Gearing Up

Over the past few weeks, we've been running all around town gathering up all of the gear we need for trucking.  You wouldn't think you'd need a lot of special equipment just to drive, but you'd be surprised.  While Portland is quite wet, it's never very cold, so we were lacking basic things like warm boots, real coats, and long johns.  Then there is the work gear, coveralls, waterproof work gloves, etc.  We also have to be prepared to live in a truck for a month with a trainer, not necessarily having any say in when we stop to do laundry-so we were advised to carry two weeks worth of all weather clothing.  Now, I am aware that most truck driving trainees are men, so I know that they might not realize what they're getting themselves into when they ask us to bring "two weeks of all-weather clothing".  Seriously? TWO weeks of ALL weather clothing?  In a duffle bag?  That I can carry by myself??  Ariel managed to get most of her stuff into one gigantic duffle, AND could carry it herself, but it is just enormous, and when we weighed it at the train station, it was 75 pounds!  We're not girlie girls, and we're not bringing heels or anything, but we do have a LOT of stuff.  Way more than all the guys will.  I'm sure the giant bags will attract attention, but we're girls, and that's what we do! :)  And anyway, they told us to bring all of that crap, so they were asking for it!

We got to explore new places in our quest for the right gear, the most exciting being Costal Farm and Ranch Supply "Just what the country needs"!  We got a little overwhelmed by the walls of mens jeans, aisles of cowboy boots, and the suckling pigs (which I never actually saw, but I read about them on the website).  

Here are some pictures of our Costal shopping trip:  

Coveralls can be huge!

The many ways to style the classic coverall:

Tough

Sexy

And...crazy cowboy

Ariel was taking a lot of pictures, people were starting to stare, and I got a little fed up:

I suppose giant orange rain pants aren't the right thing to wear 

if you want people to stop staring

A nice employee saw us trying to prop up the camera and offered to take our picture-rainpants twins!

I am continuing my preparations and will be leaving for my orientation on Sunday. New adventures on the horizon!

-Amanda