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

Home Time, Getting Separated, and waiting in Willcox, AZ

Hi there ya'all ... NO - Leroy and I are not "getting separated". Thank God!!

We had our wonderful home time. Desiree had a great idea to go to the Castaway Restaurant in Burbank, CA for a wonderful brunch party. The restaurant sits on the top of this hill that overlooks a golf course and all of Burbank. Beautiful! and Very yummy. I should have taken a picture of the beautiful chocolate fountain.... mmmm. Wow.

Then we visited with my brother in Fullerton.... then went to our yard in Fontana, CA and tried to get some things worked on... but... it just didn't work out quite right. So we tell our dispatcher that we want to get going. He calls us a little while later and says that the San Diego office needs our help. We need to go rescue a driver with a load in Willcox, AZ.

So off we go... as we are driving there, the San Diego office calls and says that we will have to separate. There is a truck that has been impounded and it is "loaded". Leroy will need to get in that truck and trailer and deliver the load to Anaheim as fast as possible.

We arrive in Willcox about 11pm, ... our boss has already made arrangments for the guy at the impound yard to meet us "after hours" to get it released. We get there, do the paperwork, and go pick up the other driver at a nearby motel... and Off Leroy goes, back to Anaheim. (which is right next door to Fullerton where my brother lives and where we just were.)

Leroy does really good. He (along with the other driver, riding as a passenger) arrive at the delivery place in Anaheim at about 8:30am, get unloaded, and head up to our yard in Fontana. (Must seem like Deja Vu to Leroy... say... wasn't I just here!? he-he. Yes you were.)

After dropping Leroy off at the truck at the impound yard in Willcox AZ, I then head to the nearby TA and sleep. I get my 10 hours off and I'm ready to go at 9am, but no one told my dispatcher that we got separated, or that I now need a load going back to LA as fast as possible so I can pick-up Leroy. So we (Leroy and I both) inform the dispatcher what is going on... and I wait... all day. :(

By 5pm, I realize that I am not getting a load out of here today, so I go do laundry. woo-hoo.

I am praying that we will be brought together soon.
Leaving it in the Lord's hands....
Laurie

Near Accident & a fender bender in Portland OR

Near Accident in Tacoma:

As we were coming in to Tacoma, WA, I (Laurie) was driving. I was coming over these sets of small rises and falls. (I just happened to be going slower than usual, because I had just smoked my brakes on a large hill just before this.)

As I came over one rise, I could see down at the bottom of the little valley that there were cars on the side of the road (as if an accident had just happened). Then I saw a semi-truck move quickly from the travel lane to the shoulder along with another car in front of him.

I'm thinking... ok they had an incident, but they have moved it all over to the shoulder, so everything is OK. I just continue on as usual.

I am traveling in the right lane of a two lane highway (WA-18) when all of a sudden I noticed that the 3 or 4 cars directly in front of me (in the distance) are coming to a complete stop - IN THE TRAVEL LANES! In Front of ME.

I then realize that I don't have enough time or room to stop before I would be hitting those cars. I feel God there with me, and I'm very calm. It seems like it is happening in slow motion. I look to the shoulder and there is this area between the two sets of cars / semi truck on the side of the road and a grassy area just off the shoulder area, and I head for that opening.

I pull on the air horn and hold it, and put on my brakes as best as I could. I finally come to a stop with my cab in the grassy area and the trailer on the shoulder, but no injuries and no accident. THANK GOD!

I take a moment to collect myself and slowly back out of the space onto the shoulder. A policeman walks by and gives me a thumbs up and smiles. Traffic is flowing smoothly....and I go on my way.

Fender-Bender in Portland, OR.

I was in the Jubitz Truck Stop in Portland OR. It was about 6:45pm and the place was PACKED. I had been so careful going around each turn at the end of the aisles, but this last turn I thought I saw a parking space, so my eyes were on the parking space and not on my trailer.

Rule #1 : Always Watch Your Trailer!

