God's Plan

Pure excitement! That's how I felt when Carlos hung up the phone and said, "Well, looks like we're going to New Hampshire!" Pure excitement...not what I heard in his voice or saw on his face! As many of you know, the east coast and especially the north eastern states, are just not on our map. But this was a really good paying load, and we do not turn down good paying loads. Plus, New Hampshire and Maine are the only two inland states that we have not been to. So, that right there tells you that we have to go. Los on the other hand...would disagree!

We were about 100 miles from where the load had to be picked up...Compton, CA. Off we went! I immediately got out the map, the truck stop book and my travel book of all the places in the US to visit. I was like a little kid going to Disney World for the first time. Yep, I was planning out our long weekend for when we unloaded. I found a truck stop in Maine not far from our unloading destination, a car rental place and our points of destination to visit. "Oh my goodness! The weather is perfect! The trees are turning, all the beautiful fall colors! This is going to be a great trip! We can go to Portland and see the lighthouse. Look at these pictures of Camden Harbor! Wow, look how pretty Rattlesnake Mountain is! We have not been sightseeing since our Washington trip. This is going to be so much fun!" "We can rent a car and make this a weekend road trip!" What?! Why yes...my excitement had overflowed and spilled over to My Love!  I mean really...how could it not! "Maine, here we come!"

WOMP! WOMP! WOMP! Our thrill just got squashed! Seriously, you have got to be kidding? Our load was two big crates. We can only tote 41,500 pounds legally on our trailer. That wasn't the problem. The problem...each axle is only allowed so much weight! We loaded those crates...chained them down and went and weighed. Nope, not gonna work! Too much weight on our drive axle. Unchain...move crates...rechain...go reweigh. Shoot fire! Still not going to work. Unchain...unload...sad...disappointed...no Maine trip...find a new load.

DING, DING, DING! New load...Crestview, FL. It's not Maine but it's only about 170 miles from HOME! Carlos had not been home since July 4th, so yes, home was much better than Maine.

I have said before that I am amazed and left in awe at how My God works. LC needed some work and we really didn't want to have to do it on the road...big bucks! Carlos always says why pay someone to do something when you can do it yourself? The Lord knew the work needed to be done sooner than what we thought! So He planned for us to go home. He also knew that my daddy would have a reaction to the flu shot that would send him to the hospital for a few days. He also knew that if I had been on the road when that happened that I would have been a basket case. HIS timing and planning is ALWAYS PERFECT!

We were home for two weeks and I wish I could say that Los got some much needed rest but that is so not the case. You know that job...the one that should only take a few days but ends up taking a little longer...well, that was LC and Los! Fix one thing and find something else! LC and I are going to have a come to Jesus meeting because he is really starting to interfere with my money! High maintenance is not a term used for me...oh nooo...that would be LC! But, he is fixed and as Carlos says,"He's purring!" Sounds more like a roar to me but what do I know?

Daddy is doing good. Not sure he'll take the flu shot again or if he'll drive himself to the ER without telling us; but that is a whole nother story! Just thanking God that He is ok and that I was home when it happened.

We have been back on the road for a few weeks now...traveling with our Toot Toot! I'm all smiles! Do you remember the blog post about us taking a control building to the Solar/Snake farm in California? Well, this time we took one to a Solar/Tortoise farm in Boulder City, NV. When Carlos told me that it was a Tortoise sensitive area, I just cracked up. "From a snake farm to a Tortoise farm, that is crazy." "This time it's actually listed in our instruction sheets." "You reckon they'll have "Tortoise Crossing" signs? That'll be hilarious!"

"The Copper Mountain Solar site is built upon a Desert Tortoise habitat. The Desert Tortoise is a protected species in the state of Nevada and is very active on the access roads and site. You will be required to check in at the guard station and be escorted to the site to mitigate any interaction between vehicles and Desert Tortoise. You will also be instructed on the proper way to control an area if one is to be spotted. There may be delays when heavy truck traffic is present due to slow speeds." Those were the guidelines on our Instructions and Rules sheet. Just as with the snake farm, we didn't see any Tortoises but we did see a "Tortoise Crossing" sign. I literally cracked up when we saw that. We see all kinds of crossing signs but that is the first Tortoise Crossing sign that we've seen. There's always a first time for everything. Maybe next time we'll actually see a crossing Tortoise.

