Pete and Repeat

 Get your motor runnin'

Head out on the highway

Looking for adventure

In whatever comes our way

This would make a pretty good theme song, don't ya think! I have no idea why but this verse just popped in my head and I haven't been able to get it out. Not the whole song, just this verse. Drives me crazy, and then I start making up my own words to finish out the song. Timothy told me that I take five or six songs and put them together to make one. He never knows what song I'm trying to sing.

Anywho..I was recently informed by my sweet and candid son that my blog posts are always about the challenges we encounter with our job. "You are always writing about the problems, troubles and frustrations. You never write about the good things. People are probably wondering why in the world you and Daddy are still in the trucking business. And, you never include me in any of the blogs. Wait a minute, I have to catch my breath. Wow! He actually reads my blogs. "I know but the crazy things we deal with are what makes it interesting and yes, I have included you in some. I can't help it if you're not always with us."

So, to make Timothy happy let me just say that not every load causes us to grit our teeth, roll our eyes, sigh in disbelief, clinch our hands or stomp our feet. Usually we are just doing the eye rolling thing and sighing. Carlos always just looks at me and says, "They don't want much do they!" "You can handle it! You are a professional!"

Thank goodness, for the past several weeks we haven't had any fist clinching or teeth gritting loads. Since returning to work after vacation, Timothy has been with us pretty much the whole time. I think we've only been apart for 2 weeks. I love how the Lord works it out for us to travel and do trips together. Los and I have been one happy mama and daddy. We just have one little problem when we are all together. Toot likes to get up early...ride, ride, ride and get a good nights sleep...at least 8 hours. If he says he's leaving at 7:30 a.m. then by golly he's leaving at 7:30...not 7:35...7:30! Then there's Carl and me...complete opposite! We say 7:30 but it could be 7:45 or 8:00 before we actually pull out. Then, we like to ride for a couple of hours, stop and stretch our legs, ride some more, stop for an ice cream, ride some more, stop and stretch. It's a constant ride, stop, ride, stop...THIS DRIVES TIMOTHY INSANE! We may not have had any teeth clinching loads but there sure has been some breath holding. I am so glad we are in separate trucks and have CB's for communicating because every time Carlos grabs that CB mic and says, "Toot, we need to hit the rest area!" I  just hold my breath and wait for it, "Really, again!" I have absolutely noooo idea where he gets his promptness and drive to go, go, go...certainly not from his mother or father. Carlos' philosophy is slow and steady...gets the job done! Yes, it does! I'm not sure how but we are never late for an appointment. We may be a day early or two days early or it might just be 15-20 minutes early, but one thing is for sure...we are never late! My man may be slow but he gets the job done and that's all that counts!

I asked Timothy one night if he was tired of us and ready to be on his own again. His answer was music to my ears, "NO!" I guess the grilling at night, the cinnamon rolls for breakfast, the home/truck cooked meals, the freshly baked brownies and the evenly toasted on both sides ham sandwiches, make up for our tortoiselike speed.

He won't admit it but he enjoys his mama and daddy time just as much as we enjoy our Toot time!

Instead of a building, this time we took a power skid to a new solar farm in California, which to us, is known as the snake farm. Yep, the snake farm! We had already heard horror stories about this place and were not looking forward to going at all. First of all, we were told that it was a nightmare to get in and out of...second, you have to wear snake leggings...third, there are snake handlers on sight and fourth, you have to stay within a certain perimeter of your truck. One driver told us that one of the workers drew a line in the sand and told him, "Do not go past this line!" Well, okie dokie then! "Carlos, it looks like you and Toot are going to be on your own. I'll just sit in the truck and watch for snakes and if I see one I'll yell snake. I mean really, how many snake handlers are on sight? If there is only one per truck then how can he watch for snakes for me and for you if we are on different sides of the trailer. I really think it's best if I just stay in the truck!" "Why don't I stay in the truck and you do all the work this time?" "Nope, I don't think so!" Can I just say that we were not the least bit excited about this load. We hadn't even got the thing loaded yet and there was already some eye rolling and A LOT of sighing going on...from all three of us! EVEN TIMOTHY! We were getting ourselves worked up in a tizzy. Finally I was like, "Maybe it's not as bad as everyone says. Let's just wait and see for ourselves."

