I know ya'll have been waiting patiently for an update, and so I'm gonna do my best to give you something interesting tonight, although I can feel my brain powering down as I type, so don't get your hopes up too high. :)
I have been realizing from some of the questions I've been getting that we haven't given you guys much info on the trucker lifestyle. First of all, it's true what they say, that trucking is not just a job, it is a lifestyle. Now that doesn't mean that we're going to start chewing tobacco or wearing flannel (necessarily), but it is a true statement about the job that we are now in. We don't live in a house anymore, we live in a vehicle. We eat out of a cooler or at restaurants or from what we can find at mini marts, and we pee in public restrooms or outside, and we never shower in the same place twice, if at all. We're kinda like gypsies. :) We are finding a newfound appreciation for things we took for granted back when we were non-truck drivers, some examples:
-Denny's. I am not kidding when I say that Denny's is absolutely my new favorite restaurant. I get so excited when I see a Denny's at an overnight stop, and let me tell you why: they have a build your own burger with an Amy's veggie patty. Because of the lack of options and hot food out here, that veggie burger becomes one of the best things I've ever tasted. A Denny's sign means "you will have something reliable that tastes good for dinner tonight". I love sitting in the booth and savoring my burger and fries while reading a good book.
-Showers. I have been fortunate enough to get a shower ever day I've been out here, because a morning shower is something that is very important to my trainer, so she makes sure we're someplace where we have access to showers if at all possible. Some of the rest of us have not been so lucky in the shower department. :) The way it works is that you get a reward card to all of the different truck stop chains, and then you get one free shower for the first 50 gallons of fuel you buy at that chain. So we fill our tanks with 50 gallons, stop and reset the pump, and fill with the other 50 gallons, that way we get 2 showers instead of one. (If you don't have the credits from fueling, the showers cost $12.) Anyway, in the morning you drag your sorry ass out of your bunk, and hike across the truck stop parking lot in your sweats, with crazy hair and pillow wrinkles still on your face, and sign in for a shower. They give you a shower number and a code to type in to unlock the door to your private shower room. Some of the shower rooms look nice and clean, and some of them look like exactly what you think of when you hear the term "public shower". But the water is hot, and you are in a room all by yourself, and when you're done, you feel like a real human again.
-Hotels. I have had the good fortune to be able to stay in a hotel room twice since I've been out here, and let me tell you, a hotel room is the last word in trucker luxury. You can shower without flip flops on. You can hang out and watch tv in complete privacy. And you can do so in as much or as little clothing as you so desire. You can walk around in your bare feet. You can eat in privacy. You can soak in a hot tub! You can go to the bathroom in the middle of the night without putting your shoes on and hiking across a parking lot. These are the things we live for.
-Walmart. (please don't anybody disown me) I didn't ever shop at Walmart in my past life. Ever. But Walmart has several benefits for the truck driver. First of all, they usually have room for truck parking, which is almost unheard of outside of truck stops. Secondly, they often allow trucks to park in their lots overnight, which comes in handy if it's late and you literally can't find any other place to park and sleep besides the freeway ramp. Third, they have everything. You can buy a lot of things at truck stops: snacks, drinks, truck parts, gloves, crappy toys, toothpaste, even bananas-but in the end, it's still a truck stop, not a store. Walmart is a store if there ever was one. They have clothes, they have appliances, they have a drug store, they have goldfish if you want them. And they have groceries. Real live produce and foodstuffs that isn't marked way up like at the truck stops. And last, but definitely not least, they have bathrooms-and if you are parked in their lot for the night, there is nothing you want more. Ariel and I have both gone into a Walmart, pockets stuffed with toiletries, for the sole purpose of using their bathroom. It feels a little weird to be brushing your teeth when actual customers come in to use the toilet, but desperate times call for desperate measures-and oral hygiene is important to me. :)
Today I had a day off, and so did Ariel, so I got to talk to her for a good long time-her in a Starbucks in Virginia, and me in a bathtub in Arizona (the Little America truck stop in Flagstaff has killer shower rooms with big clean tubs). We are both adjusting to our new lifestyle, and learning to appreciate the little things, baths, good coffee, and connecting with good friends. We are really looking forward to when we get to continue that adjustment together-just a few more weeks!
-Amanda
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