HEADS CAROLINA/TAILS CALIFORNIA

TRUCK IN FOR REPAIRS

2012-02-02T13:51:00.000-08:00

It started last week, while we were in Idaho making the deliveries to the Fred Meyer Stores. A yellow warning light on the dash lit up and taunted us. I immediately looked it up in the owner's manual, while Craig checked the in dash computer for a readout on what the problem was, and it was determined not to be an emergency, but something that needed to be checked as soon as we could.

That time ended up to be Monday, when we made it into the company yard in French Camp. The truck shop manager said they might have time to look at it Monday, (while we were busy meeting up with family and having dinner), but we didn't hold our breath that it would indeed be looked at. The next morning, Craig checked in again, and was told to just take it down the street to the Kenworth dealership to have it looked at.

That one mile drive to their shop, along with a nice 5 hour wait in their lounge, ended up with us calling a shuttle from a local hotel to pick us up when the mechanic told us they would have to order a part. We enjoyed being within walking distance to a fantastic sushi restaurant, and getting to sleep in the next day. With another 4 hr wait on Wednesday, watching way too many true crime stories on the cable TV, we were finally given the keys to our repaired truck and we headed to the yard for the evening.

This morning we were up early to deliver a load of chicken wings to Foster Farms in Porterville, CA and are currently sitting at Wheeler Ridge, with our sights set on the Starbucks across the street. Our next dispatch will have us heading to Port Hueneme to pick up some pineapples in the morning.

THE DREADED NIGHT DRIVING

2012-01-31T08:54:00.000-08:00

It's only a matter of time, after enjoying almost a week of what I consider a "normal day" in trucking driving, (getting a good night's sleep, waking up without an alarm, a leisurely morning of getting dressed and putting on at least mascara, and enjoying breakfast in the truck), we ended up on a four day run of night driving and no opportunity to take any photographs.

It started on Friday morning, after our drop in Clackamas,OR at the Fred Meyer DC at 7am. After being unloaded and sending in our empty call, we were told to drop our trailer there and await a load that night at 9pm. The only great thing about it was being able to bob tail about a mile down the street to the parking lot of a McDonald's where we would spend the next 12 hours.

Not to sound like a broken record, but do you think during that 12 hours that we could actually sleep? Nothing worse than knowing that you need sleep, but not being able to get any, but that's usually how it goes, and innocently thinking that we would only have to do it for one night, (again I should know it never is just for one night), I didn't stress too much about it and went about playing on my computer and watching the homeless guys who made their home in the bushes surrounding the parking lot.

Our load would take us to the Boise, ID area, where we would make two deliveries in Nampa and Garden City. Those deliveries went as planned, and as we headed to a nearby truck stop we were beeped with our next assignment. With Craig's hours already nearing using up all of his 70 hour clock, it was a load out of Wallula, WA (257 miles away) to be picked up the next morning.

However, this particular load would require us to once again, start off around 6pm, get to Wallula around 11pm, hook up to our new load, grab a couple of hours of sleep, and then take off again, repeat that a couple more times to get us as far south as we could before a repower of the load by another driver would take it into LA for delivery. We ended up sleeping on and off, doing a 8/2 sleeper berth option to get us into French Camp by 2pm Monday afternoon.

The upside to all this night driving? We ended up being able to meet up with my brother and sister in law, and my two nieces and grandniece last night for dinner. Here is a photo of the aftermath of that dinner and a picture of Gwen sporting a sock monkey hat I had made for her by a facebook friend who is very talented .

1000TH POST

2012-01-27T02:09:00.000-08:00

I've finally reached the milestone 1000th post on my blog. Let the confetti rain down and the band play! I don't imagine it is such a big thing since I have been posting since 2006......and it's only taken me 6 years to do it, but God willing I'll have another 1000 in me before we finish this trucking adventure of ours.

Tuesday morning we awoke to blue skies and mid 60 temperatures as we made our way south to San Diego to pick up a load of Dole bananas. Remember me telling you about the off port site, tucked away in a residential area? We had the pleasure of going there this time to pick up our load.

It really isn't too bad after you have been there a few times. There is a homeless guy, who I guess I can't really say is homeless, because he now lives on the grounds of the facility, and likes to make a few bucks by helping the drivers back in. He really is a big help with the cars and buses that zip up and down the street on a steady basis, getting them to stop long enough to allow the drivers to back into the dock. We're always happy to give him a few dollars every time we are there.

On our way out of southern California, and to our eventual stop for the night at Wheeler Ridge, we were blessed with the most beautiful sunset we have seen in a very long time. It just kept getting better and better as the sun set. I managed to capture a few shots with my camera, and these shots are straight out of the camera with no editing what so ever. Yes, it really was that amazing and a great way to end my 1000th post!

THE GOOD AND BAD OF L.A.

2012-01-26T02:45:00.000-08:00

We drove into the bowels of LA Monday morning and the Industrial District. No wide streets here, and cars lined both sides of the road. We managed to find our first little "hole in the wall" receiver and eeked out a spot in front of their gate to park the truck until someone showed up. A little before 7am, we saw a lone car pull up, and a small Japanese man exit the vehicle. He waved to us as he walked into the office and Craig followed shortly thereafter with the paperwork.

With limited English, he pointed to the dock and proceeded to walk out into the street to aid Craig in his blindside back. Craig had already told him that I would help out, but he stood his ground on the street, and with what I can only describe as the precision of a white gloved traffic cop in New York City, he executed hand signals to get Craig backed up in one continuous movement as I stood open jawed in amazement at just how perfectly he instructed Craig.

Once into the dock, as he walked by me, I took the opportunity to tell him just how fantastic his help had been, and with a big smile and a bow to me, he quickly went inside and had us unloaded in 10 minutes. Now that is how a delivery should go and quite the opposite of how our last delivery would turn out to be.

First off, you got to love (not) appointments 8 hrs apart. Our next delivery was only 17 miles away, so we drove to within 300 yards of the facility and parked. On the off chance that they might take us early, Craig went ahead and walked to the guard who kindly told him to check back in at 3pm.

Now, the only thing that would make this day work for us, is if we could get in a 8 hr break so that we would have hours on the book to get the heck out of LA after our delivery. In hindsight, we didn't need to worry, as 3pm rolled around and we were told that the container our product was going to be offloaded into hadn't arrived yet from the docks. All I can say is thank goodness for our broadband card and the Internet.

Finally, around 5pm, after squeezing into a dock which left no more than an inch or so to spare with the doors of the trailer open, we were being unloaded. Happy to be free to leave, we had another 90 minutes of commute traffic to endure before we finally arrived at the company yard in Bloomington, CA and a well deserved night of sleep after a very long day!

BEFORE & AFTER OF BLACK BUTTE

2012-01-25T07:40:00.000-08:00

Would you believe when we awoke in the morning it was 40 degrees? Yea, I couldn't either. What a strange winter this is shaping up to be. We continued south and didn't run into snow or ice until about LaPine, OR. We came upon a few drivers that weren't as comfortable driving on the snowy roads, and as soon as we could safely pass, we were well on the way of making it over the final summit on Hwy 97, near Chiloquin, and onto bare asphalt again.

As we neared the Mt. Shasta area, we could definitely see a difference in the landscape from the previous week. Remember this photo of Black Butte?

Here it was as we made our way into Weed, CA where we took a nice lunch break and enjoyed a great meal at the Dos Amigos Restaurant. Armed with plenty of leftovers to feed us for dinner, we continued south into Corning were we fueled up and called it a night.

Sunday morning we had our sights set on making it into Lebec, CA so that we could watch the playoff game between the Niners and Giants. No surprise there, as once again the Giants took the game and will enjoy playing in the Super Bowl in two weeks. We took to our beds to get some sleep before taking on LA in the morning for our two deliveries.

A SERVING OF SNOW WITH A SIDE OF ICE

2012-01-23T09:22:00.000-08:00

We got about a good 6 inches of snow overnight in Spokane on Thursday, so when we awoke early Friday morning, we trudged our way into the driver's lounge to take showers and do laundry. While I was waiting for the clothes to dry, Craig took the opportunity to start our pick up and head over to the Wal Mart to buy himself some snow boots! Seems his feet didn't particularly like the loafers he was wearing while putting on chains on Snoqualmie Pass.

When all the housekeeping duties were completed, we took off for Wallula, WA to Tyson Meat to pick up our load. It wasn't scheduled to be completed until Saturday morning, but we had high hopes that it would be ready for us when we arrived. Just as we hoped, it was loaded and ready for pickup, but what we didn't like so much was maneuvering around the snow piles and slush that had built up on the Tyson property. Once hooked up to our loaded trailer, we couldn't find a place with bare ground to slide our tandems either. Craig, ever the optimist, drove off anyway, sure that we would find some place with a patch of bare asphalt.

Needless to say, we spent way too much time driving around with no luck, and finally just took matters into our own hands, prayed for the best, and did a quick slide near an on ramp to hwy 395 and were thankful that traffic was light. We had to laugh when we scaled out, as there had to be several hundred pounds of snow and ice built up on the scales, along with the ice that was clinging to our truck and trailer, but we scaled out legal and were on our way.

The roads were pretty good, however when we turned off onto Highway 14, along the Columbia River Gorge, the roads got a bit tricky with a major layer of ice on the road. Earlier in the day, they were restricting commerical trucks, but had lifted the ban by the time we got there. I'm not so sure they shouldn't have kept the restriction, or at least required chains as there was quite a bit of it where I was doing the white-knuckle death grip on my door and arm rest.

With Craig's great driving skills we make it to Biggs Junction and our next hurdle. The dreaded Pilot Truck Stop and trying to get fuel. As usual, it was packed, and it took us just over an hour to make our way in and out. We were looking forward to getting onto Hwy 97 where we knew the roads were suppose to be a bit better and they were. With no real time constraints on this load, we decided to call it a night at the rest stop between Shaniko and Madras, OR and await to see what the morning would bring us.

I WORKED ON THE CHAIN GANG

2012-01-21T07:51:00.000-08:00

Remember in my last post mentioning the possibility of putting on chains to get over Snoqualmie Pass? Yep, right there I should have known I was jinxing Craig and in doing so, ended up joining the chain gang later that night.

The streets of Renton, WA were like a ghost town Wednesday night, as most people in the greater Seattle area must have headed the advice to stay home and not venture out onto the streets. That made our trek to pick up our load that much easier. However, with the load being over an hour late being loaded, and with the knowledge of the chain control over the pass still in effect, the 5am delivery appointment would not be made.

With enough fuel on board so that we could bypass the mess we knew that the TA in North Bend would be, we continued onto the chain up area to begin our work. To be honest, the hardest part of it all was trying to open up the bags of the new chains that had been equipped on our new truck. The freezing rain was pelting us along with a gusty wind, but within 40 minutes we had all the chains legally required installed and we were on our way. At the bottom of the pass, it took all of 10 minutes to remove them.

We made the delivery at 7am and by 9am we were safely parked in the company yard in Spokane as the snow came steadily down. Our next load assignment wouldn't have us leaving the yard until Friday morning, so we enjoyed the down time to catch up on sleep and watch as the snow piled up outside.

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM OF THE CENTURY

2012-01-18T18:42:00.000-08:00

It's a running joke between Craig and I. Every time we close up the house for the Winter, it doesn't snow. The two times I decided to try and stay at the house, once in 2008 when we broke the record for snowfall in a 24 hour period, and one again in November of 2010 where a 100 year old record was broken for snowfall, it's a guarantee that snow will be sky high.

So imagine my hesitation getting back onto the truck this winter, which measured by seasons past, has had the least amount of snowfall so far, and hearing about a major storm to hit the Pacific Northwest. Of course, our first load would take us right into it's path and those poor souls in Seattle can blame me for the woes of snow driving on hilly roads.

These pictures were taken as we headed north, the proverbial "calm before the storm", as I marveled at the lack of any snow on Black Butte, and virtually no snow on the ground as we passed Weed, CA and passed over the Siskiyou Summit. We only managed to hit some rain showers as we decided to stop early for the evening in Aurora, OR and await the arrival of the storm and traveling when the roads would be less crowded around 1am.

We got through Portland and then as we crossed the border into Washington the snow was falling and the roads were more white than asphalt. What also surprised us, was the amount of traffic that was still on the roads, and being more afraid of the four-wheelers than the weather conditions, we took it slow and easy, as we passed car after car spun out on the Interstate.

What normally would have been only a 3 hour drive, turned into a 4 1/2 hour drive which still got us into the Costco in Sumner, WA right on time for our scheduled delivery at 5am. After our unload we drove the 10 miles to our Company Yard in Pacific to park and await further instructions as to our next load. Thankfully, our next load is out of Renton, Wa tonight at 10pm, where we will once again hope to avoid traffic as we make our way over Snoqualmie Pass (hoping we don't have to chain up) to make our delivery in Spokane in the morning.

THE START OF OUR "NEW NORMAL"

2012-01-16T08:21:00.000-08:00

Today begins the start of our "new normal" after a long 7 months of our lives being altered by the effects of cancer and the death of a parent. I wouldn't wish parts of this on my worst enemy, but there were other parts of those 7 months that will be cherished as the priceless gift that they were. Memories good and bad, but the bad ones are slowly fading, as the good ones rise to the surface like a rich cream that coat my brain with joyful images.

I slept last night in the truck for the first time in almost 6 weeks. I can honestly say, it was the best sleep I have had in a very long time. We spent a few hours yesterday cleaning and organizing the truck, then doing the grocery shopping and stocking the pantry and refrigerator. My portfolio of paperwork was stocked with receipt books, load info cover sheets, continuous seal reports and comm checks. I also made sure to stock up on new pens and can safely say, I'm ready to take back my responsibility for the mass of paperwork that is required on each load.

We will be heading out shortly to Livingston, CA to Foster Farms to pick up a load of chicken which will be delivered in Sumner, WA on Wednesday morning. I'm happy to be back occupying the passenger seat again, taking photographs of our gypsy life out on the road, writing about our adventures, and finding peace in knowing that we have a very special guardian angel looking out for us along everysingle mile we drive.

REMEMBRANCE OF MOM

2012-01-02T08:16:00.000-08:00

6-1-33 1-2-12

Some of you have noticed my absence in blogging world over the past month. I've had the privilege of taking a journey with my Mom as she traveled down her last days of living in her physical form here on Earth. Most of us think that our parents will live forever, and the unexpected end of her life was hard to initially accept. In the end, it was always in her hands and the loving grace of God as to when she would finally leave us. That time came this morning as she peacefully slept at our local Hospice House.

Something moved me to go to her side at 6am, with one hand holding her hand, and the other placed softly upon her chest, I told her how much I loved her, and that she was free to go, and that I had kept my promise to never leave her alone while she awaited God's calling. Her breathing slowed to a stop. Her nurse was summoned, and at the moment I heard him tell me that indeed "She is gone"", there were other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout: "Here she comes!"

Welcome to Heaven Mom and let the party up there begin as you unite with the family and friends that have been waiting with open arms for you. My love for you is unending and you will always and forever remain in my heart.

THE LAST DAY OF NOVEMBER

2011-11-30T09:29:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it is going to be December 1st tomorrow. This year has just flown by so very quickly, and just like the preceding years since we started this trucking adventure, we continue to enjoy our time spent together creating memories that will last us our lifetime. You know what else I enjoy? The great weather we have had so far. Even though it is still considered Fall, we have yet to experience any snowfall to speak of on our travels. Did I just jinx us? We'll know soon enough as as Winter officially will arrive in three weeks.

After I got back on the truck, we continued with the transformer shuffle between Oregon and California for a couple more days, and then took a relay of a USF load out of our French Camp yard headed to Tacoma, WA on Thanksgiving morning. Without the normal time constraints on this type of load due to the holiday, (it's normally a team load), we were able to enjoy the drive north with very little traffic on the Interstate.

We passed on our meal at the Casino in Corning, CA as it was way too early in the day for a Thanksgiving feast, and opted instead to take showers and continue our way north. By 2pm, we were more than ready to enjoy a meal, which left us with the holiday buffet at the Petro truck stop in Phoenix, OR. I was surprised at how busy it was, not from truck drivers, but from the local residents. It wasn't home cooking, but they had all the fixings, along with prime rib, which we both enjoyed.

I passed on any dessert, hoping to enjoy a waffle ice cream cone at our destination for the evening in Canyonville, OR where we were planning on watching the 49'er game in the driver's lounge. How disappointing it was to find that they didn't have any flavor of ice cream that I liked, and had to settle for an ice cream bar out of the freezer and on top of that, watch as the 49'ers lost to the Ravens.

We dropped the trailer in Tacoma on Friday and then headed to the yard in Pacific to pick up an empty to take to Draper Farms in Renton, WA. We stayed in their parking lot for our 10 hour break while the trailer was being loaded and headed out just after midnight for our run into Spokane for delivery in the morning. As soon as we dropped that trailer and hooked up to an empty, we were dispatched to Wallula, WA to Tyson Meat for a load destined for Castroville, CA on Tuesday morning. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda............ load delivered and here we sit in Salinas waiting for a load out of Fresh Express.

We have just about 7 days left before we are scheduled for some home time which looks like we will take in Modesto, with Craig going back out in the truck solo while I stay in town during my Mom's third round of chemo. We're hoping to take in a movie or two, enjoy a nice dinner, and update my phone before I get back on the truck around the 17th, and we can enjoy the Christmas/New Year holidays together in our home on wheels.

IT'S BEEN AWHILE

2011-11-18T14:48:00.000-08:00

I know it's been awhile since I last posted. I've been in Modesto, CA again this past week helping my Mom out as she goes through her second round of Chemo and 6 weeks of every day radiation. She has three more rounds of Chemo to go, and we are hoping by mid February 2012, she will be completely done and able to start living a normal life again. I'll be back again in December for round three.

