She's Gone

"The true way to live is to enjoy every moment as it passes - it is in the every day things around us that the beauty of life lies."

                                                                        -Laura Ingalls Wilder


Let me apologize to those of you who were looking for an update on my travels with my wife and our dog "Trixie."  They got off my truck today, and I am already missing them both.  It was very different having passengers along with me, but very enjoyable.  I was saddened when they left.  I am back to my regular old routine of being alone, but that is just part of the job of being an over the road truck driver.  The separation from your family only makes you appreciate them that much more.  A fine time was had by us all.

We had originally planned for her to stay with me for one week, but we ended up doing two, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves through it all.  Having my family with me has always been a treat.  All three of my girls have ridden with me, and now I can add that my wife has ridden with me too.  I must admit that I was preoccupied with having her along, and I just never took the time to write anything about it here.  Let me first share with you where we went together.  Our first trip started at the SAPA plant in Delhi, Louisiana and we went to Connecticut, a fairly typical load for me.  Here are the customers, and their locations, that we made deliveries to on that first leg of our journey together...

✔ Yarde Metals in Southington, Connecticut

✔ Porcelen in Hamden, Connecticut

✔ Stanley Access Technologies in Farmington, Connecticut

Kim was happy to get to go up into the New England area and enjoyed the scenery along the way.

We had one little mishap where she fell out of the tractor while trying to climb out at a truck stop.  She got a few bruises but was not hurt badly.  By the way, did you know that falling from the tractor is the most common injury that happens to over the road truck drivers?  That is a true fact, and an interesting little piece of trucking trivia for those of you who may be interested.  I felt bad because I had neglected to go over with her about how important it is to maintain three points of contact at all times when climbing down from the tractor.  After that I probably got on her nerves reminding her, each time we stopped, to use three points of contact.

Our back haul load picked up from the SAPA plant in Cressona, Pennsylvania and had two stops on it.  I took her to breakfast at Jean's place while we were in Cressona, and she got to meet my friend Jean.  I've posted in here a couple of times about this very small little restaurant, and we had a typical visit there with Jean spending some time with us at our table conversing about my life and travels as an over the road truck driver.  It was a pleasant experience for us all.

We made both our deliveries in Tennessee to the following customers...

✔ Great Dane Trailer Manufacturing in Huntsville, Tennessee

✔ IMC Aluminum Fabrication in Unicoi, Tennessee

Then we ran empty back to Delhi thinking that my wife would go home from there.  On our way back I got a message from my dispatcher informing us that our next load would take us on a good long trip with multiple stops that would final up in Fairfax, Vermont.  Well, that was just too much for her to bear, since she had already told me that she would really like to see Vermont some time.  Just as she made up her mind to stay with me another week, I got a call from my dispatcher letting me know that our much anticipated trip into Vermont was getting cancelled!

He went over a list of available loads that we could choose from, and one particular one caught my attention.  It had it's final stop up in Farmington, Minnesota, but it also had two things about it that I knew would interest my wife, so I told him to put me on that one.  Allow me to insert a tip here for any future truck drivers following along in here.  This is how you can be treated when you have proven yourself to your company as the type of driver who always gets things done.  I get preferential treatment all the time.  Getting to pick and choose my loads is a common occurrence for me.  I'm not trying to boast or sound proud here, I just want to show the pleasant realities of a career that is much maligned by the naysayers who slander their employers and talk badly about being "force dispatched" by Nazi dispatchers.  The drivers who are recognized as movers and shakers in this business are highly respected and often times treated like royalty.

Okay, as I am sure you are wondering by now, I will share with you what the two things were about this load that I knew would interest my dear wife.  First off, it had two stops in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the delivery appointments would allow us to spend a little down time there.  Secondly, it had a stop in De Smet, South Dakota.

Well, that would allow us to spend some time with our long time close friends in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Jim and Virginia Rogers.  We've known them both since before we were married, and we've been married 35 years!  They both turn 88 years old this year, and I try to see them as often as I get the chance.  This was a special treat for Kim.  Jim outdid himself by cooking us a delicious meal of smoked chicken with baked potatoes and homemade strawberry shortcake for dessert.  Here's a shot of Kim and Virginia enjoying seeing each other on the couch in their living room...

For you to understand our connection with De Smet I need to give you just a little family history, or background.  During the years that we were raising our three little girls we spent a lot of time reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books to them.  We have always had a wonderful family life together, but one thing that was always special for us was reading together in the evenings.  We purposely never owned a television, and that one unusual action alone made our family life very different from most folks.  Each of us has fond memories of snuggling up in the bed together, or maybe sitting around a nice fire in the fire-place on a chilly winter night, cozily reading together of those adventurous pioneer experiences of the Ingall's family.  So, while in De Smet, I took a little extra time and we looked around at some of the things that the Laura Ingalls Wilder Society there has to offer to the tourist who happen to travel through the area.

We toured the home that "Pa" built in town, and even learned some things that we didn't know about the Ingalls family from our many readings of the books.  The tour started at this lovely little home where the Laura Ingalls Wilder Society spearheads their tours...

The tour included the original Surveyors cabin, and a replicated building like the one room school house along with a restored covered wagon from the time period.  Here is a shot of Kim and Trixie standing on the small porch of the house that Pa built in town.  The house was originally much smaller, but they added on to it as time and money allowed.  It stands today with much of the original materials still preserved for the many fascinated onlookers who show up to see it...

I got a kick out of the restrooms that we came across at a De Smet city park while we were out walking our dog.  The whole town here has embraced the legacy of having such a famous author spend some of their lifetime here.  Instead of having a sign that indicates which restroom is for the men or the women, they just used those familiar and affectionate words of Laura's for her parents, to indicate which gender belonged in which side of the building.

We did have one slight problem on this little trip, and that was the struggle for who was supposed to get to ride in the passenger seat.  It seems that Trixie thought we had made this trip just for her, and therefore she thought the passenger seat was her right and privilege.  On the other hand Kim seemed to think we had taken this adventure for her pleasure, and so the struggle for dominance ensued and endured throughout the trip.  Sometimes I would look over there in the passenger seat and see something like this...

Other times I might look over there and see a negotiated compromise going on which usually looked something like this..

While Trixie seemed to prefer that seat all to herself, she was willing to share it, as long as she could come and go as she pleased.  That dog took her duties seriously on this trip, and she was determined that we had brought her along for extra security.  She was fierce when anyone got too close to our truck!  Who knows what goes on in a dog's head?  I only know that she was determined that we had brought her along for a reason, and she was intent on taking care of her important business.

We made our way back to Delhi with some return materials that we had picked up while in Tulsa, which made for a nice leisurely back haul trip for us.

We had a great time together.  Both of us enjoyed this trip very much.  I am hoping we get to do it again sometime soon.  We got to see some of the country together, and we took the time to see some old friends along the way, and enjoy our little connection with De Smet while there.  Overall, I'd say that was a great trip together!  This is a demanding career, but you don't have to be a slave to it, nor tyrannized by it's demands.  You can enjoy yourself out here, and it is important that you do.  I certainly do, and it makes it all worth while when you can enjoy what you do, and make a great living at it too.

She's gone, but not forgotten.  I think of her constantly, and speak with her daily.  She's as much a part of me as I am of her.  Our separation is momentary, but our love and affection is forever ongoing.  It is a difficulty that the Over The Road driver endures, but he bears up under it knowing that he is doing a job that helps to keep our economy humming along.  I love my wife, and I love my job.  Keeping those two things in balance is a rewarding challenge that many fail to do.  I hope I can look back at the end of my days and know that I did just that.