ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH

When we got into the yard late Friday afternoon, Craig showed me around the office and introduced me to our dispatcher Katie. It was nice to put a face with the voice and computer messages we have been receiving. I was also able to ask her if she knew of any nail salons in the area and she directed us to a nearby city named Airway Heights, Washington, a small suburb of Spokane and about 5 miles from the yard.

We were able to use the driver’s lounge and do three loads of laundry and shower. It also had internet access to which I was able to post the previous entry. I took the opportunity to write down a couple of phone numbers for cab service and located the nail salon that Katie had recommended.

We slept in a bit, although, I never thought that 5:30am would ever be considered sleeping in, especially since we stayed up the night before watching of all things America’s Got Talent. We lounged around for an hour then cleaned up the truck and headed to the vacuum station. With a freshly cleaned truck, it was then off to the scales to make sure the huge Genie we had loaded would pass through any weigh stations. We then unhooked the truck from the trailer and put in a work order with the shop to have a minor service performed.

We called for a cab, and Jack from Spokane Cab, arrived to take us into the city.

We safely arrived at T’s nails,

and once seated at the pedicure station I was able to start feeling human again.

This is how much my husband loves me. He had to endure two hours of sitting and listening to a bunch of women chatting away on topics I‘m sure he would rather not hear about. He did pick up on some interesting conversations to say the lest. Back to my old self again with pretty nails, both hands and feet, we grabbed a bite to eat and called Jack to take us back to the yard.

We rested , watched TV, read, and slept until our 34 hour reset was completed and we headed out on Highway 90 on our way to Denver, Colorado. Have I mentioned that I have read 5 books in the last 3 weeks? This retirement gig is all right.

Leaving at 1:30am in the morning left us pretty much with the roads to ourselves. After fueling up in Post Falls, Idaho, I laid down and dozed on the bed for a few hours. Nothing better for sleeping than the rocking motion of the truck heading on down the road.

With a detour at a rest stop for a quick bathroom break,and for Craig to endure yet another photo opportunity by me,

we were on our way to our second fuel stop of the day in Billings, Montana. When we arrived there at 12pm, it looked like it must have been the only truck stop in the state due to the large amount of trucks not only having filled up their entre parking lot, but stacked 3 deep at each fuel station. It didn’t take much thought to realize that we would not be staying there for the afternoon, so on down the road we went and ended up staying in Hardin, Montana. We stayed 10 hours and started towards Denver at 11:30 pm.

The drive through the rest of Montana and Wyoming was uneventful and not too scenic as you can tell from the pictures. A lot of the land reminded us of brown California this time of year. Arriving into the city of Denver , the downtown area stood out from the freeway.

We quickly found our drop spot and unloaded the big Genie. Weighing in at almost 40,000 pounds it was quite a site to see it driven off the trailer.

We had to unhook the gooseneck part of the trailer which is always an experience. This time was no exception as part of the trailer decided to fall off right in my hands. Craig did his best McGyver job on it and we rolled into a TA truck stop in Limon, Colorado to have the piece welded back on.

Not to be the ones unaware of current events, on our way to the TA truck stop in Limon, we passed right by the lastest postal shooting in Denver at the safeway yard off Highway 70. The news crews were still out there taking video. Although I wasn't fast enough with the camera to take their picture, I at least got a shot of the Safeway yard.

We will stay in Limon tonight and rest up, then head to Lebanon, Missouri to pick up some boats and head to Phoenix, Arizona. If anyone has Carlos and Tessa’s phone number or email address, please send it to me. If we have time in Phoenix I would like to get in touch with them.