I've been steadily putting things away and getting the new truck organized somewhat. It's getting much nicer and roomier in here now that things are put away. There's one thing about the rig that I've been a little disappointed with and that's the cooling capacity of the generator unit. The ac works but it just didn't seem to me that it was blowing out nearly enough air to keep the sleeper cool enough when the sun is beating down on the truck. While vacuuming the carpet today I noticed a l...

As I am forced to park my rig until Wednesday morning I called a cab and rode to a local bar for some entertainment today. I hit it off with the folks who worked there and had a pretty good time. One of the guys who works there, he plays in a local band and we spent a good deal of time talking about music, invited me to their local Jul 4th party tomorrow. He gave me his phone number, aassured me he would give me a ride, and explained that there would be "plenty of women" there to assure a...

Ok, I have things organzied well enough for a few select shots of the interior of my new rig. The fridge Sleeper control center Slide out table/desk

The first thing this morning I called my office to find out if it was going to be possible to obtain the two remaining oversize permits. An hour later they came across the fax at the truckstop. Great! I could finally get out of there. With tomorrow's holiday the oversize curfew goes into effect at noon today prohibiting movement until sunrise Wednesday morning so I couldn't travel very far, but every little bit helps. I moved to this truckstop close to the KY/TN line and found myself a par...

The new truck is much nicer than my old one although at the moment it's still pretty jumbled and disorganized inside. I simply have far too much stuff here. The old truck had more storage space even though it was physically smaller overall. A good deal of what would have been storage space in the new truck is taken up by the built-in refrigerator/freezer, the television shelf with power ports, antenna/amplifier connections, and the microwave shelf. I've been carrying around too much extra cra...

Ok, since I have some time to kill I went ahead and shot a few pics of my new truck. These are just outside shots as I am still working on organizing the inside and don't want to shoot interior pics until I get it all straightened out.

I'm on my way home. Great. I have a fire truck destined for the port of Miami, and then I go home from there. Fire trucks are big. Oversized loads. They require permits from each state I have to haul them through because they are so bg. People who work in state offices rarely do anything beyond whatever is done prior to 5 o'clock. I received my permits for every state except KY and FL. I am currently sitting on the IL/KY line without the required permit to travel through KY with an overs...

After a much needed shower I wandered over to Applebys for dinner and of course a few brews. Being a Tuesday I figured the crowd would be pretty light, and I was correct. The bartender remembered me, sort of. I've shaved off my beard since the last time I was there so she wasn't 100% sure, but after a short conversation and seeing my long pipe she was reassured that I was who she thought I was. At one point the bartender needed to go the cooler and she made me promise I wouldn't leave befo...

Just a quick note to those who have been posting replies on my articles. I apologize for not responding to your posts right away. I am really busy right now with work, moving into a new truck ( worse than moving into a new home), and all that jazz. I simply don't have time for more than a quick peek right now. I haven't even had the time for a shower for the past two days and and am heading for one right now! (I'm sure I must smell wonderfully about now, I know I feel like I do) Things sho...

Ok, I know I'm tired and my back, hip, and leg hurt like crazy so I'm a little (read a lot) less patient than normal. Ok, crabby. I walked (hobbled) into the truckstop to get something to eat. As my cash is running low I decided to get something cheap from the chicken place inside. I stood in line, ordered my food, and was waiting for it to be ready when these two women came in with 6 kids ranging in age (guessing) from about 5 to maybe 9 or 10. And these kids were obviously very wound up....

I've made it to Oklahoma City where I am going to be spending the night. It was a rough drive getting here. I didn't sleep well at all last night. For the past few days my lower back and my bum hip have been giving me a lot of pain, yesterday reaching the peak of "discomfort" as the doctors put it. The pain has been the main reason I just haven't felt like driving much the past few days. Normally I sleep like a baby after a couple of beers but last night even that didn't help and the p...

I decided to not stay at the casino today and instead moved to Albequerque,NM and parked at the truckstop there. I really wanted a cold beer and since there wasn't an adult beverage establishment nearby I took a walk. I found a bar about a block from the truckstop. I made friends with the two guys working the bar there and commenced to endulging in a few adult beverages while engaging in discourse with the patrons around me. I have having a pretty enjoyable time for a while. At some point ...

I've stopped yet again. I drove about 100 miles and stopped again. I just really don't feel like it today. No motivation at all. I'm about 22 hours from my stop in Chicago and can't deliver it until Monday anyway so I'm kind of dragging my feet. I may just loaf around here at the Sky City Casino for the rest of the day even though it means having to do some steady running Saturday and Sunday to make it up. But sometimes ya just have to say to hell with it and goof off for a while. Know...

A few pics of my travels through the Southwest so far. The California Imperial Dunes Some Volcanic debris in Arizona Typical Arizona Vegetation More Arizona The view from the parking lot of the Little America truckstop in Flagstaff, AZ

As I walked out of the truckstop earlier I noticed a large sign that reads "Begging is illegal. Do not encourage or contribute to this problem" and lists some local ordinance. I thought it was a bit odd at the time but after sitting here in my truck for a little while I understand. I've had several people come knock on my door asking for money. One guy was so stoned that he was barely able to stand or speak and a couple of times almost fell down. Must be a big problem around here for them to ...