The First Year OTR - Complete!

 Congratuations to my husband! 

As of this past weekend, Butch has completed his first year of Over-the-Road driving!

February 15, 2023 Glenwood Canyon, CO

February 25, 2022, he & Big Red were on the way to Ohio with his first dispatch to Home Depot.  By the end of March, he'd driven 12,135 miles.  I accompanied him for my one, three-day adventure into trucking...  It was not successful - for me...  I found my time better served - at home on terra firma!

March 3, 2022 Big Red at home~

May, after two breakdowns in two-days, Butch decided to take advantage of another driving opportunity & give CFI notice.  (It's difficult to find a driving position without at least two-years of OTR experience.)  He flew home from Dallas.  We took a road-trip to Seagonville, TX to pick up Butch's belongings out of Big Red.  The truck was waiting for parts & was still there months later - when a friend went past & saw the semi still parked.

May 26, 2022 - Where Big Red went in for repairs~

By the 7th of June, Butch had flown to Salt Lake City.  There he picked up his first truck driving for Blake Scott Logistics LLC & his first Freightliner!  It was love at first drive!  

June 10, 2022 - Ranger at home~

Butch came home mid-month to outfit Ranger & decided to take Nika with him.  Nika really seemed to enjoy the time with Butch.  The two of them took walks - saw interesting animals - like cows & had a great time.

June 14, 2022 -  Nika the OTR dog!

July, Butch & his sidekick were driving the miles!  A trip to OR, made it possible for our youngest daughter & our two youngest granddaughters to meet-up with Butch & Nika for a picnic dinner at a beautiful park!

July 13, 2022 Clackamas, OR  Skyla, Jentry & Josie~

By August, Butch & Nika switched semi's.  Another Freightliner & the only blue truck Butch has driven so far!

August 7, 2022 - A new ride!

This truck aptly named Blue - had a problem with the AC in the middle of the warmest days of summer!  It went into the shop.  Butch was given another truck to drive in the interm. 

August 26, 2022 "Guard dog!"

Butch drove this truck twice over the year.  The second time, we decided the truck needed a name & Rebel it became.  This was the nicest Freightliner Butch had driven to date & he was a little sad when he dropped it off & returned to Blue by the end of the month.  

October 14, 2022 - Blue with new mudflaps~

October Butch & Nika came home for a few days, so we could get away for our 40th Anniversary.  Butch found new mudflaps for Blue at the Iowa 80 Truck Stop near Wolcott, IA.  One of these days he'll find time to install them on Traveler!  (We decided Nika would stay home with me.) 

November 1, 2022 - Butch at 100,288-miles!

Blue was the Freightliner that carried Butch over the 100,000 mileage mark on November first!  But by the 17th, Blue was back in the shop, this time with more serious issues.  Butch flew home on the 20th from Twin Falls.  He was home over Thanksgiving, before leaving December 1st for Shreveport, Lousiana to recover Rebel.  (The driver had decided to drive for another company.)  

December 9, 2022  View of a wreck from Rebel~

Butch was driving Rebel for the second time - until he dropped the truck off in Salt Lake the 16th of December.  He then moved into his latest & hopefully long-term Freightliner - Traveler!  

December 26th - Traveler's first time home~

Winter driving - was - well - winter driving.  Lots of snow, ice, cold.  I-80 in spite of the WY Highway Departments best efforts seemed to be closed more than it was open.  Butch ended up making several cross country trips using I-70 through CO.  Butch was impressed with the way the CO State Patrol handled traffic over the passes, keeping the cars in the passing lane & allowing the trucks to maintain momentum in the right.

January 15, 2023 Northern Sierra - CA

In January, during one of the worst storms of the winter season, Butch drove Traveler over the northern Sierra's to make a delivery in southern, CA!  He had one option to cross & though it took him miles out of the way - the delivery was made!

January 23, 2023 - Traveler has a new Logo!

A real logo!  For the first time, Butch is driving a Freightliner with the new company logo!  The compliments started coming in - just about every time Butch drove through a warehouse gate!