After A LOT of prayer and encouragement from My Love, family and friends...especially Amelia, I have decided to turn my blog into a book. As Timothy says, "It may be the death of me!" but Carlos keeps saying,"You can do it!" I am listening to Los but I'm afraid Toot may be right. I have already had to start over...after being half way finished...because Satan (a.k.a. my computer) decided to eat it. I searched and searched and Toot searched and searched for two days trying to find the thing. Los kept saying, "It's in there somewhere!" Well, I sure as heck wish it would show it's face because I can't find it and the more I searched the madder and more irritated I got. The more I sighed and fussed the more Carlos laughed. I am so glad he found it amusing because there was ABSOLUTELY nothing amusing about it to me!!!!!  I thought,"Oh no, Satan, you are not going to get the best of me!" I finally just said the heck with it and started over. Timothy asked me one night if he was going to be in the book. "Yes, of course you're going to be in it." "Well, I wasn't sure if I made the cut. It was a tough audition!" That boy cracks me up! He keeps me laughing all the time!

When I started the blog, it was just a way for me to write about mine and Carl's time together, what we saw, what we were hauling and where we had been. Just a way to stay in contact with family and friends. I never intended to include Bible verses and certainly not any kind of devotion in it. God had a different plan. I have to admit, my confidence level when witnessing to others especially strangers, is very low. I'll share about the things He has done for me, how He's helped me through difficult times, answered prayers, His love for me and mine for Him, to close friends and family but hardly ever to people I barely know and oh my goodness definitely not to strangers. Most of the time when I start writing a post, I have no idea what verses I am going to include or if any at all and absolutely no idea how a devotion is going to be tied into it. That is what's so wonderful and amazing and fascinating and exciting about how God works. He takes our crazy, unbelievable, hilarious, frustrating, stressful, thrilling and awesome everyday life adventures and turns them into a testimony of His commitment, faithfulness, understanding, protection, forgiveness, comfort and unconditional love for us. I've always thought God answered my prayers about leaving teaching just so I could spend more time with My Love. I don't know...never thought about Him using my voice to speak His words or in this case write His words. I am just a simple, country girlie girl from south Georgia who has been chosen by God...no way did I think the adventures of this truckin' duo could be used to speak to others about His awesomeness!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

'Til we meet again!
Only by Grace!
   Lynne

Plans, plans, plans

Oh my! I can't believe it has been 4 months since my last blog post. In case you're wondering, no I have not been on vacation all this time...well, physically I haven't been but mentally I probably have.  I've just had a bit of blogger's block and haven't really been motivated to write one. I've thought about it but just couldn't seem to get myself to drag out the computer, which by the way, is on the floor right beside me. I'm ashamed to even admit that! It takes a LONG time and a LOT of THOUGHT for me to do a blog. I just really haven't wanted to do a lot of thinking or any thinking for that matter! BUT... at the requests of my mother...I am putting my brain back to work.

Where and what have the Truckin Duo been up to the last 4 months?! We have been busy, busy, busy! East to west...west to east...east to west...pretty much the same route each time. Maybe that's why my brain quit working!

One exciting load that we did was an ULA load (United Launch Alliance). Well, we thought it was going to be exciting. When we got the load we were told that it was  15'11" wide, 9' high and 38' long and was called a PLF fairing. Yep, there went Los' excitement! "What the heck is a PLF fairing?" All Carlos knew was that it had something to do with NASA. So I quickly texted a friend to get some info. "Oh my, Los it's the cone nose on top of some of the unmanned rockets to protect the vehicle through launch. Once it's out of the earth's atmosphere, it separates from the rocket usually in two pieces. How cool is that!" I couldn't wait to get to Harlingen, TX to see it.

