Our company wants us to use Loves as a first choice, then Pilot, then.... wherever our FleetOne card will work... but try not to go to the TA for FUEL. Too Expensive! But all of our repairs on the road are done at TA's... go figure.

We were hoping for a load out today, but no luck. Here's hoping for a load tomorrow... to anywhere! I know... we're in the same boat as everyone else.

Keep truckin', and Watch You Trailer!

TTFN.. Ta Ta For Now.
Laurie

Los Angeles to Maryland.

We finally got a load out. Friday 11/7. From Los Angeles... Going to Essex, MD (a suburb of Baltimore). Delivery on Tuesday... We got there on Monday,... but after hours. So we spent the night in their back lot.

Delivered first thing in the morning... Then waited all day for another load... to anywhere.... but nothing.

It is now Tuesday night. Hopefully we'll get a load out tomorrow. We really need to keep moving in order to have any kind of a paycheck. But we know that God is with us, and He will provide for our every need.

Along the way, God has brought people into our path. We get a chance to talk to people about God. We encourage them... and they encourage us. God is Good!!

One man... (an angel)... I met at a rest area in New Mexico, gave me a music CD of hymns that really touched my heart. Just what I needed. Thank you God.

Another man we met in Maryland was out of work. We treated him and his wife to McDonalds.... A hot meal, and a gift card for another meal.

God is Good!

Pass It On!!!
Love you,
Laurie

Hometime in San Diego - Halloween & Voting

After we left Council Grove... we did a few loads. Then one ended in Denver. From there we got a ... slow... load from Denver to Phoenix.... So we took a day "off" in Trinidad, CO. with my cousins, Jimmy and JoAnn. Boy was that fun!! We got in a friendly argument over politics, got a tour of Trinidad, then went fishing!! Fun! Leroy caught 2 fish. No one else caught any.

What a riot!!









Leroy with fish. He threw it back.



From Phoenix, we got a load going to the border of Mexico in San Diego. Otay Mesa. We got there, dropped the trailer and left it for a Mexican driver to drive it across the border to get unloaded. We waited from 7am till 8:30pm. The trailer finally came back across. Yeah!! (We were thinking we were going to have to wait another day to get it back.)

From there we got Hometime!! in Lakeside, CA. We rested. Had doctor appts. got refills, and delivered our trailer to our church to be used for the Halloween/Harvest Festival. That was fun!!




Mom and Uncle Jeff at "Trunk or Treat".









Trunk or Treat (Halloween) Festival:






See our truck in the background....























Our church has people decorate the trunks of their cars and give out candy from their trunks in our church parking lot. Also.. there are games to play, concessions (food) to eat, a Cake Walk, a miniture train ride, and story telling, along with a Movie Theater for the little ones (they used our trailer for the movie theater-very cool).






We also got to Vote, clean out our truck, get our "winter" stuff out of storage, shower, laundry and generally clean up stuff. It was Good!!!

But when we were ready to get back on the road (after being out a week), they couldn't get us a load right away. We were ready on Wed. and we didn't get a load out until Friday. Bummer... too much down time.

Lay Family Reunion Picnic in Council Grove, KS 9-27-08

We had such a good time!!! We only had 3 days... but they were sooo good.

We got to see Leroy's Aunt LaVerna in the rehab center....

Leroy, Deborah, Phyllis, and LaVerna in front.

We got to see Leroy's cousin, Michael and his wife, Ronnetta, and 8 (yes, eight) kids perform in a street festival.

Here they are, with Mom, Ronnetta, on the guitar.

The two littlest ones. Too Cute!!

Leroy did the chicken dance with them.

The whole family plays a musical instrument. Most of them play multiple instruments. There was singing, fiddlin, dancin, clogging, juggling, and a whole bunch more.

Boy are they Good!!! Ages 3 to 16.

THE LAY FAMILY.

Michael & Ronnetta Lay.

In the Kansas area... If you would like them to perform for you or your event...

Call Ronnetta Lay at... 316-772-5284

email: mrlay@sbcglobal.net

web page: http://www.thelayfamily.weebly.com/

Leroy with his Aunt Virginia. Sweet.

and Katheryn in the back ground.

On Sunday, was the family reunion picnic with more visiting and more relatives. Sooo much fun!!!