After a week of wonder, we made it to the snake/solar farm. What a relief...easy peasy in and easy peasy out. The workers saw what a difficult time the drivers were having getting in and out of the farm so they made some changes a few day before we got there. Isn't God good! Carl and Toot did have to wear the snake leggings, although, one worker acted like it was totally ridiculous. He just kept telling Los, "Man can you just please put these on before you get out of the truck? I've already been chewed out once about these things and I don't want to get chewed out again. It's crazy! Just please put them on before you get out."

Now that was a hoot watching Carlos put those things on. He couldn't figure out which was the top, which was the bottom, which one was the right, which one was left, and then, it took him forever to get the things fastened. Toot had both of his on, was out of the truck and had walked up to our truck before Los ever got his on...and Toot got his AFTER Los.

 Wouldn't they make great models for snake leggings in an outdoor magazine?

When Timothy was little we would get so tickled because everything about him was just like his daddy. The way he looked...the way he walked...the way he talked...the way he stood...everything. Some things never change! Twenty-five years later and he is still the spitting image of his daddy. When I saw the two of them standing there like this, I couldn't help but smile! Love my boys!

Usually when we are traveling to California, I am fascinated and in awe of the beauty of the mountains. I told Carl that even though we have seen them hundreds of times every time seems like the first time. But for the past several weeks I have been admiring the beauty of the clouds. As I was watching the storms brew in the skies above me, it reminded me of the storms that brew up in our everyday lives. One minute we are enjoying a beautiful sunshiny day and the next we are running for cover from the lightning and rain. Our lives are much the same. One minute we are happy and healthy and the next we get a heart stopping report from our doctor. One minute we are enjoying our family and the next we are unexpectedly having to say goodbye. One minute we are off to work and the next we are looking for work. In an instance life as we know can change.

Just as I saw the beauty and grace of God's work in the clouds, we are to find beauty in our life storms. We do that through keeping our focus on Christ and knowing that He is walking through the storm with us. We are not alone. There are so many verses in the Bible where Christ is reassuring us that we are not alone. Joshua 1:9 says "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." In Psalms 46:1 it says, God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. Isaiah 41:13 says, For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Matthew 14:27 says, But Jesus spoke to them at once. "Don't be afraid," he said. "Take courage. I am here!!" These are just a few. I hope you find comfort in knowing that even though it may seem like you're all alone...YOU ARE NOT! Christ Jesus is right there with you!

I have been following a sweet, young, newly wed couple on facebook who are currently going through a horrific storm. It's more like a hurricane. The husband is battling brain cancer for the second time and the faith and assurance they have that everything is going to be alright is remarkably strong. They are turning their storm into a true testimony of faith and love for Christ and for one another. Christ tells us to find joy in our troubles, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4

Sometimes I wonder, "Lord, how in the world can we find joy in our troubles...especially when our troubles are the size of hurricanes, like the one this young couple is in the midst of?" When he tells us to find joy, he's not talking about being all happy go lucky. He is telling us to have a positive outlook...keep our focus on him...remember the blessings in our life and to hold on to our faith in Him!

Some storms are short...some last forever...some are strong...some are light...some come with a vengeance...some come with a warning...some appear in the blink of an eye but one thing is for sure...they will come...and, they will go! When that storm comes, whether it is a wind storm, thunderstorm, tornado or a hurricane and everything around you starts turning dark, look up and there you will find that ray of sun, shining down on you, letting you know that you are not alone.

When life's storms come, I may look into the dark sky and say "God a little light please!" Then I remember - Jesus light of the world.  Max Lucado

Please remember to keep the young couple I mentioned earlier in your prayers!

