First week driving recap

Thursday 11th-
Pacific,WA
met trainer, moved in, spent the nite in the truck.

Friday 12th-
First load: Auburn,WA to Longview,WA. My trainer drove and i watched. It was my first time at a customer... The air was sour... We were dropping cardboard to be recycled. After the unload I swept the trailer out.

Saturday 13th-
Tacoma,WA to Millerburg,OR +
Halsey, OR to Roseburg, OR
This was my first day driving! And it was pretty good! I think getting to be in the truck and adjust helped me, I was relaxed... I shifted up through the gears and then I was cruising down the highway, no problem! I pulled into the Costco parking lot (the drop site for the next morning) where I would spend my first overnight alone. I met my trainer's family, and became an instant hero to his youngest daughter for giving her justin beiber posters from a joke love card i found hidden in my bag (amanda you sneak). My boss would go home for the night. I sneaked in using the toilet at subway right before they closed so I didn't have to christen the parking lot (",)

Sunday 14th-
Still in shroud of darkness, I pulled around to the dock where I would do my first dock back up... I did pretty good!
After we'd finished the load i took a nap to up my sleep hours... Then was taken to Walmart to shop for the first time in probably 5 years... And this Walmart was in Roseburg and it was quite the cultural experience... Here are some of the unusuals I found there:

Then we headed out and I got a very sweet treat... A stop in Portland at my parents house yay! We pulled our huge beast right onto their little street and covered their fence and the neighbors... It was quite the sight! My parents fed us, hugged us, and stocked me up w/ more soy creamer for the road (",) I got to hug, squeeze, and encourage my Team truckin' cuzin' just minutes before she headed out orientation, and then we were back on the road...
Halsey, OR to Union Gap, WA

Monday 15th-
Wenatchee, WA to Auburn, WA
Wenatchee was beautiful and the drive had a ton of hills. They made me nervous but I did it and pulled through... Then as we came to the pacific yard the best idea surfaced... Credit to my trainer... My cuz was at orientation near the PAC yard!!!!
SLUMBER PARTY !!!!
I surprised my cuz, yay! We had dinner, hot tub, & cuddling, it was a much needed respite for us both! Papa is giving me gifts of fellowship! I thought I would be out alone for 5 weeks but instead i get all this family time! Thanks Papa!

Tuesday 16th-
We got a long haul yay!
Mt. Vernon, WA to Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Made our way to southern OR
And had multiple encounters w trainers' family... Culture shock setting in... The crazy thing tho... Out here there are a billion simultaneous cultures, so I guess I better hold onto my frickin' pants!!!

Wednesday 17th-
This longer run thing is awesome... It's just you and the open road...and beautiful scenery... I like this part...

Today I did most of the driving... Almost 9 hrs and 400+ miles (",)

We did have some weight issues because we were just under our legal limit. That forced us in to scale and slide our tandems and fifth wheel multiple times. I had a super close call with my trailer and the scale barriers... About one inch close! Yikes! That truck stop was stressful it was so busy and I had to pull through the tight scale twice and back up twice... But i did it! and we got our weight distributed and we got outta there alive!

Thursday 18th-
Lathrop, CA
I was up early to try out the brand new private showers and be ready to roll out and finish our load. The showers were amazing! Coffee good! Pre trip (inspection) Fail! Power steering fluid leaking... We're grounded, truck in the shop... Hanging around... Waiting...
But It's warm and sunny here in Cali and I get to recoup and touch base. Looking forward to another amazing shower in the am.

ANOTHER OTR SIMPLE PLEASURE:
No long line at the ladies room, no line at all...in fact every where I go it's as if there's a private bathroom just for me (",) it's about time the boys have to wait... Ha!
If you're sick of restroom lines ladies, become truck drivers.... There are plenty of open pottys out here (",)

-Ariel