Craig has been on a two week dedicated run between Salem, OR and Marysville/Emeryville, CA. It's a PG&E account that keeps you moving non stop, and is actually a great little money maker miles wise. We were sweating it a bit with whether or not he would be able to get back down to French Camp, CA to get me back on the truck before Thanksgiving, and it looks like either tomorrow night or Sunday morning will be when I meet up with him again.

I saw that they had some heavy snow going over the Siskiyou Moutain Pass this morning, and Craig, ever diligent during winter weather, made his escape over the pass before the storm hit at 3am this morning. It looks like there will be a break in the storm system for him to make a hasty retreat back over tomorrow sometime. You gotta love when it can work in your favor, and dread it when you are stuck putting chains on. But, that is the life in trucking during the winter.

The next time I post, I hope to be able to tell you all about our Thanksgiving. We are counting on hitting one of the many Casinos along the west coast to partake in a great hot meal. Neither one of us wants to think of what the alternative will be, but it's already in our pantry in the truck if we have to resort to it. Let's hope for the best, shall we?

THE EVOLUTION OF OUR FIRST SNOW OF THE SEASON

2011-11-07T08:20:00.000-08:00

I was off the truck for a week staying at my Mom's in Modesto, and hitched at ride back on the truck in the very early morning hours Thursday. In fact, so early, that Craig drove into Modesto and onto one of the major streets (truck route approved) just a couple of blocks from my Mom's house. My niece was so very kind to drive me to where he parked, in the parking lot of a high school, at 3am in the morning. We quickly loaded up my belongings and were back on the highway in record time.

We made a delivery of chicken parts to a Foster Farms plant in Porterville, CA and the made our way to Salinas, CA for a Fresh Express load. On our way to our first delivery smack dab in the middle of Portland, OR (thank goodness it was an early Sunday morning appointment time), we had the opportunity to experience our first snow of the season.

It started out mild and meek just outside of Weed, CA and as we neared the Siskiyou Mountain Summit, it gathered strength. All in all it wasn't too bad. Oregon DOT were out in force to sand and plow the roads, and no one was driving like an idiot. I'm sure we'll see lots of idiots in the months ahead of us driving during all the winter storms we will most likely encounter.

Craig's driving hours are looking very slim over the next three days. We are no in possession of a dry van, and will be picking up some transformer parts from PG&E in Marysville, CA and taken them to Salem, OR. It's a nice little run that will fit perfectly into what hours Craig has left to drive.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

2011-10-31T08:01:00.000-07:00

I didn't stay out too long on the truck before getting right back off again. I've been in Modesto, CA since Thursday morning, when Craig dropped me off on his way to LA. It's been fun having a few days here without a doctor appointment to go to with my Mom, but that will change starting today. Her first round of Chemo went pretty good, and we'll have a follow up appointment with that doctor this afternoon. Then on Wednesday a visit to the radiation doctor. That appointment will determine if I get back on the truck right away or stay a bit longer.

I spent the better part of yesterday taking pictures of one of my twin nieces, and then on the other niece's daughter Gwen (my grand niece) for her first Halloween pics. Of course we also had to carve some pumpkins. These don't even come close to the pumpkins I used to carve when I went all out for Halloween back when I lived in Modesto. I'll be passing out candy tonight and hoping to see a lot of cute little kids instead of the posse of adults that were out the last time I was here on Halloween.

Craig made his delivery in LA and was then dead headed all the way to Salinas, CA to Fresh Express to pick up a load yesterday afternoon. It'll be a short trip, as he only has to go to Woodburn, OR and the WinCo to deliver on Tuesday morning. With any luck, I'll be able to get back on the truck either on his way down or on he way back up later this week or weekend. Hope y'all have a "spooktacular" Halloween evening!

BACK TO WORK WE GO

2011-10-24T15:29:00.000-07:00

Our home time, as usual, went by way too fast. It is my most favorite time of year, when all of the summer folks head back home and the year round folks start having get togethers. I would be hard pressed to say which season is more beautiful up here, Fall or Winter, and it was with a heavy heart that we packed up and headed back to the truck yard Friday afternoon.

Very early Saturday morning we headed to Wallula, WA to pick up a load of boxed meat. This particular load had three deliveries, two in Los Angeles and one in Phoenix, AZ. We were loving the miles attached to it, but as we waited for our trailer to get loaded, we watched as the clock ticked and with every minute, went the chance that we would be able to deliver it on time.

Three hours after it was suppose to be ready, we finally got the go ahead to hook onto it, and after fueling and scaling, we had to send the message that if we were to keep this load, it would deliver late. We got as far as La Pine, OR for the night, and first thing in the morning we were beeped with the message to swap loads with another driver in Redding, CA.

Now normally this would not be an issue, but I was slated to be dropped off in Modesto to visit my Mom and take her to a couple of doctor appointments. Unfortunately, the new load we were assigned, headed us back north instead of south. I really hated making that phone call to my Mom, but I had no other option. Our new load is from Fresh Express and will deliver in Auburn, WA Tuesday morning.

All along our drive today we saw the billboards for the Mega Millions and PowerBall Lottery, so when we stopped in Chehalis, WA for the night, we made sure to get us a couple of quick picks for each draw........you never know, trying to figure a way for me to get south may not be a problem after Wednesday!

HEADING FOR HOME

2011-10-14T10:01:00.000-07:00

Love this time of year. It's still much too warm for my liking in the Central Valley of California, but at least further North, it is starting to get a chill in the air.

Our last couple of trips required us to do the dreaded "night driving" again, but thankfully, last night we were able to sleep. We are currently in Livingston, CA with an empty trailer awaiting the load that will take us North and HOME! Yes, it's been over three months since we have been home and we are so looking forward to a couple of days there enjoying the below freezing temperatures in the morning and the chilly 50's during the day.

We also need to close up the house for winter in the event that we don't get back there until Spring. With the plans of Craig dropping me off in Modesto every month while my Mom continues her recovery, we just aren't sure that we will be back before Spring.

Hopefully the next time you hear from me, it will be from my favorite chair in front of our fireplace enjoying a glass of wine!

NOW THESE ARE SOME LOYAL FANS

2011-10-11T03:01:00.000-07:00

The one thing we have noticed, over the years of traveling Interstate 5, is that Oregon loves their College Football. Without fail, on any given Sunday, you will no doubt notice them flying their college flags from their windows, and in the case of the Oregon State University fans, a beaver tail from the back end of your vehicle.

Yes, last Saturday, the Interstate was filled with cars, trucks, and an orange and black bus, occupied by people all wearing orange and black. The trucks were loaded down with grills and ice chests, the cars had OSU stickers plastered all over them, and you just can't miss all those flags flapping from atop the roofs of the vehicles.

I had to look up OSU's record so far, and sadly they are 1-4, but the losing record did nothing to damper the fighting spirit of the loyal fans on the way to a Saturday afternoon game of football.

THE EMERALD CITY

2011-10-10T09:01:00.000-07:00

We ended up getting a Foster Farms load out of Livingston, CA last week after our marathon 6 drop assignment that finished up in Madera, CA. The load delivered to the WinCo in Woodburn, Or and then in Sumner, WA at the CostCo. Before we were unloaded, we were beeped with our next assignment that would take us to Stanwood, WA to the Twin City Foods for a 43,000 pound load of frozen vegetables.

I have to say that we have really enjoyed the weather the past few days while up North. Overcast, rainy, and cool temperatures. Just right for leaving the windows open at night. I'm sad to say that with this present load that we are on, we are headed South, and already have hit the warmer conditions in the 80's.

It's always nice to drive south on Interstate 5 through Seattle, except of course when you hit commute traffic, but fortunately we were able to bypass the traffic and enjoy the picturesque scenery of the Emerald City. We are looking forward to one day soon, using our home time to take a trip to Seattle and explore the area for a few days.

The load of vegetables are headed to Riverside, CA for a delivery this afternoon at the Fresh & Easy warehouse. Since we are delivering so late in the day, I'm sure we'll continue to enjoy our streak of being able to sleep at night and drive during the day.

LET'S TALK TRUCKS

2011-10-06T08:33:00.000-07:00

I've been asked by a loyal reader to write about the various trucks we have driven/lived in over the past six years and since I don't presently have anything very exciting to write about, I'll be happy to respond to his request.

Our first truck was a Freightliner. I remember the day Craig received this truck. He was just released from training and had to wait for it to be returned from the dealer after having some work done on it. It had previously been driven by a driver who quit, and quite frankly, the truck was a pig sty and reeked of cigarette smoke. As we worked together trying to clean it up, I kept trying to calm myself down, wondering to myself if selling everything that we owned, and doing this trucking thing was such a bright idea. But Craig promised me that by the time I would join him, in about two months, that it would smell better and look in tip top shape, and he didn't let me down.

Over the next two months, Craig "frebreezed" it every opportunity he had, and installed a refrigerator, microwave, and TV. What more would we need? There was ample room in the sleeper, and we were more than comfortable living in it except for the time it leaked while we were in New York and had to find a way to stop the rain from coming inside.

Being a novice OTR truck driver, we had no comparison to other trucks as far as power or handling, but most of our loads were light when we hauled boats, and when we did have a back haul with a Genie or some other type of equipment, we didn't seem to notice it being inadequate.

When Craig hurt his back in Texas July/2007, our Freightliner was left at a tiny truck stop in Fort Stockton, TX and driven back to the yard by a team driver. When Craig was cleared to return to work in October/2007, we were assigned an International that had been left by a driver near Roseburg, OR. We drove up there to retrieve the truck and I was happy to see this truck was somewhat clean, but it had the tell tale smell of cigarettes. I left Craig with the truck and drove back to California, where I loaded the remainder of our items and met up with him in Spokane a few days later.

The International had windows up by the bunk, and more room in the sleeper. I remember joking with Craig that it was so spacious we could dance. In this truck we had room to make a small office area on top of one of the cabinets, where we installed a scanner/printer, which we put to good use with all the border crossings we did delivering boats. It drove very much like the Freightliner and we enjoyed living in it until we made the decision to change divisions and go to the green side of the company TWT.

Finally, on our third truck, we had one that had not been used by a smoker! It was a Peterbilt, and from what we heard over the years, is that die hard truckers swear by a Peterbilt. I can't say that we will be one of those people. It was extremely hard to get used to the cramped driving compartment, and as an added shock to my system, I had to deal with no cup holder for the passenger seat. Oh the horrors of it all! We couldn't fold up the top bunk without folding Craig's mattress in half and making it like sleeping in a taco shell, so we kept the top bunk down which meant hunkering down under it whenever I needed to fix meals. Storage was adequate, and with the use of computers and phones to watch movies and TV, we no longer needed to use any space for an actual TV.

The long nose made for some tricky maneuvering and tested Craig's skills at many of the Shippers and Receivers we were dispatched to. We also didn't think it had that much power going up the hills either. The one thing we absolutely loved about it??? It had an APU which provided us with wonderful AC when the weather was hot and warmth when it was cold. We could put up with any other inconvenience as long as we had that APU.

Which not leads us to our latest truck, a Kenworth. What a blessing to be assigned a brand new truck with a cup holder for both of us and an APU. The trucking Gods were looking down upon us. This truck has the new PACCAR engine and Craig has noticed a big difference in performance. First it gets much better mileage per gallon than any of the other trucks. We average about 9mpg where we were only getting 5-6mpg with the other trucks. It takes the hills with power and the turning radius is fantastic. The fifth wheel is not adjustable, but we haven't found that to be an issue with scaling.

The driving compartment is even tighter than the Peterbilt, and I have joked with Craig that the truck designers should really check with me before designing the inside of another truck. The lower bed is much bigger than any of the other trucks, which leaves very little room to stand up and move around. Trust me, there is no room for dancing in this sleeper area. I do love that the storage areas have doors instead of curtains that snap, and are so large that I have not been able to completely fill them up, no matter how much I have bought at Wal Mart. I would have liked to see less windows, as it causes the sleeper area to get much too warm. We end up keeping the covers on the windows all the time.

So you're probably asking which one we like best, or you're completely bored with this post and couldn't care less, but I'm going to tell you anyway. Ideally, if we could take a little bit from each one that would be the perfect situation, but we can't. The one truck I would prefer would be the International because of the room and spaciousness that it gave us, and in the category of performance, I would have to go with the Kenworth and the new PACCAR engine.

FIELDS A PLENTY

2011-10-04T09:13:00.000-07:00

I can't begin to tell you how super awesome it is to not be driving at night this past week. Of course I know that can change with our next dispatch, but for now I'm enjoying sleeping at night. Since getting back on the truck with Craig, we have yet to be sent any further South than the Central Valley of California, which is a bit strange, but then being sent to Chicago our first run out of the gate was even stranger.

I've been a bit slow on grabbing the camera to take photos, as there have been a few things that have caught my attention, like the dock hand at one of our many drops (6) yesterday, who was making like Superman on a stack of Corona beer cases while the other dock hand pulled him into the store loading area. He was even humming the Superman theme as he rolled on by us.

What I have been able to capture is the agricultural diversity of the Central Valley, and it's many crops growing along our route. By no means was I able to snap a picture of all of them, it proves a bit difficult when driving by at 55mph, but I did manage to get a few. It makes you stop and realize just how blessed we are to live in a country that can produce such a variety of great things to eat, and the cotton to make the clothes we wear.

Presently we are sitting in Madera, CA awaiting our next dispatch to beep us over the QualComm. If we had to guess, we will either be sent to Salinas, Ca to Fresh Express or to Livingston, CA to Foster Farms. Time will tell, and until then we'll just sit back and enjoy our down time.

A WEEK OF NIGHT DRIVING

2011-09-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

It's been a long week. Never really adjusting to the east coast times we kept when we traveled to Chicago, we managed to find ourselves still on the night shift when we picked up our load at Fresh Express last Wednesday. Craig did have fresh hours, since we ended up doing a 34hr reset in Salinas, but with the time constraints of a tight delivery schedule to three different locations, it mandated us starting our driving on day one at 4pm and driving until almost 3am.

We made it to a rest stop about 60 miles into Oregon, where we thankfully found an open spot and camped out there until after 5pm when we once again started our day with a 2am delivery in Tacoma, followed by a 5am delivery in Puyallup, WA. There is where we had to hand off out load to another driver who had just delivered some bananas. It was after 7am when we finally got the green light at our dock, and Craig's 14 hour clock had run out.

We ended up trying to sleep amidst the noise of the yard goats zipping around with trailers and the constant beeping of them backing into docks. We knew we would have yet another night of driving as all the loads coming out of the Fred Meyer DC are overnight loads into Spokane. Our dispatch on the QualComm awoke us mid day with a pickup at 8pm and a delivery at 5am. At least we would have a couple of hours to stop off at the yard to take showers and do a load of laundry.

After the unload, we were given a dispatch to pick up meat at Tyson in Wallula, WA so we zipped over there to their yard to drop our trailer before Craig's driving hours ran out. We managed to catch some sleep before picking up our loaded trailer at 7pm and once again, driving through the night to get as far as we could. With a few stops for a caffeine boost and to eat, we finally arrived in Redding, CA around 8am.

We finally managed to fall asleep around noon, only to be rudely awakened by the sounds of the Thunderbirds doing fly bys at the Redding Air show at 4pm. Damn those planes are loud, but we were able to go back to sleep and make our departure at 1am for our first delivery in Oakland, CA at 6am. We arrived an hour early and much to our surprise, we were flagged down by their yard supervisor to come directly into the yard and back into a dock. By 6am we were unloaded and making our way towards Modesto for our last delivery.

Since we had so much extra time, we decided to stop in Ripon, CA at the truck stop for some breakfast before making our final leg into Modesto. We're sitting in the Sysco lot now awaiting to hear which dock they want us to back into, and then we are both hoping to catch a break and get back into a somewhat normal schedule. The only photo I have been able to capture this past week was this sunset in Wallula, WA before we left.

SIGHTS FROM THE LAST FEW DAYS

2011-09-19T14:59:00.000-07:00

I really don't think I need any words to go with this post. Sit back and enjoy the sights we have been blessed to look at over the past few days.

FALL IS IN THE AIR

2011-09-17T07:06:00.000-07:00

We're making our way West, after finding our way out of Chicago, with one wrong turn, but a quick recovery on Craig's part to get us back on the right toll road. Thankfully, if we are ever sent there again, we'll be much more familiar with the way in and more importantly, the way out of Chicago.

I have been enjoying the Fall like weather ever since we arrived in Chicago, with temperatures mostly in the mid 50's with some rain thrown in for good measure. Making our way through Iowa and Nebraska you can't help but notice the corn fields and the family owned farms dotted along the Interstate. I found myself fantasizing about life on a farm, living in one of the many cute farm houses, chickens, a few cows, and living off the land, and then reality sets in and I go back to playing my games on the computer.

After two full days of driving, and making it to Rock Springs, WY we are finally going to enjoy two shorter days, thanks to Craig's driving hours, making our way through Utah and Nevada. I'll have to tackle our laundry pile, and figured the best incentive will be while in Reno. What's better than a little casino action to make laundry a bit more pleasurable?

CHICAGO WAS NOT READY FOR US

2011-09-15T05:05:00.000-07:00

Since Sunday, we have been making our way East, reminiscing every time we passed by a landmark or an area of interest we had previously been to in our past travels hauling boats. It was great being back on some old familiar ground and seeing how the landscape had changed in the past three years. I had forgotten how some states, such as Montana, have some really nice rest areas to stop at and make use of the facilities. I swear the individual rooms they had at this rest stop, were bigger than bathrooms in most homes.

As we drove further East and adjusted to the time zone change, we also had to accommodate Craig's driving hours, which left us leaving earlier and earlier each day. The upside to that, is having the pleasure of watching the sun rise each morning, and arriving at the truck stops early enough to have no problems finding a spot to park. Speaking of that, we passed the truck stop in Hudson, WI where Craig picked me up at to begin our trucking journey together back in 2006. Had to take a photo of that for old times sake.

