SomewhereinUSA

2012-01-12T13:03:00.000-05:00

I got the metal back and the latch side of the frame in temporarily. I didn't get all of the frame put in. As always, something has to be done before proceeding. I now have a door that latches shut. Since a lot of the jam will be glued as well as riveted, I'm going to wait until warmer weather so I can also paint it. Just in time, the temp is dropping fast and it's just starting to snow.

Door getting closer

2012-01-09T20:40:00.000-05:00

I'm getting closer to getting the door done. It's installed now just have to get the frame and latches done.
The shop is bending some metal for me and I'll get it picked up tomorrow.
Here's a picture of the new door installed.

Hopefully I can get it all sealed up before bad weather REALLY gets here.
I was stuck at the computer today, so I worked on the floor plan some more. This is pretty much what the kitchen and photo room is going to look like. The big black cabinet in the middle will have my printers mounted on sides in it.

It's been a long time.

2012-01-01T11:27:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it's been over a year since I last posted. A lot has happened. We retired from driving. Yippee!!!!!!! Officially in October, although I quit driving in August. I like to drive, I just don't like waking up in the morning and thinking "I have to be 500 miles from here before I quit today" My new project is c
onverting a 1991 Bluebird school bus into a motor home. It is a 40 foot rear engine,automatic, with a Cat 3116. I have the bus and much of the "stuff" to do the conversion. Now if I just had 36 hours a day to get everything done.
Here's a picture of the bus. Taken at the dealer where I bought it in Moriarty,NM.

I took a Grayhound to New Mexico and drove it back. Another adventure to add to my list.

Here is a drawing of what I hope the interior will be like.Plans are still changing, but this is the main idea.

It will serve double duty as a showroom with computers for Dick's Photography as well as letting us travel and stay in comfort.
Mumsywumsy has also retired and hopefully she will travel with me, Kate and Molly.

I hope to keep up with the blog and post pictures of the bus conversion, until we can start traveling again.

Short way to go,long time to get there.

2010-09-25T20:04:00.003-04:00

We only had 333 miles to go before Monday AM, so we spent the day doing geocaching. Looked for four and found four. This is certainly good exercise. Sooooo, you ask what kind of treasure do you find?

Here is one we found out in the desert.
As you can see it's quite valuable.

Here's another. This one has a travel bug. It has it's own number and log. It is to be taken and added to another cache on your travels. This one started in Texas, then went to France and the Netherlands before coming back to the states. I found it in Milan,NM and hope to get it back to the midwest soon. You can view the track log here

Here's a picture of Kate and Molly with the SWAG (stuff we all get) out in the desert. Molly will stay very well when working sheep, but she just won't sit still for pictures.

This picture is a watering hole that the cache was on the other side of. K and M had to stay in the truck for this one. We started out together, but the goatheads were so bad they couldn't take a step with out getting stuck. The have learned to stop and wait for me to remove them, and they are very painful.

Dick,Kate & Molly

We've been absent

2010-09-24T21:02:00.003-04:00

We've been absent for a long time, just too many things to do. I have found something else to occupy more time. It's called geocaching, it's basically a high tech treasure hunt done with a gps. I have found, at least for now that my Droid phone does a pretty good job. There isn't really much "treasure" just the fun of finding it. Mumsywumsy likes to do it so it's something we can do together. So far I have found 17 out of 23 searches. I was looking for one today and got to within 2 yards of it when my battery died. I did find one today, two yesterday and one the day before. THEY ARE EVERYWHERE. More info can be found at www.geocaching.com

Went sight seeing today.

2009-07-10T19:57:00.002-04:00

Well, not quite, but I did see some sights.

I stopped at a roadside stand to look at some Indian jewelery for Mumsywumsy. I had stopped here before, but had never really looked at the items for sale. I found some really pretty pieces.

I bought these, the necklace is a turtle.

This is Sandra, she makes everything in her stand, I wish I had taken pictures, she makes some really beautiful things.

Those of you who follow my blog know that I have tried to get some pictures of the mission at Laguna,NM and have posted some pictures of it. I asked Sandra if I could get the truck closer to take some pictures. Old RT66 goes right past the mission. She said that her husband Eric would come get me in the car and take me right to it. Here are a couple of pictures I took. I wish that I had my wide angle lens with me. (heavy sigh).

Mision San Jose de Laguna

I also got to go inside, but, as with many churches they request that you not take pictures. The interior is really beautiful.
I did find a website that has a couple of pictures. Link here. Maybe on another trip I can get some pictures with a different lens. I'll definitely stop for more jewelery.

This is an Indian head rock formation. Local story says that if the Indians nose ever falls off it will be the end of the world.

