September 12, 2015
Our First Day Together
?My first shift as a team driver, Whistle handed (wishing he could still drive more) the steering wheel over to me around 10:30 pm. Which makes me giggle cuz he has, in the past, been a steering wheel hog. Those days are over!
Now before I get to far into my update…I have not mastered the ability to remember exact locations, highways, exits, etc. So, needless to say now, I don’t quite remember where I started.
It was dark and I had just recently woke up from sleeping. Which takes me on a side note. Sleeping in a moving vehicle is an aquired ability. I completely and absolutely trust Whistle’s driving which makes it easier. There is a constant tolerable vibration, but let’s not get started on the actual condition of the roads and the amount of road construction there is across the US and how that affects sleeping!
So now i’m driving along, Whistle is sleeping, I am whisper syncing (similar to lip syncing but actually produces a slight sound) to the iPod and dancing in my seat just a happy little clam. ? Cruising along after several hours now looking for a spot to take my mandated 30 minute break.
Found a “quick” little spot at an exit that I can’t remember but would recognize and never stop at again! All was ok until you try to leave the fuel island to exit the lot. The only, and I really mean only option was to make a complete u-turn and go back out right next to the fuel islands. Normally it would probably be doeable. However at 2:30 in the morning three trucks decide that it was acceptable to stack up not in designated spots that cut into the turn around area.
Short story….some maneuvering and I was able to get out, but it was absolutely ridiculous. So now continuing towards the entrance to the interstate,, following our awesome truck GPS….until it froze. Ok….so I reached up and turned it off thinking a simple reset would fix it. Nope….it would not turn back on. It is 3am, no gps, headed to a place in California we have never been….oh my..remember that previous comment….old school atlas? Yes, that is what I figured we were gonna do.
I was ok finishing my drive without a GPS…kinda know the route to Colorado! Well poor Whistle woke up at one of my bathroom breaks and quickly calculated our situation….just a little nerve racking. My interpretation of his facial expression….’we’re screwed’.
Well we stopped at a Pilot near Salina Kansas. The manager is our hero! He exchanged the GPS and set us up with a brand new one without a hassle! Thank you Mr. Jeff at the Pilot exit 252. What a relief! We would have and could have managed without it but it is somewhat a comfort to have a working one. Amazing my change of opinion….hehe, used to bad mouth the GPS….I think I will be a bit kinder in the future.
One hour of driving left…..final tally for my first run…. 718.1 miles in 10 hours and 57 minutes. Pretty happy with that one considering the road construction speeds and cities I went through! Now it is my turn to head to bed. Whistle will take us the rest of the way to Salida. ?