We made sure to arrive early for our appointment at Fresh Express in Franklin Park, IL mainly to miss the Chicago traffic. We knew there might be issued when Craig checked in and they were a bit confused as there was a TWT truck that had delivered yesterday, another TWT truck parked in the yard to get unloaded, and then us. But, I'm happy to say the unloading of the apples was the least of our worries, except maybe this lovely dock. With limited space to work with, Craig had to jack knife the truck in order to squeeze it into the space. Got to love those challenges.

After the unload, we were sent the dispatch to pick up lettuce bins from the same location. Only problem was, they only have a load of lettuce bins once every three days, and the TWT truck that was there the day before had taken them. So now they had two trucks sitting there with no product. After waiting a few hours, we saw the other TWT truck take off, which we found out later was a scavenger hunt through Chicago to find more lettuce bins at a different location.

The shipping clerk assured Craig that we would have something loaded, sometime that day/evening, so we just kicked back and enjoyed the crisp fall weather that Chicago gave us. By 4pm we were finally called to a dock, and shortly thereafter we had lettuce bins and cardboard pallets loaded into the trailer. We were happy to make use of their ample parking area and call it a day and get some much needed sleep.

This morning finds us making our way out of Chicago and all those toll roads and heading West by way of Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada before finding our way to the Fresh Express in Salinas, CA where we will deliver on Monday afternoon. It will be great having a different route back where we can reminisce some more.

WE'RE GOING WHERE?

2011-09-12T02:27:00.000-07:00

This past Friday, I drove 950 miles in 17 hours to get from Modesto, CA to home in Usk, WA. A quick stop over to pack up a duffel bag, grab my passport and port credential, and get some much needed sleep. Saturday I drove to the Company yard to await Craig's arrival with a load of apples he had just picked up in Moxie, WA. We were able to hit the local Wal Mart, grab some dinner, and get situated in the truck.

During the course of all that, I learned that the load he was assigned, and which will be my first run with him in almost a year, would be headed East instead of the usual South. In fact, once again, Craig is what he calls the "guinea pig" on a trip that would take us to the Chicago, IL area. In the past, TWT used to send teams to Chicago all the time, but it proved too difficult to get loads back headed West, so they discontinued going
so far East until now. Even rarer, is that it is a solo run.

So imagine my surprise, and almost disbelief when he informed me of the details of our load assignment. It definitely brought back memories of the time we delivered boats and the I90/I94 corridor was one of our routine routes. What a great run for my return to the truck, and we are both looking forward to seeing some old familiar areas through Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin before arriving in Illinois and having to deal with toll roads without the benefit of the electronic toll pass adhered to our windshield.

Since we will be dealing with different time zones, and working around Craig's 70 hour driving clock, we have been having some very early mornings, or as some would say, some very late evening driving start times. We started out from Spokane, WA at 4am on Sunday morning, and this morning we were hitting the Interstate at 2am. I don't even want to think about what time Craig told me we would have to get up and be on the road Wednesday, or should I say Tuesday night to make our delivery in Franklin Park, IL at Fresh Express. I'll just deal with that when I have to.

THE BIG BANG THEORY

2011-09-08T13:14:00.000-07:00

It's usually the remnants of it that you see scattered on the roadway, and on rare occasions it scares the crap out of you when you witness it happening in front of you. What is it you ask? The big bang of a tire blowing out. In the almost 6 years that Craig and I have made a life driving on the highways of this country and Canada, we have never had a actual blowout while driving...........until yesterday. Yep, mark that one off our list of experiences and adventures.

Craig is heading North ,as I begin my migration North early tomorrow morning, in what we hope will be the reunion in Spokane that will get me back on the truck this weekend. He was enjoying his usual radio shows, when he heard the "pop" and knew instantly that he had blown a trailer tire. When he called later to tell me about it, I had asked if he had noticed if any of the rubber had flown off, and in his usual sense of humor responded with " I didn't see anyone chasing me down or passing me while giving me the finger, so I'm assuming all was okay".

He safely pulls off at the next exit and gets out to survey the damage, locating the one outside trailer tire that had met it's demise and the collateral damage of one mud flap that would need to be replaced. A quick phone call into Road Service started the ball rolling to have the nearby TA send one of their service techs to replace the tire, but the mud flap would have to wait until he could get to the truck stop.

When it gets to the truck stop repair bay he is asked the normal questions, but the one that has gotten him the most reaction is the question of what type of engine he has. In his new Kenworth, he has a PACCAR engine, and most techs are curious to see what it looks like. As Craig tells me, they all want to look, but no one seems to know how to work on them. Thankfully, this time around, his engine wasn't what needed to be repaired. He walked into the store to grab a cup of coffee and a sandwich, and was surprised that upon his return to the repair bay, his mud flap has been replaced.

And just like that he is headed back North again, headed to the Fred Meyer DC in Clackamas, OR to make a delivery of fresh off the boat bananas tomorrow morning. We don't know for sure, but we hope he will then get a load headed to Spokane, where I will be waiting with my duffel bag to hop back onto the truck and make myself comfortable to report back to you our life on the road viewed from the passenger seat.

AND SO IT BEGINS AGAIN......

2011-08-25T07:22:00.000-07:00

It's a season of change again in our household. First let me start off by saying my Mother continues to heal and recover from what every doctor has told us is one of the most extensive surgeries a person could ever have. Total recovery may take up to a year, but I have seen her make great strides this week. We have one more specialist to see this afternoon, and then we should have a clearer picture of the road to her recovery. Prayers for her, if you are so inclined would be appreciated.

Now.........for some even bigger news. It saddens me to leave behind a partnership with my BFF Cori, but I have decided to go back on the truck with Craig. I leave Cori with a full inventory of products which we amassed over the past year, and plenty of orders for dress forms to keep her busy for some time. Of course you know I'll be visiting there every few months as I did in the past, and will be assisting with creative ideas and a pair of hands willing to get dirty to work on a few projects.

Many reasons prompted the decision to go back on the truck, but the main one was Craig and I missing being with each other everyday. Also, with being on the truck, it is an easy drop off and pick up in Modesto anytime I need to be there for my Mother during her recovery. Additionally, when Craig was dropped off in Modesto for his vacation, Roy informed him that his son in law was back in town and was going to team back up with him, hence leaving Craig back as a solo driver. Trust me when I say this, Craig was not the least bit disappointed. All in all I think it is a win/win situation for everyone concerned.

So now I have even more great news to tell you. See that brand new, still having the plastic wrap in the interior truck #350 parked there? Yep, that is our new home on the road. After almost 6 years of living in previously used trucks with Craig, (with two of them previously used by smokers.....YUCK!), I will finally have a new truck to live in. This is getting to be old hat for Craig, since he was just given one about 5 months ago while team driving with Roy, but when he called to say he was going back solo, they said he would be given a new truck. I was so excited.

The plan is for me to drive our pickup back up to Washington, shortly after the Labor Day weekend, with a short stop in Walla Walla, and then onto Usk to check on our house and collect our mail. Then Craig will ask for a run through Spokane where I will hop back onto the truck with my belongings and once again, report back to you through the blog, with our adventures out on the road and my perceptions of life viewed from the passenger seat. I can't wait!

CHECKING IN

2011-08-07T08:47:00.000-07:00

I've been absent for awhile. This has been the longest I have ever gone without posting a blog entry since 2006. Life has a way of getting in the way of doing what you really want to do. Jury duty is not something I want to do, but wouldn't you know it, not being a resident of California for over three years, I get a jury duty notice mailed to me at my Mom's house. Do you think they knew I would be in town? Years ago, while still working, I would have loved to have the chance to be on a jury. Now? Not so much, but I thought it would be fun to actually show up when requested, but then realized that the Judge would not be half as amused as I would be, and thought better of that idea. I regretfully sent in my notice, checking the box indicating that I was no longer a resident of the County.

Moving on......my Mother came through her surgery quite well. After 9 days in the hospital, she is home and I am helping her with her recovery. After all those years of feeding me, cleaning up after me, and changing my diapers, I thought it was about time to pay her back with the feeding and cleaning (no diaper changes needed, thanks for asking) and take care of her for awhile until she is back on her feet. I only wish that the weather was a bit cooler, but we can all be thankful for air conditioning.

Craig is taking a week of vacation and spending it here in Modesto with me. He figures he might as well get in on my feeding and cleaning up after gig while the getting is good. He should be here by Tuesday, and we plan to check out a few of our favorite places around town, when we used to call this place our only home. Now it seems we have many homes, our house in Usk, Cori's little cottage in Walla Walla, my Mom's house in Modesto and of course the big green truck. Well as they say, home is where the heart is and wherever we are together, will always be home to us.

OVERSIZED RULER

2011-07-07T15:50:00.000-07:00

As my days here at home come to an end, I had one last project to finish up. While out in the shed looking for scraps of wood to make all of my previous signs I posted about, I came across this large 6 foot by 10 inch slab of wood. Immediately I saw an oversized ruler and went about transforming it up in my loft hobby room.

Since it was already the perfect size, all I did was paint it. I would have liked to have made it a different color, but I am limited with what paint colors I have, so the "Glass of Milk" Martha Stewart would have to do. After painting it front and back, I went about making the markings and numbers on it with black paint. I can really see this in a kid's room as a great accent on the wall, or even used as a growth chart.

Craig has been home since Tuesday afternoon. He's already completed a mandatory DOT physical and passed with flying colors. We plan to do some area exploring tomorrow, maybe doing some geo-caching and then taking in the Lavender Festival in town on Saturday. There's suppose to be over 60 vendors in the City Park along with all kinds of food and entertainment. Should be a lot of fun.

Craig is due to head back out on Sunday morning, and then I will drive to Walla Walla. I can't believe it has been over a month since I have been to the store, or worked with Cori on any projects. Thankfully, we had plenty of surplus product left over from Farm Chicks to keep our two spaces fully stocked so that both of us could take some time off.

After spending a couple of days in Walla Walla, I'll be driving to California for an extended period of time as my Mom will be under going surgery on the 19th of July. Your positive thoughts would be appreciated for her and for a speedy recovery. I'll be sure to try and keep my hands in some type of project while in California, and since I have the pickup, I may even be able to pick up a treasure or two to take back to Walla Walla with me when that time comes.

SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE

2011-06-26T15:42:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help but think of the name of the album that Stevie Wonder released in 1976 when I started on my latest project. Since I have so much time on my hands relaxing at home enjoying the nice cool weather, as others are finally feeling that summer heat index start to rise, I thought I would scrounge around our shed for some more scrap pieces of wood to paint on. When I found a couple of old ledge shelves that were no longer being used, I had an indea for what to do with them.

Almost immediately after picking them up and looking at them, I envisioned piano keys. So off I went in search of a graphic online that I could print out and use to trace onto the shelves. After tweaking the size of the graphic, I painted the shelves black and then went about transferring my image onto the wood. Then it was time to paint using left over Martha Stewart "Glass of Milk" white. When I finally finished them, I had to admit that they turned out pretty darn cute. This can either be placed on a table, shelf, or any flat surface, to be used in a creative vignette, or attach a hanger on the back, or a couple of hooks on the top and hang it on a wall.

Not only did I complete the two piano key pieces, but I also completed a couple of distressed signs that will be sure to add just that right touch of color or interest to just about any kitchen. I have really found a lot of joy in using stuff that would have just found it's way into the trash, and being able to give it a new life and purpose. Now I think I'll put away my paints for a bit and enjoy the fantastic views of the sunset I have nightly right outside my window.

20/20 VISION

2011-06-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

I've had a fascination with vintage eye chart signs lately, and after seeing how much they were selling for, took the route of maybe a reproduction print, but even those were too steep for my pocket book. So I got to thinking.......why not make my own?

So off to Home Depot I went after dropping Craig off at the Company yard last Wednesday morning, and since it was so early in the morning, I practically had the store to myself, and plenty of employees that were more than willing to help me. I hit the lumber section and picked out a sheet of plywood. You want to know what is cool? They will cut it up into as many pieces and sized as you want! Talk about great customer service. On my way out I passed by the paint department to pick up a quart of Martha Stewart "Glass of Milk" white. It seemed the perfect color for my project.

For this particular sign, I painted the board black first, and the white. When dry, I distressed it with some coarse sand paper. Because I didn't have a stencil to go by for the first sign, I purchased a vinyl transfer and then made copies of each line with tracing paper so that I can duplicate it over and over again. For my own sign, I am going to do a black background with white letters, so this one will be up for sale in our consignment store as soon as I can get it to Walla Walla.

S'MORE POPS

2011-06-12T18:31:00.000-07:00

While visiting with my Mom in California a couple of months ago, we made cake pops for the first time. It was a very labor intensive project, and about halfway through the process, you begin questioning yourself as to why you started it in the first place. In our little kitchen at the house, it would prove difficult to have the counter space needed to take on such a project.

Looking for a fun little treat to take into the Company yard the next time I go through Spokane on my way to Walla Walla, I stumbled across a quick and simple recipe for S'More Pops. Three simple ingredients are all you need: Marshmallows, Milk Chocolate Chips, and Graham Cracker Crumbs. You'll also need to get sucker sticks, and if you like plastic treat bags to wrap them up in.

Simply insert one of the sucker sticks into the marshmallow on the flat side until almost completely through the marshmallow. Dip it into a bowl of melted chocolate chips, tap off the excess, and then roll into graham cracker crumbs. Allow to set, and then wrap into individual bags or a large airtight container.

Now no respectable cook would post about a food item without first tasting it themselves. I was no exception to that rule, as you can see from the evidence left on the tray. Just to make sure they were worthy of sharing with you all, I went beyond the call of duty and ate a second one!

IT SOUNDED GOOD IN THEORY

2011-06-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

You ever have some of those ideas in your head for a project, and in your mind it looks great, but halfway through the project you determine that in all likelihood it will turn out completely different? Yeah, I had one of those ideas yesterday.

It started out with loving the look of the subway signs that Restoration Hardware are selling for way over my budget these days. I thought to myself, how hard could it be to recreate those, but on a smaller scale. I had recently purchased some one half inch plywood for another project idea ( I'll let you know how that one turns out later), and had some scrap pieces left over that I knew would be the perfect size. I painted the piece black and then thought about what I could use for lettering.

Again, not having the budget to buy one of those fancy vinyl letter cutting machines, I had to resort to the old standby of stencils. I looked at our local craft store, and in a town of only 3,000, let me tell you, they don't carry much. I couldn't find any lettering stencils, but I did find a style of stickers, which were actually on card stock, so that I could trace around them.

In my mind, it didn't think it would take as long as it did to place each letter onto the board and then trace around them, but I was already too far into the project to turn back now, so I trudged onward until all the locations were traced onto the board. Again, in my mind, I pictured the lettering going so much more different than it turned out to be. What I pictured was Urban Chic, but what I got was Rustic French Country.

After distressing and waxing, it certainly doesn't look all that bad, and in the right location, would look pretty adorable with the right accessories, kinda like this French Patisserie sign I had made the day before. It looks fantastic on the World War 2 suitcase that Cori and I purchased at auction last February. Since no one wanted it either at the consignment space or at Farm Chicks I brought it home with me, and wouldn't you know it? It looks fantastic on top of a five dollar chair with a leather seat that I snagged at a yard sale on Friday.

FARM CHICKS 2011 - THE REVIEW

2011-06-05T21:37:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm a vendor, and am I allowed to say "I'm pooped"? What a whirlwind of four days of activities, starting with Thursday and packing up all our stuff and heading to Spokane, WA and ending Sunday afternoon with having to disassemble our booth and happily, only pack back up about half of what we brought.

As expected, Saturday was the big day, when the line of people waiting to get into the fairgrounds starting forming almost two hours early. Craig took a couple of photos of the front gate on one of his many trips out to the moving truck. It didn't take long before the aisles were packed with like minded people with the love of all things vintage.

I have to tell you, the biggest surprise and one of the best memories of this event was when I was approached by a young couple who asked which one of us, Cori or I had the blog. I assumed they were asking about Cori's blog, which has the same name as our business, and started to introduce them to Cori, when they said it was the truck driving blog. I couldn't have been happier meeting this couple and getting the chance to see face to face the wonderful people that read my blog. Although the husband had enjoyed the truck driving side of the blog, the wife was enjoying following my adventures in the junking world. Honestly, it made my day!

There were so many enduring stories that come to mind when I think about this past weekend. The one that continues to warm my heart and give me chills, was the woman who was looking at an old baseball mitt we had for sale with a baseball in the glove. When she picked up the ball it had the name "Mo" written on it. She said that was the nickname that her husband's Father always called him when he was a boy, and that it was most definitely an omen for her to purchase it for him for a Father's Day present.

Or the older couple, who have a 35 year old son, who as a boy, would sing the Davy Crockett song over and over. When they saw the old vintage Davey Crockett suitcase we had for sell, did not hesitate to pick it up and buy it for their son to remind him always of that childhood memory.

It was exciting for us to have our first sale on Saturday morning, and it did not disappoint. A lady was in our booth and noticed a small metal windmill. She snatched it up quickly and said that was exactly what she was looking for, and that if she bought nothing else all day, she would be going home a very happy lady.

We had so many people taking pictures of both our dress forms and the hanging light that Craig put together for us. It was nice to get the feedback on all those items, and the items we had worked hard to create, like the thermos lights, and the soap dispenser mason jars.

By the end of the show, we were all physically tired, and Cori and I could not have been the success that we were without the endless help of our husbands, Craig and Mike. They both took vacation time to help us with our first Farm Chicks vendor experience, knowing full well that they would have rather have spent their vacation time with a bit more relaxation than work. I am eternally thankful for the love and support you both showed us this weekend.

FARM CHICKS IS HERE!

2011-06-03T19:57:00.000-07:00

Farm Chicks Antique Show has finally gotten here, and I think we are as ready as we can be for first time vendors at one of the biggest west coast shows in the junking world. We loaded up all of our products on Thursday and drove to Spokane, and after a nice relaxing evening at the hotel, we hit the ground running this morning by setting up our space and hoping for the best outcome come Saturday morning when the doors open for business at 9am.