These next two pictures were taken at my son Scott's lake cottage on the 4th of July.

This is Bailey.

Early morning trial field picture in Wisconsin

These next pictures are of Kate and Molly working goats.

Kate.

Molly

I think I like this one best. It's all done now, letting the goats escape.

Kate and Molly pictures were taken by my son Scott.

Finally Dimond Reo. In God we Still Trust.

Dick,Kate & Molly

I've been lazy.

2009-07-06T17:07:00.002-04:00

Well, not really, but I've been very busy. The last trip was mostly drive, eat and sleep. Not much time for anything else. That was so I could go to a trial to take pictures. We've been home this week so internet is so sloooooooooow that I can't really post pictures. We're off again tomorrow headed for the west coast and hopefully nobody will think everything is an emergency so I'll have a little more time in the evenings. I've got some really neat pictures of Kate and Molly working and some pictures taken at my son's lake cottage on the 4th.

Dick,Kate & Molly

Back in California.

2009-06-02T22:22:00.001-04:00

There's lots to see in California, nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

This picture is from Kate and Molly for Wizz.
The boss said "No playing, get your business done and get back in the truck". It's HOT out there.

Remember those green hills?

I don't remember what this was, but the picture came out nice. It is probably some kind of canal for watering farmland.

Planted field with dairy and hay stacked in background.

Unusual church.

Very nice farmhouse.

California highway 99 has these pretty flowers in the middle for most of the way between Sacramento and Bakersfield. The tall trees on the left are eucalyptus I think.

Pyramid Lake.

I couldn't figure out how to take a picture to show this, so I made a video. These train engines go on for over a mile. I'll have to measure it sometime.

Dick,Kate & Molly

Lots of pictures

2009-06-01T21:33:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted many scenery pictures for a while. So here goes, no particular order. Just some from the last few weeks that I like.

Arizona mountains.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

California.

Houston, Texas.

This is one of the new International trucks coming up fast. These sure are pretty.

Kansas vista.

Kentucky.

Kentucky.

I think this is somewhere in Louisiana. Must be early in the morning, not much traffic.

Louisiana swamp.

New Orleans, Louisiana.

Tejon ranch, California.

Texas.

Texas.

Windmill blades.

Dick,Kate & Molly

More camera tests.

2009-05-31T21:21:00.002-04:00

I think I'm getting closer with the camera settings.

This sunrise in Texas is pretty much right out of the camera except for crop.

I worked on this one quite a bit. These guys are really fast. It's really hard to get them at all with a 400mm lens. The sun was quite low in the sky and it really lit up it's belly.

This is the Pueblo at Laguna,NM. I did take some cars out of the picture and enhanced the clouds. The rest is pretty much as taken.

This picture of Kate is only cropped.

Kate and Molly in the truck. Heavy Photoshop.

Dick,Kate & Molly

I've been lax.

2009-05-29T20:39:00.002-04:00

We've been home for a few days. Working on the trailer and editing pictures. I finally got the pictures posted from the trial last month. We're on our way to California again. I decided that I better get this new camera figured out before the next event the end of June. I'm sure I'll like it when I get all of the setting just the way I want them, but it has a LOT of customizable settings the other one didn't have.

Soooooo
Here are some pictures of the girls at play.

Drive by shooting.

I'm gonna get it from you.

Did you say something?

I'm getting close, but these aren't quite right yet.

Dick,Kate & Molly

It all depends on where you look.

2009-05-19T19:15:00.003-04:00

Today's pictures were taken on the same trip as the pictures I posted yesterday. Many in the same general areas as before. And although there are great stretches that I only see trees, there are occasionally glimpses of other things. Remember most of these are taken at 60 miles per hour.

Tennessee.

New Jersey

New Hampshire.

Londonderry,NH Grange #44

New York,New Jersey.
Hudson River looking south from George Washington bridge.

Looking north. These were taken on different days.

Pennsylvania.

Ohio.

Indiana.

Illinois.

Louisiana.

These cowboys were going after a steer that had gotten away as they were loading a trailer. They asked me to block traffic behind me until they got off of the road.

And finally, a friend sent these picturs of a "freeway" in Russia. I've made slide show out of it.
I had just been complaining about how rough the interstate highways are. How would you like to make this trip? Distance 3032.33 miles. New York,NY to Los Angeles,CA is 2462 miles

Dick,Kate & Molly

I'm back.

2009-05-18T22:29:00.002-04:00

I have been in the east and it's hard to get online out there. Partly because we don't go there much and I don't really know where things are, and a lot of the states are truck unfriendly. There just aren't a lot of places to park.

Another reason is it is really hard to get pictures from the highway, the only thing that changes is the kind of trees.