We stayed in our truck, but visited a bit with Deborah, and Deborah's parents Phyllis & Ralph Anderson.

Kathryn & Jim Miller took us on a "tour" of Council Grove on our last evening there, and treated to a nice Mexican restaurant.

Everyone was really nice. We loved it!!!

Leroy's cousin Bruce, and his wife, with Leroy.

Good memories... Good Time!!

Boise, ID to Los Angeles to Laredo, TX

We went from Boise, ID to Los Angeles, CA overnite. Had two quick doctor visits, (nothing serious). Dropped our trailer in Fontana, CA for repairs, and picked up another one. Then Wednesday, got a load starting in Visalia, CA (south of Fresno) and headed to Laredo, TX. (1700 miles). We delivered on Friday morning, but there weren't any loads going out.... so we are sitting in Laredo over the weekend.



We drove our personal Team best on this run... 1130 miles in 24 hours.


I know other teams can do more... but with my sleeping issue... this is really good for us. My sleeping while the truck is moving is getting better. I am using fans to drowned out the noises. It seems to be working.... but I still sleep the best when the truck is not moving.


Visalia, CA to Laredo, TX.




When we drove through Amarillo, I took a picture of their bridge. I like the " boots" in the name.




In Laredo, we are resting,... and I get to watch TV at IdleAire. Fun! We are doing good! and the miles seem to better with this dispatcher, Jay.

We are requesting "hometime" next weekend... in Council Grove, KS. Leroy's family has an Annual Family Reunion, every year. After 9 years of marriage... this will be our first time to go back there for the Big reunion. It should be fun! Sept. 26, 27, 28. We'll go back out on the road on Monday the 29th.

See you then...
Happy Trucking!
God Bless!
Laurie

New Dispatcher, again, and Twitter.com

I just know the bare bones basics about blogging. Like... write and post. I would love to learn more, because I would love to make this blog more creative, but I'm not sure where or how.

Anyway... we have been switched to a new dispatcher, again! Second one is two weeks.

This one has been contracted by Sam Kholi to do dispatching through American Freightways.

The very first load he tried to give us was 2500 miles in 48 hours. We said NO.
He said that he has solo drivers that average 800 miles a day. (I say... Not legally!)
Our truck is governed at 65, so even in the states that we could go 70 or 75, WE can not.

and...
Since we are Christians we believe that we should be honest in our log books, in our driving legally the speed limits, and in our dealings with others. (Especially since we have "Jesus Christ is Lord" on our trailer.)

Plus I have a sleep issue. I can't sleep very well while the truck is moving (not a good thing for a team truck driver), so we have to stop the truck for 3-4 hours each night so I can sleep. Then I get the rest of my sleep in snatches of sleep while the truck is moving. We can average 950 - 1050 miles as a team in 24 hours if we push it. Other teams that don't have sleeping issues can average 1200 miles in 24 hours, but I can't. So it holds us back a little.

I am hoping to get this dispatcher to understand US (me), and run us in a way that is good for us. Not too slow like a solo driver, but not too fast like a "real" team.... But only time will tell.

Twitter.com
I recently signed up with Twitter. It is a website that lets you blog in short bits of information (a couple of sentences or so) from your cell phone and it goes out to other people's cell phones. Kind of like a mass email. Way Cool!

I have started to do a lot more through my cell phone since it takes time to get the computer unpacked and up & running to do some blogging and such. I try to check my email about once a week, but sometimes it longer.

If you want to "follow" me on Twitter...
My Twitter ID is: LAY_TRUCKINGADV

Desiree Moved!
We recently got to go with our daughter, Desiree, and help her move into her first apartment. (We took a load and followed her.) She moved from San Diego, CA to Valparaiso, IN. Wow!
You know... where Orville Redenbacher is from... the Popcorn guy.
It's about 45 miles south of Chicago.

Her apartment is beautiful!! And we are sure she will do well there. We are aiming to go back to see her for Christmas!

Here is our schedule.... as schedules go:
Sept: We are hoping to be in Kansas for Leroy's Family Reunion at the end of Sept.
Oct: Then in San Diego at the end of Oct. Our trailer is going to be used for Halloween at our church.
Nov:Then in San Diego with my parents for Thanksgiving.
Dec: Then in Indiana with Desiree for Christmas.