We only have a 10X10 space, and after trying to fit in most of our stuff, we soon realized how much nicer it would have been to have two spaces. One of our neighbors at the show has five spaces. WOW....that's a lot of space and a lot of product to have on hand. We have plenty of good stuff left in the truck to bring into our space as stuff sells, and with a lot of good fortune, we will sell most of what we brought.

It will be a long 10 hours tomorrow, in what other vendors have told us will be chaos, with thousands of people clamoring to buy what is being offered to sell throughout four very large connected buildings at the Spokane Fairgrounds. After a full day of setting up our little space, we sat back and were very proud of what we created to entice buyers into our space.

By the end of this weekend, I'm hoping to be enthusiastic about venturing out and applying at several other antique/junk sales in the area. In fact, we were already invited to join a show which is slated to be in Walla Walla, WA on October 8th. Who knows, you just may see us there!

ALL SIGNS POINT TO FARM CHICKS IN SPOKANE

2011-05-26T13:07:00.000-07:00

One week from today, hoping the backs of four people in their 50's hold out, we will be packing a 26 foot U-haul truck and heading to Spokane, WA for the Farm Chicks Antique Show. This truly has been a work in progress for the past 6 months, since we first sent in our application to be vendors, never thinking that we would be accepted to join the talented people that put on this show every year.

I'm not sure if you can ever be totally prepared for a show like this, especially on your first show, but Cori and I have checked our list, crossed off the many projects we had to complete, and with only a list of tools and equipment left to pack away to take with us, I do believe we are ready to throw caution to the wind, jump in with both feet, hope for the best, and most of all ENJOY the experience.

With Cori away in California until Monday afternoon, I've had the garage to myself, music cranked up, and in search of making something out of nothing. Yesterday, I found an old board which I managed to bust in two separate pieces. The largest of the two, I dry brushed with some red and black paint on it and then painted "boulangerie" on it. A little waxing and distressing and I quite like the way it turned out. The smaller of the two pieces was dry brushed with some blue and black, and "Paris" was painted on it.

With those two pieces done, I found a couple of more odds and ends of wood lying in our wood pile, and decided to stay on my roll of making signs and produced another "Paris" and another with a graphic design along with a "1902" and some lettering across the top. Both pieces of wood had holes near the top, so I put in some antique bronze screws, fastened some wire around them, and then using a grinder, ground down the screw to a flat end.

But the one item that was really a transformation was the little blue table. It was a Church Sale find this past Tuesday. An obviously home made piece, but with a throw back to the 50's with a Formica top and the silver trim around it. I painted with the last remaining bits of grey and blue Anne Sloan Chalk Paint. I added the wreath stencil around the handle and thought it could use a strip to give it a more angular line with all the curved edges. After a little distressing and waxing, I think it turned out pretty good, and that's what I'm hoping our Farm Chicks experience will be....pretty darn good!

SOME GREAT FINDS AT THE CHURCH SALE

2011-05-22T19:53:00.000-07:00

I wasn't planning on going to the Church Sale this morning, as neither Cori or I have paid them a visit in quite a few weeks, as we have been busy trying to finish up all the incomplete projects we have sitting around. But as I made my way to the Home Depot to pick up some paint for some side chairs, the pickup just naturally veered towards the parking lot of the Church, and I very happy that it did.

Immediately I spotted the old rustic chair, for only $2.00 and the metal canister, which I was told was used previously to carry the cream from the whole milk from the diary. Don't know if it's true or not, but I do know it will look great holding some vintage croquet mallets and some walking sticks we will be selling at Farm Chicks.

My next great find was the suitcase. It was shoved under a shelving unit, and pushed all the way back to the wall. What first caught my attention was the great color, and when I pulled it out, found it to be made of metal instead of leather. The inside is in great condition, and it even had an old airline tag still attached to it!

Once inside the main warehouse, I snagged the old metal lunch pail, the two old thermos', and the two large frames. All in all it was a great thirty minutes spent collecting some great finds that will no doubt make someone else's heart skip a beat when they see them in two weeks in Spokane.

QUEEN BEE

2011-05-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

Cori and I have been so very busy lately trying to finish up projects to take to Farm Chicks Antique Show in two weeks. Our storage area at the Consignment Store is almost at over flowing and we are questioning what size U-Haul truck to use to take it all to Spokane. Having never been involved in any show, let alone one the size of Farm Chicks with thousands of people coming from all over the State and surrounding area, if we let ourselves, it can get a bit over whelming.

We want to be able to showcase our dress forms in our small 10x10 space, and have settled on having three different types of dress forms there, along with order forms for custom orders. Our latest design has us using a new form called a wasp waist. It is a throw back to a more vintage looking dress form and we decided to design it with that in mind.

We went back to using vintage sheet music, and chose the portrait neckline with a beautiful lace trim. For graphics we used a "bee" theme and named her Queen Bee, also known as Beatrice. For an added little bit of fun, we designed a faux corset closing in the small of the back using different sizes of buttons, burlap webbing, and a tea stained linen ruffle.

We are so excited to offer this new dress form style to our future customers and hope that they fall in love with her as much as we have.

DIAMONDS ON MY MIND

2011-05-13T14:51:00.000-07:00

I'm not talking about the sparkly diamonds, as I've never been much of a jewelry lover. No, I'm talking about a classic harlequin pattern, to which I have been addicted to lately painting on furniture and other items. It all started with this old cupboard door which we purchased back in February during our little picking trip to Heppner, OR. It has been just sitting in the garage waiting for us to give it some attention.

I finally did some research on the easiest way to create this classic design, and thought I had it all figured out. That was when I had to put in an emergency call to Craig for his assistance. As he walked me through the calculations and dimensions, I took detailed notes, and when the phone call was finished I went to work.

It's all in the prep work on this pattern, with a lot of lines drawn here and there, and then dots placed at mid points of intersecting lines ,connecting those points , and you can see when it was all completed, how it could get confusing on which area needed to be painted. But slow and sure wins the race, and the end product was this great coat/hat holder which would look great in a mud room or entry of a house.

So I was on a roll and didn't want to stop, so when I purchased this little table at Goodwill for just $6.00 I knew the little drawer front would look great with the harlequin pattern. This time I was able to figure out the math equation without Craig and went to town painting the drawer front a mix of red and gray. Then I painted the rest of the piece red, and finished it off with some brown wax. I couldn't be happier with how this little table turned out. I'd love to take it home with me, but it will be for sale at Farm Chicks in just three weeks.

My next quest was to do something with this old ironing board that we found. Sure it's cool on it's on, looking all old and vintage, but Cori suggested doing a harlequin pattern on it as well. She didn't have to tell me twice, and I had my pencil and ruler out marking all my lines, and by the end of the day, we had a pretty snazzy looking vintage ironing board, which will also be loaded up to take in Spokane.

Now it's time to get back into the workshop and get busy on the last remaining items we need to finish up before heading to the big show!

I'm linking to

REMEMBER THIS CHAIR?

2011-05-06T19:41:00.000-07:00

Does this flashback to the 70's upholstered chair ring a bell with you? I blogged about it when I snagged it at the church sale a few months ago for only seven dollars. I fell in love with it then, and I'm head over heals in love with it now.

Before I left for California, I shipped her off to be recovered. She returned to me this week just in time to load her into the pickup and take her home with us this morning. I'm happy to report that I'm sitting it the chair as I type this entry now, and if I do say so myself, I think she fits perfectly into our little house.

As easily as the whole process was of getting it recovered, I'm now going to be on the lookout for another great deal on an old chair with "good bones".

Speaking of something with good bones, check out this old Stanley thermos Ruth Ann from All Things Bradbury sent to me and was waiting at the Post Office when we drove home. Ruth Ann was a sweetheart to send it to me, and knows how passionate I am about all things vintage. She also knows exactly what I have planned for it to give it a new lease on life. The rest of you will have to wait to see the final outcome in the very near future.

TRYING TO PREPARE FOR THE FARM CHICKS ANTIQUE SHOW

2011-05-04T19:21:00.000-07:00

After spending the last two weeks of April in California visiting with my Mom and Nieces, I knew it would mean when I got back to Walla Walla, that there would be a lot of work to do in order to get ready for the "Farm Chicks Antique Show" the first weekend in June. Working is exactly what Cori and I have been doing the last few days, not that we haven't been prepping for this show since we learned we were accepted as vendors back in late December 2010.

All you have to do is take a look at our storage space to know that we have got quite a bit of inventory to take to Spokane for the show. It has taken us a couple of days to just price it, and we still have another day's worth of pricing yet to do. That doesn't even take into account the supply of candles, mason jar soap dispensers, and home made laundry soap we have to finish up, label and price. Sometimes, I think both Cori and I ask ourselves, what we have gotten ourselves into, but we know without a doubt, no matter the outcome, it is going to be a great experience for us.

I started on a project today that I have been wanting to do for some time. We have an old door, and I wanted to paint a harlequin pattern on it. Well this morning I took it to task, and started trying to pencil out the pattern on the door. It didn't take long before I had to call in the reinforcements, and a phone call was placed into Craig, who in a matter of seconds, gave me the math equation to perfectly space out my diamond pattern on the door and start my painting. I'll have some photos to post of the progress of the project in the next few days.

After a half day of work on Thursday in Walla Walla, I'll be heading up to Spokane to pick up Craig for a few days of home time. He is graciously going to use a week of his vacation for his next home time, the first week of June, to help Cori and I load up our inventory, and head to the "big show". Both Cori and I are very thankful not only for the help that our husbands will be giving us that weekend, but the support they have given us over the past 5 months as we work towards one of the biggest events of our little business history.

YOU JUST KNEW I HAD TO PAINT SOMETHING

2011-04-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

I think most of you know me by now. Even with taking some time off from the business in Walla Walla, WA to visit my Mom in California, that I would find something to paint and distress. I think it's in my blood, and even when I wasn't painting, we took a couple of days to do some thrift store and consignment shopping. You have to know how hard it was for me to pass up some incredible deals at one of the local consignment stores. There were quite a few items I could have picked up and easily doubled my money on. But with train travel, and the high cost of shipping, they will have to be left behind for someone else to find and fall in love with.

My Mom had an old wood rocker that has been sitting out on her back patio for a number of years. So many years, that the finish had all but been worn away by time and weather. It barely took any effort with some sand paper to get it ready for some new paint. Boy, did it soak up the paint, but I wasn't concerned with completely covering it, as I have learned, when distressing a piece, it doesn't need to be perfect to make it look old. A little scratching here and there, a coat of glaze,and my Mom now has a new rocker in her family room.

The same was done with a little step that I had used previously when I lived in Modesto to help me get up onto my high rise bed. My Mom took possession of it when we packed up and hit the road, and she absolutely loves it in her kitchen to help her get to the higher shelves. But she was ready for a little change, so I painted it the same color as her walls, distressed and glazed, and Mom is happy with the results.

I have to say, the project I had the most fun doing, was using some throw away stuff that I took off my Aunt's hands last Sunday, some sample paint in my Mom's storage shed, tissue paper, twine, and some Dollar Tree flowers. From the picture, you can see the wood piece, which is actually the top of a little tiny tabletop table, which we couldn't figure out what anyone would use it for. I love those blue Ball canning jars too, don't you?

I had the friendly neighbor drill two holes into the wood for me that I had marked for him, and then painted it. When it was dry, I distressed it and glazed it and then went about using twine to wrap around the lip of the jar, and then tie it off on the back of the wood piece which stabilized the jar to the wood. You could also use wire if you like, but I like the rustic look of the twine. Then some white tissue paper was crushed inside the jar and three bunches of white hanging tulips were inserted into the jar. The end result was a success.

My days are coming to a end here in California, but no doubt upon my next visit I'll have some other ideas for some great little decorating items that I'm sure my Mom will love!

CALIFORNIA BOUND

2011-04-16T08:32:00.000-07:00

Actually, as you read this, I'm already in California, by way of buses and trains. With the rising cost of fuel, and doing the math, it was so much cheaper to take Amtrak to California, than drive or fly, and with only having been on Amtrak once before, for a very short trip, (under an hour), I thought it would be an adventure, and an adventure it was.

My day, or should I say night, started out at 2am, by rising and loading up the pickup with my luggage and heading to the Amtrak station in Pasco, WA. I had been notified by Amtrak the day before, that train service was cancelled and that I would have the pleasure of riding a bus from Pasco to Portland, OR. So after checking my one piece of luggage, and picking the brain of the clerk at the counter with several of the questions I had about train travel, I waited an hour for the bus to arrive and begin my journey.

I have to say, the four plus hour bus ride from Pasco to Portland was extremely enjoyable and relaxing. It helped that I had the two seats by myself, where I could place my carry on bag with all my electronics on the seat next to me, and read and nap to my heart's content. Before I knew it, the time flew by and we were in Portland.

The Portland Amtrak station is truly a beautiful place. It beckons to the past era of train travel with it's vintage look. It was clean, had a little shop for magazines, food, and drinks, especially coffee, where the line was quite long when I first arrived. What wasn't so great, were the hard wooden benches I had to occupy for well over four hours while I awaited the arrival of the Coastal Starlight train which would be my home for the next 16 hours.

Finally, around 2:30pm, twelve hours into my day, I boarded the train and found my assigned window seat. I was amazed at how much leg room there was and how at first the seat was so comfortable. But by the time we had arrived in Sacramento, I was cursing that seat and couldn't wait to get out of it. Sixteen hours is a long time, and if the price of a sleeper room wouldn't have canceled out why I was taking the train in the first place, (well over $240 ), I would have upgraded in an instant.

It also didn't help that I had another passenger next to me that obviously didn't adhere to the travel etiquette to not violate personal space. There were no arm rests between the seats to mark your own territory, and he was more than willing to extend his elbow into my ribs for most of the entire trip.

On a more positive note, the scenery was fantastic, and with the help of an almost full moon, I also was able to take in the snow covered terrain during the night as I tried to cat nap until our 6:30am arrival in Sacramento, CA. There I waited again for a bus that would take me to Stockton, CA where I would board my final train for a short 30 minute ride into Modesto where my Niece was waiting to pick me up.

I'll be in California until the evening of the 27th, where I will reverse my travels, but this time, unless there will be changes, I'll have three separate train rides to get me back into Pasco by the evening of the 28th. Until then, I'll be enjoying the company of my friends and family here in Modesto, delight Craig with copious amounts of home cooked meals and goodies as he passes through the area several times a week, and believe it or not, miss getting my hands dirty working on projects. But not to fear, there is an oak table and chairs sitting out on my Mom's patio that is just screaming for a make over............Home Depot here I come!

BIRTHDAY WISHES

2011-04-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

I know that I haven't exactly kept it a secret, but I just can't help letting the world know, just how much I love this man. Today is his birthday, and although we don't usually do anything to celebrate such things as birthdays, anniversaries and holidays, I couldn't let the day go by without at least acknowledging it for prosperity on our blog.

It's been the norm for us, over the past 6 years, to be separated from family and friends, but now, with Craig driving team, we find ourselves separated from each other. It's a new normal for us to get adjusted to, but honestly, with Craig in my life, it has been anything but what I thought normal would be, and I thank God for that every day.

He is the best of men, his ethics beyond reproach, his sense of humor never fails to make me laugh, and he makes no bones about how much he loves me every single day..........so Happy Birthday Craig and I hope you know just how much you are loved in return.

TWO FUN PROJECTS IN RED

2011-04-05T21:31:00.000-07:00

Cori and I have been working fools the last couple of days, especially since the big Farm Chicks Show in Spokane is less than 2 months away. We know it is going to sneak up on us, and we want to be as prepared as possible for this huge undertaking. We have our "to do" lists tacked up in the garage, and believe it or not, I dare say there is more floor space in the garage than there was a couple of weeks ago, as we are trying to complete as many projects as we can.

First up is this coffee table we got for a steal for only $5.00. It is so solid, and when we saw it, knew that all we would have to do is redo the table top. But then, as always, we got to thinking. Looking at the wrought iron framing around the bottom of the table, we knew it needed a shelf, but how could we make it functional, but yet fun too?

We decided to do a dry brushing of a great red that Cori had used in the past, which let the wood grain show through after I had sanded it down to bare wood. Then remember those yardsticks I mentioned in my last blog entry? We cut a piece of plywood and covered it with all the old yardsticks we have purchased over the past few months. After attaching the shelf with brackets to the framing, we sat back and admired a great looking coffee table.

But we didn't stop there. A few weeks ago, we snagged three old oars at an estate sale. I sanded them down to bare wood and then Cori and I dry brushed a coat of white paint on them.

Taking a bit of inspiration from one of the numerous catalogs that Cori receives daily, we taped off areas on the oars to paint red. Once dry, they were distressed and then a bit of espresso bean glaze was used to give them an aged look. I would love to have the room at my own home to hang a couple of these on the wall!

CRAIG'S NEW RIDE

2011-04-02T12:04:00.000-07:00

I couldn't completely stop blogging about trucking, after all, with having lived my life out on the road for five years, it kinda gets into your blood. So how is this for irony.....like I said, I was out for five years, and always hoped for a new truck that hadn't been trashed by a previous driver that smoked, because no matter how much Frebreeze you use, that smoke stink never goes away.

So along comes Roy, not even a year under his belt, and he gets to enjoy a brand new, fresh smelling truck. Now as Craig likes to tell me, if I had chosen to drive along with him, we probably would have had that new truck together, but no amount of bribery, new truck or money wise, can ever convince me to drive a commercial truck, heck, just driving our pickup is big enough for me.

But I am so very excited for Craig and Roy that they have taken possession of a new 2011 Kenworth T660 with all the bells and whistles, and a new APU to boot. It was like Christmas morning yesterday morning when they got to move into their new digs.

They were given a load out of Toppenish, WA to pick up this morning, and after arriving there, they were beeped with a message to drop the trailer and bob tail to Aurora, OR to take over another team's load into Phoenix. Seems that team, who had also taken possession of a new truck the same time as Craig and Roy, already had engine problems with it. Hold on, it gets better.