Virginia

Tennessee

New Jersey

Connecticut

Connecticut going the other way.

Pennsylvania

Arkansas

Here the view changes in Arkansas, there are trees in between the lanes.

Louisiana. This is a two lane highway.

This is what happens when you tell your GPS to avoid toll roads. It adds about 3200 miles to the trip. Actual distance from start to end should have been about 576 miles.
I would like to avoid tolls since they were about $200 from Richmond, VA until I got out of Massachusetts, two days later.

Dick,Kate & Molly

New places

2009-05-07T21:07:00.002-04:00

I think I'm finally going places I haven't been since I started this blog. I'm sure the next few days will be new. I'm headed to New Hampshire via Virginia,New Jersey, and New York. Not my favorite places, but I have to go there once in a while.
This first picture I'm sure I've done before, but I was always going the other direction, and I think this one came out nicer. Taking pictures through the front window never quite come out as nice as ones taken out the left side because of reflections, bugs, and the angle of the picture.

Arizona, Navajo hogan.

Arizona is quite diverse.

I've shown dust devils before, but this one was quite close, and it had died down quite a bit by the time I got the camera out.

New Mexico.

Texas.

Oklahoma.

Dick,Kate & Molly

It's hot here.

2009-05-04T19:51:00.003-04:00

I just checked the outside temperature, it's 100°. Kate and Molly didn't want to walk very long this evening. Just to hot for them.We're in southwestern Arizona.

We spent last night in Littlerock,California. When we are headed to Van Nuys I usually stop here the night before. It's only 40 miles to Van Nuys the next morning.

This is Penney Lynn's wind toy shop. It's a neat little shop full of kites, wind chimes and all kind of spinning yard ornaments. Mumsywumsy enjoys the things I bring home from here.
Penney Lynn was really nice, and let me leave the truck at her place when I went into the hospital last year.

This dragon kite greets you at the door.

Wind chimes, candles and flags.

Kites and yard toys.

Be sure and check out her online store at http://www.wind-toys-online.com/

Joshua trees just east of Littlerock, CA

I need to get to bed now, so I can get to Phoenix early to get loaded before it gets to hot.

Dick,Kate & Molly

Playing in the dirt.

2009-05-03T12:21:00.002-04:00

We had a short day today, only 250 miles and the girls had some time to run. Many times, especially in the western states, there are so many sand spurs they have no place to walk let alone run. I don't think you can tell from the pictures, but it is really windy here.

Dick,Kate & Molly

Over 600 miles today.

2009-05-02T22:45:00.003-04:00

Not much new here, just lots of miles. I try to get to places that have wi-fi so I can get on the web in the evenings.
Today's pictures. Lots of pretty clouds.

Dick,Kate & Molly

We're back

2009-05-01T21:05:00.002-04:00

Molly is back with us, and I have all new cameras and lenses. We were at an AKC herding event last weekend taking pictures. Now we're on our way to California again. I had to stop and take a nap in the middle of the day yesterday. I often have to do that when I haven't been driving for a few days. It takes a while to get back into the rhythm.
I'm not sure I like the camera I bought to replace the one I take the blog pictures with. I suppose I'll get used to it.
The SLR that I replaced for the photo business is also going to take some getting used to. I has almost 3 times more customizable settings than the previous one.
Here are some pictures from the last two days, in no particular order.

Dick,Kate & Molly

I'll be gone for a while.

2009-04-16T19:17:00.001-04:00

My old camera that I had resurrected died, so no pictures from the last few days. The insurance company came through so I hope to get a lot of new camera gear next week. We'll be getting home Saturday, then the following weekend is the first trial to take pictures at this year. We won't be back on the road again until about the 28th.

Until then
Dick & Kate

Molly will be back then too.

Spring's not here yet.

2009-04-12T01:09:00.002-04:00

I was hoping that spring was finally here, but as the first picture shows, it isn't.
As things worked out, I am going to be here all day tomorrow. I'm not very far from my first delivery on Monday morning. Maybe I can find a church to go to for Easter services.

Snow in Flagstaff, AZ.

Early morning desert.

Mountains and clouds.

This odd structure looks like a cross between a giant golf ball and a spaceship, It has three levels and measures 40 feet in diameter. Lake Havasu Estates built it in 1976 as a restaurant and cocktail lounge for a land developer. The company went bankrupt, however, and the sphere now serves as a private home. The owner has added aliens walking up the ramp and space ships.

Dick & Kate

Standing on a corner

2009-04-10T20:13:00.003-04:00

in Winslow Arizona. Am I showing my age here? My Trucker Buddy friends will have to ask their parents about that, but they might be to young too. Anyway, it's pretty windy again here tonight. I stopped today and had new front tires put on the truck, I just didn't feel comfortable with them anymore. It sure is nice not to have that vibration anymore.

