Tearing it Up

After driving empty 280 miles on Monday to Mount Pleasant, and then waiting more than 13 hours at Pilgrims Pride on Tuesday, we are finally on our way to California, tearing up the highway.

This time no events to delay the feather meal we're hauling to Helm, CA. No deer smashing into us, no tire's blowing out, and no insane mudflap adventures. We are safely out of Texas, and though the wind is blowing, it looks like a beautiful day in New Mexico. We just crossed the border a bit ago (how do you like their new sign? they just finished it a few weeks ago) and got prepassed by the weigh station 13 miles into the state. Got to love the PrePass!

Malcolm talked to Mark the broker a little while ago. We call in each morning to let him know where we are, just so he knows. And usually, if he's not swamped, he'll take a minute to chat, maybe review what he has in mind for the next couple days. He did that this morning, and suddenly the rest of the week looks much brighter. We (hopefully) aren't turning around and going to Texas again. Looks like we're taking some stuff over the mountain to Reno, and then reloading at Winnemucca and heading to Granger, WA for Monday.

Looks like a beautiful drive through open countryside for the weekend. Lots of time, good places to eat, gorgeous scenery, and hopefully happy weather to enjoy it with!

So we're tearing up the highway for now, but not too bad. We're still holding it back around 64mph. The truck was built to perform best at that speed, so that's what we try to run.

Speaking of "tearing it up," don't let this sweet face fool you.

Ella has a habit that the other two babies never really developed. At first, when she was little, it was cute. Now we still laugh at her, but I think we're at the end of letting it be amusing. I think some discipline is in order now. Ella likes to "make" her bed before she lays down. Normally it wouldn't be a big deal, but her bed is our bed. We'll be settled in, all is quiet and peaceful, and all of a sudden we'll hear this frantic digging. She just goes to town, usually getting up three or four times to re-adjust things. I keep telling her she isn't accomplishing anything, but apparently I was wrong.

Malcolm climbed into bed the other evening, and found a surprise...

Now these sheets were cheapies from Walmart and they have lasted us about three years, which is probably pretty good, considering how much use they get. They were washed thin and had a small hole in them already. So its not like she ruined a good pair of sheets. The problem is that the beds in the truck are odd sizes. The bottom bunk is wider than a normal twin size and longer too. So twin size sheets are two small, and full size sheets are way too big. I'm sure you can order sheets from Kenworth that fit their bunks, but I just have this feeling that they are going to be over-priced and as course as sandpaper. So I haven't even bothered looking. I have a couple more sets, but they are getting older too. I finally stripped off the old torn one yesterday and Malcolm's going to use it for scraps to clean his guns since it was flannel. He was very disappointed because it was his favorite sheet.

I replaced it with my favorite sheet. But, for some reason, I don't have much hope of it lasting very much longer.

Does anyone know where you can get good quality odd sized sheets?

Easter Weekend

Hope you all had a beautiful Easter weekend! Ours was very nice with great weather and beautiful scenery. We loaded in Stockton, CA on Thursday afternoon and headed south and then west towards Texas. Our delivery was just east of Austin, TX on Monday morning.

Instead of running I-40 again, we dropped south to I-10, passing through the Arizona desert. All the desert plants were in bloom or about to begin blooming.


We passed through Phoenix and Tuscon. On over in New Mexico we drove through Los Cruces where there were a few hot air balloons in the sky, though they were too high and too far for pictures. Then it was into Texas and through El Paso, on out into the wilds. Southwest Texas is another gorgeous area of the state, and by all appearances very sparsely populated.

Its very dry around El Paso, almost desert looking, but shortly after leaving the border behind, more vegetation appears, though not the lush green grasslands and forests of east Texas. We stopped in Fort Stockton, TX for dinner and slept there Saturday night.

Easter morning was absolutely beautiful, and the land was in bloom, colored in carpets of orange and deep blue and purple.

Before reaching San Antonio, we cut across country on US290 through Texas hill country. I didn't take pictures. I was too busy soaking in the view for myself. It was more beautiful country, and in the middle of it we passed through the home town of Lyndon B. Johnson.

