The 23rd of February, Butch was assigned his first truck! He was dispatched home to outfit
the first week of March. Nika & I joined him on his next trip - a
. I was happy to get the experience & see a little of the job my husband had signed up for! I found out quickly being on the road was not for me. By the end of the month, Butch had purchased a Rand-McNally trucker's GPS which was a huge help planning routes to unfamiliar places.
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| 3-8-22 Connie & Big Red |
I started to keep a daily log of Butch's travels & link to the day's route with Google Maps. There were times I used Google Earth to help him navigate particularly difficult directions.
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| 4-15-22 Butch returns home~ |
Butch had his first real
home time by mid-April. Those few days went by way too fast! The rest of the month, he was in TX, TN, GA, PA, NJ, KY & IL.
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| 5-30-22 Memorial Day Weekend - Adair County Courthouse, Greenfield, IA |
The 26th of May,
Big Red broke down while Butch was hauling a hazmat load in TX & was towed to the Kenworth dealer in Dallas. The wait for parts to make the repair was measured in weeks rather than days... Butch decided to fly home on the 28th to wait for word from the shop. During that same time - a friend mentioned the company she drove for was looking for a driver & Butch applied.
In the interim, on Memorial Day, we made a drive to my hometown of Greenfield, to decorate family gravesites & attend services at the Greenfield Cemetary.
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| 6-3-22 Going through Dallas~ |
When we returned home, Butch had a new employer;
Blake Scott Logistics LLC. Reservations had been made to fly him to Salt Lake City by the 7th. Butch gave notice to CFI & we made a quick
one-day turn-around drive to Seagoville, TX to pick up his personal belongings out of Big Red.
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| 6-7-22 Ranger - Freightliner! |
By June 7th - Butch had his second red truck & first
Freightliner! He loved the roomy interior cab space, larger semi overall & driving the Freightliner without a governor set at 65 mph.
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| 7-15-22 Nika - OTR - Deadman's Pass, OR |
When Butch made a stop at home on June 13th, he decided to take Nika with him! She was really excited to go & enjoyed her time OTR. By October though - she'd lost weight & wasn't thriving. We decided her days on the road, were over.
Mid-month, a terrific
windstorm blew through our area... It took down the big Cottonwood at the far west end of the woods. As it fell, it broke big limbs from adjoining trees & made a terrific mess. Of course, this gave me plenty of clean-up work to do.
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| 6-15-22 Damage from the windstorm~ |
I was very appreciative of our neighbor, who took ownership of the Cottonwood & started working on it with his chain saw. Between us, we had piles of limbs & branches everywhere. (In November, I hired a tree company to come & cut the rest on our property, down.)
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| 7-13-22 Butch with Skyla & Josie~ |
In July, Butch was lucky enough to be dispatched up to OR. Our daughter Jentry drove from Astoria with our Granddaughter's Skyla & Josie to meet-up for a picnic dinner. Butch hadn't seen them since
our trip in late December of 2017. |
| 8-6-22 Butch home with his Blue Frieghtliner~ |
August,
Ranger was to be sold &
Butch again changed trucks. This time, to a blue Freightliner. His route could be called
semi-dedicated, since most of his dispatches took him from Gooding, ID to MO, then back west to Salt Lake. I was thrilled he could occasionally fit in a night or two at home on his way by.
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| 9-11-22 Bikes at Lake Cunningham~ |
By September, it had been a summer of record-breaking heat & deep drought. I spent a lot of time watering - in the hope of keeping the trees & shrubs alive. The soil, even in the woods was as dry & powdery as dust... Butch had a few days
home time & we took advantage of the nice weather to
visit Lake Cunnigham. It was Butch's first opportunity to ride his new bike!
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| 10-9-22 Antique Archeology, LeClair, IA |
October was the month of our 40th Anniversary! We made reservations in LeClair, IA. We'd always wanted to visit the town, after being fans of the
Antique Archeology TV show. Both the shop & the town didn't disappoint. There was even a little
local brewery overlooking the river.
We took a long drive north, crossed the Mississippi & returned south down east side in IL. We also discovered the
Mississippi Palisades State Park & hiked to the overlook.
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| 11-1-22 Butch & Blue - 100,288-miles! |
November, in nine-months of driving,
Butch reached 100,000-miles! A big moment for him & for me too! It had taken four trucks to get the job done! (The four included a red loaner truck -
Rebel - he drove while
Blue was in the shop & again while waiting on his newest truck.)
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| 11-5-22 Solar Panels Operational~ |
On the home front, after over a year of
installation delays, we finally received permission to power up our solar panels! They take up a good-sized portion of the backyard, but we have plenty of open space. We were told our choice of a ground mount installation was a wise one.
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| 12-16-22 Butch's new truck - Traveler~ |
December, Butch's latest truck arrived. Another red Freightliner,
Traveler is the newest yet & in excellent condition. He was very happy to have a truck designated "his" & hopes to be driving
Traveler a long while.
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| 12-18-22 Butch with Josie, Ben & Skyla~ |
A few days later, Butch was again driving up in WA. The same day Jentry was making her move from Astoria, OR to Camano Is., WA. The timing was perfect! They managed a meet-up near our old hometown of Arlington, WA. Butch got a huge surprise! Grandson Ben was with them!
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| Home for Christmas~ |
Butch was home for Christmas! Ours was white, with light, fresh snow falling most of the day. We had a quiet dinner, Jentry & the grandkids called to video chat. The next dispatch arrived on Christmas day. A trip up north, leaving the 27th. to pick up a load of Blue Bunny Ice Cream in Le Mars, IA!
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When I wasn't mowing, weed whacking, weeding or watering, I spent a lot of time on my bike & reached
my goal of 800-miles on the trail. I enjoy the monthly Glenwood Garden Club meetings & still participate in our mat-making group on Wed. mornings.
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| 12-31-22 New Year's Eve - 5:10 p.m. |
New Year's Eve was a quiet one, not even as many fireworks as usual. Nika was thankful for that! I walked the property in the evening. The sky glowed an amazing, brilliant orange, as the sun set. An auspicious end to Butch's first year of driving OTR~
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