Here's a roadside sign with a view of what it's talking about. New Mexico.

This is one of the Indian souvenir shops near the New Mexico, Arizona state line.

These next four are just scenery from New Mexico and Arizona, I'm not sure where, the battery that runs the clock is dead in the old camera I'm using.

Dick & Kate

It was really windy today.

2009-04-09T18:05:00.002-04:00

Not really a pleasant day to be driving a truck. Combined with the ruts in the road, you really have to be paying attention.

Here's a picture I took trying to show the dust blowing. This isn't out of focus, there was that much dust in the air.

There were a lot of grass fires in eastern Kansas yesterday.

Old barn in Missouri.

Here are a couple pictures of some nice looking farms in Kansas.

I like this picture of trees in the morning light in Kansas.

And finally some cows near a windmill in New Mexico.

Dick & Kate.

We're back,

2009-04-07T17:25:00.002-04:00

We're back with more pictures. I worked all day Sunday on getting receipts and information together for the insurance company. I lost a LOT of stuff. Hopefully the insurance company will come through. I did have separate insurance on the camera gear. I dug out my old Nikon 990 to carry along until I get something to replace the Canon. So that said here are some pics from today.

This is Kate watching things while I fixed lunch.

This is said to be the worlds largest cross. It's near Effingham, IN.

Here's Kate, doing what she does most of the time, while I drive.

And finally a couple more farms in Illinois.

I'll be glad to get my cameras back, this one's slow and I can't get all of the manual settings I like. I can't get the exact cameras I had, they have been replaced by new models. Hopefully they haven't ruined things with the updates.

Dick & Kate.

I'd have to shoot you.

2009-04-03T19:18:00.001-04:00

I have another of those "I'd tell you what it is but then I'd have to shoot you"loads. I'll try to get some kind of picture before I get it to California. After I got it all loaded up, I had to go around Connecticut. They take a pretty dim view of loads that are longer than 53 feet. It took quite a while to load it since I had to rearrange the trailer. Naturally it was raining. I'm back in Pennsylvania tonight, and should be home tomorrow for a couple of days. The one unit is going to California to a show and it has to be delivered on a specific day, so I've a couple of days to kill. I'll probably spend most of that time looking for receipts for the insurance company.
The reports from Molly are good, she seems to be all that I had hoped for.

Dick & Kate

Headed east.

2009-04-01T18:17:00.002-04:00

We're back on the road again, headed to NY and MA. Then on to CA.
There won't be any pictures for a while, someone stole ALL of my camera gear.I'll try to dig out an old one until I can replace the one I had been using for the blog.

Dick & Kate

Getti'n close to home now.

2009-03-26T20:25:00.002-04:00

We got through in Indianapolis today with three delivered at one place. Now on to Michigan then home. Only about 300 miles now.
One of my goals is to show what this great country looks like in many places as well as trying to make good pictures. In looking back over the pictures I have posted, I'm not sure that I'm doing that. Many of them have a feel of being much alike. It's obvious that I like farms and clouds, and wide open spaces. One of the problems, at least for me, is that in the urban areas, there are signs, posts,fences and other "stuff" that just gets in the way. I try to shoot "through" the obstacles and then crop to show the beauty, but sometimes it's just not possible at 60 mph.
If anyone has suggestions of things you'd like to see, I'll try my best to see if I can capture it.

I do have more river pictures today.

Illinois river.

Rock river.

Flooded area in southern Indiana.

Farm in Illinois.

Kate & Dick

We missed the blizzard.

2009-03-25T22:16:00.002-04:00

I don't know how, but we seem to have bypassed the blizzard. They were calling for snow the two days we spent in Denver, and it never showed. Then, when I checked the weather map, it showed that we would be headed right into it in Nebraska. The sun has been shining on us for four days now. I guess we really lucked out.

Here a couple of pictures of the displays in front of the Kinze manufacturing facility in Iowa. They make farm equipment.

Platte River in Nebraska.

A couple of farms in Iowa.

The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument.I took this picture in the rear view mirror because the sun was in the wrong place when I saw it through the windshield.

The Archway Monument is a museum of and monument to Nebraska"s and the Platte River valley"s role in westward expansion. The Archway Monument is directly over Interstate 80 three miles (5 km) east of Kearney, Nebraska.

Another farm.

Dick & Kate.

Pictures of Molly.

2009-03-24T18:08:00.003-04:00

Kate and I had a good visit with my cousin in Colorado. We arrived Sun afternoon and didn't have to leave until this morning. Since I stopped in one place for more than 36 hours, I can reset my time working clock back to 0. The law says truck drivers can only work 70 hours in 8 days with out a restart. We had a good time visiting and doing some errands together.
We seemed to have missed all of the snow(at least so far) that was forecast. But it was really windy. I saw three trucks laying on their side that had blown over.