February 8, 2023

February, Butch scheduled his home time to be here for our birthday's.  (Our mood was dimished by our all too recent loss of  Nika... ) The first time Butch has been home without our little Buhund girl here to meet him :-(  The weather was beautiful though.  We enjoyed our time together & a ride on our bikes. 

As we look back, it's gratifying to have accomplished our goal for the year.  The day Butch left for Springfield last January seems like the distant past to us both!  If the distance Butch has traveled is taken into consideration - it's an apt description!  Butch's mileage for the year - 140,540!  We've been very lucky in so many ways.  The top of the list is how Butch has traveled all those miles safely!  He's received his first safety bonus & is well on his way to the next!  

We look forward to 2023 & another safe year of driving~

Sunshine to Overcast ~

 Butch managed an overnight visit Friday night.  He'd delivered to the HyVee in Chariton, IA that morning.  He was returning west to pick up a load at ConAgra.  (He's not used to traveling across a state at 55!) By the time he'd had the trailer washed out & picked up the loaded one - he arrived home at 9:15 p.m.  By 7 a.m. yesterday morning he was pulling out, on his way to Clearfield, UT.  One of those short but sweet visits where he had a good shower, meal & slept in his own bed. 

2-25-23 Butch ready to leave~

With March around the corner, the winds have moved in.  Sunday dawned with bright, beautiful, sunshine, if breezy.  Mari Jo wanted to meet at Lake Manawa for a ride.  Rain was due for Monday - so today was our choice.  

The Explorer & Smokey~

I'd unloaded Smokey & was riding the parking lot to warm up when Mari Jo arrived.  Today we parked inside the Park to save ourselves fighting the wind out from the Wabash Trail head.

Mari Jo & the bikes~

The sun dissapeared within just the time it took Mari Jo to unload her bike  The clouds moved in & with them, the temperature dropped.  Not that it wasn't already somewhat brisk!  Once out on the trails, we kept moving right along.  Mari Jo mentioned turning back the way we'd come by the time we were ready to do the long stretch along Indian Creek.  I mentioned we were already well past the half-way point & would still have the wind coming at us if we went back along the east side.

The lake through the trees~

It was a challenging little ride, but we both agreed it felt so good to be out & moving!   It had been almost two-weeks since I'd been out.  

Smokey~

The south end is the prettiest part of the trails anyway & I didn't want to miss it in favor of riding back along the streets.  In spite of the wind, we made really good time & ended up riding eight-miles.  We both miss the Wabash riding.  The limestone trail is in the middle of an ongoing freeze/thaw cycle that could last well into March.

Looking east across the Lake~

Driving out of the park, I stopped to get  this photo.  The surface of the lake looking like pale green slush, frozen in place!  With the rain in the forecast - it may melt the rest of the spots of ice.  Our advance weather forecast for the first part of March - is - unseasonably cold!  As much as 20-30 degrees below normal.  Not what I was hoping for!

Winter Driving OTR ~

 Butch's last few dispatches kept him out of the snow & most of the bad weather.  He was in OR, UT & ID.  He drove out of OR on Monday & made a delivery in UT that evening.  The snow moving down the face of the mountains, gave a fair warning of the day to come.

2-21 Bear River Valley, Corrine, UT

Tuesday, he was dispatched to pick up two loads of potatoes at two different locations in - you guessed it - Idaho!  From the first pickup in Newdale, he then dropped south again.  His final load was in American Falls.  

2-21 - Walters Produce, Newdale, ID

From the above photo, you can see the snow was piling up in Newdale!  By 7 p.m. last night when he stopped for the night, he'd traveled just over 450-miles.  He said in the last few miles he counted at least 18 cars off the road.

7:00 p.m. - Flying J, Willard, UT

Both of us were more than happy when he was done for the day.  He & Nika had parked here before & she had always enjoyed the walk to see the cattle pastured nearby.  We both still feel her loss every day & will for a very, very, long time to come... 

2-22 7 a.m.  Scary view~ 

This morning, Butch texted me with the photo above & said he wasn't going to be able to leave until the truck in front of him got moved.  He'd been just ready to get out of Traveler & go in for a cup of coffee when he saw the white truck come sliding at Traveler! 