As Craig and Roy make there way towards Aurora, they also start having some issues with the truck, and are routed to the nearest Kenworth dealership in Yakima, WA to have it checked out. I just received a text message saying that they were back on the road again, without finding anything wrong, but with the usual "keep an eye on it" instructions from the mechanic.

All in all, Craig likes that there is so much more room, that the seats can fully recline, and after five years of hearing me complain of not having a cup holder in the three trucks we had, a Freightliner, an International, and a Peterbilt, he was happy to report that the Kenworth does indeed have two cup holders!

A QUICK AND EASY PROJECT

2011-03-31T17:02:00.000-07:00

I'm always looking around the garage at all the odds and ends we have lying around and knew that we wanted to do an "EAT" sign, especially with us completing the kitchen island piece. So when I found this wood plaque in our pile of wood scraps, I knew it would make the perfect foundation for a quick and easy project.

Cori had recommended using one of the vintage cookbooks and menu planners we had scored at a yard sale last weekend. This publication was printed in 1949 and a lot of the menus they were suggesting certainly dated them. I went about cutting out bits and pieces of the pamphlet and when I was satisfied that I had enough, I broke out the Mod Podge.

When I had sufficiently cover the wood place, I let it dry, while I spray painted the "E", "A", and "T" letters that we have also been lying around for month collecting dust in the garage. After the plague was dry, I applied a black glazing which gave it more of an aged look, and then went around hot gluing on the letters which by this time had also dried.

I covered the back with burlap, and called it a finished project. We'll display this on a small display easel on the kitchen island, along with some new platters with glass domes that we completed when we go to the retail space tomorrow. We had a pretty busy day today, finishing up a few projects and finally starting on that piece I teased you about last week with the yard sticks. We plan to have that ready to take to the store by Tuesday.

In other news, Craig and Roy received a phone call earlier this week with some pretty great news. Seems they will be one of the first teams to take ownership of a brand new truck when they arrive in the company yard in Spokane. They will be there tonight, but won't take possession until morning. I can't wait to get some photographs from him, and to be able to see it in person next weekend when Craig comes back into Spokane for home time.

I am linking to The Shabby Nest Frugal Friday

THE BIG REVEAL

2011-03-24T18:38:00.000-07:00

Here is a reminder of what this piece looked like when we picked it up at the Church sale for $5 dollars, but after Craig had installed the caster wheels to the underside. Cori and I wanted to try the technique we used on a dress form, to try and transform this well used tool chest into a coffee table. After tearing up pieces of brown painter's paper, the Mod Podge was opened up and the applying of the paper and glue commenced.

After allowing for dry time, a glaze of espresso bean brown was applied, lighter and darker in areas in an attempt to make it look like leather. Then we went about pounding in the nail head trim, and when we stepped back and surveyed our handiwork we had this:

We're pretty happy with the outcome, but we are even happier with how this next piece turned out. If you can imagine it, it started out as a home made stereo cabinet from back in the day. It was basically just a plain wood box, and like an old house, no true straight edges or corners to be had. Cori envisioned the record holding area as a great plate rack, so we took out every other divider to make room for a plate. That in itself was a lesson in patience.

When I mentioned in the earlier post that Craig will think twice about volunteering to help us, all he has to do is think about the frustration in putting this piece back together again after Cori and I had taken it apart. He kept mumbling out loud about numbering the pieces as we took them out to know where they went when they go back in, but sometimes Cori and I can't be bothered with such details when inspiration hits.

We went to our local Home Depot, which we seem to go to at least a couple of times a week, and picked up some bead board and molding to give it a more sophisticated look. Again Craig was doing a lot of mumbling about those crooked corners and funky way it was put together, but he persevered, and the end result was what we like to call an island storage cabinet.

Because, really, we can see it being used in a kitchen, it does have room to house a microwave, or a dining room as a great additional buffet for added serving room, or even in a living room as a wonderful display piece. I bet someone could even make it into a fabulous bar with all that storage, and with the backside finished off so nicely it could be the center attraction at any get together.

So that's what we have been up to this past week, and now it's onto our next projects we have sitting in the garage awaiting our attention. I'll tease you with this...........one of the next pieces we start on, will get a great makeover using old yard sticks

WHAT DO YOU GET?

2011-03-21T17:59:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you combine some long discarded candlesticks:

Some well used enamel plates:

and the glass dome off of a wood cheese plate?

You get the cutest shabby chic way to present your latest baked goods or fresh fruit.

We are on the lookout for more of the glass domes in every thrift store and yard sale that we can find, along with unique candle sticks and enamel plates. We can't get enough of these cuties, and with the help of epoxy glue, they are a snap to put together. We'll make sure to have as many of these that we can when we head to Spokane for the Farm Chicks Show in June.

Here is a sneak peek at our next project in the works. I don't want to give too much away, but we snagged this vintage wood tool chest at the church sale a few weeks ago. Craig attached some caster wheels to it when he was here last week. We see it as a great coffee table with fabulous storage. Just wait and see how this little diamond in the rough turns out. I hope to have pictures of the completed project by Friday. Until then, I better get back to work. Just when we thought we were making head room in the garage, it seems to be filled to the rafters again, and it's not even the busy yard sale season yet!

TOO BUSY TO BLOG

2011-03-18T18:46:00.000-07:00

I don't think I have ever gone this long with out a blog entry. I feel really bad about that, but we have been very busy, not only repurposing furniture, but with dress form orders. We just completed an order for three dress forms that will be in a boutique in the Austin, TX area, and just starting on an all pink dress form that will be a surprise for a 14 year old girl living in Studio City, CA. On top of that, it seems that yard sale weather has hit in Walla Walla, and we were out and about very early this morning hunting down treasures.

You can see from the back of the van that we were successful at almost all of the addresses we checked out. Half of the items were already taken out of the van by the time I took this picture, but you can still see the two wood and leather chairs, in excellent condition, that we snagged for $32 dollars each. Those chairs will clean up really nice with some leather conditioner and some elbow grease. There is a stamp from the manufacture on the back that I am going to research to find out more about them.

We also snagged a great coffee table for $10 and those oars which will make great wall accents. By the time we were done, we had pretty much spent our budge for the week, which will force us to stay home this Sunday instead of going to the Church sale, and spend some time working in the garage trying to finish up some projects we have in the works.

I can at least show you what became of these two church pews we got last month. After sitting in the garage awaiting their turn in the spray booth, they turned out quite nicely, and now proudly occupy a space in our retail store. We have so much stuff, our spaces are almost over crowded and as soon as anything sells, like a door and a large picture that sold this morning right before we arrived, we quickly place new items in their place. We are so thankful to have our storage area in the back of the store to keep our extra inventory.

We continue to prepare for the big Farm Chicks Show in June, and with the promise of two more dress form orders in the process of fine tuning the final details, and the garage full of furniture, we will not have to figure out what to do with our time. I think you'll pretty much find us with paint under our fingernails and dust and dirt on our clothes, but we wouldn't want it any other way!

INTRODUCING......SYMONNE

2011-03-07T16:15:00.000-08:00

Not one to sit idle when the creative juices are flowing, Cori and I started in on a new concept for a dress form almost immediately after finishing up Maebel (the lemon/fabric) dress form. We wanted to created a very vintage looking dress form, and looking around the garage, found some brown painter's paper. I went about tearing it up into mismatched small pieces and then broke out the Mod Podge and started brushing away. We completely covered the form from head to base in the brown paper but knew she would need a little "something something" to make her special.

Cori has a gazillion ideas tucked away, not only in her creative brain, but in stacks and stacks of magazines. She remembered seeing a belt that was made out of burlap binding which is normally used in reupholstering. To the binding, we tea stained a couple of thin muslin towels, and then cut them into 4 inch strips making use of the already finished edge. Gathering it up in a running stitch, we ruffled the towel and adhered it to the underside of the binding with liquid stitch. We cut two more strips for the tie, and attached two large wood buttons as an accent on either side of the belt.

We then thought about what type of graphics to put on her, and came up with this lovely graphic which tied in the red from the belt. Add "Paris" to the chest and a date we took from the business graphic and we were ready to glaze her. Traditionally, with the music sheet dress forms, we have used a copper glaze, but as I said before, we truly wanted an old, vintage feel to this dress form, so we went to our stand by glaze in the garage, Ralph Lauren Faux Glaze tinted in Espresso Bean brown. With the first wipe of the glaze, we knew this would be the perfect finishing touch to this dress form. It almost makes it look like it was made out of solid wood that has been aged for years and years.

We don't have a home for Symonne yet, but she will be listed on line at Cori's Etsy shop here. She will also reside in one of our two spaces at the consignment store, that is if I don't decide to kidnap her myself for my living room at home. I have completely fallen head over heels in love with this one, from the vintage door knob top to the cute belt, down to the vintage graphic which she has front and back!

A COUPLE OF NEWLY COMPLETED PROJECTS

2011-03-03T18:48:00.000-08:00

Remember this dresser? We got it at the church sale. A well built dresser out of actual natural wood, not those wood manufactured products of particle board or pressed board. This dresser would be steak, compared to the ones you buy at the big box stores, which for this analogy we will call spam.

Always trying to do something a little unexpected, we played off the two recessed panels on the sides of this dresser and decided to cover them in some coordinating fabrics. Then, just to add a little surprised, we coverd one of the drawers in fabric as well. Hopefully someone will take a liking to it as much as we do, once we take it to the store tomorrow.

The crowning acheivement this week so far, has been the transformation of this china cabinet, from it's former life, to it's new updated look. The only before picure I have is with all the doors and hardward missing, but I think you can get the idea of what it looked like. We purchased this back in December, and it is by far the biggest piece we have worked on.

We knew we wanted to make it lighter, and in a cottage style, so we painted it cream, but added a bit of unexpected and painted the back wall teal. We think it adds just the right amount of "pop" to the piece, and doesn't the brown accent pieces we added to stage it look grand? Although you can't really see it from the pictures, but up close, it has a light distressing along all of the detail lines. The hardware was also changed out and replaced with vintage crystal knobs.

Now we have the job of trying to load this hutch into a vehicle and transporting it to our retail space. We'll definitely need a little more man power than what Cori and I have together. Thank goodness Cori's husband will be able to help us tomorrow afternoon. Now we just have to make sure we make room for it in one of our two spaces and stage it again for the big weekend crowds.

MEET MAEBEL

2011-02-26T21:21:00.000-08:00

Cori and I had a couple of dress form orders come in early this week, and on Thursday, when the dress forms arrived we went to work, first on a style we have done previously using sheet music. When that was completed by Friday morning, we started on a totally new design for the second custom order. This one entailed using material and a vintage crochet embellishment down the front.

We really were venturing down new territory with the new design, but like the designers on Project Runway, we just jumped right in, creating a pattern for future orders, and by Friday night, the dress form was almost completed. All we had to do this morning was apply the graphic artwork and a final coat of glazing with just a touch of metallic added to it. Don't you just love the porcelain black and white door knob that we found to replace the basic wood finial the dress from comes with? There is so much about this dress form that Cori and I love.

This dress form will not have to travel far, just across the State to Olympia, WA where it will reside in a boutique jewelry store. The new owner has already named her Maebel, after her yet to be born Niece. Every dress form we create, is a one of a kind piece of art. I have to admit, I am totally enamored with this dress form, and have already decided that when we have the time and energy, that I will be making one very similar to this one for my very own living room.

HAPPY 10th ANNIVERSARY TO US

2011-02-23T00:12:00.000-08:00

Ten years ago, on this day, Craig and I were standing on the 10th fairway on a golf course in Carmel, CA at sunset, as the last group of golfers were playing through. There was a little pond nearby with ducks waddling around, and with no one but the minister, the hotel event coordinator as our witness, and a photographer, we pledged our love for each other and vowed to remain together for the rest of our lives.

I think I speak for Craig too, when I say that the rest of our lives will never be long enough, as we have found in each other the person who brings out the best that we each have to offer. We truly are each other's best friend, and I can attest to the fact, that no one makes me laugh, and enjoy life more than my husband.

It was a leap of faith, ten years ago, only knowing each other for a few weeks before saying "I Do's", but as I have said before, back then I couldn't find anything wrong with him, and that statement stands true ten years later. He is an original, walk to the beat of your own drum kinda guy, and his love of all things adventurous has certainly helped me step outside my safe little world I had built around me, and opened up my life to new discoveries and journeys which we have taken to create some great memories together.

I know he knows this, but my love for him goes beyond measure and grows each day. I'd marry him again in an instant, as my life has been the richer for having had the privilege of being his wife. To quote Paul Child who said this very thing to Julia........"You are the butter to my bread, you are the breath to my life." Happy Anniversary Craig..... I love you to the moon and back again.

GOING ONCE, GOING TWICE........SOLD!

2011-02-21T19:39:00.000-08:00

I attended my very first auction Sunday, spending 10 hours looking at a lot of items I would have loved to have bid on, watching and listening as the bidding went back and forth, until an eventual winning bid was placed. Cori and I were among some of those winning bids on quite a few pieces. It's hard not to get emotionally invested when there is an item up for bid that you really want, but then the auctioneer is talking so fast, by the time you finally raise your card, the price had risen by $10 or $15 dollars.

Such was the case with this little pig hat rack. Cori took a liking to it, and it started out at $5 dollars, but by the time our card was flashed and acknowledged by the auctioneer, somehow it at $25 dollars before we knew it, and then we were the proud owners. But wait until I tell you about the next item we were able to take home.

I have to tell you there were some awesome antiques up for auction, and we knew without a doubt that they would be out of our price range, and by night's end, that was indeed the case, but somehow when it came to this table and chairs, the stars must have been in alignment, because for some reason, no one bid on it. They must have all been distracted by something, because we were able to snag this little gem for only $50 dollars. We couldn't believe it ourselves, nor could anyone else, when they saw us standing by it at the end of the auction and wondered how they missed an opportunity to bid on it.

(So high out of our price range, all we could afford was to look at it and admire it)

(another piece that we admired only, too rich for our pockets)

I will admit, by the end of the 10 hours of sitting on a hard bench, I was ready to go home, but we were the highest bidders on 10 items which we were happy to bring home with us. Well, we couldn't fit all of them in my truck for the ride home, in fact we had to bring two vehicles back to the auction house today in order to carefully ~~cram and stuff~~ pack the remaining items and bring them to keep company with the over flow of furniture in need of some love in the garage.

I'm already looking forward to the next auction in March. As I've said to Craig many times over the last couple of months....."It's a good thing we live in such a tiny house, or we'd be broke with me buying things that I've found while out treasure hunting". Craig is always quick to agree!

THE TIME HAS COME

2011-02-18T08:09:00.000-08:00

I think it's been made clear to me shortly after Craig decided to go team, that this blog would take on a new direction. No longer did I have first hand insight into what was going on at shippers and receivers, or the ability to capture the changing seasons with my camera, and most evident was my lack of exposure to view life, our life, from the passenger seat of an 18 wheeler.

I miss that lifestyle, the one I thought I would never live back in the day, and more than that, I miss being able to spend all that time with my best friend and husband Craig. But life is an ever changing entity, and you either adapt to those changes, or find yourself stuck fighting a battle that can never be won. I count my five years on the truck with Craig, as five of the most happiest years of our lives. The memories of those years, and the blogs entries that I wrote, fill five very large printed books that we have to enjoy at home.

I realize that the majority of the followers of this blog, have joined us on our trucking journey, and my hope is, for those that might have been interested in that lifestyle, that they were able to find some answers to their questions More importantly, that for all the negative, stereotypical descriptions of the men and women of trucking, that by reading this blog, you came to understand that they are the backbone of this great Nation, that they make sacrifices being separated from family, they miss out on holiday celebrations, and drive in horrendous weather conditions, to make sure you get everything you buy on a daily basis.

So it saddens me to close this trucking chapter on this blog, but I will continue it with what has become my second love.... " pickin' " and re purposing old furniture. The title will remain the same, but the background and sidebars will change in the coming weeks. For those of you who enjoy that type of thing, I'll be thrilled to have you along on my latest journey of "before and afters". For those whose interest lie in the trucking world and will move along, I thank you for coming along with us on our journey, through the good times and bad, from border to border and coast to coast, it was a helluva ride and we enjoyed the company along the way.

A TOTAL TRANSFORMATION

2011-02-15T18:28:00.000-08:00

Cori and I have finally started taking pieces of furniture from our stack in the third bay of the garage, afterall, they have been left there neglected while newer pieces captured our attention. But we couldn't let this little gem be ignored any longer. We drug it out from the pile and gave it a good cleaning, then stood back and let it speak to us. What did it say? Not a darn thing......so we had to come up with something ourselves.

We decided it needed a lighter color, and a nice cream color it was painted along with a light distressing, but it needed a touch of something else to let it really shine. So we went to the fabric store and found this black and cream fabric and decided to cover the front of the drawers with it, and then paint the hardware black....and with that, this little beauty was born.

We couldn't stop with just the drawers, so we took a little wood base lamp I had picked up at the thrift store last week, and painted it black. Then with one of our spare lamp shades we have on had, Cori covered it in the same fabric that we covered the drawer fronts with and finished it off with some ribbon on the top and bottom of the shade. But we couldn't stop there, and having a vision of our "time worn" collection of this past summer, we adhered an old pocket watch onto the front of the lamp. We think it turned out just great!

Cori and I spent almost four hours this afternoon, rearranging and putting out new items in both of our spaces at the consignment store. Some items were put back into storage and some were destined to be revamped or donated. We were amazed at just how much product we have in both spaces, and hope that in the last two weeks of the month, we can generate some sales.