While we were there I received these pictures of Molly working sheep and ducks.

Looks like she's coming along quite nicely.

Dick & Kate.

Out of hours in Salt Lake.

2009-03-21T20:51:00.004-04:00

I ran out of hours today, but I was able to get to Salt Lake and get the last car picked up. I will gain enough hours tomorrow to get to Denver. I think we'll take a day off there. I was able to get at least a couple of different pictures in the last two days.

Dust Devil in Nevada. Dust devil is just left of center, if you look real close you can see another real small one to the far right.

Tree of Utah.
The Tree of Utah is an artwork constructed between 1982-1986 by the Swedish artist Karl Momen. The Iranian-born Momen, who painted portraits of Stalin and the Shah of Iran early in his career, later studied with the surrealist painter Max Ernst, and studied architecture at the Kunst Academy in Stuttgart, Germany. It has been said that he was moved to create the 87 foot tall tree by the "vastness and relative emptiness" of the Bonneville Salt Flats, and that the tree "brings space, nature, myth and technology together". The tree's six spheres are all coated with natural rock and minerals found within the state of Utah, and the pods below symbolize the changing of the seasons, when trees naturally transform themselves. The costs of building the tree, reportedly over a million dollars, were provided entirely by Mr. Momen. The tree now belongs to the State of Utah.

Sunrise.

Kate at Donner Summit.

The pass received its name from a group of California-bound emigrants. In early November 1846, the Donner party found the route blocked by snow and was forced to spend the winter on the eastern side of the mountains. Of the 81 emigrants, only 45 survived to reach California; some of them resorted to cannibalism to survive.

California Hwy 20 near Nevada City, California.

Barn in Nevada.

Nevada farm.

Utah.

Lonely house, Nevada.

And finally a farm in Nevada.

Dick & Kate.

On to Denver.

2009-03-20T22:30:00.003-04:00

Yesterday we got everything unloaded and two picked up. Picked up another today and we're headed for Denver with a stop in Salt Lake to pick up another car. Starting out yesterday I didn't think I would get many good pictures. The stretch of CA99 up to Stockton is very built up along the highway. Later in the day though, I got some really spectacular pictures of the hills that are green this time of year, and the shade of green isn't something we see at home.

Sheep and Cattle.

This is probably a hay field.

More hills, I think these are so pretty.

Farm buildings.

Early morning trees.

Cranes and shipping containers at port.

A splash of roadside color.

Eucalyptus tree. I think these are so cool.

Refinery along the bay.

Old farm house.

More roadside color.

Old barns.

Looking toward the bay from I-880

One more green hills with windmills and cattle.

Boy, that wall is close.

Hope you enjoy all of the pictures.

Dick & Kate.

Short day today.

2009-03-18T17:52:00.002-04:00

Since we had a long day yesterday and got a lot of miles in, today was pretty short only 375 miles. Since there is now a 3 hour time difference and I get up at 6AM eastern time I spend most of my morning driving in the dark. I arrived here in Bakersfield about 11AM local time. I have to make my first delivery at 7AM tomorrow morning and it's about 2 hours away so I'll leave here at 8AM by my clock. All very confusing, but my log book has to be kept on the time where the home office is, besides I'm not in any one time zone all that long.

I have started geotagging my pictures. Geotagging means that the picture has latitude and longitude information stored with the picture. I have also started a web page with some geotagged pictures. If you go here......http://www.locr.com/profile/somewhereinusa
and click on a thumbnail it will show the picture along with where I was when I took the picture. Waaaaaaay cool.

I love mountains in the distance when all you can see is different layers of blue.

Another of distant mountains with train.

Joshua tree.

Tehachapi Pass windmills.

Tejon ranch. 270,000 acres.

Dick & Kate

There's beauty everywhere.

2009-03-17T21:49:00.004-04:00

I was going to write some facts and statistics today, but I got so many good pictures today I'm going to just post them. I was worried that the pictures were beginning to look a lot alike, but since I've gotten farther west the scenery has changed a lot.

Early morning glow. New Mexico.

Arizona Mountains.

Balloons over Albuquerque.

Log house, Arizona.

Sandstone rocks, Arizona.

Indian hogan, Arizona.

Ranch, Arizona.

Winding road, Arizona.

Humphrey's Peak (I think), Arizona

Just a pretty tree. Arizona.

Just another day in paradise.

