A Year in Review - Part 2

One of the things I like about driving truck across this country, are the photo opportunities. I've always like taking pictures, even back in the day when it was on film and you have to wait for them to come back from the developer. I'm pretty sure I have some old film floating around somewhere that's probably too old to be developed.

One thing I dislike about driving truck, is driving in winter weather. Although I have to admit that it can lead to just as impressive photo ops.

This first photo is from December 2019. Mr. Janney and I were trying to get a load to Utah, and the weather was not cooperating. We had tried avoiding going through Wyoming on 80, but there were also issues with 70 in Colorado. After a little pressure from dispatch, we rerouted through Wyoming and had to shut down again. Visibility was crap, and Mr. Janney had lost track of how many accidents he'd passed. It took two of us to find a parking spot, only to be kicked out of it because it was a reserved spot. So we had to back track until we found a parking only pull off with an opening. The weather had lifted by sunrise, as you can see in the photo.

When we have to sit for weather related reasons, one thing we both do is catch up on sleep. And I prefer to wait until daylight when it's snowing or raining. I don't always, but it is my preference. This time, I did sleep, especially since I had woke up to help find the parking spot. I was up in time for the Wyoming sunrise. Not only did I snag that pretty sunrise pic, but I managed to snap this pic of an early bird.

There were quite a few of these birds flitting about in the early morning light, but this one was in the best spot for a picture. I don't remember now if I managed to get it in one shot, or if I had to grab it from a short video. My hands aren't quite as steady as they used to be when it comes to picture taking anymore. I believe it was Mr. Janney's suggestion that I take short videos and then grab a picture from it that way.

I know that's how I grabbed this shot of a bird just two days later. It was at a rest area in an area without snow. I'm not sure if I had made it to Arizona yet or if I was still in Utah. Wherever it was, it was southern enough for there to be cacti. I'll post that picture just below.

At the time of composing this post, the worst problem we've run into this season has been high wind. We've had to sit more than a few times because either our load was too light to risk it or we had an empty trailer. I'm hoping we manage to miss the worst of it when we go back out after Thanksgiving.

One other thing I don't like about truck driving, is the inability to take pictures while I drive! Oh, the sights I have stored in my memory!

There was one morning, I was heading west. It was actually not too far from the same Wyoming parking area in the above picture, though not the same day. The sun was rising behind me, and the full moon was still above the western horizon. The misty clouds glowed pink around the setting moon. It was beautiful.

Going to sign off now with the picture of the cactus at the other rest area. See you around Christmas-time!

P.S. - I'm experimenting with fonts...leave a comment and tell me what you think of this one!

Third Time's the Charm?

Crossing the Mississippi River into St. Louis. No longer in the rig, so I wasn't
in violation of any rules. I got to be a tourist for a few minutes!

If you've been following the drama that is me trying to learn how to drive a rig and team with my husband, then you know I've run into a few issues with finding a good trainer. Friday afternoon I was picked up by my third, and...I'm pretty hopeful about this guy.

For starters, he has thirteen years experience. And he reminds me a little bit of the psychiatrist in charge of me back in '94 - he doesn't understand why I had trouble with the last trainer. The doctor back in '94 outright told me, 'I don't know why you're here.' Calling into question not only the college staff who insisted on my hospitalization and the emergency room admittance personnel. But that's another story and much water under the bridge.

Leaving out many of the details, per orders not to talk too much about it, I just said that my last trainer's biggest complaint about my driving was lane maintenance. He watched me drive for a while, then said he saw no problem with my lane maintenance. Well, he said a few other things that I might talk about another time.

It's an easy enough run that I'll be doing...from the drop yard in St. Louis to the one in Indianapolis and back again. And I'll get to back up twice a day, once in each drop yard. Backing has always been my weakness, and he seemed patient enough the first time. I definitely need to learn to control my speed during the backing up process - even letting the rig go backwards under its own power (no throttle) it still can go too fast. But that's where practice makes perfect.

That moment when you realize
your mom gets you

Depending on how you look at it, I was lucky to get this weekend off. Usually he runs seven days a week. The weekend hours are different, which is going to mess with my head. Well, time is already messing with my head since I'm in a different time zone than usual. Does that mean I'll be time traveling every day???

I'm still giddy that I'm on the other side of the Mississippi River! For many, the Mississippi is a demarcation line similar to the Mason Dixon line...you're not really in the west until you're across the Mississippi.

I'm just across it, but I'm across it just the same. And actually, I'm on the other side of the Missouri River too. My home for the next few weeks is in St. Clair, Missouri. I'll pick my trainer up each morning, go to the drop yard in East St. Louis. I'll get to see the St. Louis Gateway arch at a distance every freakin' day! I'm not sure how long I'll be here, I have just over 200 training hours left. I'm guessing about two weeks. Ish. I hope to be able to get better pictures before I'm out of this area. I did get one of the Gateway Arch from the drop yard (featured below). I'll have to ask my trainer if he minds if I use his car to run out to a nearby park for photos. I don't want to assume anything.

I've always wanted to travel, even if it's always intimidated me a little. While Mr. Janney and I will be limited to what we can do driving a big rig, this is a step in the right direction. I might not always be able to get pictures, but there will definitely be memories made. Hubby's already told me how often he thought of me while he was training: "Yup, if Robin was here, she'd be taking pictures." Mountains and clouds...yeah, I'm a goofball who likes to take pictures of clouds, and my husband knows that. Clouds, the moon, flowers, sunsets...random seed puffs floating in the air. He has pulled over a time or two to indulge my desire to photograph something!

Not the greatest pic of the Arch, but...it's there just the same!

This post is jumping around a little bit, and I apologize. Just proof of how confident and excited I'm feeling at the moment. Another difficulty of being me, I can swing from one extreme to the other with little notice. Although in this case, it happened over the few days it took Mr Janney and I to get to where we needed to be for me to be picked up by my trainer. I will be forever grateful to our company for allowing us to do that and to the trainer for waiting for me. He didn't have to.

The trip west was one of the most relaxing I've had since this journey began. Not just my time with my husband, but even when I was driving the rig. I just had very little anxiety. Even during the heavy traffic we dealt with, because again - my trainer had no problem with my driving through it. He approved of the distance I was keeping, the speed I was going. He helped here and there as needed, shaking his head as I told him the previous criticisms I'd received.

Here's hoping the anxiety stays this low level through the rest of our time together!

Have a good weekend all...and here's a final picture for you.

Sunset as we crossed the Mississippi!