December 7 – 11, 2021

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Annalou and I said goodbye for now as we left the hotel. She will drive on to our RV in NC, and I will drive to meet my truck a few blocks away.

This is a very different job for me these days. When I first started as an escort, I did these all the time, but now I specialize in either HP or steering the Super Loads. Oh, this is a Super Load alright, but it’s on a very different trailer, and that makes all the difference! Instead of a perimeter frame set between two dollies, this is a flatbed trailer, expandable in length, set on two sets of three axles. Instead of steering from the back three axles, every axle on this trailer steers. The result? When it goes around a corner, it actually pivots in the center, so even though it is a lot longer than a standard 18 wheeler, it takes up no more room in a turn!

However, because this trailer is so efficient, no one needs to steer it, unless he needs to back up for a long distance, or perhaps turn around a very sharp corner. So I am simply just a chase a car! That’s it, I just follow him and “look pretty” with all my lights! LOL

This is also not a generator. It is a switch house, full of all the electronic equipment that manages a bank of those generators. So we will be delivering to a familiar sight, but in a different place at the site.

(I deliberately put my finger in the shot to block the sun)

We left as curfew lifted, and were on our way. It was almost a boring day, because all I did was just follow him, grab the left lane when he needed it on the highway, and let him know he had plenty of room on each turn. But, I got a call from my Real Estate Agent in TN. Yes, we contacted one to let us know if there was anything for sale near our friends there. She found an 18 acre piece with a steam, a little water fall, and several cleared building sites – and in our price range! But, she said I’d need to make an offer quickly, or it may be gone very soon. Well, of course, I want to walk the land first! How can I possibly do THAT!

So, I got thinking. . . . and this was the perfect job for a lot of thinking! Since I am technically not a steerman on this job, and my driver is comfortable with just about anyone following him, and since we literally drive by the property (within 30 miles) tomorrow, and in two days we will deliver, and then I’m cut loose, perhaps I could be replaced, and just drop off early. I’d have to take my chances on when and where I’d get my next job, though.

Well, my driver was fine with the idea, and as it turned out, the office was able to find a replacement for me for Thursday morning. So I will pass by the area just after noon, and escort him to the end of the day tomorrow, and drop off.

We drove 400 miles, and parked in a truck stop in Baileyton TN by sunset. He stayed in his truck, and I stayed in my van.

Wednesday, December 8, 2021

We were up early, and left as the sun was rising. As I had estimated, we drove within 30 miles of the property I want to look at just after noon,

and then headed north on the small roads. We are only 14′ wide, but do take our entire lane, hang over the white line, and are right up to the zipper line in the middle. To some oncoming traffic, it’s scary. While on a two way road with gravel shoulders, an oncoming car made a huge over reaction, and drove completely on his gravel shoulder at full speed. The result? He pinched a stone, which shot out from his tire sideways, right into the driver door window of my van. BOOMB! Sounded like I had been shot, and my window instantly shattered into a pile of tiny glass pieces on the road, on my lap, and inside my van! What a shock! I’m glad it was a warm 53° because I had to finish my day without a window. LOL I called within 10 minutes to schedule replacement glass down near the property, because I will be there for several days until I find out what my next job is. Saturday afternoon about 90 minutes from the property there was a place that could get my glass and replace it.

We made it to the IL line, and parked in Metropolis at the truck stop there. We have stopped here many times before. In fact, Annalou and I have stopped here several times when we were working together. It was a 477 mile day. My driver and I talked a little after we parked, and he wished me good luck on my property search. I appreciated that, and thanked him, but luck is not in my vocabulary. This is either the right piece for us, or the Lord has a better one. That’s how I see it. Knowing it was almost a 3 hour drive back to where the property is, I taped up my window with some shrink wrap tape (the strongest and stickiest stuff I’ve ever seen) and drove off.

Instantly, I realized how handicapped I felt without a side window to see through.! I can not work like this! I don’t even want to drive like this!  So, I came up with an idea. . . . .

I drove right to a Home Depot, and took some measurements. I went inside, found some pre-cut pieces of plexiglass, went out, taped it into the middle of my taped window, and cut back the tape. There it is!