2009-03-16T19:52:00.002-04:00

We got an early start today and it soon got foggy. We were in fog for about three hours, sometimes so thick I could only see two dotted lines in the middle of the highway. I didn't think I would get any good pictures. But, when the sun came out I got so many I had trouble choosing.

This one was just as the fog was lifting.

Train in Texas

Horses in Oklahoma.

Texas, Oklahoma state line.

Deserted farm.

Ranch entrance and ranch buildings in distance.

Long straight road in New Mexico.

Dick & Kate.

Nice day for a Sunday drive.

2009-03-15T17:34:00.002-04:00

It was a beautiful day today. Sunny and high 60's. We stopped early and did what Kate loves best.

Here are a couple of Kansas farm shots.

Dick & Kate

I like farms.

2009-03-14T20:19:00.002-04:00

As you can see from a lot of the pictures I post, I like farms, and clouds. As I travel over the country, I get to see all kinds of farms. I enjoy seeing how some things are done the same everywhere, and in other parts of the country the same operation is done very differently than what I have seen at home. I just noticed today, that a lot of barns in Ohio are painted white, while in Indiana and Illinois they are usually red.

Pictures from today Ohio,Indiana and Illinois.

Indianapolis, IN

Dick & Kate

Just Kate and me.

2009-03-13T21:12:00.002-04:00

We're off again, since Molly is having fun in Wisconsin, Kate is enjoying being just the two of us for a while. These week long waits for a new load are a mixed blessing. It's good to have the time off, but I can't really start any big projects because I need to be ready to go on a moments notice. Kinda like the military. Hurry up and wait. We are in Lodi, OH again tonight to load in Akron tomorrow. Then on to California.
Here are some pictures from last week and today.

Round barn in northern Indiana.

These pictures are in central Ohio.

Dick and Kate.

Molly's off for training.

2009-03-10T10:42:00.002-04:00

We went to WI over the weekend to drop off Molly at my friend Shannons. She is going to get her started on livestock herding. It rained all weekend, so we didn't get much outdoor work done. I'm home again waiting for a load.

Here's Molly first time with sheep.

These are some pictures from PA I took last week on the way home.

I thought this old barn look kind of cool.

Just some trees in the median.

Another neat red barn.

Dick,Kate & Molly

Whew, headed west again,

2009-03-05T21:19:00.001-05:00

Those of you who know me know that the east is not my favorite part of the country. Tolls,high fuel prices,traffic and few places to park for the night are just a few of the reasons. It always seems to take longer to get things done. You have to plan very carefully how to get things done so that you have a place to park. Many times that means not doing as much as you would like just so you have a place to park for the night. Many times the parking areas will be full by 3PM. We have two stops before home, Indianapolis and Elkhart IN I hope to get that all done tomorrow. As of right now, we don't have a load out again.

We did have a nice place to park at on of the delivery points in MA. Here are Kate and Molly playing in the snow.

This is the Erie Canal, I almost missed it.

Boston area.

Farm in NY

Dick,Kate & Molly

Just another expensive day.

2009-03-02T18:54:00.002-05:00

Well, at least it's about over. We got a good start with the first delivery done by 8:30, boy was it cold. Making good time, we stopped to get fuel, and there was a flat tire on the trailer, and the tire was no good. We stopped at one place and I thought their prices were a bit high (I thought we were in a recession). We went down the road a bit and they were over $200 higher for two tires. I decided to go farther and see if I could find something more reasonable, I was almost to the door and she said maybe she could do better. She got the price down to almost what the first place quoted, so rather than waste more time, I said OK. After about 2 hours, the mechanic (?) came in and said that he had broken my hubcap trying to get the tire out. The hubcap holds the oil in for the bearings. He did replace what was broken for no charge. I had to tell him how to jack up the trailer so he could get the wheel out. (This isn't rocket science) Anyway, after about 3 hours and many $$$$$$$$$$$, we were on our way again. We're about half a day behind, but since we're headed into the Boston area where they are having the worst snow of the year, that's probably a good thing.
I called one of the delivery places about 4PM, they have about 11 inches of snow and it was still snowing hard.Soooooo, here's hoping tomorrow will at least be not terrible.

The farther east I get, the harder it is to get good pictures from the road. Here are a couple from yesterday in OH.

Dick,Kate & Molly

Leaving soon.

2009-03-01T09:50:00.001-05:00

We're leaving soon for the east coast. OH first then NY and MA. NOT my favorite places. Blog entries may be slow since I can't get internet much out that way.

Finally, an uneventful day.

2009-02-25T20:12:00.002-05:00

Well, nothing broke, went flat, or leaked today. We made 500 miles in good time. We'll be home Friday afternoon if all goes well.
Here's Molly and Kate playing when we stopped today.

The scenery sure has changed from yesterday, this is Kansas.