Oh, I almost forgot, the rest of the snake/solar farm story. We did not see the first snake or the first snake handler. I was really kind of disappointed. I was looking forward to being on snake watch! Oh well, we have enough excitement without having to add snakes to the mixture.

Til we meet again!

Only by His Grace!

   Lynne

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Faith, Hope & Love

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. 

 But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13

WOW!! It has been a while since my last post. Carl said this should be a short and easy post to write "I stayed home with my mommy and my daddy!" HaHa! He is so funny!

My sweet sweet daddy!

My silly playful mama!

I did stay home....for 4 1/2 weeks....and that still wasn't long enough for mama. She kept me hopping the whole time. She thought if I stayed busy I wouldn't miss Carl....yeah right! Every night when I would talk to him he would always ask "Well what does your mama have planned for you tomorrow?" And there was always something.

After being gone for 9 weeks our first stop....find Timothy!!! My how we missed that boy! I think he was missing us just as much because he called several times during the day wanting to know where we were. He was anxiously awaiting the arrival of his mama and daddy. That was the best looking face we had seen and the happiest laugh we had heard in 9 weeks.

Birthday parties, family time, football games, shopping with family, yard work, DIY projects, lunch with friends, Church, Prayer group, more shopping, family time, talks with Timothy, soccer games, Church, sitting on the front porch talking to Timothy and more family time....yes, it was a busy busy 4 1/2 weeks but I loved every sweet precious minute of it.

It was a joyous time but was also a difficult one. While at home we had to say goodbye to our baby girl Cheyenne. What an enjoyable 10 years we had with her. We called her our tornado dog. In 2002 our community was hit with a devastating tornado. The day after it hit we went outside and saw a new face with big brown eyes looking at us. Ginger and Spice had them a new sister. I don't think they were ever real happy about the new addition. But I sure did love her and will miss her!

 Before Carl and I started our trucking adventures together we prayed that if we were doing the right thing that God would open doors and clear the path for our new adventure together. I prayed very specifically for things to happen but only if it was God's will. Not only did He answer the prayers I prayed but He also went beyond that and met needs that we had not even prayed about. It was like a neon sign flashing.  Three months later our adventures began only to have them come crashing down 1 month later. I shared with you about the storm we went through and that I never asked God "Why us?" But I did let Satan get in my head. I began to question if we had done the right thing.  "Would it have happened if I hadn't been with Carl?" "He might have been in a different place maybe even at home." I knew in my heart that God had answered our prayers and had opened the doors for us, but I was letting Satan do just what he loves to do...get in my head and make me doubt. Well, we came through that storm stronger than ever...in our faith, our trust in God and our love and commitment to each other. This past week I had a real eye opener. As I was studying my Sunday School lesson Dr. David Jeremiah stated that opposition can actually be a sign that you heard God correctly and that Satan is doing all he can to discourage you and cause you to turn around. I would have missed out on so many blessings and adventures and moments with God if I had listened to Satan and turned around. The LORD opened that door for us and only HE can close it! What a blessing each and every adventure has been! One year of work, play and adventures down...and oh, so many more to go!

Well, my vacation has come to an end and it is time for me to join my sweet loving husband for our next adventure...can't wait to see what The LORD has in store for us this year!



"The LORD is the one who will go before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged." Deuteronomy 31:8

Yes, mother I agree 8-9 weeks is too long to be gone and our prayer is that our trips will become shorter. But the LORD knows what needs have to be met and the time that is needed to meet each one. So be patient!

Til we meet again!

Only By Grace!
     Lynne

WooHoo! Let's Go Sightseeing!

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Psalm 119:105

Let the sightseeing begin!
　

