Night drive...

Never really thought that my 1st night drive that I would ever do would be at 3am but it was. The instructor picked us up at 3am sharp from the hotel and asked who was 1st...I figured what the heck I may as well get it over with...Irene probably would have but the caffeine hadn't kicked in yet...lol We rolled away from the motel and the instructor informed me that we were going into town to drive a truck route thru downtown...great, not only dark as heck out but also maneuver through this little town of Neosho. It was about a 45 minute run and I got everyone back in one piece...definitely a different beast in the dark. Irene went 2nd in the rotation once the coffee brought her to life and she had a good drive as well...I think she got a little testy with the instructor but we wont go there...lol...shes not a morning person.

After breakfast we headed out to practice our coupling and un-coupling of the trailer and then sliding our trailer tandems (axles). Once finished the fun began...we headed to the obstacle course. I have to admit the course is very challenging...we will definitely need some more hours on there...lol

It's been a great week so far though and although we spent 7 weeks at driving school in Wilmington, what we have learned here is the next level. Once we finish Saturday we will start with our Conway trainers next week and they will bring us up one more level over the weeks we will be together on the road. The excitement continues...stay tuned!

Pics of Randy

Today we got to see the obstacle course that we will need to get thru in order to move on to the next step.  Tomorrow we are getting picked up at 3:00 am to start night driving and after that we will be heading for the obstacle course.  Yes, that is 3:00 am.  If getting up so early does not kill me, then NO coffee will.  Not cool at all…

These are a couple of pictures I snapped today of Randy.  Oh by the way, it was in the 30’s today.  I froze my behind.  Tomorrow it is supposed to be even colder.

Different life...

Here I am in the middle of the United States, not knowing one single person (other then Randy), in a low end motel, with no transportation and no way of even remotely thinking about eating well.  The name of the motel is “BooneslickLodge”, if that tells you anything.

I am praying and hoping to get thru this next step of the job hiring process.  Yesterday I failed the fitness test.  Yes, I sure did!  I can’t believe it.  It baffles me, because I really did not think that I was that bad off.  If I do make it past this Friday, I will have to separate from Randy for THREE weeks.  I am not sure how that will go over.  I hate even thinking about it.

Today was most definitely a better day.  I am truly hoping that all this is worth it.  Sometimes I ask myself “what am I doing?”  I am impressed with the company that we have signed on with, but I do continue to have doubts about this industry.  It feels more like one of those get rich schemes, and everyone promises you everything in the world.  The reality of it is that only a select few survive.  Not many people make it past 6 months of trucking. 

I did get a little taste of living on the road and it’s really not that bad (with the exception of the eating and the accommodations).  I am not itching to go home, so I think that I have overcome the first hurdle.  Randy and I walked from our motel room to Wal-Mart to get some necessities earlier today and I said to Randy “I feel like poor people”.  Randy looked at me and replied “we are poor but we are rich in health and family".  I said to him " you are rich in health…I failed my fitness test, remember?" (lol).  This experience has definitely humbled us both.