The clouds were quite dramatic this afternoon, I don't think I have ever seen them like this before.

Dick

Headed east again.

2009-02-24T19:06:00.002-05:00

Well, yesterday didn't go well at all. I got a good start over to load three vans, two were ready, but the third one didn't pass the quality inspection. I sat there for five hours waiting for them to get it fixed. I didn't leave Phoenix untill about 4pm. I guess I still don't have the fuel problem fixed, because I ran out of fuel in one tank about half way up a mountain. I didn't even get clear off of the road. I was able to get going again pretty quickly by siphoning into a small jug and putting some in the other side.

I did get some pretty pictures yesterday and today.

This is another of those pictures I have been trying to get for some time. This is better than some of the others, but it isn't quite what I want.

Dick

Pictures from Zoo

2009-02-24T17:47:00.002-05:00

We went to the Zoo on Sunday. Here are some pics. This first one isn't at the zoo, but for those who wonder what I look like here it is. That's Poquito in the background.

These were taken at the Phoenix Zoo. The weather was very nice high 70's and sunny. The first time I went to this zoo it was about 120°.

Dick

Day off

2009-02-22T08:17:00.003-05:00

We got all of our stops done yesterday and are spending today at my cousin's house in Mesa,AZ. We've made tentative plans to go to the zoo today. I'm not at my own computer, so I have no pictures from yesterday. Here is one that I took last year.

Dick

In and out of LA

2009-02-20T21:37:00.003-05:00

I got in and out of LA in one day with all of my deliveries done. I did lose some paperwork somewhere. Now I'll have to somehow get a signature again, or I won't get paid for one of the cars. I'm off to Las Vegas,NV tomorrow, then on to Phoenix,AZ to finish up a load that goes to the east coast.
Four scenes from today. Since I take most of these pictures without looking at the camera, I crop them to show only the good parts.

The hills are a pretty green this time of year.

Lots of windmills.

Early morning hills.

Dick

Goofy GPS

2009-02-19T19:51:00.002-05:00

Things went better today, I'm still having the fuel problem, but I'm learning to deal with it. I did have to put on a new fuel filter, it got so I couldn't climb the mountains anymore. Lots of pictures today. The first one is of my GPS screen. The blue line is the route it wants me to travel, with the white arrows showing the path. I was to go straight through this interchange, but it thought I should go around the complete cloverleaf.

Horses in Arizona.

Panorama of the Continental Divide. This is actually 5 pictures laid end to end.

Kate and Molly at the Continental Divide.

I sure couldn't get them to pose for the picture, Kate just doesn't like to pose, and Molly always wants to lay down.

Dick

More fuel tank woes.

2009-02-18T21:50:00.002-05:00

We were doing real good, making good time, until I stopped for fuel in Guymon,OK. I stopped to take the windmill pictures, and fuel started running out of the overflow on the left tank. I was able to make an emergency fix and kept going, but the "fix" made the level in the other tank raise. When I stopped for the night, I was able to put a manual valve in one return line so that I can kind of manually control it until I can figure out what is causing this. I have already replaced all on the "normal" parts that might cause this. I was still able to make 506 miles today. I was also finally to get this picture.

I have stopped a couple of times to photograph this, I think I finally got it this time.

Here is another from today that I think is kind of neat.

Here's last nights sunset.

Dick

Made good miles today

2009-02-17T21:38:00.002-05:00

Made over 600 miles today, kinda makes up for yesterday. Not only did I have to load in two places, which always takes more time, but I had to stop back in Huntington for more repairs. One fuel tank was getting empty, and the other was filling up. That took about two hours, then I got another 100 miles or so after that. I need to make good time for the next two days to deliver in CA on Friday.
Here are a couple of pictures from yesterday in Illinois.

Dick

FINALLY

2009-02-14T18:54:00.002-05:00

We finally got a load, things are slow all over. We leave tomorrow afternoon to be in eastern Ohio first thing Monday AM to load for the west.
After all of that warm weather, we got snow again last night. I took my camera with me on our early mourning walk. It was a really beautiful snow. Light and fluffy.

More later

Sunday night, still home.

2009-02-08T19:45:00.002-05:00

Well, I've been home quite a few days now. We got some really warm weather on Friday, and almost all of the snow has melted. The dogs get pretty messy on their runs. I got some things done to the truck that I had been putting off. I completely redid the air and electrical connections between the tractor and trailer. They had been giving some trouble, I hope this takes care of it. There's a good chance that I won't get a load until Tuesday now.

Here are a couple of pictures from past trips.

Still home

2009-02-05T20:24:00.003-05:00

We're still home tonight, I just got the truck back from the shop about an hour ago. Hopefully, I'll get a load out tomorrow, if not it will probably be next week.
Here is a picture I took south of Kokomo, IN Tuesday.