Doesn’t it look like an armored car? LOL

I drove almost all the way back to the property (150 miles), and stopped at a truck stop where I slept in my van for the night. I’m glad it was warm enough to do so, because I’d never want to leave my van like that in any hotel parking lot for the night. I’d be up every 20 minutes to look out and see if it was still there!

Thursday, December 9, 2021

Knowing yesterday that they had found a replacement for me for today, Annalou planned to leave very early this morning so she could drive the 9 hours out to meet me at the property this afternoon. I got up, got a shower and breakfast, and headed over to see what I could see!

WOW! What a beautiful spot! So, so quiet! It’s a long story, but it’s actually not 18 acres, it’s 61. I’d need to subdivide and sell some off in order to make this work. But to get an idea of the road footage, look at the picture below from the east side. My van is in the middle.

Then from the west side, again, my van is in the middle.

So I went for a walk, starting on the west property line. The property rises up and runs along the top side of a very steep hill, and goes a long way back. The Real Estate Agent called me to say she had arrived to meet me there, so I headed back down the center to meet and talk to her. We talked over all the options, and what would be involved in subdividing, and financing. Just as she left, Annalou arrived.

We walked the west side of the line together. Here is the deal. on the left, it runs along the top of the steep hill. The center runs down the center of the top of that hill, about 80 – 100 feet wide, then drops off very steeply down to the stream, trickling about as wide as two fingers! Then it runs straight up the side of the next steep hill, just to the top. So basically, the only practical use of the property is that front cleared area of less than 2 acres.

We decided that we did not want to pay for 61 acres, and get less than 2 to use, with a dried up stream bed that is too steep on either side to access for any reason, and no room for pasture. Kind of a no-brainer. It was, however, less that 2 miles from our friend’s farm.

They were extremely generous, and though they were not there, asked us to stay at their mobile home while we were there. Here is a shot of that home. It is the one on the right side of the picture. But notice the sad ending of this shot.

Yes! We searched for quite a while, but found my broken drone under that tree. I was well above the trees when I started the shot, so thought I’d clear the ones at the end. However, the land slopes up a bit, and the trees are taller on that side! My crash was the opposite of Seth’s crash last summer. His got stuck in the tree and needed a bucket truck. Mine fell to the ground. We were able to rescue his drone from the tree virtually unharmed. We rescued my drone from the leaves on the ground, but it was broken.

Friday, December 10, 2021

We spent the day driving around the area, looking at properties, and enjoying just being together. We found what looks like an abandoned property that would work well for us, with a small fixer upper house, pasture, and some small animal shelters. But it is not on the market. It is a beautiful area.

Meanwhile, I called in to dispatch to see what they might have for me. Listen to this. . . .

A truck just unloaded in Texas and is on it’s way to Ohio to load. It will be passing through on the same road – just 30 miles away – on Saturday. The steerman on that load needs to drop off right there and be replaced so she can drive home to Chicago and get some work done on her van. Dispatch wants me to replace her as steerman to Ohio, where she will rejoin us after her car repairs, and become steerman again. At that point, I will become the HP after they load, and lead them out to Phoenix with her as steerman.  After we unload I will again replace her as steerman so she can take a month off there with friends. I will be his steerman to his next job. Is that PERFECT, or what?!!

Only one problem to solve. My broken glass is scheduled to be replaced Saturday, so I have to cancel that. BUT there is no way I can be a HP with no window that rolls down. I bet I roll it up and down 50 times a day as HP.

HOWEVER, I can be steerman to Ohio without it, and the driver needs to take his 34 hours off. I will try and arrange for that glass to be replaced in Ohio during those 34 hours. I called, and was able to reschedule my glass appointment for next Tuesday in Ohio! LOL I couldn’t make this up! This just HAS to be The Lord!

Saturday, December 11, 2021

We said goodbye for now after we packed our cars and closed the house back up.

I drove north to my exit where I was to meet my truck at 11 AM as it passed by, and Annalou followed me for a while before turning off to head east back to our RV in NC.