What an eventful past few weeks we have had. I had forgotten all about some of the places we have been until Carl starting naming them. "Goodness gracious."
In the past several weeks, we have been from Laredo, TX to Charlston, SC; from SC to Baltimore, MD; from Baltimore to York, PA. After battling the frigid cold, snow and ice in PA, we went to Morenci, AZ. All very easy loads...quick loading and quick unloading. And then we get to Morenci....
Morenci is nothing but a HUGE hole in the ground...literally. It is the largest open-pit copper mine in the US and one of the largest in the world. When we got there we had to check in at the guard shack and watch a safety video...yeah right. The little lady behind the desk would NOT stop talking to us and making us fill out paper work so we could watch it. "You need to fill out this form and sign here. OK, now watch the movie." Carl, you need to write your truck number on this line and sign and then you can go...after you watch the movie. Lynne, I need you to sign here and here. Now, watch the movie." Oh my goodness, this went on and on and on. Every time we would start watching the movie she would interrupt us. When we FINALLY finished the movie and walked out the door, I looked at Carl and said, "Well, do you have any idea what the movie was about?" "No, all I remember is there are signs posted for Do Not Enter Here and safety equipment must be worn at all times." I laughed and said, "Well, that's more than I remember." This was about a 20 minute movie and that is all we got from it....some safety check.
This whole mine deal was quite an experience. We finally made it to the drop yard where we were supposed to unload. I said supposed to! There are about 4 or 5 different companies doing work at this mine. One company checks us in and another has to unload us. We were told to go ahead and unchain at the drop yard....big, big mistake. While waiting, Carl jumped in the truck with one of the men to go look at a transformer we were picking up. In the meantime, I am told that we are going to have to take the piece of equipment to the top of the hill where it is being installed. They want me to start rechaining...joy, joy, joy. Carl returns as the last chain is being tightened...perfect timing. "What are we doing?" "We get to go up the hill!" Ok, so lets get in the truck and go....oh no....we have to wait on the paperwork for the new delivery spot....C-R-A-Z-Y. We're not leaving the mine...just going to a different area. After 5 hours, we finally got unloaded. Oh my goodness, I almost forgot to mention that Carl had to back down a narrow little road for about 1/2 mile to the new unloading spot. "They don't want much do they!" His favorite saying when we're put in tight places. Now, we're off to get the transformer. We had 45 minutes to get to the loading spot, load, chain it down and get back to the office to pick up the paperwork by 3:30. Well, when we got there, the transformer we were told to pick up and the one they showed Carl earlier were not the same. Ours should have weighed about 42,000lbs not 60,000lbs. Our truck and trailer are not set up to haul that much weight. Just great....just great! We are in a big hole...in the wall of a town...with no load and no idea which direction to head. We did find a little dirt lot in town to park....which ended up being the bus stop. Thank goodness, we only had to sit for about an hour when a load came up...in California. California here we come.
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| A Trunion...whatever that is! |
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| Carl had to back up this little road into a building that was just wide enough for the trailer to fit in |
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| Just a portion of the mine. |
We were supposed to load at Fort Irwin in California....did you get that...supposed to load. As we were entering the base Carlos gets a call, "You're lying! Are you serious..no you're not! You're lying!" That's all he kept saying. That's right...cancelled! At least this time we're not sitting in a little town with no load...we're just in the middle of the desert!! Oh the joys of trucking... "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" Matthew 6:34. Oh, how true that is!
We did get a load two days later in Los Angeles going to Laredo, TX..but, it had to be TARPED (you know how I hate tarping). But I couldn't complain, at least we had a load. We had a really tall load.. 14'7''. Not the best kind of load to have when dealing with 40-50 mph winds. This time we fell under the category for "high profile trucks use caution" on the wind advisory. Carlos loves to take the curves on the off ramps a little faster than I like but oh no...not this time. Slow and steady! Didn't want to take any chances in rolling that thing over. Not only did we have to deal with the winds pretty much from CA to TX but we also had some thick, heavy snow to contend with in Arizona and New Mexico. REALLY...what is the deal with the snow this year! It seems to be following us everywhere we go. So much for staying in the south out of the snow.