Sure looks like a good place to eat.

Home

2009-02-04T18:13:00.002-05:00

Stayed home today, finally got a chance to wander around outside and take some pictures. Here is one of a little fella trying to hold on 'till spring. Hopefully not much longer. I was near Punxsutawney,PA early on Feb 2nd and I certainly didn't see any shadows. I don't see how an 82 year old groundhog can see anything.

This picture was done with a new process I have just started playing with called HDR. It is really three pictures merged together to make one with better detail.
Here is a picture taken a while ago. The road must be for Kate and Molly.

That's all for tonight

Home agan,home again,jigady jig.

2009-02-04T05:43:00.001-05:00

We got home about 8:30, ran into some snow and blowing snow south of Kokomo, IN. That stretch of US31 is bad anyway with traffic and stoplights. I should be home for a couple of days, catching up on chores, and getting the truck worked on.

Home tomorrow

2009-02-02T18:21:00.002-05:00

If all goes as planned I should be home tomorrow night. I have some work to do on the truck, so I should be home for a couple of days. No load yet, but I hope it's out west again. I had sunshine most of the day today, it sure is easier to stay awake when the sun is shining.
Here's a picture of Kate and Molly watching me take pictures.

This is what I was taking a picture of. 1975 Unimog that I am taking to Carmel,IN

A Unimog is a Jeep type vehicle made by Mercedes Benz. It has a 6 cylinder diesel engine and air brakes. I was told by the man I picked it up from that the four door model like this one is unusual. I think it's really cool.

Since I don't have any scenery pictures from today's trip, I thought I would show some older scenes. I really don't know when these were taken.

Winter scene, farm in northern Utah.

Windmill farm in southern California.

Back in Brookville

2009-02-01T17:42:00.002-05:00

We're back in Brookville, PA tonight. I delivered in Londonderry, NH then picked up three going back to Indiana and Illinois. I picked up a car in Chatham,MA that's just about as far east as you can get in Massachusetts.

Look at the lower right part of the map for Chatham.

Here are some pictures of Kate and Molly playing in the snow.

Got a good start

2009-01-29T18:14:00.004-05:00

After plowing the snow from the drive yesterday, I was able to get a good start this mourning.
US 24 had some drifting, but after I got to US30 the roads were pretty good today. I was able to get the two Ohio deliveries made and then on into Pennsylvania. The snow in the trees is pretty in the mountains.
Here is a picture I took of a building in Bucyrus, OH. I think it is painted on a flat wall. The artist did a good job.

Kate and Molly had a good romp in the snow when I stopped for the night. It is piled quite high here in the truck stop.

It's snowing

2009-01-28T09:03:00.002-05:00

It snowed last night, and is still snowing. I think I'll just sit here at home for a while. As you can see I have to plow the drive before I can go anywhere anyway. Mumsywumsy stayed home today too. From what I can tell the storm is taking the same route that I was planning on taking anyway.

This is the view through the truck window.

I changed the width of the blog so that I can post bigger pictures. Hope this works with your screen.

Home again.

2009-01-27T16:08:00.002-05:00

Well, I'm finally home again, but just for the night, I have to go on to Ohio and New Hampshire to finish this trip. Today was pretty uneventful. It was very cold again this morning 5°. I did stop at the "Worlds Largest Truckstop" to buy a couple of things I needed. I'll not post a picture from here, I only have dial up and it's waaaaaay to slow.

Another day on the road

2009-01-26T19:34:00.004-05:00

I got a bit of a late start this morning, I was working on this blog. Temp got down to 11° last night. When I did get started I had some frozen brakes and had to get that sorted out. (In really cold weather,if it has been snowing or you back into some deep snow, the brake linings freeze to the drums, and it's hard to get them unstuck.) It was snowing and blowing pretty hard all morning. If it's really cold out snow is less of a problem since it blows across the road and traffic doesn't pack it down into ice. I made good time anyway and got over 550 miles today.

Here's a picture showing some of the snow barriers in Wyoming, there are quite a few of them. They are to help keep snow from drifting across the road so much. You can see that there is quite a drift behind them.

Unless plans get changed, I should be home tomorrow night.

In the truck

2009-01-25T21:59:00.004-05:00

Here are my traveling companions.
Kate, my five year old Border Collie.

Molly, now 9 months old, this photo was taken when she was about 4 months.

When Molly gets old enough, she will start her training as a stock dog.

Hello

2009-01-25T21:56:00.000-05:00

I tried blogging a few years ago, but it turned out to be too cumbersome. Hopefully this one will be much easier. This is primarily for my Trucker Buddy friends.