Off track a little, but there is a book (and movie) called True Women by Janice Woods Windel . It is the story of two friends who grow up during the settling of Texas, during those violent years of fighting the Mexicans and Comanches for possession of Texas lands. I love this book. There is a sequel to it, that Mom found and bought me a few years ago. It is called Hill Country, and continues the story of their families. Lyndon B Johnson is a character in the later part of the book, and the setting is this area of Texas that we were driving through. I recommend both. They are entertaining, and also give a Texas history lesson through the story of these women's lives.

Back to present day Texas, we came out of the country and dropped in on Austin, where we stopped to do some grocery shopping and eat on the east side of town.

We stepped out of the truck at Walmart and it was like walking into a steam bath. Shocking, after being in the western states dry air for so long. It was only around 75 degrees, and not by any means as humid as it will be later this summer, but for us, it was sticky thick air, heavy to breathe, and I got sweaty for the first time this year. We were not enjoying the humidity at all!

Walmart was crowded and loud and had so many cultures and races represented that I lost count. It was overwhelming. I was also a little concerned when I saw that even the $9 movies were locked up behind glass! What was up with that. I suddenly had the feeling that despite appearances, we weren't in one of the choice areas of Austin. On the way into the store I got looks and kisses blown my way, and upon returning to the truck I learned that Malcolm had had company stop by to ask for money and a drive by looking to see if anyone was in the truck. We decided not to spend the night in Austin.

Instead we drove 10 miles down the road. Ten miles can make a big difference. We parked at a warehouse that was for lease that was conveniently behind a BBQ joint. Ate dinner and tried to sleep in a very muggy warm truck. We were feeling too cheap to run it for AC.

The next morning we finished the last 15 miles under cloudy skies and a cool breeze. We delivered our load of organic soybean meal to Coyote Creek Farm. I enjoyed a morning of watching these VERY happy cluckers while Malcolm unloaded the trailer.

I so look forward to having a little flock of my own one day!

Tuesday morning and we are sitting in Mount Pleasant, TX waiting our turn to load feather meal. Its back to California for us, and this time I don't mind. The weather in the rest of the country looks king of crummy weather wise, so I'm happy to stay down here in the dry, and out of the snow and rain.

Being a Temporary HomeKeeper and Playing Cowgirl

Hard to believe we've already been on the road for a week after our last home time. Sometimes it seems that time just crawls out here, and sometimes it flys by. We're intending to work through till the end of May when we'll go home for Malcolm's sister's high school graduation. Thats almost 2 months. Lets hope it goes by quickly! Of course if it doesn't we'll still have a few fly by stops probably like we usually seem to get. Those are much needed. I know for sure we'll have one because we have to get back to sign our taxes before the 15th.

As stated before, we had a marvelous, fun, relaxing time at home, and also spent a little time at the ranch. The girls and I started our home time out by catching up on laundry...always a big job after numerous weeks out on the road. I could do laundry on the road, but I just don't like to. For one thing, its boring sitting around waiting on it, and those public washers just give me the wllies...not to mention they take forever to get stuff dried...and cost a ridiculous amount. Enough on that. I'd rather wait and have mountains of it to deal with at home. This was just part of it. The rest was upstairs waiting to be hauled and sorted.

The girls love laundry time because the laundry room, for some reason, stays really warm. Its their sleeping room, and they love when I'm working in there. They wallow in the laundry, and chase each other around, using their kennel as base.

Speaking of their kennel, I made them a new bed while we were home. Its pink and black leopard print fau fur. Its a little poofy, but they are working on getting it squished down into a nice bed.

I also baked bread, made my sister and her boyfriend's daughter matching aprons for her birthday, cleaned the bathrooms and wood floors (something I've neglected for months), and just generally did homey things and soaked it all up. We only saw snow on one day, the day after we got home, and it melted by that afternoon. Overall the weather at home was mild, sunny, and almost springlike!