 

                                  What I thought I was going to see once we got to Harlingen.

                        

Well, shoot fire...that doesn't look anything like the picture she sent me. AND...there went my excitement! Oh, for the record, we only had half the fairing and another driver had the other half. We had to carry that enormous box all the way to Vandenburg Air Force Base in California. We had three escorts and the other driver also had three; plus we had hired security each night we stopped. Can you say "feeling special?" We were only allowed to do 300-350 miles per day (we usually do 500-600) and could only travel 55mph. With all the detours and no weekend travel it took us 14 days to get to Vandenburg and 14 days before Carlos could breath again. What started out as an exciting, interesting load turned into one huge migraine headache. There will be a lot of thought and prayer before we do another one of those loads.

If you would like more information on ULA and to watch a  live launch you can go to this website  http://www.ulalaunch.com/. They also have a facebook page that you can follow https://www.facebook.com/ulalaunch.

After we unloaded at Vandenburg Air Force Base we were able to relax and really enjoy the beauty all around us. Which is something we should do all the time and then maybe we wouldn't get so stressed out.

                                                               Grapes, grapes and more grapes

                                            

                                                                Beautiful scenery in central California

                                            Finally able to relax. Love seeing that smile!

                                  

Yeah, not so sure I would want to live at the top of the hill like that! With my crazy self I'd open the front door...trip...fall...and roll all the way down that hill!

                                   Enjoying God's little creatures while waiting to get loaded.

California is putting in a lot of solar plants so we've been hauling Power Skids to the job sites.  One of the largest solar photovoltaic farms is in Desert Center, CA. The facility will provide enough power to more than 160,000 California homes annually. 

                                                              Solar Plant in Desert Center, CA

                                                     before the solar panels have been installed

                                                   After the solar panels have been installed.
                              The building in the background is what we have been hauling.

                                                   This my friends is Desert Center, CA.
                                                          This is one side of the street.

                                                   And this is the other side of the street.

                              This...well I have no idea what this is or was but it's on the same 

                               side of the street as the caboose. And that concludes the sites 

                                      of Desert Center, CA. I hope you enjoyed the tour.

We have also hauled a couple of Verizon buildings/communications buildings or if you remember Connecticut made us call it a vault. If you haven't read that post and would like to read about our trailer falling from the sky, just click on this link.http://adventuresofthetruckinduo.blogspot.com/search/label/Connecticut. The first one we took was to Sturgis, KY which was almost as thrilling as the Connecticut load. Once again traveling down a tiny little pig tail road...then up a narrow, wet, slippery, rocky road that lead up to the unloading pad. Oh, I forgot to mention that if we had gotten off the gravel we would have been in a fine mess...both sides of that tiny so-called road was thick, mushy clay and we would have been...stuck. Carl already had to kick in the 4-wheel drive to get across all those slippery rocks. We would have needed a tow truck to get through that clay. Once again I was holding my breath. We made it and all was good...until! "Los, how are we going to get out of here?" "I'm not real sure. I haven't figured that out yet." Here we go again! "Hmmm, don't you think you need to be figuring it out! Well, we are not letting them pick up this trailer! We are not doing that again! I'm serious, now. Why can't we just back down the road" "Because there isn't enough room for us to turn around without getting off the gravel." I know what all of you are thinking and yes...yes, we did! They picked up our trailer and turned it around but this time we did it a lot different from the first time. I still held my breath and I still did a lot of praying. The Lord is probably thinking, "Girl, you have really got to quit holding your breath so much. One of these days you are going to pass out. Relax! Trust me! I've got this!"  I told the little Verizon man that was walking around that if I'd had my way we wouldn't even be up on that hill. I mean really, do these people think we're hauling these big ole buildings behind a little bitty pick up truck. Sometimes I wonder what they are thinking!

                                          Our little pig tail road leading up to the job site.