In trucking news, the weekend had Craig and Roy sitting idle from late Saturday night to early Monday morning, where they delivered a load of bananas in Clackamas, OR at the Fred Meyer DC. Then it was off to Salem, OR to pick up some cooking oil and transport it to the company yard in French Camp, CA. They have been there since late Monday night waiting on a team load to be delivered to them there, where they will take it the rest of the way into Phoenix, AZ by tomorrow afternoon.

IF THERE IS A BATHTUB IN THE FRONT YARD.......

2011-02-13T04:17:00.000-08:00

If there is a bathtub in the front yard.........you know you're at a house ripe for pickin'. Yesterday, Cori and I went out on an adventure, driving to the ~~middle of nowhere~~ Heppner, OR to meet up with Dave, who had told us over many phone calls and emails, that he had some items that we would be interested in. We met Dave and his son, at a gas station in Lexington, OR and from there we followed him to one of two locations he would take us to. Oh and by the way?.... the majority of the drive from Lexington to Heppner were on gravel roads only. As I said to Cori several times through tears of laughter......." Lucy.....you got some splainin' to do"!

We are coming to find out that if there is a plumbing fixture, sink, toilet, or bathtub somewhere on the front lawn, we better don our gloves and flashlights and be ready to get dirty, and dirty we got. We climbed, and sifted, and dug through boxes and shelves of what most people would call trash, but we prefer to call it unclaimed treasures from long ago. Dusting off years of dirt and neglect, we found enough items to fill up the inside of Cori's mini van, and I'm sure we brought home an extra spider or two along the way.

It seemed like each item had a story behind it, but the best one involved this green chair. When examining it, I mentioned the hole in the seat of the chair, to which Dave started laughing. He said that chair was his Mother's favorite, and would sit it in all the time outside, however, when it rained, it collected water on the seat. When she complained to his Father about this dilemma, he promptly took his gun and shot a bullet through the seat, immediately fixing the problem.

The old wood toolboxes? Dave's Father built those when he was just a boy of 12 years old. The kitchen scale was found inside an abandoned single wide trailer on the property, along with those license plates with the last registration dates of 1961 and 1965. We couldn't pass up that old wood post gate with the rusty hinges either or the fishing creel that I'm sure could tell a fish story or two. But we were far from finished picking when we left Dave and headed out to Pendelton, OR to visit Ken.

Once again, the bathtub told us we would be in for a dirty good time, and just look at the garage! It was really too bad that 80 percent of what was in there was broken beyond repair, but we did manage to find an arm chair, two side chairs. and an old window that would find a life outside of a dusty jam packed garage. We had a blast, thankful that there are people that still hold onto vintage items, allow us to go hunting through their out buildings and are willing to part with them. We look at it like modern day treasure hunting.

NO IDLE HANDS HERE

2011-02-11T21:21:00.000-08:00

Cori and I have been busy completing several projects this past week. First up remember this?

After purchasing four 6 inch legs and attaching them, it turned into a great little coffee table. It was then painted black and we went to town giving it a distressed look. We also added a wood applique to the front of the drawers to give it a little something to jazz up all it's boxy glory. We were very happy with the end results.

This next project, I don't have a before picture of, but it was a frame from a mirror that used to reside on a vanity or dresser. Cori and I thought it would make a great bulletin board, so we painted it, distressed it, and found some great material to cover a cork board with, and we couldn't be happier with the way it turned out.

We did a quick little makeover on an old suitcase by spray painting it black and then doing a panel of burlap on each side. Then we went to town doing a bit of stenciling to give it a little character and make it the perfect decorating accent in someones home.

Oh.....remember that dress form order we had from a trendy little boutique in New York City? Here is a picture of it inside the store. Pretty cool if I do say so myself.

Finally, in trucking news, Craig and Roy delivered the trailer of Tyson meat to the company yard in Bloomington, CA Tuesday and then took a USF load from Fontana, CA to Spokane, WA which they delivered this morning. They were immediately given a new assignment to pick up frozen french fries in Quincy, WA and are presently headed south, with a Monday morning delivery.

PICKIN' AND GRINNIN'

2011-02-09T05:56:00.000-08:00

The last two days we were at home, we had fresh snow falling, mostly during the whole time we were at the clubhouse, raising our blood alcohol level, while watching the Super Bowl. We were having such a grand time, that I didn't let the three inches of snow bother me at all, either that, or that blood alcohol level had managed to alter my anxiety about that white stuff to non existent. In either case, we both managed to make our way back to our house on foot without incident.

As always, time off goes by way too quickly, and way too early on Tuesday morning, the house was shut down again, our bags were packed, and we were on the road to drop Craig off at the truck in Spokane, and then I made my way further south to Walla Walla. I'm actually happy we did leave as early as we did, because having gone without "picking" for five days, I got into Walla Walla in time to swing by a thrift store and then hit the church sale before it closed at noon.

I managed to snag some great little vintage items at the thrift store, and then a large four shelf display unit for our second space for only $5.00. Shortly after I got to Cori's house, we drove straight to the store to put that shelving unit to good use, then of course, we did a little shopping at some of the other spaces and managed to buy a few items we know we can resell for a profit at the Farm Chicks Show in June.

Cori was able to find these two church pews at the church sale on Sunday, and they have been squeezed into the garage along with all the other many, many projects we have piling up. We have got to get busy to finish up a few of those so that we can keep finding great stuff, especially since we have a road trip to Heppner, OR lined up very soon, where we have it on good authority, that there is a huge barn with lots of items that will be sure to get our "love of all thing vintage" hearts to do flip flops.

In trucking news, Craig and Roy were busy putting away their personal belongings and grocery items as I drove away Tuesday morning. They are switching up the driving duties, so Roy has the fun of doing the middle of the night driving, while Craig has the 12pm to 12am shift. After getting settled, they were given the assignment of heading to Tyson in Wallula, WA and picking up a very heavy load of meat. So heavy, that they had only 20 pounds of spare weight left before they would have been at their maximum of 80,000 limit. Good thing I didn't go overboard feeding Craig a lot of home cooked meals while we were home, or they may have been over that weight limit!

WE'RE HOME

2011-02-05T09:52:00.000-08:00

We're home, and still trying to figure out how to get into our house, with the door to our house sitting just slightly lower than the deck, after all the snow we have had. I've resisted Craig taking the saw to the front porch railing to create a gate, but I'm afraid the day has come, and we will soon have an alternate entry to use. I have to admit, with an opening to the front porch, it will be a whole lot easier to unload groceries and get them into the house.

There isn't any fresh snow........yet, although there is a forecast of snow for tomorrow and Monday. What we do have is about 8 inches of solid ice left on the ground, which makes for some trecheous walking while outside. It didn't seem to hamper the herd of about 20 deer that came walking by our house the other evening.

I've managed to get our taxes done and filed, which I'd rather do any day, than the boat load of laundry that Craig brought home with him this time. We have a plan of tackling that burden tomorrow afternoon, when we head over to the clubhouse to watch the Super Bowl on the big screen TV and partake in all the great food that will be there to eat.

Cori checked by the retail space on Friday, and it seems a couple of our larger items have sold out of our second space. Thankfully, we had plenty in storage to bring out to fill in the empty spaces. As I wrote about previously, we have quite a few pieces waiting for us when we start back up again next week, and we are excited to get busy on them.

So not much to report. Craig continues to hope that a new truck will be waiting for him every time he returns from home time, and as the mileage continues to rapidly get higher and higher on good old truck 296. Rumor has it that the company has ordered some new trucks, so it's just a matter of time before Craig will get to expereince that new truck smell.

IT'S ALMOST TIME TO GO HOME

2011-01-31T08:59:00.000-08:00

As Craig and I countdown the days until we go home, he is busy making those up and down Interstate 5 runs from Washington and California. They delivered the USF load to Tacoma Sunday morning, and by 11am Sunday afternoon, they had a full trailer of water to be delivered to the CostCo in Mira Loma tomorrow morning. Then it looks like one more run north, and I'll be waiting for him at the company yard in Spokane bright and early Thursday morning to enjoy four days at home together.

In the mean time, Cori and I have been busy. Our storage area at the store is beginning to get quite full with items we have completed and are ready to be staged in our retail spaces. Seems the end of the month, and possibly tax time has slowed down the movement of merchandise at the store, but we are hopeful with the beginning of the month, that it will turn around a bit, as we are anxious to be able to display our newest pieces.

This little gem we found way back in October, with many years of dirt, spiders, and dust bunnies all over it and inside the cubbies. I spent about two hours scrubbing away at it until it's true beauty was able to be seen. We're not sure what it was originally, but we put four stubby legs on it to raise it off the floor, and we think it would make a great addition to anyone's home that has a love of all things old.

Here is a large plastic picture frame that we picked up for a couple of dollars and proceeded to do the same painting technique on it as we did the large mirror frame. We decided to turn it into a chalkboard and loved the way the details on the frame pop after glazing it.

We had a good weekend picking up some great furniture in need of some TLC and a makeover. This dresser is one solid piece of work, and very heavy. We're thinking of doing a fun technique on those side panels to give this piece a new look.

And this piece? We were told it was a box someone built to place a chair upon in order to make it easier to get up and out of the chair. We see it as a great coffee table, especially with four new legs attached, and those drawers for storage and the area below the drawer just great for magazines. We have another new idea to try on this one and can't wait to start on it. I'll be sure to post pictures of these once we are done.

So enough with the furniture makeovers, because this morning I am off to the hair salon where I think a new makeover just might be in store for me. Wish me luck!

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL

2011-01-28T04:13:00.000-08:00

I've gotten really bad at not taking any before pictures of the projects we have been doing lately. I guess we are just so excited to jump right in and get our hands dirty, that the thought of taking a picture never crosses our minds, until we stand back and admire our handy work later. Such was the case with a $15.00 large, very heavy mirror we picked up at the church sale.

In it's "before" life, the wood frame around the mirror was a dark brown, almost black finish. We knew we had to lighten the finish on it to bring new life to it. Cori, who peruses the blogs for inspiration, came across one of her favorite bloggers, who was describing a new technique she came up with for painting and distressing, and we couldn't wait to give it a try ourselves.

First we had to visit our "second home" the orange team at Home Depot and the paint department, where we purchased some Light French Gray paint, and a quart of Ralph Lauren finishing glaze that we had the paint guy tint with espresso bean brown. Armed with our new supplies we headed to our work garage where the rest of the supplies that we needed were waiting for us.

First we gave it a coat of a soft white, then when that was dry, dry brushed on some robin egg blue and a bit of the french gray. When that was dry, we went to town with coarse sandpaper to give it a nice distressed, old world feel to it. We topped it off with a glaze of the espresso bean brown and absolutely loved the way it turned out. The final picture doesn't even begin to do it justice, but managed to snap a quick picture before it was quickly carted off to the store to sell.

I think this weekend, we'll try finishing up a few pieces we have had sitting idle in the garage in order to make room for a few large pieces we have been wanting to work on, but with the weather not being too conducive to large scale painting, we are having to bide our time until it warms up a bit more.

In trucking news, Craig and Roy delivered their load of meat to the company yard in Bloomington, CA where they then got another USF load out of Fontana, CA into Spokane, WA. They delivered that yesterday morning early, and immediately headed to the Wenatchee, WA area to pick up apples at three different locations.

As of 7pm last night, they were at their last stop, and after scaling out on site, found they were well over 36,000 pounds on the trailer tandems, with no extra wiggle room to adjust the axles. Craig said they were okay gross weight, at 79,200 but that the first place, they had loaded the apples a bit differently, which pushed the rest of their two loads back past the 48 foot mark inside the trailer. As he was talking to me, their last stop was taking all the pallets out of the trailer, and reloading the entire load back in to make sure they were legal before leaving the complex and heading to the yard in Bloomington to drop the trailer.

MAKING SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING

2011-01-24T16:05:00.000-08:00

Cori and I have been busy this past week, with church sales, estates sales, and thrift store finds. The garage is staged with quite a few items to take to the store tomorrow afternoon. Unless we made some sales late Saturday, it looks like most of what we will bring will have to go to our storage area at the store until there is room to display it properly in either one of the two spaces we have.

We've had the most fun, during some of our down time just sitting in the garage talking about our business and ways to find and create new stuff, figuring out how to make some decorating items out of just left over stuff that we had lying around. We've had some old chunky legs that were cut off of a table that we purchased at a yard sale last fall that we couldn't pass up for a few bucks. After having them lie around for awhile, we finally screwed two of them onto a wood base, painted, and then distressed them. We took it one step further, and added a little porcelain, glass, and metal knob on top of each one, and then wraped some cooper garland which we bought at JoAnn's for 70% off, at a cost of less than a dollar on each one.

We think they turned out just great for a little accent with some height on a table or mantle. We then looked around and found an old wood frame just being neglected in the corner. We wrapped some burlap around it, and used the same copper garland and wrapped it around the burlap to create a great looking wreath. All of these projects were completed in less than an hour's worth of time, and with very little out of pocket costs.

While I'm at it, take a look at this cute little lamp. Sorry, I don't have a before picture, but it was purchased for $1.00, and had a bare wood base and a ho hum shade. We painted the base white, distressed it and put a brown glaze on it. Cori recovered the lampshade with some upholstery material we had left over from covering a chair seat, and added that ribbon with the cute little beads hanging on it around the bottom of the shade and some seam binding tape around the top of the shade.

This week we will start on one of our biggest projects so far, a china hutch which we are excited to get started on and try a new technique on, but before we try it on the hutch, we'll attempt it on a large mirror frame we have ready to work on tomorrow. I'll have some pictures in the next few days of that completed trestle table, along with a lovely vintage baby crib we gave new life to.

THE TRAILERS GET A SKIRT

2011-01-23T06:54:00.000-08:00

You might have notices lately, more and more trailers out on the road getting all dressed up with a skirt. We first started noticing them with the Gordon Trucks out on the highway, and then with Swift. Last month, when we were in the yard in Spokane, we noticed four brand new trailers parked, all dressed up with skirting of their own. It's all about trailer aerodynamics. I think they are very unattractive, but who can argue with fuel savings up to 7% with using them? I would imagine they will be many more of these skirts showing up on trailers in the future.

In other trucking news, after picking up all the new year paperwork at the yard in Spokane, they once again were given an assignment to pick up apples, this time in Naches, WA and take them to the company yard in Bloomington. On the way South, Roy had the pleasure of being invited in for a visit at the weigh station at Mt. Shasta/Dunsmuir, CA. Everything went well, with a new 2011 sticker on the trailer, and they were so close to getting the 2011 sticker on the tractor as well, except for a bracket on the air filter on the passenger side, being about 1/4 of an inch loose from the tractor.

He wasn't written up for it, but told to tighten it up and if they wanted, come back through for their sticker the next time around. They would have tightened it on the spot, but with the salt corrosion and rust on the nut, if there were any problems, they would have been placed out of service, so they decided to let the shop have a go at it to tighten it.

They made it to Bloomington on Friday afternoon, and by 3am Saturday morning they were on the move again with a USF Reddaway load headed this time to Tacoma, WA, which by now has already been delivered. Need I say that their driving hours are just about at zero again? But Craig will have enough to drive to Ellensburg this morning, get a trailer washout and then let Roy take over to get them to Toppenish, WA for a load of meat tomorrow. At least they have a small casino just down the street from the meat plant to spend some of their idle time at.

A PICKER'S ROAD TRIP

2011-01-21T17:08:00.000-08:00

My business partner Cori put out a Craig's List ad looking for old doors and windows recently, and while out and the other day, received a phone call from Vicky. Seems she and her husband Stanley, had a couple of doors that had been taken out of their home years ago, and that their home was really old. That piqued our interest, so we made a date to drive to Grandview, WA, (about 90 miles from Walla Walla), to pay her and Stanley a visit.

You know you are at the right place, when you pull into the driveway full of boats and vehicles, and spy an old bathtub just sitting in their backyard with a bunch of other ~~junk~~ treasures. Vicky was at our door so quickly greeting us, it was as if they haven't had many visitors lately. She told us coffee was ready for us inside, and quickly showed up to an old shed where come to find out, the doors had been laying idle for many years.

We had to crawl under a cross beam, and lean over an old motorcycle in an attempt to get the door up and out of the shed. With some effort, and a bug or two helping along the way, we managed to get the two doors out and into our vehicle. We were ushered inside where coffee and pastries were offered to us by our hosts as we sat back and listened to them try and out talk each other for our attention. We enjoyed our visit, all the while surveying our surroundings, and couldn't help but notice the table they used to roll their own cigarettes, and the bird called "Cupid" who had pecked away half of his wing because he was so lonely without a mate.

Do I need mention that there was also two Chihuahuas running around under foot? But while we were there, we were also offered the option to buy an old Cape Cod 1/2 gallon cooler that was in pristine condition, which we accepted, but couldn't help but notice an old vintage doll in the corner, with the most sinister looking face I have ever seen. Stanley said the doll looked just like the ex-mayor of the city and never failed to mention it to him when he stops by.

We had quite an adventure on our first real picker road trip, with many stories to tell about Vicky and Stanley. We're happy to say we have another picker road trip in the works within the next couple of weeks with a guy who has a whole barn full of stuff for us to look at. He has even sent us pictures and we are very excited about the prospects of that trip. This time of year, when yard sales are non existent, you really have to be creative to find what you are looking for and be ready to meet a character or two along the way.

I FELL IN LOVE

2011-01-18T17:30:00.000-08:00

For the past couple of weeks, whenever we go to the warehouse where the church sale is on Sundays and Tuesdays, I have eyed an upholstered rocker in the back corner of the warehouse. When I first laid eyes on it, the price was $15.00, and recognizing that the fabric it was covered in was a throw back to the 70's, I didn't give it much thought until I sat in it. I fell in love with it from that point forward.

I like a firm chair, and this chair had the exact firmness I love for my back, and the fact that it was a rocker was even better. But what is a girl to do when she lives in a 400 square foot house, and no extra room for even a chair, without the living area looking cluttered? Every time we went to the church sale, I sat in that rocker and pondered what to do. Finally, I had to follow my heart, and this morning, with a new price tag of only $7.00 on it, I purchased the chair and took it to Cori's garage.