While I worked inside, Malcolm worked outside. He took advantage of the mild weather and fertilized the yard and pastures.We live up in the hills northeast of Billings and its very dry. Last summer we tore out a retaining wall and it looks much better, but left us grassless in the back yard. We were overjoyed to see that this spring the grass is slowly making a comeback, and he thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to help it along some. We're also considering selling the house and moving (more on this later) so it would look better if we actually had some grass...and it was green and lush, or at least as lush as it can get up there. So fertilizer should give it a nice boost. And as soon as he finished this, it started a very gentle sprinkling of rain that came and went all day. Perfect for soaking it all into the ground.

He also spent his time tinkering in the shop, running a few errands in town, and playing with his guns. The truck had been turned into Kenworth as soon as we got home for some warranty work and an overhead (they do that at 100,000 miles..go through the engine and truck and get everything adjusted and back into spec), so he wasn't able to work on it every living moment that we were home. I was grateful that he was forced to stay away from the truck. He was too. He needed that.

This studly fellow moved in down the road. I'm not a big paint fan, but he has caught my affection with only one glimpse. I think he's a blue roan paint, which I had not seen before. He also had a girlfriend that he was in hot pursuit of. I'm looking forward to seeing him after he slicks out for summer, and also curious to see what his offspring look like. His girlfriend is some kind of draft cross, or light draft.


After nearly a week at home, we loaded up the pickup one morning and headed to the ranch south of Baker. I love this drive. I love leaving Billings behind me and heading into eastern Montana. It feels like coming home. Its convenient living near Billings, but I left my heart in eastern Montana when we moved a year and a half ago.

Paris and Ella love going to Malcolm's parent's. Carlie has always been kind of edgy about it. She usually stresses out and stops eating when we are anywhere other than home or in the truck. But this time she seemed to settle right in and I think she had a good time. They love ripping around on the living room carpet, snuggling with Malcolm's mom, and laying in front of the gas stove. Paris and Carlie Jean discovered a new place to enjoy the fires warmth...my girls always like heights for some reason.Malcolm had some rifle's at his parents and got them out to look at them before packing them up to bring them home. He made the mistake of leaving the case open and the princess, apparently too good to lay on the carpet like the others, insisted on making a bed of the gun case. Only she could have gotten away with this. She's too cute for her own good.I didn't catch it before, but a friend of mine pointed out that she's wearing her camo shirt too. How appropriate!

She gets away with a lot of things because of her cuteness. Things like this...

She's tall enough to see over the edge of the table anyway, but she discovered that she could stand on the treadmill that's right there and get a GOOD view of everything that we were eating or drinking. This became here permanent position for every meal, snack, or general gathering around the table, for the entire visit.

The trip to the ranch wasn't all about visiting and fun and games. Well I guess that depends on who you ask. I enjoyed it all as fun and games but I'm sure that my sister-in-law felt differently. And these guys probably did too.

Shoshoni and Dandi. They were wondering who I was, why they were left standing in the barn with me, and what was going on. Rachelle had left to go tag some calves with her Dad before we moved them, and the boys and I were hanging out in the barn waiting. This was actually day two of moving pairs, so they probably new what was up, but I'm sure they were wondering why we weren't getting to it.

I've not had a lot of experience moving or working cows, but I enjoy every chance I get. I only hope I'm learning and not getting in the way too much. Sometimes I feel like I'm more of a burden than help, and I know on one occasion I created more work, because I let a cow and calf get away and they went down in a low spot and Rachelle couldn't get them out. Oh well...they just got a little longer with the herd, but eventually came up and were pushed into the other pasture with the rest of the pairs.

It was cool and cloudy and on day two as we were finishing up, the wind got stronger and colder. But it could have been worse weather, and we were all bundled up for it. I had fun, and though I was sore for days afterwards, it was very much worth it! I have so much fun working with Rachelle and she's very good at teaching without loosing patience. Maybe one day I'll actually be a help to her.

My father-in-law was fixing some fencing that the snow had weighed down over the winter, but later on he came in and helped us with some stubborn pairs. We also left a few of the more aggressive mothers for him to deal with on the four-wheeler.