                                              It kept getting narrower and narrower.

                                                    Carlos going to check things out.
                                          I REALLY REALLY should have gone with him.

                                                               And here we go!

                                                                      Up it goes!

                                                   I hope what goes up, gently comes down.

   It was hard as all get out to walk on those rocks. They were so big and slippery. We kept waiting for one of us to fall down or twist an ankle...oh wait, Carlos did slip and fall. I so hate I missed it! 

                                            Too bad the crane driver was all eyes!                                                          

                                                                 Here we go again!

 

                                Happy happy happy! Gently went up and gently came down!

                                        All turned around and ready for our next adventure.

As many of you know, we absolutely hate to tarp. I usually feel like I have just completed a triathlon. No, I've never competed in a triathlon and I don't plan on it. All I know is that every bone...every muscle...every vein...every hair...every inch of my body is tired, sore and aches when we finish a tarp job. Oh, and did I mention...DIRT! Dirt and grease from my head to my toes. I really really do not like to get dirty. My family used to call me the Queen Bee; well, Queen Bee's are not supposed to get dirty...are they? And no I'm not being a little wimpy tail; Carlos feels the same way because we usually shower, eat and go to bed once we are done. Even though we despise tarping we always make the best of it and some how laugh our way through it. Just like everything else in life you have the good and then...you have the BAD.

                                              FYI this is what I look like after a tarp job. 

                                        I swear sometimes I think I get nastier than Carlos.

We plan, plan, plan! Plans for doctor appointments, vacations, visits with friends, shopping; we have to plan for just about everything in our life. Plans are great otherwise our lives would be a chaotic mess and as long as those plans fall easily into place, we're happy as a lark. The problem with planning is that we want it our way on our time and when those plans are altered or do not go the way we want..look out... frustration, aggravation, sadness, madness, disappointment and irritation are just a few of the emotions that take over. Carl is really good about just going with the flow and taking things in stride.  I don't know about you but I can become a real sour puss. Being in the trucking business our plans are always changing which is usually fine until...it's time to go home or our truck breaks down. Recently I let that frustration get the best of me. 

At the end of February, we had to put our truck in the shop for some much needed work. Well, one problem turned into two problems into three into four, five, six...you get the picture. After four weeks and a small fortune we finally had LC back. We were good to go, shouldn't have any more problems. I mean we practically had a new truck. Finally back on the road, trucking up. We had it all planned out. Work, work work until June 25. On the 25th, we wanted to be home packing and getting ready for our week long vacation with family at the lake. Everything was going smoothly just like we wanted. We had load after load after load...busy, busy. Two weeks before the 25th we picked up a Verizon building in Louisiana and headed to Columbiana, OH. That should be a clue right there...Verizon...there is going to be a problem! We had plenty of time to get there, unload, get a load headed south and be home by

 June 25. Sounds like a plan to me.

We make all these plans but our plans are not always God's plans. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11. No, God doesn't promise us a life filled with a bed of roses...a life without problems...without frustrations and disappointments, but what He does promise us is that He is always here for us. He has not forgotten us. He loves us. He has a plan. He knows our future. He wants us to trust him...have faith and praise him during the good times and the BAD. It's easy to trust when things are running smoothly and going just as planned. The real faith comes when a plan has turned topsy turvy and we seek him for peace, comfort, reassurance and guidance. My life (and Carl's life) would be so less...aarrrrgggghhh if I would just do this more often.  I tend to get all frustrated and stressed before praying and turning to God. It should so be the other way around...pray first...no frustration! What in the world is so hard about that? 

