We’re on the road again, but not in the big truck, and let me tell ya’, riding on the highway in a four-wheeler isn’t fun anymore. I much prefer being up in the air in the Freightliner, with my awesome crow’s-nest view so I can see what craziness people are up to without being all in the middle of it. After watching nutbags do everything from shave their legs to eat Chinese food with chopsticks while driving, I’m scared to death to travel among them.
George Parker folds himself into a four-wheeler.It’s funny watching George adjust to an automatic transmission, and I’ve caught him more than once trying to jam the rental car up into reverse where the truck has reverse. He has a phantom clutch he pushes in every so often, and we’re driving and SUV, but his right turns are adequate for an SUV hauling a 53′ trailer. There was a huge gator in the road, and he reached out for a non existent CB mike to warn the people behind us. It’s definitely apparent that he’s a trucker who’s a lot more comfortable driving a truck than anything else.
So for the next couple of days, we’re part of the wandering hoards of four-wheelers. It makes me sad not to be able to use the ‘Professional Drivers’ entrance at the truck stops. It seems weird to be able to stop anywhere we want — we both still have the habit of looking for stops with truck parking.
George is hyper-sensitive about letting trucks into traffic, and when he’s driving a four-wheeler, he’s that guy you see once in a while who acts decent in traffic, so you automatically assume he’s a truck driver. Anytime anyone is courteous to him on the road, he always says, “Must be a truck driver.” This is hilarious, because conversely, when we see a pee bottle on the side of the road he says the same thing. I guess it’s called taking the good with the bad.
Of course, I’m comparing every truck I see to ours. Needless to say, I still think ours is the prettiest, and I don’t care what anyone says. We did see a Harley hauler that was pretty dang awesome, but it wasn’t a Freightliner, and for some reason, I just can’t love how anything else looks. Before anyone loses their mind and has a stroke, it’s a matter of opinion, I don’t need an eye doctor, and I’m perfectly sane. I just like how they look, I can’t help it, I’ve tried.
Next stop is Wallops Flight Center and hopefully the space rocket launch, which has already been delayed a day, will go off as planned for Thursday. Regardless of whether or not there’s a flight, the nice people at NASA are going to let us take a bunch of pictures and do some video, so be sure to check back Friday to see if the mothership comes to get me.
Be safe out there!