We were so excited  how the LORD worked everything out for us. We wanted to do some sightseeing but only for a couple of days and we didn't want to miss out on a good load. They are far and few between in Washington. Once again the LORD took care of everything. We unloaded Monday afternoon in Sequim, WA....got booked for a good paying load out that same day but the best part was that it didn't have to load until Friday. So that gave us three days to do some sightseeing. Which by the way was plenty. Carl said he had to go back to work so he could get some rest. He told Timothy he thought I was trying to kill him.....WHATEVERRRRR!

　Day 1...We rented a car and off we went. Since Carlos has to drive all the time I decided to give him a break and do all the driving. Now, just so you know, I get road rage driving through my little bitty home town on Friday afternoons but I was willing to tackle that crazy Seattle traffic. I probably wasn't on the highway 10 minutes when I had to pull over. This very nice man walked up to the car..smiling, leaned his head in the window and said "Miss I clocked you going 71 coming around the curve. Did you realize you were going that fast?" Smiling back at him and batting my eyelashes; I said, "Yes sir, I'm sorry! I just said I had to slow down. We get to drive a little faster where I come from." He smiled checked my ID and gave me what he called "a Washington postcard." and told me to try and slow it down. Thank goodness that smile worked...just a warning! Carl could not stop laughing. He said, "Woman, you haven't even been on the road 10 minutes and already getting pulled over. You just wait until I tell Timothy about this." The speed limit was 60...REALLY...who goes 60! I told Carl I was doing what the book says...go with the flow. Carl laughed and said, "Yeah, go with the flow not pass the flow!" Just for the record I set my cruise control and did the speed limit the rest of the trip. It almost killed me but I did it.

My Washington postcard

After receiving my "postcard" we were on our way once again. We headed back up north to tour Townsend then Sequim. We wanted to tour Port Angeles but it got dark and started raining on us. These small quaint little towns are located right on the coast. Our waitress in Sequim said she could look out the windows on one side of her house and see the water and look out the windows on the other side and see the mountains. She said the view made up for all the cloudy overcast days they have...like the one that day.

　In Townsend we went out to Fort Worden State Park to see the lighthouse and to walk on the beach. I meant I was going to put me feet in the water and my toes in the sand. It may have been black sand but I didn't care.

Fort Wilson Lighthouse



Oh my goodness...this water was cold!



This dog was so funny. He tried really hard to catch a duck...just wasn't
fast enough.

Toes is the black sand. Yes I know I have flip flop lines!

Path leading out to the beach.

　Townsend marina was next on our stop...boats, boats and more boats....all shapes and sizes. We watched them lower this commercial fishing boat in the water...was pretty cool.

After touring Townsend, we went to Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge. It has one of the world's longest natural sand spit...5 miles long with a lighthouse at the end of it. I really wanted to walk to the lighthouse but it was starting to get dark plus it was very cold and windy. Oh, and it was lightning really bad. Standing 5 miles out in the water on a sandbar is not where I want to be when it is lightning. I kept saying, "That would be so cool! Don't you want to walk out there?" Being the good sport that he is Carl said, "Well, if you really want to we can come back tomorrow." That will just have to be an adventure for another trip.

Path leading back to the spit.

Very tall trees

5 mile long spit

Day 2: Mount Rainier National Park. A volcanic mountain with breathtaking waterfalls, rivers and views. The walking trails to reach some of those breathtaking views were literally breathtaking. You would have thought we were an 80 year old couple. We would stop and act like we were taking pictures so others wouldn't see how bad out of shape we are. At one of trails a little old couple passed us while we were "taking a picture." I said, "Now that is terrible when they can out do us." His response was "Well, they came prepared. They have their walking sticks with them." So I guess next time we will make sure we have our walking sticks. There is no telling how many times Carl and I both said "Wow, isn't that beautiful!" When we reached the top...6,400 feet...Carl said, "So what do you think!" I couldn't even talk. The view was so magnificent that it brought tears to my eyes. The highest point of the mountain is 14,410 feet but is only accessible by foot. We did a lot of hiking that day but we opted out of that one.