 As I mentioned earlier, we had a plan to be home June 25th. We made it home about 10:30 p.m. a little later than we wanted but we made it on the 25th. Great, everything went just as planned...wrong! We took the Verizon building to Columbiana, OH with no problems but...yeah here comes the but! Once again Carlos had to kick in the 4-wheel drive to get across all the thick rocks and up the hill and that's when we heard it...pop, pop, pop. With eyes as big as an owls and fear in my voice, "WHAT was that?" "I have no idea! I think something just broke!" Every time Carlos would take off...pop, pop, pop. Ok, this was not in the plan! We finally made it up to the pad, got unloaded, back down and checked things out. Los crawled under the truck but couldn't find anything wrong...nothing was broken. New plan, head home with no load so we could put LC in the shop. Columbus, OH is NOT home! The popping continued to get louder and louder every time we took off. There was no way we could make it home so in the shop LC went...for THREE days...that was SOOOO not the plan. My frustration level went straight through the roof. We just spent a small fortune on LC in February and 4 months later we are spending another small fortune which included part of our vacation money...once again SOOOOO not part of the plan. I kept trying to focus on the positives like...thank goodness we missed out on the load going to Washington State. We could be stuck in the middle of no where dealing with this or it's a good thing it happened before going on vacation and not after...when all our money was spent or at least we had enough money to get it fixed and didn't have to borrow any. If I had prayed and thanked God for the positives of the unplanned circumstances, I would have had the peace that I needed.  But no, I was ill...thoroughly disgusted...highly aggravated...just put out and then there's Carl the complete opposite...calm...smiling...having fun aggravating me...resting nicely in the hotel room...yep, he had peace. Yes, he did get frustrated but the difference between us was that he didn't let it take control...unlike me. He would quickly turn his attitude of aggravation to an attitude of happiness.  This my friends is something that I really struggle with but also something that I am working on. "They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD." Psalm 112:7. My prayer is that when plans do not go as expected that I immediately pray for peace, comfort and reassurance. 

"For God is not a God of disorder but of peace." 1 Corinthians 14:33.

Pray first. Pray first. Pray first

 

                                       Unloading another Verizon building in OH.

After being on the road for what seems like forever and spending 3 days and a small fortune in Ohio with our truck in the shop, it was time to head home for some much needed R&R. Our glory load of all things would be a jet engine that had to be...TARPED! But that's ok, if it's gonna take me home I'll tarp 20 jet engines.

 

                                    It might be smaller but we were still just as tired and sore.

                                 Our escort leading us out on the tarmac at the Atlanta Airport.

                                        Ready to unload that jet engine so we can go HOME!

                              I told Carlos it was too bad we couldn't load LC up on that plane 

                                                           and let it fly us home.

                                                     Now that is the best sight ever!

Those are just a few of the exciting/stressful/adventurous loads that we've done since April. Hopefully my blogger's block has been unblocked and it won't be 4 months until my next post.

     

Til we meet again!

Only by His Grace!

     Lynne                                                                                   

Seasons

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. Ecclesiastes 3:8

Vibrant reds, yellows, oranges, and green....harvest time; corn, peanuts, cotton and soybeans.....goldenrod, peanut dust, achoo achoo, yes it's  allergies...pumpkins, cornstalks and hay bale decorations....football games and football traffic...rich colorful sunsets...goodbye shorts and flip flops and hello jeans, jackets and boots...it's fall y'all!

We have been driving from Pensacola to Minnesota from Minnesota to Pensacola; back and forth back and forth for the past 6 weeks. We usually deliver Friday mornings and load back in Pensacola on Tuesday mornings which doesn't leave time for any dilly dallying around. As Carl says, "truckin up!" Well, let me retract...I am only on week 3 because I took a 3 1/2 week hiatus. Carl says it was 4 but who's counting.  Anywho...I have enjoyed watching all the fall colors come alive which is something that doesn't happen at home. We may have a few fall colors here and there but for the most part it's all green and then one day it's all brown or bare. Everything south of Tennessee is still pretty much green but once we get north of Nashville the colors really started popping.

Last year we spent most of the fall season out west...no trees..no colors and before that I was still teaching so I am pretty excited to watch the changing of the colors. Not so excited about the cooler...wait colder temperatures but I am trying to deal with it.  I had to put the shorts away my first week back out but I have refused to put away the flip flops. Looks like that is coming to an end also...my little toes are turning blue in this 50 degree weather.