I've decided, that the first chance I get, and when we start turning a profit from the retail space, I'll hit up the upholsterer that Cori used to recover an old vintage couch we found at a thrift store. I have already envisioned the fabric I want on it, and will enjoy sitting in it in her garage until the day comes that I can put that fabric on it and take it home with me to Usk.

Oh, take a look at this great wood trestle table we found today. Won't it look great painted and distressed with a little bench seat and two chairs? This is just one of the many projects we have lined up to work on in the weeks to come. Both of our retail spaces in the consignment store were restocked this morning and we are just waiting to have a another great week of sales in what is becoming our best month of sales so far!

On the trucking side of things, Roy and Craig kept that load of meat from Sara Lee in Tolleson, AZ and delivered it in Clackamas, OR Monday morning. After they were empty, they were sent up to Yakima, WA for a load of apples and then drop the trailer in the company yard in Bloomington, CA which they did this evening. Then they will have a USF Reddaway load at 3am tomorrow morning and take it into Spokane early Thursday morning. That will set them up to go by the company yard to pick up the new registration for the truck and some other licensing paperwork that they need to have on board for the new year.

WE'RE BOTH STAYING BUSY

2011-01-15T09:07:00.000-08:00

If I had to rate how our new year is going, with Craig driving team, and I staying off the truck to work on starting a business with Cori, on a scale from 1 to 10, I'd give it a 8. The only thing that is stopping it from being a fantastic 10 is that I miss my husband and being on the truck with him. The upside is Craig coming home every 4 weeks, and not only does he get to do what he loves, (driving truck), but I also get to do something I love, scouring thrift stores and yard sales for treasures to repurpose and sell. Still.....for the record..... I really really miss being with him, and thank goodness for cell phones!

After delivering the bananas in Clackamas, OR, they picked up a load heading to Phoenix, AZ with seven deliveries on it. With the driving hours they had available, they would be about 4 hours shy of being able to make the first delivery on time, and when they informed dispatch of that information, they got the canned response of ....."just do the best that you can". All righty then, full steam ahead, and it worked out that when they left Clackamas, Craig would do a 34 hour restart on his hours, with them sitting in Corning, CA for a few hours until he could start driving again.

Once they got to Phoenix, AZ and made the deliveries, then Roy would do a 34 hour restart on his hours as they waited for a load out of Tolleson, AZ at the Sara Lee Plant. Craig left last night around 9pm and drove to the company yard in Bloomington, CA where Roy would take over with fresh hours this morning at 8am. When I talked to Craig he was more than ready to take to his bed and get some well deserved sleep. If they keep this load, they would deliver Monday morning, however, they will be in Clackamas by 5am Sunday morning, so we'll see what the weekend dispatcher has in store for them.

Cori and I have been busy ourselves. We finally got to work on a piece of furniture that had been in the garage for almost 3 months. This is what it looked like before:

It was pretty beat up on the sides, with the bottom sides breaking away, so we really couldn't do anything to repair it, so we went to our old friend Mr. Burlap, and covered the sides and did a striping technique on it using the same copper metallic paint we used to paint the dresser. I think it turned out great, and it now resides at our retail space ready to be taken to a new home.

Oh, see that little footstool next to the dresser? I don't have a before, but all I had to do to that was do a little brightening of the wood with some Restor-a-finish, and then stencil some burlap and recover the hideous fabric that was on it, and it now has a new lease on life. If you haven't caught on yet, I have a think for little footstools like that. I just can't seem to pass one by without buying it and making it over.

Cori and I have about 5 little projects in the garage to finish up this weekend to take to the store on Tuesday, before we start on two very big pieces, a china hutch and that table and chairs we recently purchased at the church sale. Yep, I sure do miss my husband, but being able to pass the time between him coming home with hunting for bargain finds and then repurposing them is just what the doctor ordered.

ON HER WAY TO NEW YORK CITY

2011-01-11T19:27:00.000-08:00

While Craig and Roy stage in Aurora, OR for their delivery at the Fred Meyer DC in Clackamas at 5am Wednesday morning, the dress form that Cori and I completed was shipped to her new home in New York City. Here she is in all her finery, finished and ready to take her place in a trendy boutique on 60th Street. We are so hoping to get a picture of her when she arrives on Thursday for the boutique grand opening on Friday.

Craig and Roy's driving hours are running low, hence why they are sitting on this load and waiting to deliver it in the morning. It looks like Craig will be able to get a 34 hour restart on his driving hours over the next day and a half as they have had a busy week since coming back out from home time. They didn't get any down time after delivering in Spokane on Sunday morning, as they were immediately given an assignment to pick up a load of Tyson meat in Wallula, WA and drop it in the company yard in Bloomington, CA Monday morning.

Then they dead headed to San Diego to pick up a load of bananas which they are still in possession of. With their hours so low, we can't even guess at what they will or will not get for an assignment once they go empty in the morning. Roy does have a day's worth of driving left, but Craig is out until Friday.

While they wait to hear what their next assignment will be, Cori and I will be busy trying to get some of our projects completed as we have been fortunate to have quite a few of our pieces sell in the store this week. We also scored a great table and 6 chairs for only $30.00 at a church sale, which are difficult to find, since there are not yard sales during these cold winter months.

TABLE MAKEOVER

2011-01-09T05:33:00.000-08:00

Before I get into what I've been up to, let me update you on Craig. As I make this blog entry, Craig and Roy have arrived in Spokane, WA with their latest assignment. It was a nice and easy ride north from Fontana, CA with little fanfare or anything of interest happening. Heck, even the weather cooperated with them on this run. We'll have to wait and see if the weekend dispatcher has anything lined up for them today, or if they will wait until morning for their next assignment. I do know Craig wouldn't mind a few hours of free time to do some laundry.

Now, onto one of the latest projects for the store. Thankfully, Cori had taken some before pictures so I can show you what it looked like before we went to town on it. It's a basic plain table and chairs, with no extra detailing on it. What's a girl to do but put a little bling on it. A friend of Cori's husband had donated a box of old vintage door pulls, so we decided to put one on the back of each chair. We also put one on each side of the apron of the table. With a little staging, it went from plain jane to the belle of the ball.

Yesterday we spent some time working on a buffet using some metallic paint and on organizing our work area in the garage. Then if that wasn't enough, we started in on a dress form which will find it's way into a boutique right next door to Serendipity 3 in New York City. Here is is after we have applied some long forgotten sheet music we have found at thrift stores. She still needs to get some extra added details, then some glazing, and she'll be ready for her trip across the country to her new home. I can't wait to see how she turns out!

HI HO HI HO... IT'S OFF TO WORK WE GO

2011-01-07T07:21:00.000-08:00

One of the great things about Craig doing team driving, is when home time ends, we are just 28 days away from another set of days off to enjoy at home. Much different from when we would be gone for 8-9 weeks as a solo driver before taking just a couple of days off. Already we are doing the countdown to home time, which coincidentally will fall on Super Bowl weekend. How great is that? We'll get to partake in all the festivities that are planned at the club house with all of our neighbors who love to live in our little winter wonderland of snow we call home.

Craig and Roy were given the assignment of picking up almost 45,000 pounds of frozen french fries in Quincy, WA Wednesday morning. They switched up the driving times with Craig doing the night driving this time out, so Roy started out this leg of the trip, with Craig taking over around midnight. The weather cooperated, and all that Craig had to deal with were some icy patches on Highwy97, which were dramatically different from their trip on that road, where as Craig described it, "it was like being on an ice skating rink".

Since the french fries didn't deliver until Saturday, they dropped the trailer at the company yard in Bloomington last night, and this morning finds them driving to San Diego to pick up a load of bananas. But that trailer will also find itself dropped at the company yard as they will be sitting in Fontana, CA tonight awaiting a USF Reddawy load which will take them to Spokane, WA by Sunday morning.

I made a safe journey down to Walla Walla on Wednesday, enduring a couple of patches of light snow falling. Cori and I have been busy organizing or new partnership and we even got one project done yesterday, a nice little table and chairs which we picked up for a steal at the local church sale. We were so excited to start, that no before pictures were taken, but I'll be sure to take some pictures of it staged in our retail space today.

In other news, did anyone play the Mega Millions on Tuesday? Craig and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to play, which we rarely do, but I think our instincts were right on this one, since both winners of that 355 million dollars live within 100 miles of us. We managed to be one number either higher or lower off from the winning numbers on one of our plays. So close, but so so far away. Oh well, there's always next time!

HAZMAT ENDORSEDMENT

2011-01-04T18:03:00.000-08:00

You would think that once the Federal Government has taken your fingerprints once before, (only a little over a year ago), they wouldn't need to take them again, but oh wait, it is a way for them to get money from you, so I guess that makes sense in their world. A couple of months ago, Craig had to have his fingerprints taken again in order for him to get his hazmat endorsement on his commercial license. We waited patiently for the letter that confirmed he was not a security threat, and this morning we made our way into the Department of Licensing for him to take his test.

He paid his money, and was directed into the testing area where several computers were waiting, and sat down at his assigned one. A short time later, I see him back at the counter, and happen to be able to ease drop on some of his conversation with the clerk. Seems she entered the wrong test on his computer, and he ended up taking the 50 questions commercial license test, (which he passed by the way), instead of the 30 question hazmat exam. So with an apology, he was sent back in to take the proper test.

Needless to say, he passed! He got to have his picture taken, thankfully I had just cut his hair earlier in the morning, (or maybe it was a bad thing, we'll have to see how the picture turns out), and was sent out the door with his new endorsement on his license. We were especially happy about this, as it adds an additional 2 cents per mile to every mile that Craig and Roy drive, regardless if it is hazmat or not. Not too shabby a deal in my book.

In the morning we will drive into the company yard where we will part ways for the next four weeks with Craig taking to the road he loves to drive, and I making my way to Walla Walla to jump back into our vintage finds and furniture restoration business. As I type this entry, it has begun to snow for the first time since we have been home. A fitting end to our relaxing home time.

EXCITING NEWS

2011-01-03T14:10:00.000-08:00

For the last two years, over the first weekend in June, my BFF Cori and I have ventured over to the fair grounds in Spokane to drool over all the fun vintage stuff at the Farm Chicks Show. We admire the women who are vendors and ooh and aah over all the unique and creative items they have for sale, but we never would have dreamed we would actually be a part of it. Well I'm here to tell you dreams do come true.

On a total fluke, I brought up the info for this year's show, just to see what the cost would be. Finding it very reasonable for a little 10x10 foot space, I called up Cori and asked her what she thought. We really believed it was a long shot, but I filled out the online application, along with a description and photos of some of the items we sell, and much to our surpise and delight, we were accepted to be a vendor at this year's show!

We still can't believe that we will actually be Farm Chick girls, and on the other hand, fret about the hard work it will take to have enough product to sell over this two day event. But we are up for the challenge, and will embrace this experience for all that it has to offer. We have our work cut out for us and we can't wait to start, over the next 6 months, the special items we will bring to Spokane to sell. It's going to be a very busy year for us indeed. Now it's time for us to start hunting for treasures.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2011-01-01T08:20:00.000-08:00

With all the snow the Spokane area received earlier this week, and the below freezing temperatures since, Craig had the pleasure of driving us home on sheets of ice. I had my customary death grip on the hand holds as we made our way home with a slip and a slide every so often. Once home, we had to deal with the piles of snow and ice that the snow plow had made in front of our driveway. Let's just say, the truck is clear of the roadway, but we'll need to do some work to get it back out again.

2011 arrived as expected with little fanfare in our household. We did hear some distant gun fire, which was not a surprise considering the area where we live. It was a cold -10 degrees outside, so it was a strictly stay at home celebration for us, although we were invited to several locations for dinner and partying. We were more than happy to snuggle up at home and bring in the new year from the comfort of our living room.

We both are looking forward to what 2011 will bring our way, with Craig embracing his new team driving duties, and I anxious to begin partnering with my BFF and her retail space rescuing furniture that no one wants. Craig will be starting his 6th year of driving truck, and in February we will be celebrating 10 years of marriage. In June, I'll become a Great Aunt and 2011 will bring me one year closer to being able to start collecting on my deferred retirement.

Both Craig and I appreciate all the followers of our blog, and realize that as in life, the blog is ever evolving from what it started out as, with our journeys throughout the US and Canada. In reality, it is an online scrapbook of our adventures and activities throughout the year, and we are happy to be able to share it with all that are interested. We wish all of you the best that 2011 can offer.

WE'RE ALMOST HOME

2010-12-30T08:06:00.000-08:00

As we suspected, they didn't hold onto that Foster Farm load that was scheduled to be delivered in Grandview, WA Tuesday evening. What they ended up doing instead, was taking it all the way into Pasco, WA, dropping the trailer there, and then bob tailing to Clackamas, OR to pick up a load going into Phoenix, AZ. So as Craig headed south on Tuesday, I headed north, and right near the border of California/Oregon, we passed each other with a honk and a flash of the headlights.

It was nice to have him give me a weather update on what I could expect going my direction, as I gave him the update on what we had just gone through in Weed, CA where it had just started to snow and the wind was quite gusty. When I checked in with Craig later that night, he told me that by the time they got there, it was almost white out conditions with the wind blowing the snow across the road, but that by the time they got a few miles down the road, it was clear.

On Wednesday, I made the next leg of my trip to Walla Walla, WA by watching the weather and satellite maps on my laptop. There was still a nasty storm brewin,g and I either wanted to get ahead of it or stay behind it, and as the morning dawned, it was decided to stay and let the storm get well ahead of us. That plan worked out well, as we only ran into the last remaining pockets of the storm as we made our way up Interstate 5 and then along Interstate 84, where earlier in the morning the roads were closed due to blizzard conditions. It was as if we entered a different environment when we got to Biggs, OR as the sky was blue and the sun shining and it remained that way until we arrived safely in Walla Walla.

As we enjoyed the sunshine, Craig and Roy were doing battle making their seven deliveries in the greater Phoenix area in heavy rain. They even had a delay at one of the stores, when it was noticed that the fuel level on their propane forklift was empty, and having been told that they would have to go retrieve their items at the next stop, and then gathering up enough employees to off load their portion by hand, the guy with the fuel arrived. It put them off schedule by almost two hours, but they finished up and dead headed to Fontana, CA to pick up a USF Reddaway load this morning.

That leads us to Craig and Roy delivering that load into Spokane, WA tomorrow morning, and I will be leaving Walla Walla also in the morning to pick him up at the company yard to start his home time for the month. If memory serves me right, this will be the first time ever, besides being in the truck together, that we will actually be at home together on New Year's Eve. We've already been invited to a party by our great neighbors and with the weather looking good for the next week, we should have a wonderful time at home, and a fantastic beginning to the new year!

IT'S TIME TO HEAD NORTH

2010-12-27T11:10:00.000-08:00

My time in Modesto is coming an end, as I will be packing up and heading north early tomorrow morning. I've been watching the weather, and think we are timing it well between big storms, and the mad rush of holiday traffic. Time will tell if I made the right decisions.

It was nice to be able to spend some time with Craig at the truck stop Christmas evening. He was especially happy to have his phone back in working order. They were both able to do a 34 hours restart on their driving hours, and after delivering in Modesto, CA at the WinCo DC, they were told to drop the empty trailer at Foster Farms in Livingston, CA and await a load this morning.

They bob tailed to the truck stop down the road after dropping their trailer and enjoyed yet some more down time and plenty of non moving sleep. This morning, the trailer was ready a full 3 hours ahead of time, and they were hooked up and scaled and heading north as well by 9am this morning. The load, if they keep it, will deliver in Grandview, WA tomorrow evening at 7pm. If they make it past Corning and Weed, odds are that they will indeed keep it.

Roy will only drive until noon, when Craig takes his normal driving shift. That puts him in position to be driving as they head up Highway 97 and no doubt come in contact with the snow storm I am hoping to avoid when I take off in the morning. If all goes as planned, they have put in for home time on January 1 where we are looking forward to enjoying a few days off before jumping full steam ahead into 2011.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2010-12-24T21:18:00.000-08:00

They didn't get a banana load after all, but were dead headed back to California for a USF load out of Fontana, CA. They had a day and a half of driving and made it to Tacoma, WA early this morning for the drop, but found no empty trailers to hook up to. Eventually, they were told to go to the Fred Meyer DC in Puyallup, WA to pick up an empty there, and travel to Toppenish, WA for a load of meat this morning.

Usually, there is quite a wait at AB Foods for the meat loads, but I sensed there were a lot of employees who wanted to start their holiday festivities early, and the trailer was ready for them when they arrived. What wasn't so good, was the weights on the tandems being over the limit and having the load be reworked and stacked in the trailer to make it all legal. But by noon, they had scaled out legal and were on their way south with get this........a load delivering in Modesto early Sunday morning. Thank you Santa for my Christmas present!

They should be at the company yard in French Camp, CA about 4am Christmas morning, and they will take the time there to fuel, shower, and scan paperwork. Then they will drive about 15 miles to Ripon, CA to the Flying J truck stop, which is only 10 miles from Modesto, and I will be able to spend some time with Craig.

He is super excited, because earlier this week, his new DroidX phone crashed during an online upgrade, and I had to meet him at French Camp and take possession of the phone and high tail it to Verizon to see if they could get it fixed for him. They couldn't, so they overnighted a new phone to me in Modesto, and it arrived today, just in time for me to bring it to him Christmas morning. He loves that phone, and it will make his day to have a working one again tomorrow.

Here's hoping all of you will also be able to enjoy a very Merry Christmas with the ones you love.

SANTA'S LITTLE HELPERS

2010-12-21T16:56:00.000-08:00

And just like that, they are back enroute to Arizona. With plenty of time for Craig to do his 34 hour restart on his driving hours, they got to the Port of San Diego around 9am Monday morning. After checking in and waiting around, they were unassigned the banana load out of the Port, and told to go to the secondary loading area tucked away in the residential area. No real worries, as they were in and out and headed north by 1pm.

