We've been offline for awhile, but it's time to get back on the road. We took a run from Muscatine, Iowa to Dallas on Feb. 8th. It was barrels of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, and we could smell the spices all the way! We took the load just to get back to Texas to see Doug before he left for his training. After we unloaded, we drove to New Braunfels and spent a couple of days with him, Jonathan, and Ashley. Jonathan works at the Corp of Engineers park on Canyon Lake, so Jim and Doug went out to meet him there, and Ashley and I drove out later with BBQ. We enjoyed sitting by the lake, having a picnic, and visiting with them. We were going to go bowling afterwards, but the bowling alley was packed with teenagers (go figure), so we all went to Ashley's house and watched a movie. We had breakfast with them all the next morning and said goodbye to Doug. He's in Washington now involved in weapons training and cultural familiarization before leaving for Iraq on the 25th of March. We got an email from him yesterday, and it sounds like he's enjoying his training. Please keep him in your prayers. Ashley had surgery about 2 weeks after we were there. It had been scheduled for awhile, and she seems to be doing fine now. PTL

While we were in Texas, we took the Jeep (we had left it in New Braunfels after Christmas) and drove out to see Josh, Jason, Heather, and Tamara. I think the boys have become X-Box addicts. They have just about conquered "Guitar Hero" and whatever version of the Halo Trilogy they are working on. I used to like video games, but I think the technology has left me in the dust. I can't seem to orient myself in the new 3-D environments, so I just stand around and get shot at! :0)

We ended up back in New Braunfels to get the truck, then headed toward Dallas, but Panther called us back to San Antonio to get a load headed to Laredo. We stayed there a couple of days, then went to Brownsville to pick up a load going BACK to Laredo. We had some good meals while we were there because Laredo has some nice restaraunts, but these days it's not a good place to get out of, and you can get stuck there for longer than you'd like. We're not big fans of NAFTA, and especially not of the new plan that allows Mexican trucks to run in the US. The freight coming out of Laredo and El Paso is typically merchandise that has come across the border and needs to be transported somewhere in the US, but now some of the Mexican drivers can just cross the border and haul it themselves, even though they are not subject to the same DOT laws that regulate US trucks.

Anyway, Panther ended up offering us an paid move to Jarrel, TX, near Round Rock, then we moved on up to Dallas. Mom called to tell us that Uncle Jimmy was in the hospital after having a stroke during the night. He was not doing well, so we decided to stay in Texas until we knew more. While we were waiting, Panther offered us a load from Grand Prarie to Lufkin, TX, so we took it down, knowing we could still get back to Snyder within a day if necessary. We picked it up at the Lockheed Martin Missle facility in Grand Prairie and wondered what on earth we were hauling. When we got there, they searched the truck, took our driver's licenses, and made us forfeit our laptops and camera until we came back out! (Needless to say, no pictures of that place) That was a first! We were actually hauling some kind of control panels to the Lockheed Martin plant in Lufkin. After we left Lufkin and headed back toward Tyler, they called us back and wanted us to haul another load from the same plant in Lufkin BACK to Grand Prairie, so we did.

While we were still in Dallas, we received the news that Uncle Jimmy had passed away on Wednesday, February 27, and is now with the Lord. I hadn't seen him since Jim and I went by their home for a brief visit after our cruise in 2005, but we've heard from them several times since then, and he told us he read this blog faithfully. He and Phyllis have lived in Katy, near Houston, for many years, and I didn't get to see them and their boys, Allan and Nathan as often as I would have like to while we were growing up, but every image that I do have of Uncle Jimmy in my mind is of him smiling with an almost mischievious look in his eyes like he's planning something. He is my Mom's only brother, and the world will be a little more empty without him.

Jim and I drove to Snyder and rode to Houston with Mom and Donnie for the funeral service. It was a long drive down and back, but I'm glad that we went. It was good to see Phyllis, Allan, and Nathan, and we also got to see Sallie and Roy, and my three cousins, Nancy, Sue, and Trissa. I wish we would have had more time to catch up, but everyone had planes to catch, jobs to get back to, and lives to go on with. I emailed Phyllis yesterday to tell her that, like anyone who's lived long enough, I have regrets, and one that I feel now more than ever is not having been closer to their family through the years. It's easy to convince yourself that some things will always be the same and the people you love will always be around, but we all know that's just not the way it works. I also told her that we all felt a deep sense of loss and would keep her and the boys in our prayers.

It may sound like a cliche or an over-forwarded email message, but please take my advise, and tell someone you haven't seen in awhile that you love them today. You never know if you'll get another chance.

On our way back from Houston, we stopped in New Braunfels to get the Jeep to take it to Ballinger. We spent a few days working on the house, then got a call to pick up a load in Sweetwater, of all places, and take it to San Angelo. It turned out to be a load from Panther's Elite Services division, which is usually sensitive freight or something for the government. It turned out to be about 11,000 lbs of heart stints packed in dry ice. We had to drive out onto the runway at the Sweetwater airport and wait while they loaded it onto our truck from a big turbo prop cargo plane. We took the load to the Johnson & Johnson plant in San Angelo, then headed back to Ballinger. I had just finished cooking spaghetti and hot bread and made a nice salad so we could have a calm dinner when Panther called to offer us a load going from Abilene to La Vergne, Tennessee (just outside of Nashville). So, we ate our dinner fast, went to get the load, and are now somewhere between Ranger and Fort Worth. We don't deliver until Monday morning, so we're going to take our time and enjoy the sunshine.

I hope you're all well and that you know how much we love you all. I'm including a couple of pictures from the Sweetwater INTERNATIONAL airport! :0)

Please stay in touch . . .