Where Butch was parked~

He took instant evasive action & put Traveler in reverse!  Thankfully, he had room to do that!  You can see from the bare spot in the snow, where he had been parked & the tire marks of where the white truck would have hit him.  The flat bed trailer the white semi was pulling, narrowly clipped the front of the black semi on the far right.  No chains, no load & going too fast to stop...

2-22 I-15 Southbound, near Salt Lake City, UT

I was relieved when he texted he had left the Flying J & was out on the road - until he sent the photo above!  The storm was moving fast & dumping lots of snow all the way down I-15.  He had decided on I-70 rather than I-80, which has been closed for days now.

2-22 Chains required for the pass, nowhere for the drivers to chain-up!

By noon today he'd reached Spanish Fork, UT - south of Provo where a large sign told the truck drivers to chain-up.  That would have been fine, but there was no place to chain up!  Trucks were lined up for miles along the edge of the interstate with nowhere to go.  Eventually there were so many, the interstate was completely blocked.  (Butch had taken a detour through part of town to try to find a safe spot, but nothing large enough had been plowed out.)

The State Patrol appeared & told Butch & the other drivers to go ahead & chain up right where they were.  Far from a safe place, but the pass was ahead of them & another semi was jack-knifed up on top.  Drivers coming from the south said they were able to get around it.  

1:50 p.m. southbound~

Our last conversation, he was moving again, about 15-mph, everyone chained up...  Miles of partly dry road & chains, before the climb up the pass...  

Battling Wind - Soaking in Sunshine!

 Lucky for me - it was a strikingly beautiful day!  The weatherman is promising rain for tomorrow & snow mid-week, so I had more than enough excuses to get out!  

East side of the park, southbound~

I'd parked at the Wabash Trail Head parking.  Once I was out on the access trail - the wind was Brutal!  It was all I could do to make any headway at all.  A coal train was going across the underpass, heading for the Mid-America plant.

Finally away from the wind~

There doesn't seem to be a name for the section of connecting trail that brings me to E. Manawa drive from the Wabash Trace.  Thankfully the wind was at my back as I rode along E. Manawa drive.  A big improvement!  I took the usual route through the old campground too.  I didn't see any wildlife, but it's always fun to ride around.

Mid-American ~

Even from a distance, the level of the lake & the inlet are so low.  

Break from the wind!

It was a struggle to reach the bridge over Indian Creek!  The wind was still a steady blow out of the south.  I wanted to stop a couple times, but I knew if I did, it would be hard to re-gain the small amount of  momentum I had.  Finally, after what seemed forever, I made it to the bridge.  From there on, I'd be away from the worst of the wind.

A road winds through it~

Even though I saw more people than normally on a Monday, the road through the Park was quiet.  Just an occassional car.  The layout of the Park is so nice, I just wish there were more of it!

Smokey on the trail to my rest spot!

The day had really warmed up.  I was about to take my vest off, but was glad I didn't when I got back into the shade of the trees.  Once at the picnic area, the sunshine definately felt warm!  (The weatherman said we'd reached 62 degrees!)

Smokey & lake ice~

The combination of water, ice & sky was so striking.  Smokey had to pose for a photo or two.  He's much easier to photograph than a horse! :-)  

When I got home, it was still warm enough, I washed the mud off my tires.  I hope the weatherman is right & we see some of the much-anticipated rain that's due for tomorrow!  

Rollin' - Eighteen to Two!

 Butch pulled in on Wednesday - just before noon!  (This was Butch's first-time arriving home without Nika here to greet him...  Very tough for us both...) I'd just returned from mat-making.  As he walked in the door he asked if I was ready to ride?  I mentioned I'd thought of going up to the Lake if the weather cooperated.  It had & we did!

Traveler - Home!

Butch had driven in from Henderson, NE.  He'd hoped to make it home Tuesday night, but the condition of the roads in WY had taken a chunk of his drive time.  He was at 643-miles when he called.  Home safe & sound on Wed. sounded better than having him push through the remaining miles.  He would have Wed. night at home, before leaving Thursday morning to deliver in Carthage.