While he was fencing and we were moving pairs, Malcolm was working with his D-7 Cat. The neighbor had just finished working on the tracks which had been loose sense we bought it. It was like a new machine! He used it to clean the lot for his Dad.

By the time he was finished he had created quite a mountain of poo. The hill above is after the first days work. He worked on it a second day till mid-afternoon. The pile was so big you could see it from the road, a mile away. I told them they should put a flag on top. His Dad said he was thinking of putting his windsock up there.

While Malcolm and I were outside in the chilly damp working, the girls were inside with my mother-in-law who continued the trend of spoiling them. She moved the dog bed over by the door so they could nap, watch for us to go by, and rub the coziness of the house in the barn cats nose.

After getting cleaned up, we all headed to town for dinner. They had some errands to run in town, and after dinner they got to it, and we headed home.

At home we finished some things up. I had to finish the laundry we created while we were at home and at the ranch, gather things together to put back in the truck, and other odds and ends. I also had to bake another batch of cookies for the girls. I have become unsatisfied with all the store bought treats. They just seem so...un-nutritious. So last summer I bought this book. I've only tried a couple of recipes, but they are all HUGE hits! The apple muttins were a big success, but so far these gingersnaps are the favorite.

Ella will do anything for a gingersnap, and thinks she gets one every time she takes position in the passenger seat for her turn at co-pilot. And of course she does get one every time. Here she is waiting in the kitchen as I rolled out the dough. I honestly think she knew what I was making because she doesn't usually hover in the kitchen...at least not quite so much.

That's the reason I had to make more. The recipe makes about 150, but I was running low from the last batch. The things taste pretty good too! (yes I tried one) Kind of bland, but not too bad. They are made from organic oat and rice flour and have molasses, ginger, cinnamon, honey, and some other good ingredients in them.

Picked up the truck the next evening. It didn't get done till later in the afternoon, so Malcolm didn't get to work on it till Sunday morning. He got up early, and replaced air filters and did something to the trailer, though I forget what it was. It didn't take long, and by noon we were on our way to load in Billings and head to Nebraska.

Burnin' Rubber

On our way to California and once again we are delaying the home time pictures because there are more current events that should be shared.

It is roughly 1700 miles from Mount Pleasant, TX to Helm, CA. That is easily done in a day and a half of steady driving. We left Mount Pleasant yesterday around noon, and intend to be in Helm first thing Thursday morning.

A week ago, when we told Mark the broker that we wanted to go back to work on the 29th, he hinted that we might want to wait till after Easter weekend. This was not because he is a super religious person. He was insinuating that getting loaded the end of the week could be a challenge due to Good Friday. But we stuck with the 29th plan. We just didn't think our budget could afford two and a half weeks off, as lovely as that would have been. In retrospect, perhaps we should have taken the hint.

We've been burnin' rubber...figuratively and literally. The figuratively part is obvious, what with 1700 miles to do in a day and a half. But let me explain the literal part of that phrase.

Despite three good paying trips this week so far, I think I can safely say we haven't made any money, at least not much. We seem to be spending it as we go.

Yesterday I posted about Malcolm's encounter with the deer on Monday night. If you haven't been filled in on that one, read the post below this one.

One would have expected that one troubling event would be all for the week. After all, we seem to have pretty good luck (overall) and rarely have more than one catastrophe at a time. We're lucky that way (usually). But then there is that saying that my sister reminded me of months ago, troubles come in threes.

Yesterday evening sometime between 5:00 and 6:00 I was driving while Malcolm laid down for some rest. I had come about 200 miles and we were in a pretty part of Texas, with a pretty sunset about to be in the works. I was enjoying my audio book and the scenery when something caught my eye. It looked like a bird or something flying towards the truck from the left. I still don't know what it was, but it was a good thing I noticed it, because I glanced in the mirror just in time to see little pieces of black stuff go flying all over the road. I thought at first "Oh I've killed that poor bird." But then as the pieces continued to fly out from under the rear of the trailer I realized it wasn't a bird.