His hard hat on top of his hoodie just cracks me up!

Can you say FREEZING! 34 degrees 20mph winds

This past year has really given me the opportunity to see the beauty of each season. I love seeing the bright, vivid colors of fall... the soft, still, quietness of the snow covered mountains in the winter... the bursting of colors as they once again come alive in the spring....and the business of all the animals as they scurry around in the summer. In the south we really only have 2 seasons summer and fall....hot and cool.

Just as we have weather seasons we also have seasons of life. We are constantly growing and changing.  My life season right now is working and traveling with my love. You may be in a season of your life that means moving to a new place; new home, new job, a new town or state. Sometimes we go though seasons of illness and even the loss of a loved one. Some seasons may be short and some may seem to last forever. No matter what season of life we are in God is always right there with us. "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Deuteronomy 31:8. As we go through each season we should approach it with the joy, peace, trust and comfort that comes from God above. Spring is my favorite time of the year. I love how everything starts growing again. The flowers start blooming and color is everywhere. The birds are busy making new nests for their babies. The squirrels are busy running up and down and jumping from tree to tree and the warmer temperatures...oh, the glorious warmer temperatures. I also love the season of life that I am in right now. I pray that it lasts a really really really long time but if not then I know that it is all part of God's great plan for me. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11. It is easier to see the beauty in some of our life seasons than it is in others. If your season is one of happiness and joy and excitement I pray that you continue to keep your focus on Christ. When things are going great we tend to let our focus shift away from Him. We may not talk to Him as much, or read His Word as often. If you're going through a difficult season, I pray that you put all your trust and faith in Jesus. Grab His hand, hold on and follow as He leads you through it and into another season of your life. Even if your season seems to be dark and gray, look up and find the beauty and joy. We should give thanks and praise Him in all our seasons of life.

Well let me tell you about our season of traveling right now. Since we have been traveling the SAME OLE route going on 7 weeks, not much has been happening. The Mississippi, Missouri and the Tennessee rivers have been crossed 13 times; we have been through Nashville 13 times; St. Louis 13 times; have seen the same houses 13 times and I do believe we have probably seen the same cars 13 times...you get the picture!

Mississippi River at the Illinois/Missouri line

Missouri River in Missouri

Stop, rest, relax and pray Chapel in Minnesota

Because our loads have been oversize loads we can only travel from sunrise to sunset which means very early mornings for me and you know I am not an early morning person. I'm talking 5:15 early. But as they say the early bird gets the worm. We are getting lots of worms then. I tried to sleep in one morning while we were riding but the roads were so bad that they almost beat me to death. Carlos said he kept waiting to hear a big thump from where I had fallen out of the bed. I started to get up several times and get dressed but decided it was safer to stay in the bed. I mean it is really ridiculous at how rough most of the roads are....especially in Alabama, Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri. Los said it is like riding a bike down a washboard dirt road. You know uggggggg! Their DOT people really need some more training when it comes to road paving and patching. Poor LC is being beat to death..not to mention...us!

Los doing his washboard dirt road imitation

Oh, oh, oh did I mention we got a new refrigerator. Oh yeah baby, we got us some groceries now. There are no words to express our excitement. No more fast food and no more truck stop food! After we got it we were probably two of the happiest people to ever eat a simple ham sandwich freshly made in our own little kitchen. We have had spaghetti; pork chops, rice and black-eye peas; chili and hot dogs (and not the chili from a can); cube steak, rice and beans; pepper steak and rice; stew beef with carrots and potatoes; hamburger steak in cream of mushroom soup with black-eye peas and rice; and chicken-n-dumplings. All cooked from our very own kitchen using an electric skillet, a microwave or the crock-pot. This truckin' duo has been eating good! Belly's full and smiles on our faces!

It may look small but it can hold lots of food. It even
has a decent size freezer.

Til we meet again!

Only by His Grace!
       Lynne