Just Truckin' Along

This has been a busy week. After leaving Rochester NY, we headed for Muscle Shoals Alabama.



Kaitlynn is learning all about trucking and is always more than willing to help out. Her designated job on the truck is trash. Whenever we stop she has to take the trash out, but she likes to help in other ways too.

When given the chance she "Helps" fuel the truck.



This involves her donning her gloves and "holding" the nozzle in the tank. (It's really held in place by a bungee cord.)



Occasionally we happen upon a bit of excitement while on the road. While driving South on I 71 we came upon what is commonly referred to as a "Car B Q". We stopped to render assistance but the car was beyond what a small extinguisher could handle. So we awaited the arrival of local firefighters and County and State Police to deal with traffic. No one was hurt but the car was a complete loss.

Meanwhile we continued on toward Alabama passing through downtown Cincinnati, OH.

Kaitlynn is adjusting well to life on the road, although at times she seems a bit older that her age. For instance: Laying on the bed, talking on the phone to Grandma and watching Wall-E on the computer.

Life is Good.......

We arrived in Huntsville Alabama early in the day on Sunday and because we couldn't deliver until Monday we decided to kill a few hours checking out the Space Museum.

In addition to all the rockets and space displays they have there Kaitlynn was thrilled to find a Huey Helicopter

and a mock moon to play on with a model of the Lunar lander. She thought being able to walk on the moon was pretty awesome.

These are just a few of the Rockets on display on the grounds outside of the Museum.

This Center is also home of Space Camp where kids from age 7 to Adult can come for a real live space training. They have age appropriate simulated training and missions just like real astronauts. There is even an underwater training area to simulate weightlessness like in space, and a Space Shuttle simulator to fly their missions in.


While there we discovered Kaitlynn likes rides that bounce. I lost track of how many times she rode this one. (Similar to the Frogger Ride at Indiana Beach) She was the only one on it most of the time and made friends with the operator. Notice she is not wearing shoes. The ride operator E. took them off and was tickling her feet when she came near enough. Needless to say Kaitlynn had a blast.

We spent the better part of the day here at the Space Center. I would highly recommend it if you are in the area.
Mommy and Kaitlynn taking time out to be goofy.

This is the Shuttle Pathfinder taken as we leave the Space Center behind.

We continued on our way to Muscle Shoals, AL where we spent the night in a Wal-mart parking lot. We were able to find a darker corner, shut the truck down and open the windows to allow a breeze to flow through. It was nice to sleep in relative quiet.

Before bedding down for the night Kaitlynn and I made the trek into Wal-mart for a bathroom break, on the way back to the truck she discovered "Her Echo". There were several buildings in this same parking area and they created the perfect echo chamber. Needless to say she had to test it all the way back to the truck. People probable thought we were crazy a small child yelling "Hello" every few feet and listening for the hello in return. She was thrilled with this new doubling of her voice.

The next morning we found our receiver got unloaded and was dispatched on another load. Picking up spools of aluminium in Russellville, KY going to Savannah GA. We spent the better part of the day in line waiting to get loaded and then had to tarp the load. I didn't realize how much work was involved in tarping. My arms are sore today, I could feel it in my shoulders as we untarped and folded the tarps.

Kaitlynn was a trooper while we were loading, she was not allowed out of the truck at the shipper, so she stayed in the bunk and watched movies while we loaded. Today while unloading she was able to get out of the truck and did her best to assist in the untarping and putting things away. She gathered all the bungee cords and put them in a pile and carried the straps over to the side box so I could put them away. She was very proud of the fact that she got her hands dirty and was able to help. She is greatly enjoying our adventure.

Today with luck we are going to go to the beach near Savannah and put her feet in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. I will post pictures.