You know how they say that bad things seem to happen in slow motion. What happens in a few seconds seems like it was much longer. I think it truly is that way, because I remember watching this go on for a while and the sudden realization that it was pieces of the trailer tire or mud flap or something, and then having to get slowed down and off the road. But really it was in a very short length of time, because those pieces I'd seen flying were on the road just behind us when I got stopped.

It turned out to be the trailer tire.

Let me pause here to reflect on a post a did back last summer when we were getting the new truck. I discussed the tires and the reasons we had chosen to get "super singles" this time verses the normal dual tires. Well...you can throw all those reasons out the window. It wasn't worth it. We'll never ever ever have super single tires again, and probably will get rid of these as soon as we can!

Had we had duals on we could have limped along, but with the singles we were stranded on the side of the highway, 20 miles west of Gainesville, 40 miles from the nearest tire service center, a long way from Helm, CA.

It took the service truck 3 hours to get to us, but eventually, and about $1500 later, we were pulling back on the road.

Neither of us had been able to sleep white we waited. Malcolm had been up since 10:00 the night before with only a 30 minute nap, but was worked up over things and so sleepless. I'd been up since 6:00am, but since I'd had some sleep during the night (and drank an energy drink) I wasn't able to sleep either. So after the tire was fixed, we drove to Wichita Falls, got some dinner, it was almost midnight, and then laid down for a few hours. I got up at 6:00 this morning to drive.

Still had time to get to California early Thursday. We were just going to have to push harder and throw our attempt to get good fuel mileage to the wind. Speaking of wind...its been blowing hard all day and we're driving straight into it.

Wednesday has been a beautiful day. Sun shining, 75 degrees, gorgeous morning...except the wind. I drove all the way to Amarillo and was just getting on the interstate when I glanced in the mirror and something didn't look quite right back there. Malcolm woke up about the same time, maybe because I hit the rumble strip on the shoulder when I was looking in the mirror, and since I needed to stop for a break anyway, I pulled off the next exit and into a truck stop.

The mudflap had been whipping around in the wind and had gotten slung up on top of the rear tire. So I pulled it out, went inside for a minute, and then we rolled on down the road, me driving and Malcolm returning missed phone calls from the passenger seat.

We got to the other side of Amarillo and I looked in the mirror and something didn't look quite right back there...the mudflap was up on the tire again. I pulled off on the shoulder and Malcolm went back and pulled it out. On we went.

About 5 miles later I looked in the mirror and something didn't look quite right back there. Apparently, because the mudflap had gotten thrown up on the tire when the tire blew last night, it now wanted to be there permanently.

So for the 3rd time I pulled off on the shoulder and Malcolm went back to fix it.

4th time

5th time and this time it was starting to wear a hole in the mudflap

Sometime after the 5th time, when Malcolm assured me it was definitely staying put this time because he had tied it, I got distracted by a conversation we were having and forgot to check it in the mirror.

The 6th time we pulled over it had been up there long enough that it had burned the mudflap nearly in two.

Obviously at this point the mudflap is a total loss, but its still an issue because this is also rather hard on the tire.

7th time

This time Malcolm, amidst cursing and shaking his fist (not really), stomped to the back of the trailer and took the mudflap weight off, which is that shiny thing at the bottom of the weight (refer to one of the above pictures or the mudflap) that is supposed to keep it hanging down and straight.

We stopped a total of 7 times in a 60 mile stretch, loosing about an hour of time in the process. But I guess the weight was the trick. Its still flapping around back there like a crazy flag, but its staying off the tire and that's what counts for now.

We've made it to New Mexico and still hope to be in Helm, CA tomorrow morning, though maybe not quite so early. Fingers crossed! Maybe, if trouble truly does come in threes, the insane mudflap is the third thing, and if so then that's fine with me. Its more of a nuisance than anything else. It has definatly made for a long morning!

To end, I once again turn to my girls who always make us smile....Ella fixed her hair yesterday. She's practicing to be Alfalfa for Halloween this year.