Butch rolling on two wheels! :-)

We'd no more than gotten the bikes off the rack, before Butch was off warming up his bike!  It was chilly - but the sunshine made it feel warmer.  This was his first-time riding with the new fenders he'd installed & they fit perfect.  

Butch enjoying sunshine!

I had to take him to my favorite spot on the lake for our break.  It was wonderful to just sit together & enjoy the sunshine & view.  Now, when I call him from here, he'll know right where I am!

Ice on the water~

There were no fishermen today, but two Eagles were out on the ice, taking advantage of having the lake & the fishing to themselves!  

Trail~

Not only are the day's getting longer, but the shadows of late afternoon last longer.  We did run into a headwind traveling south on the east side of the lake, along Indian Creek.  Butch was amazed at how low the creek was, even though I've been telling him!

The bikes take a break~

It wasn't just the bikes that needed a break!  The wind up that stretch was brutal.

Another feather find!

We were just leaving our bench by the lake - when I looked down to find another feather laying on the ground!  I've looked - but so far haven't identified what bird may have lost it.  I did send a request for an I.D. to the naturalist at Pony Creek.  Butch said, "It's from a "duck"!  If it does end up being a duck feather, I'll never live it down!  

2-9-23 Butch backing into the Cabin's drive~

Butch left again very early Thursday morning & was unloaded & deadheading back home by 1 p.m.  Traveler pulled in just after 6 p.m.  The round-trip was 644-miles in 9:19!  I had dinner waiting!  This visit - he has three whole days at home!

Pedalling On ~

When Butch had to leave on the morning of the 28th, I watched until Traveler disappeared over the hill.  I closed the front door to a house where the feeling of emptiness was intense...  Doing what I do - I started cleaning.  I'm thankful for two very good friends, both of whom were determined not to let me stew in my sorrow...  

1-28 Butch leaving~

Doris called & suggested donating Nika's things to a local rescue organization.  If I would bring them to her house, her daughter-in-law would pick them up.  I washed everything & gathered up all the items of a dog's life well-lived.  I hope her little Thunder Coat will help another dog who's scared of thunder...

Tuesday, I loaded it all up & spent the afternoon at Doris's - drinking hot cocoa & sharing stories of pets loved & lost.  It was a very tough week.  

By Saturday, I was back in the woods, with another fire going.  As annoying as Nika's bark could be - the neighborhood seems all too quiet without it now...  

Mari Jo called.  She'd been watching the weather report & suggested a ride at the lake for Sunday afternoon.  

Smoky ready to go~

Our timing was again perfect.  We arrived within a minute of each other.  Less than a half-mile out, I decided my summer tights were NOT going to be warm enough.  I turned back to change; thankful I'd had the sense to bring my warmer ones along.

Mari Jo at the old campground~

Fifty degrees sounds warm, until the wind comes up.  I didn't feel like riding the entire route chilled.  It was a totally beautiful day for early February!  After days & days of frigid temps, the park had a decent turnout of people more than ready to bask in the warm sunshine.

At the picnic area~

We traveled right along, Mari Jo setting her usual fast pace.  I convinced her to make a short stop at the picnic area.  Amazingly enough - there were people out on the ice fishing!  Neither of us could believe it!  I could see water on top of the ice all the way out to the middle, where these people were.  I expect they had much more experience on the freeze/thaw cycle of the lake than I do.

The slightly defrosting lake~

You can just see the fishermen in the photo above.  We finished off the loop in good time.  The lengthening days are getting more & more noticeable now! 

I knew it was going to be very hard, coming down the street & not seeing Nika waiting for me, so I drove in from the other direction.  It was still hard - because she would always wait by the fence while I put the bike away.  When I came out of the Cabin, she would race around the house & be sitting on the deck by the back door waiting to greet me.   Never again will I get to experience her happiness at my return home...

It was quiet in the house; I was thankful when the phone rang & it was Butch.  It was time for our evening conversation.  Nika's tree is setting its buds & even after an extremely cold, dry winter, the promise of spring isn't far off.