Only problem they would encounter would be San Diego and Los Angeles traffic during a pretty substantial down pour of rain. It was agonizingly slow, as they made there way north and switched drivers in French Camp. Roy had the night time driving duties, as Craig checked the weather reports and road conditions as they made their way towards Puyallup, WA. When they got to Corning, chains were required going over the passes, but as luck would have it, by the time they got to Siskiyou Pass, the roads were clear and no snow in sight.

By this morning they were called to stop their northward progress in Rice Hill, OR and await a team load out of Clackamas by a solo driver. With a couple of hours to wait for the other driver, they took showers and enjoyed a meal until the swap could be made. They have six deliveries that they will be making in the greater Phoenix area tomorrow afternoon, no doubt as before, loaded with lots of goodies that will eventually end up under the Christmas tree come Saturday morning.

BLUE SKIES IN ARIZONA, CAN'T SAY THE SAME FOR CALIFORNIA

2010-12-19T07:11:00.000-08:00

The rain finally came to Modesto last night. They have been talking about this big storm for most of the previous week, and we kept waiting for it, and I gotta say, it is packing quite a punch. Weather isn't anything that Craig and Roy have had to worry about the last few days, but that may change come tomorrow.

They had the usual prompt unload at FedEx in Portland, OR on Thursday night, then were told to drop their empty trailer at the Fred Meyer DC in Clackamas for a team load early Friday morning. They were happy little campers when they were able to bob tail just down the street to the McDonald's and not only enjoy a few things off the value menu, but park there for the night and be just a mile away when they returned to pick up their loaded trailer.

Craig got there early again, in hopes of snagging the best load, but when he arrived, there was already another team there and it seemed like they had the only load going out. A bit confused, he made a call into road service to confirm his load assignment, and found out the other team was hooking up to his load. Come to find out, they were there a day early, and after a bumpy start, they hooked up to their trailer, scaled it out, and were on their way to Arizona before daylight.

It was a drive all day and all night affair, with them arriving at the first of their 5 stops before noon mountain time on Saturday. Craig mentioned that most of the employees they came across were none too happy to see yet another load of goods coming into the store. Seems the holiday spirit is draining out of the employees as fast as yet another load can come in. But Craig and Roy did their part to take some products out of a couple of the stores, as they took turns at two of the drops to do some grocery shopping to restock their supplies.

By 6pm they were done and at the truck stop in Eloy, AZ with an assignment to dead head back to San Diego today for a banana load Monday morning. With plenty of time on this load, Craig will be able to do a 34 hour restart on his driving hours, while Roy does the driving duties today. That should set them up nicely to drop the banana load at the company yard in Bloomington and possibly get a USF load out of Fontana again. All I know for sure is, if this rain/wind doesn't let up, we may need to put in a call to Noah to reserve room on that ark.

THREE FURNITURE MAKEOVERS

2010-12-17T05:19:00.000-08:00

If you thought I was kicking back and relaxing while I've been in California, here is proof that I have indeed been putting in a little work while I am at my Mom's. Oh sure, when I say work, it really means I am doing what I love to do, putting a new twist on old forgotten furniture and giving it a new lease on life.

My Mom had told me of two dressers she picked up, one free and another for $20 at an estate sale, and I had my eye on a natural pine bench that was in her entry way, that was just crying out for a punch of color. So Monday I did my rounds to my usual haunts to pick up the supplies I would need to "get 'er done", and today I can truly sit back and relax and enjoy looking at my re-creations.

First up, is this mid century Broyhill dresser:

It had some wear and tear on it, but I was ready to make it look a little more distressed and add some color to it. When I was done, it looked like this and looks great in one of the spare bedrooms:

Next up is the entryway bench

Here it is after

This little dresser will go in the spare room that I stay in when I visit, and have to say, what doesn't look better with a little black and an accent of burlap?

Here it is looking fresh and new

I've had so much fun over the last three days working on these projects, that I think my Mom just may find a few more things to makeover during my stay. It just gets me geared up for my return to Washington and making a go of turning a fun hobby into a profitable business.

WHEN IT ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY HAS TO GET THERE ON TIME

2010-12-15T13:36:00.000-08:00

That team load out of Oakland Monday night? Well, it turned out it was a FedEx load, where they are not too interested in the appointment time, but zero in on the "departure" time. Craig and Roy collected 8 hours of detention pay, from 7pm (their appointment time), until 3am, when they were finally loaded, and they managed to leave just about 30 minutes ahead of the drop dead departure time. No doubt, this being the busy time of year for FedEx, that they hire out extra help during the holiday season.

The very light load of FedEx mail and parcels was headed to Portland, Or for a 6pm delivery Tuesday night. They arrived about an hour early for their appointment, and were promptly off loaded and empty by 7pm. From Portland, they drove a short distance to Clackamas, OR where they dropped their empty trailer and bob tailed to Salem, OR to pick up an empty dry van to take to the PG&E yard in Marysville, CA. Craig had the overnight driving duties and arrived this morning in Marysville, dropped the trailer and then bob tailed to the yard in French Camp with Roy doing the driving.

They will experience "deja vu" as they will have a repeat of Monday night again tonight. Around 5pm they will take off to Oakland, most likely sit around for 8 hours again, and then boogie on up to Portland for a 6pm delivery Thursday night. No word yet on what their next assignment(s) will be, but anytime they keep you moving non stop, is a good thing in the trucking business. I think Craig is very much enjoying the team driving experience so far.

COVERING A LOT OF GROUND & CHINESE FOOD DREAMS

2010-12-13T07:29:00.000-08:00

It comes as no surprise to other teams drivers, but Craig and Roy have been covering a lot of ground lately. So much so, that it is making my head spin trying to keep up with what they are doing, and where they are going. Even Craig has a hard time remembering exactly what day it is, and rarely knows where he is at, except for when he is driving.

After making the five deliveries in the Phoenix, AZ area, they dropped the dry van in the company yard in Phoenix and drove to Tolleson, AZ to pick up a loaded trailer at the Sara Lee Plant. Then they drove to the company yard in Bloomington, CA and dropped it there. They took the time to take showers, and then it was off to the USF Reddaway yard in Fontana, CA after hooking up to an empty trailer in the yard , for a drop and hook load which would take them to Tacoma, WA.

As I was on my way south to California, they were headed north to Washington, and I warned them about the rain I was experiencing on my travels, and gave Craig the heads up about Snoqualmie Pass having been closed due to the snow and avalanche control. I was certain that they would have to travel that pass after their drop in Tacoma, and sure enough, while they were enroute, they received the info to pick up an empty after they dropped the loaded trailer and dead head to Wallula, WA for a load of meat.

Craig arrived in Tacoma around midnight Saturday night, and as he made his approach to Snoqualmie Pass, having watched the radar screen on his DroidX, he knew that the snow had turned to rain, and the only concern would be flooding rather than avalanches. They safely arrived in Wallula yesterday morning, where Craig called me to report on their progress and then got some well deserved sleep, while Roy took on the driving duties.

Last night, with both of their hours on their 70 hour clock down to zero and 1 hour, they stopped in Redding, CA at the TA truck stop for a few hours of non moving sleep, before Craig generated some more driving hours at midnight. When the appointed hour arrived, he drove into the company yard in French Camp, CA where they dropped the trailer, and would await for word on a team load out of Oakland, CA for later tonight.

With more than a few hours of down time, (of course it is always guaranteed to change at a moment's notice, as we have come to expect), the plan is for me to drive into French Camp this afternoon with Craig's favorite combination plate from our local Chinese take out here in Modesto. He has been dreaming of it for the past week, and never fails to mention it to me every time we talk. Here's hoping his dream comes true and he'll be happily eating his chow mien prior to taking on their next team assignment.

GOODBYE LONG BEACH, HELLO ARIZONA

2010-12-10T07:46:00.000-08:00

With what I'm sure will be the norm, rather than the unusual, Craig and Roy were told to drop the trailer of frozen french fries at the company yard in French Camp. That was accomplished around 2am Thursday morning, and then they hooked up to a Fred Meyer load of household products, no doubt which will turn up under many Christmas trees in the greater Phoenix area, and high tail it to Arizona.

When they received the assignment, and after doing the math, even with a team, the load would deliver about 10 hours late. The routing would take them on a route they haven't gone before, veering off of Highway 99 in California, and taking Highway 58, connecting to Interstate 40, and then taking Highway 89 south through the Prescott National Forest. I'm thinking it might have been a scenic drive had it not been already dark by the time Craig drove through it around 8pm last night while he was talking to me.

Since they would arrive so late after the original appointment time for the first of their 5 stops, they were updated with new appointments for first thing this morning starting at 7am. Craig's plan was to just drive straight to the store last night and back into the dock to await the arrival of the employees to unload their portion of the load. They will have four more stops to contend with this morning/afternoon, and then with an empty dry van, we suspect they will dead head back to the company yard in Bloomington, CA, unless there is something they can pick up that doesn't need refrigeration.

While that is all being decided, I will be busy here in Walla Walla preparing for my trip south to California. Although it will be hard to take a break from the restoration business for a few weeks, both Cori and I are gearing up to go full force after the first of the year. The forecast calls for nothing but rain on our journey, and I'll take that any day over driving in that white stuff!

THEIR FIRST LEGITIMATE TEAM RUN

2010-12-08T09:56:00.000-08:00

After Craig and Roy made the delivery on Monday morning, they were hit with their first legitimate team run, however, it wouldn't start until midnight. They drove the sixty miles from Vernon, CA into the company yard in Bloomington, CA to scan their paperwork and kick back and rest up for the load later that evening. By midnight, they were at the USF Reddaway yard, but they would end up waiting over three hours before their trailer would be ready for them to take.

Roy started the driving duties at 3am, while Craig adjusted to trying to sleep in the bunk, while being bounced by the pot holes and rough patches of road along Interstate 5. With over 1200 miles to travel, it would take them around 24 hours to complete this run into Spokane, WA. Craig took over the driving duties in Corning, CA and would drive until Biggs, OR where Roy would take over once again. With a few fuel stops thrown in, they would arrive at the USF Reddaway yard in Spokane at 5am this morning.

With their first run under their belt, they were ready to take on their next assignment, but thought they would have a few hours in the yard, so Craig started a load of laundry. Before he could put it in the dryer, they had their next load assignment to Quincy, WA for a load of french fries. He had to take his wet clothes and hang them off the bunks to dry while they headed out to first pick up pallets and then head to Quincy. This load will delivery in Long Beach on Friday morning, but since they will be able to be in LA by tomorrow we'll just have to wait and see if they will be dropping it in the yard prior to delivery.

As for me? I'm actually seeing sunshine for the first time in almost a week, but with the prediction for rain the next five days, I'm sure it will be short lived. I'll be heading south on Saturday, with Cori and her children to California for the holidays. I'm looking forward to being able to go and see Craig on his way up and down I5 in French Camp over the two weeks I'll be there. Plus, I have a few projects lined up at my Mom's house to keep me busy and get me ready for the new business at the beginning of the year!

BACK TO WORK WE GO

2010-12-05T06:57:00.000-08:00

We had to leave a day earlier than we wanted to, so that Craig could go get his fingerprints taken for his HazMat endorsement. Once the process is completed, that will mean another two cents a mile for him and Roy while driving team, and speaking of which, the new team driving experience officially started Saturday.

Their first load is a run from the Tyson Plant in Wallula, WA to Vernon, CA for an early Monday morning delivery. Since the load wasn't picked up and scaled until almost 2pm, Roy had the first shift of driving, while Craig napped in the sleeper. They ran into a bit of snow going down Highway 97 in Oregon, but nothing too serious. Craig would have the duties of driving through the night, as their plan was to drive all the way into Wheeler Ridge and stage there for either a swap or for the delivery Monday morning.

They should be in position, come Monday, to get into a normal team driving pattern. It's always a bit tricky, and seems to take a couple of days, when coming back from home time to get back into a groove. Their plan is to drive for four weeks and then take four days off. What we know for sure at this point, is that the stress of picking up and delivering loads by a single driver, working with the electronic log, is now a thing of the past for Craig. He is looking forward to pretty much stress free driving from here on out, barring any unexpected incidents that are bound to occur while out on the road.

I made it into Walla Walla yesterday, under a light dusting of snow. Here I thought, the further south I went, the less likely it would be to run into that white stuff while driving. I'll be staying here until the end of the week, where I'll take off further south to visit with my Mom in California for a few weeks. Then when the new year starts, we'll get to work trying to build up the business a bit more, which might be a bit challenging during the cold winter months, but we have a few ideas up our sleeves.

A CHANGE OF SEASONS

2010-12-03T02:33:00.000-08:00

It seems like every two and a half years, we make a change in Craig's truck driving experience. He started out driving OTR in the US and Canada delivering boats from coast to coast and border to border. Then, after sustaining the back injury in July of 2007, and us both desiring to stay closer to family, he switched to the refrigerated division in May of 2008 and drove basically the I5 corridor. Well, it's two and a half years later and it's again time to change things up a bit.

The little side business I am involved in with my BFF Cori, has gotten off to a better start than we ever imagined. We both want to devote more time to it with two spaces in the consignment store now, and also trying our hand with a few sales at the Cottage on her property. Craig has over the past six months or so, entertained the idea of going team. It would change things up a bit on the driving side, plus allow him to come home every month instead of every two months. As he told me, he would much prefer to go team, than to do any more training.

So, starting Saturday, Craig will team up with his previous trainee Roy, (his son in law he was teaming with moved back east and left him without a driving partner), and I will divide my time between home and Walla Walla, WA as Cori and I embark on making the love we have in re purposing furniture and finding vintage items, into more of a full time business. Both Craig and I are excited about the changes that are happening for us in the upcoming year.

Where does that leave this blog? I'm not sure if my entries are quite as good when Craig is just relaying to me what assignments he has, versus my actually being in the truck and experiencing it myself. I guess we'll just have to see how it goes and if the readership maintains during this departure from what we have been able to enjoy together. I'll be posting as well, about the progress Cori and I make with our business, and hopefully, we'll find a happy medium for everyone to enjoy. If not, I'd like the thank the ones who may lose interest in this blog that have accompanied us over the past 5 years, as Craig and I have had an adventure of a lifetime together. We always enjoyed the company....... Thanks!

“AH, THE JOYS OF WINTER. SURELY THERE MUST BE SOME"

2010-12-01T17:55:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned that it's snowing? I'm sure I have. We did have a break for two days, one of which I made my escape into Spokane, got a hotel for the night, and awaited Craig's arrival at the yard. I was beginning to think the forces were against Craig ever getting his home time, but we are home now, happy, warm, and enjoying the snow covered landscape around us. Might I add, I'm ever so grateful for a husband who knows how to drive in the snow, and now that I don't have to drive in it, I can finally enjoy it.

Let me fill you in on Craig and Roy's travels over the past few days. After picking up the load of produce in Salinas, Ca they drove straight through to Aurora, OR a full day ahead of their delivery appointment, in hopes that they would be able to drop the load and get something into Spokane by Sunday. No such luck, and they ended up delivering at the Safeway in Clackamas, OR on Monday morning. So much for getting that home time as requested, but they were immediately given a load out of Prosser, WA that loaded at 4pm Monday afternoon.

While I made my way into Spokane Monday afternoon, they finally went loaded at 7pm and made their way into Spokane by 10pm. Roy, having used all his driving hours for the day, got to start his home time, while Craig had to stay with the truck and made the delivery at 5am in north Spokane. As I patiently waited, and watched as the snow began to fall again from the heavens, Craig wasn't able to get unloaded until 9am. Then thinking he was sure to head straight into the yard to start his home time, they dispatched him to pick up a load of juice on his way in.

I was beginning to think that I'd be in the driver's lounge waiting for him all day, but finally, around 1pm he made his way into the yard, loaded up his stuff into our pickup, and we made our way home through a snow storm. Thankfully, this time, Craig did the driving duties, and got us home safe and sound, and in time to join our neighbors at the weekly Tuesday night get together at the clubhouse. We'll enjoy a few more days at home before it's time to get back to work.

LIVING IN MY OWN LITTLE SNOW GLOBE

2010-11-27T08:51:00.000-08:00

It has snowed for the past six days. So much so, that they have said the amount of snow we have received, has exceeded all of the snow that they had last season. I've told Craig that our timing really sucks when it comes to when we decide to go home during the winter. Of course last year, we packed up and left it for four months, when in hindsight, that would have been the year to spend some time there.

This year, the whole coming home thing was turned upside down, with Craig having to remain on that load of meat going into Montana and Utah. After being shut down on Highway 20 for over 8 hours, they were finally told to divert, as the Highway would not be opening anytime soon, and head north with an additional 150 miles tacked onto their trip. After traveling that secondary route, it was soon closed as well due to a big rig flipping over and blocking the highway.

Onto plan C, and being diverted back up to Bozeman, then over to I90 to Butte and then south on I15 into Salt Lake City. They finally managed to get into the Salt Lake City area by 10pm Wednesday night, almost 12 hour past their appointment time. Speaking of which, they were able to reschedule their appointment to 5am Friday, which left them to sit and relax on Thanksgiving day at a local truck stop and at least enjoy a hot meal.

Yesterday, they were given the assignment to dead head over 900 miles to Salinas, CA to pick up a load of produce today. Looking at the weather radar maps, they saw an approaching storm and wanted to beat that storm going over Donner Pass in California. They were safely in the company yard, having avoided the storm by 9pm last night, and in Salinas this morning by 8am.

We still don't know when he will exactly be back in Spokane and in position to rescue me from my own personal snow globe that I've been in for the past 6 days. There is a chance of it letting up on Sunday and Monday, and I'll either get up enough nerve to drive down to Spokane, or Craig will rent a SUV and drive up to take care of things at home and then I can drive the SUV back down while Craig follows in our pickup. In either case, we will have yet another story to reminisce about in the years to come.