And a couple days ago they had twins at the ranch. I hate that I missed them. I've never seen twin calves before. And look...a red one and a black one, both heifers. Too sweet!

On The Road Again

After a wonderful break at home and the ranch, we are back on the road again. We left Sunday afternoon, after loading sulfur in Billings, and delivered in central Nebraska on Monday morning.



Now we are in Texas loading feather meal at our old haunt, Mount Pleasant. This after delivering a load of DDG this morning in southeastern Oklahoma.



I had somewhat hoped that we would get on a different freight lane when we left the house and get a break from this Texas/California run. No such luck. However, it is a profitable load, so I'll not complain too much.



A week and a half out of the truck worked wonders for our attitudes. Granted, we'd still rather be home, who wouldn't, but we're not as bitter and cranky as we were before the break. Hopefully the attitude adjustment will hang on a while.



I had intended to share a few photos of our adventures at home, but something more current came up. So we'll postpone the pictures of home time for a few days.



Remember his little scene from back in December?


If you missed out on that little adventure you can refer to this post for the entire scoop. Just to re-cap though, Malcolm hit a deer in the middle of nowhere in South Dakota, and by a freak of nature, it slashed the steer tire and we were marooned on the side of the highway for several hours till morning.



Because of the damage to the front bumper, we had to replace it, and since we were replacing it, Malcolm decided to go ahead and order an Ali Arc bumper so that next time the damage would be done only to the deer, and not our truck.



When we were home for one of our day and a half fly by breaks, he picked the new bumper up at Kenworth and put it on the truck.

before:



after:

Looks pretty invincible doesn't it?




So we spent $2,600.00 on this bumper to protect the front of the truck, and what do you think happens?





Last night Malcolm hit a deer...or rather I should say a deer hit Malcolm.



Dang thing ran into the side of the truck...go figure!


Dented the hub cap...


...and busted the skirting that covers the fuel tank.




As you can see, the deer left a souvenir with us to remember it by. Sorry for the gore. I meant to be showing a close up of the damage, but the meat is just part of the shot.



I have to say, Malcolm and I took it pretty well. I think after enough experiences with it, you just kind of accept it. Its irritating a bit because of the damage obviously. Malcolm already called this morning to see how much that particular piece costs....around $1200 and that's just the cover. If the supports are damaged....well that costs too, and then the paint job, not to mention the graphic obviously needs to be replaced too. We'd save on the labor costs cause Malcolm would put it on himself. We might can get away with patching it up...maybe. We'll have to let the guys at the shop look at it. He's also contemplating leaving it off and taking off the other side too. He has a storage box and a hanger for our snow chains he'd like to put on the truck, but they don't fit on it with those skirtings on there. So...maybe this happened for a reason. He could use the storage space those things would free up.



I feel worse about the deer than the truck. I hate it when we hit them. Its so unfair! And I especially hate it when we hit them this time of year and into the summer, because we're basically killing two deer, not just one. More than likely it was a doe and she was probably carrying a fawn. I'm crossing my fingers that, even though its warm and green in Oklahoma, that she hadn't had a fawn already. The thought of it tucked away in the grass somewhere waiting for her to come back to it just sickens me.


Ok, that got depressing...sorry! Anyway, just some aesthetic damage this time, no mechanical damage, and we'll soon be rolling towards California. I'm curious to see whats changed in the last two weeks. This time of year is always amazing because nature changes its appearance so quickly as life is renewed everywhere you look.



I'll be back in a day or so to post my pictures of home time entertainments, including some of me playing cowgirl.

Here's a preview...

Horse Blogs and Give Aways

I so enjoy reading all the blogs that are from horse people. I'm living my dreams vicariously through you.

Lots of you do give aways, and I don't enter many of them, but I've started taking more of an interest and this one caught my attention.

Recently I joined another blog and the girl over there makes some really neat nick nacks from horse hair. Right now she's having a contest and the winner gets a bridle/key fob that is made from mane hair.
Check it out...
http://bitlesshorse.blogspot.com/