I hope the beauty comes through in the pictures. They are posted from the bottom of the mountain to the top.

"Ma'am would you mind taking our picure?" "Yes, I will. Where are you from child?"
One word is all we had to say and people were asking where we were from. We got
so tickled at some of them because it was as if we spoke a foreign language.



Admiring the view from the top 6400ft

We're in the clouds now.

Sunrise Point

Day 3: Mount St. Helens National Monument....Another fabulous day! It was amazing to see the destruction this volcano caused from its eruption in 1980 and how life around the mountain is more abundant today than it was before the eruption. The eruption began with a massive landslide that filled the valley with an average of 150ft of mud, rock and huge pieces of the mountain. It destroyed 230 sq. miles of forest. The eruption changed the landscape forming 150 new ponds and wetlands.

Alvin!!!!

The eruption blew out the side wall

Stumps left from the fallen trees

The mountain still has fallen trees from the eruption

Silver lake..it was left alone and it only 5 years for it to clean itself. It is
crystal clear now.

It still has debris from the eruption

Mount St. Helens in the background.

This area of Washington is also known for its sighting of Sasquatch several years ago. Much to our surprise we were almost attacked by him after we left Mount St. Helens. He is a very large and scary creature. It's amazing we made it out of there alive!

As we were reading and learning about the destruction from Mount St. Helens I got to thinking about the storms that we face in our daily lives. There are so many different levels of storms..thunderstorms with little destruction, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and the eruption of a volcano. We go through similar storms in our own lives. The amount of damage is determined by the kind of storm. If we know the storm is coming we can prepare for it. Just like in our lives the amount of pain and suffering we go through is determined by the storm we are faced with. Losing a love one is always difficult but when you know that time is coming and you can prepare for it it makes dealing with the loss a little easier than when faced with the sudden tragic loss of a love one. I was amazed at how quickly and abundantly life has grown at Mount St. Helens since the eruption. They left everything along and let nature ...at the hands of God.... take its course. One by one the animals started returning and with them they traipsed in seeds. So slowly plant life started returning.  This should be the same for us. God is there and wants to get us through whatever it is we are dealing with. If we just leave things alone and lean on him slowly the storm will pass and we will come out of it stronger than we were before.

A year ago Carl and I woke up to a beautiful August day. What started out as a beautiful, sunny, calm, enjoyable day quickly turned into one of the worse storms we have been faced with in our lives. It was definitely the calm before the storm. I never asked "Why us LORD?" but I did ask "What I am suppose to learn from this?" I remember waking up in the middle of the night just craving scripture and the closeness of the LORD. That is exactly what He wanted. Before that day I read my Bible, I prayed, I tithed, I went to Sunday School and Church. The problem...I was not consistent at all. Through that experience I learned to truly trust in the LORD and depend on Him for EVERYTHING even the tiniest of the tiny things. Nothing is to small for Him. I now read a devotion daily, pray all the time and just have conversations with Him, and the first thing we do when we get a check is tithe. We didn't come out of that storm over night but just as life came back to the mountain so has abundant life come back to us. Our faith, trust and love for the LORD is so much stronger than it was before.

We may not know when a storm or a volcanic eruption will happen in our lives but we can be prepared for that moment. By putting our faith and trust in the LORD and bathing ourselves in His word we will come out of the storm stronger than ever before.  The LORD is with us always. He is right there holding out His hand and waiting to carry us through. All we have to do is grab His hand and hold on.

There were several verses that really helped me and continue to help me today. The main one was "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart and lean not on thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct my paths." Proverbs 3:5-6. It was amazing how many people quoted that verse or even sent cards with that verse on it when we were going through the storm. It was definitely a God thing. He was right there. Storms are going to come there is no doubt about that but if we put our faith in God we'll come out stronger on the other side. When all you have is sunshine, all you get is a desert.

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not on thine own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5

Til we meet again!

Only by Grace!

     Lynne