We'll see how it all works out.

Right now we are in Oklahoma heading to Arkansas for a pick up going to New Mexico.
Did you follow that??

Happy Trucking!
Laurie :)

Picked Up Leroy, Now waiting in Ripon, Ca

Hi y'all,
I finally got a load out of Willcox, AZ. !!!
I picked up in Pearce, AZ about 30 miles south of Willcox. (Garbonzo beans in large 2,000 lb. sacks) going to Tracy, CA (Near Stockton).

As I was going through Fontana, I picked up Leroy. Yeah!! Back together again.

We delivered in Tracy, CA yesterday morning and have been sitting ever since.

One thing that is slowing us down, is that our dispatch office in Montana got shut down on Friday 8/1/08 with no advance warning. Now we are now being dispatched out of Reno, NV. But they are not quite up and running yet. Bummer. So we are trying to be patient. Sam Kholi Trucking is constantly in a state of change, and we are just trying to go with the flow. They recently opened a "yard" in Fontana, CA. which is a good thing and hoping to get better, and hopefully this new dispatch office with turn out to be a good thing too.

We just got a load going from Tracy, CA to Sparks, NV.
Happy Trucking...
Laurie :)

Castaway Restaurant, Burbank CA

We went to the wonderful Castaway Restaurant in Burbank, CA on Saturday 7-26-08 for Desiree's birthday celebration. I forgot to take a picture of the chocolate fountain, oops.

Here are some pictures of our family having fun.



Heather and Desiree, enjoying a champagne and Orange Juice drink.



Hey Des... something in your eye? wink, wink.




Jon.. enjoying the view.
He is my brother that lives in Fullerton, Ca.




The View!!!




Mom, Dad, and Uncle Jeff... my Dad's brother.




Desiree stabbing the food with wooden sticks. This is towards the end of the meal. Getting bored??

Gracye, Desiree, and Jon.

Gracye, Desiree, Laurie, and Jon.

Our Family: Laurie, Desiree, and Leroy.

Aren't we a good lookin family!!!

Desiree and Heather. Wow! Beautiful girls!

Here's the whole family.

In back: Jon, Desiree, Laurie, Amber

Gracye in front of Jon,

Uncle Jeff, Leroy-my Sweetie, Mom-Irene, Dad-Patrick.

Fun Times!!!

Love you All.

Ice Cave & Bandera Volcano in NM

Hi...

We had a slow run in early July that had a LOT of time to kill.... example.... like a run that we could have done, comfortably, in 3 days, they gave us 5 days to do it in. (We picked up on Thursday, and it delivered on Monday.) We tried to call ahead to get an early delivery appt, on Sat or Sun, but they were closed over the weekend. So .... we decided to go sight-seeing.

It was interesting! An old volcano, and an underground ice cave within walking distance of each other.

We had to hike up this little hill to see down into the old volcano. It was surrounded with lava rocks, everywhere. Then hike back down and a little over, then down some "Very Steep" stairs to see the ice cave. All in all - pretty cool.

First, We decided to take the path through the lava rocks, up the hill to the volcano. Then we hiked over to see the Ice Cave.

Here are some pix.

Leroy in front of a fallen tree and surrounded by lava rocks, on the way up to see the volcano.

Laurie in a caved out lava formation.

Here is the what the old volcano looks like today. Just a sunken hole.

Here we are... Laurie & Leroy... in front of the volcano.

Watch your step...

Say... Can you step back just one more step? OK, now just one more step... he-he.

These are the steps leading down to the underground Ice Cave. Wow, were they ever steep!!!

Hold on the railings and watch your step. Some of the steps were not the same depth as the other ones. Watch out.

Here is Laurie at the bottom of the Ice Cave. See the frozen water that is a yellowish-green color. That color is from frozen algae.

Here is Leroy at the bottom of the Ice Cave. (Isn't he handsome?!)

In this picture you can see the rocks on the top that look like they could fall at any moment.

Hey Mom... it is just an accident waiting to happen. Not good Risk Management to let tourist down there... but then again... what do I know.. if they have stayed up this long, couldn't they stay up a little longer!? Sure Hope so.

TTFN

Ta Ta For Now.

Keep Havin Fun!

Love ya,

Laurie