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| Beautiful blue skies and then... |
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| Tucson, AZ |
After we unloaded in Laredo, I found a really nice paying load from Mississippi to Idaho. We haven't been able to avoid the snow by staying in the south so we might as well embrace it....yeah, I know, it sounds good anyway! So off to Mississippi we go to pick up our load. What was supposed to be one piece of equipment (if you read that carefully you know where this is headed) turned into five pieces and they ALL had to be...OH MY GOSH....TARPED. It took us literally all day. We ended up having to move outside the gates to finish so they could lock up. It was about dusk when we finally finished. I got Spice out and as we were walking I looked down toward the tree line and saw something black. All in a panic, "Carl, what is that down by the trees? "I don't know. Is it moving?" "Yes, it's moving. Is it a wild hog?" "Either that or a wild dog." Then before I knew it, Carl snatched Spice up in his arms and off to the truck he went. We kept watching and then it waddled back into the words. "I think that was a black bear! Are there bears in Mississippi?" "I don't know, there could be," he said. So I got on my phone and started researching...yep...I think it was a black bear. They have been seen crossing the Mississippi River from Arkansas to Rosedale, Mississippi. Guess where we were...at the Port of Rosedale...on the Mississippi River! I think he was standing in the words watching us because I kept seeing little eyes shining in the dark.
You are not going to believe this, but if you read my post about the hear nothing, see nothing, and speak no English super trucker that backed into our truck...well, it almost happened again. Carl had taken Spice out for a walk and I was brushing my teeth getting ready for bed. I heard him put Spice back in the truck and then all of a sudden I heard him blowing the horn. I'm thinking,"Los what are you doing? You are going to wake everybody up." I looked up front and he had turned the head lights on and there sat a trailer about a 1/2 inch from our truck. Praise the LORD Carl got back in the truck when he did or we would have a messed up truck again. Carlos ended up having to get out to help him back into his parking space. He was like,"Man, I'm sorry. I didn't even see you until you turned your lights on." REALLY...REALLY! How do you not see this big white truck sitting here. Black or dark blue I might could understand...but...WHITE! Carlos said we needed to buy some of those orange cones to put in front of our truck. Maybe that would help.
To top off all the fun we have been having and too enhance our thrill of tarping, we spent another whole day redoing one of our tarp jobs. And of course, it would have to be the largest piece of equipment with the tarp we now call "Big Red." That machine has so many hooks, knobs and other things sticking out of it that it made it very diffficult to get the tarp tight. We do not like flapping tarps....flapping tarps rip and tear. We have worked too hard and spent too much money on those things for them to rip. I wish I had taken a picture of the machinery after we loaded it. It looks like a piece of junk...all rusty, dirty and filled with trash. It's been sitting up for about 3 years. It probably doesn't even work anymore but oh yeah...they wanted it tarped..Once again, the thrills of trucking...but I wouldn't have it any other way!!
When I first started trucking with Carl, it unnerved me something terribly when things didn't go as planned. I would get so frustrated when a load was cancelled or when we had to sit for a period of time waiting on a load. So let me just say, that during the first several months, I was frustrated a lot. I have realized that during that time the LORD was teaching me patience and that things happen in His time not mine. You may have heard the saying "If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans." Well, He did a lot of laughing the first several months of my new trucking life. Whenever Carl and I are waiting on a load now, the first thing we say to each other is "I'm not worried. I know the LORD will take care of it." And He always does! It may not be as quickly as I would like but in the end the timing and the load are always perfect for us and what we need at that moment. We see in the moment. He sees the whole picture and what lies ahead of us. During the past several weeks, we have said "I'm not worried...a lot! What a blessing it is to be able to turn my worries over to Him. Living life in peace is so much better than living it in frustration.
"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7
Only By Grace,
Lynne
