Surprise Trip

Being unemployed has its perks.  My husband got a load going to Northwest Ohio, and seeing as how my oldest child is an adult, I left the two boys with her and took off with my hubby for a week.  My first long trip in the semi truck!  It was...kind of boring.  But I saw so much of the country, and three new states for me!

Here I am in Dayton, OH, at a florist shop (hubby mostly delivers plants around the country.)  This was the 1950 Ford tractor of the owner of the florist shop, and he let me sit on it to take pictures!  He also gave me those white daisies.  

So, I'm the goofball who goes up north in late September with no jacket.  I was FREEZING.  Hubby had to buy me this adorable striped cardigan in Pisgah Forest, NC.  It was at Walmart for under $20, size 16.  And yes, I'm wearing jeans.  With my husband's back injury, I was doing most of the unloading of plants.  What a filthy job.

While Mr. R was sleeping in the back, I sat in the driver's seat and did some Bible study.  I'm in Hickory NC right here, but I've been to NC many times.

Here we are in Hillsville, VA.  We were picking up a load of pumpkins to go back to Florida.  Two things about this picture:  1) my shirt is on backwards, because I had just dumped half a cup of coffee down the front of it.  And I had no clean shirts left, so I just turned it around so I could take this photo.  2) We are on the side of a mountain where semi trucks SHOULD NOT BE.  Even Mr. R was sweating going up and down this mountain.  At one point, we were going 5mph around a curve where if he had made one error, we would have plunged to our deaths.  Terrifying.

There was no hair done on this trip.  I think I wore make up one time.  And I discovered that maxi skirts and dresses are RIDICULOUS in a semi truck and I was cursing myself the entire time for having packed them.  I can't believe none of them ripped.  I slammed my skirt in the doors, tripped over it while picking up plants, nearly fell over the hem while climbing in and out of the truck.  Lesson learned.

This gorgeous lake was on the farm where we picked up pumpkins.  I didn't edit this picture, this is God's goodness unfiltered.  Mr. R was wishing like crazy he had brought a fishing rod.  I'd love to wake up to that view in the morning with a cup of coffee, wouldn't you?

I learned a lot about trucking.  Here's a few things you might not know:

1) You don't bathe every day.  There are showers at the truck stops.  But you rarely have time to stop for one every day.  I didn't like that at all.
2) I understand why there are more men than women drivers.  Men can pee in a bottle on the side of the road.  Clearly, this is more of an issue for those of us with indoor plumbing.
3) My husband keeps a 5 gallon bucket in his truck.  I thought it was a trash can.  Yes, but it's also a toilet.  I was not happy about that.
4) Being a girl on the road gets attention.  Especially since I was not dressed like a trucker.  I got a lot of whistles, cat calls, and guys straight up high-fiving my husband about getting "the ol ball and chain" out on the road with him.  I can see why many of these guys are single.  Ew.
5) A lot of prostitution goes on in truck stops.  I saw at least one transaction.  It's really sad, and the situation needs prayer for sure.
6) A lot of drivers...and this grosses me out...while in a parking lot, near bathroom facilities, will take their bottles of urine (remember I talked about this already, schedules are so tight many men are peeing in water and soda bottles so they don't have to stop driving) and just dump them in parking lots.  It's so nasty and foul.  Let me tell you, lots of people are against having truck stops or rest stops in their neighborhood.  I used to wonder why, but now I know.  A lot of these people are nasty.  If there are garbage cans or toilets, there is no need to dump your pee in the parking lot, where it gets warm and starts to stink really badly.  You could always tell when someone had just done it, too.