A VISIT TO GEORGE W'S HOUSE, NOT EXACTLY

After picking up the military truck from Camp Pendleton, Craig head towards Georgia. His first stop was in Eloy, Arizona. His second stop was in Midland, Texas. Thought he might get some nice guest housing at George's house, but seems George too was a traveling man this week. He ended up staying at a Flying J instead. Further east he headed and his third night was spent at a Pilot Truck Stop in Louisiana. I am hoping he had some good cajun food as he was going to treat himself to a cooked meal. Craig has mostly been driving at night as he will tonight to get into Albany, Georgia by 7am. Then he already has his next load assigned to him to go to Tennessee to pick up some boats and then off to Wisconsin and then Montana. I'll post more when Craig has a chance to send me some pictures. Here are the pictures I promised. Craig is spending his 34 hours in Olive Branch, Mississippi at a Flying J Truck Stop.

Arizona

Ms, ga state line

OOHRAH ! HERE COME THE MARINES

The official orders came through this morning to head to Camp Pendelton in Oceanside to pick up a 7 ton military truck to be transported to a Marine base in Albany, Georgia. After 4 days in Modesto, Craig was happy to be back on "Blue Boy" and out on the road again. He took the truck first thing in the morning to the Truck Tub to get a detailed washing and south he headed. He should be able to pick up the military truck Tuesday morning and make it to Georgia by Friday.

UPDATE FROM MODESTO

Craig made it into French Camp Wednesday afternoon around 12pm. Since then we have been spending some quality time together and tying up loose ends at the house. Today we meet the new owners and will show them the intricacies of the house so that they will feel right at home when they do move in. As of Sunday at around 3:30am we will leave the house we have called home for over the past five years and begin the final leg before our dream is fully realized. I will drop Craig off in French Camp and I will be living in San Jose for the next month finalizing everything before I too will be on the truck for good. As of today the tenative assignment for Craig is a pick up in Southern California and then off to Georgia. We will know more for sure Monday morning. We are almost there!

THE HOMECOMING

Craig is on a fast track for home. The crane was waiting at 7am, a quick unload, file some paperwork and southbound from Redding he went. He estimates he should be at the company yard in French Camp by 1pm. Will be so looking forward to spending some time together again! The pictures posted are from his journey from Idaho to Redding.

Craig plans to be home, not that we will be able to call it that too much longer, until Saturday or Monday when he will get his next assignment. Next time he goes through California should be to pick me up and take me with him for good. We are planning on sometime between May 21 and May 31. Then the ultimate road trip of a lifetime begins. Stay tuned.

HOMEWARD BOUND?

Saturday Craig dropped off the last of the boats to be delivered and was hoping to get his next load assigned, but not much traffic comes in and out of Utah. Craig was told to stay in Ogden, Utah until Monday morning when they hoped to have an assignment for him back to California. He was even offered a motel room, but opted instead to stay in our truck, says he sleeps like a baby in it.

He took the opportunity on Sunday to take a walk into town and check it out. It was only a short 3-4 mile walk and you can see the excitement and hustle of the big city that greeted him from the picutre posted. It is of a look down historic 25th street. According to Craig it apparently is historic because the sign says so. There are markers on most the buildings with their history. If you like eatery's, antiques and bars, this is the street to be on in Ogden.

This next picture was taken from a bridge outside of town towards the mountains.

Update as of 11:00am, Monday. Craig was given an assignment to go to Paul, Idaho and then to Redding, California. He's getting closer to home. I'll post more details when I can. Seems Craig was trying to get out of Utah during a snow storm and wanted to hit the road before it got too bad.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Today is Craig's birthday and it finds him on the road and loving life! After spending Wednesday night in Vivian, South Dakota, he was off enroute to Colorado early this morning. Craig received a couple of phone calls and a computer message from the company wishing him a happy birthday today. It did not pass without him celebrating the way he loves best.........with a chocolate cupcake!

Along the way he was able to enjoy the great landscape of this country which is evident from the pictures posted below.

Tonight Craig is at a small truck stop in Monument, Colorado, about one hour away from where he is dropping off the first of the boats in the morning in Canon City, Colorado. Then it's off to Loveland, Colorado. Here is a picture of his current load of boats.

I'd like to close this entry by saying how proud I am of Craig and the courage he had to follow his dream to drive truck and see the country. He is the smartest and most lovable man I have ever known. I have been truly blessed to have him in my life. Happy Birthday honey, I love you so much!

YAH, FARGO, YOU'RE DARNED TOOTIN !

Craig made his way to Fargo and has remained there since Sunday. He will be staying there for 34 hours to reset his driving time. Bright and early Tuesday morning he will make his way to New York Mills, Minnesota to pick up his load of boats and start heading towards Colorado.

Don't think he lounged around while in Fargo. He made his way to the local WalMart to make some major purchases to upgrade our new home. Check out this photo of our brand new refridgerator and microwave! Now if that isn't living, I don't know what is. He also spent some time cleaning up the house and making it pretty. Take a look and see if you don't agree.

I thought I would share with you one more photo that Craig has sent to me. Imagine driving in the middle of the night and then seeing this at dawn. As we like to say, don't dream the life, live the dream!

GROUND HOG DAY ON HIGHWAY 90

Once again Craig is off to Minnesota. He made it to Yakima by his deadline, which was today at noon. He is out of the hours that he is allowed to drive so he will have to wait 12 hours and then will be off to Minnesota once again along Highway 90.

With all the internet resources, and remote weather stations, Craig was able to stay ahead of the storm on his way back to Washington to drop off the boats. He will be just as diligent projecting and predicting the weather on his return trip to Minnesota and try and stay ahead of any storm that might be brewing again over the mid west.

Craig will again pick up 5 boats on Monday and then make his way to first Loveland, Colorado, then Canon, Colorado and finally to Riverdale, Utah, a suburb of Ogden, by Friday.

We are still hoping to have him routed through California by the next week after that for one last visit to the house before escrow closes. The picture posted is of a small truck stop in Deer Park, Montana.

BACK IN THE U.S.A.

Craig is back safely on USA soil after a couple of days in Canada. From the pictures posted you can see that Canada is a beautiful place. This was the first time that Craig delivered to a marina and was handed a check for $140,000.00 Too bad we didn't get to keep it!

After dropping off the two boats, the small one in Kelowna, B.C., and the big one in Burnaby, B.C., Craig was routed through Victoria at first to pick up a container that needed to go to Chicago. After battling the traffic congestion in Victoria, he was rerouted to go directly to Spokane to get the truck serviced and then onto Minnesota to pick up a load of boats to go to Yakima, WA.

Tonight finds him at a truck stop in Missoula, Montana, and planning on being in Minnesota by Monday and back to Yakima by Thursday. We are hoping to have him routed back by home by the end of the month for one last visit to the house before escrow closes and of course to spend some quality time together. It seems to be going better as far as being apart now that we know for sure I will be out with him next month. We are counting the days!