So I cut the turn too sharp and caught the front right fender of the truck on the end of the aisle, with the mid section of my trailer. There was damage to his truck, but only a scratch to the trailer. I got out, took pictures, and left a note. (The driver was not present.) We also called the Portland Police, but they said they don't come out to non-injury accidents and that all I had to do was leave a note, which I did, and I was going to do anyway.

This is my first accident since getting my CDL about a year ago.

What a bummer... and it was totally preventable.

Trucking in three easy steps:

1. Always watch your trailer.

2. Take is slow - real slow.

3. Take it wide.

Of the two near disasters, I think I got off easy.

Thank You God.

The fender bender was a wake-up call.

Till next time,

Laurie :)

Truck Fixed and We're Doing Good!

We finally got our truck fixed, (emergency stuff), then they sent us up to Billings, MT
On the way to Billings.. we blew a shock that then rubbed on the inside of a tire causing it to blow and catch on fire! Leroy pulled over right away so there was no other damage, and used the fire extinguisher, then we waited for a road side repair, ... this happened just outside of Reno NV. As the road-side guys were trying to change the tire they discovered it was damaged and would not "bead" to the tire. So we limped to a Petro in Sparks, NV were they changed the tire and rim, and installed a new shock... then discovered that the brake pads on the drive tires were barely legal.. so we had to have those replaced.

At Billings, we had all the other stuff fixed!! Yeah. New front drums, air bags - which were a source of a secondary air leak, all the other shocks replaced, and NEW SEATS!!!.....etc...

Then we took a load of flour to Tacoma, WA and now we are taking a load of cardboard cartons from Vancouver, WA to San Marcos, CA-- then we will get some hometime in to Los Angeles for Desiree (our daugher) birthday party, and a chance to see everyone!

Then we head out on Monday 7/28/08.
Havin' Fun!!!

Flagstaff - Phoenix and Lightening!!!

We were in "breakdown" mode for 4 days (6/29/08 - 7/2/08). Stuck 1/2 way between Flagstaff, AZ and Kingman, AZ. In a 1/2 star motel.... waiting for repairs to be completed.

There was much haggling over the price charged for the repairs... but what can you do when you are out in the Boonies. The repair shop wanted to charge a lot more... but in the end only charged $4,200... parts ($3,000) and labor ($1,000) plus tax... to fix the stripped differential. The "powers that be" in our office haggled them down to that price... I'm glad I wasn't a part of that.

Finally - Our repairs were finished on the 2nd, then we drove to Flagstaff to await our next load. Nothing!

7/3/08 - We waited some more and passed some time by hand-washing the truck (got 1/2 way done - then we were done in). It is HOT out here!

3:30pm-Finally, they get us a load, so we head down to Phoenix. We get there about 9:30pm and park in front of our pick-up place. Our appointment isn't until 8am tomorrow. (Actually on the 4th of July, who knew...) It is Hot!!

At about 10:15pm is starts raining, then lightening, then thunder, then all three at once. What a sight!! I am sooo glad we drove down when we did, and not in the rain. God is amazing. The lightening - Wow!

After we get loaded tomorrow... we will head for Nicholasville, KY.

Yeah!!! We are rolling again.
Thank You God!
Laurie :)

Ash Fork Inn - Ash Fork AZ

We spent 4 glorious days at the Ash Fork Inn. Well... maybe not "glorious". But even with minimal amenities, God was with us. We had a nice few days off, even though the only way to get around this little town was on foot, and the nearest eatery was a mile away. (And it was over 100 degrees!) We had to get around on foot because our truck was being repaired at a repair shop about 8 miles away. They brought us to the motel. From there we were on our own. Thank God for cell phones so we could stay in touch, because there were no phones in the motel.


Here is what we saw from our front door.

Lots of sagebrush.




Here is our room - on the bottom. The door is open.



Here is the front of the motel. I'm just glad we didn't have to pay for it.