When they were done Paul took the time to mount his fire extinguisher. We just got the truck and were not aware that there was not a fire extinguisher so we had stopped and purchased one. Paul got that mounted in and went around tightening things up that we heard rattling going down the road, by the time he was finished the guys who were to unload us came in.

We need to drive down this dirt road .. it is a down grade/upgrade .. you know you go downhill and then you have to go up hill *smile* of mud and stones? He has to get up on the hill where the crane is to unload these steel sheets. We go up there and start to back into this opening where the crane is. Only problem it is very narrow and there is this red clay mud on both sides. Not a lot of room, but should not be a problem *wrong* ... the edge of the trailer tire touched that mud and it sucked that trailer right down into that mud. Paul once again was jerking and jolting the truck and trailer trying to drag her out of that mud. The guys had to run down the down grade/upgrade to get a tow motor. They came up and hooked a chain to Paul's bumper and the tow motor gave a tug and pulled him out. It was impressive that that little tow motor had the power that it did ... it was just enough to help Paul get out of that mushy mess ... not once, but three times.

Paul couldn't get it jacked enough because if he jacked the tractor, the tractor would get sucked into the mush and mud. I sat there laughing I admit it ... I kept telling Paul this mess sure don't make you look very professional *smile* you tell me who would believe you were driving for 27 years if they could see you now *smile...LOL* I tried humoring him because I could see he was getting tense.

He finally gets it lined up and starts backing towards the crane and the pager goes off. Now how is he going to do this? Here he sits way up here on this hill there is nothing around and he got a page. He knows it is for a load and he has to get to a phone or he risks losing the load. This is the load that is going to get him to Kentucky. Gets the trailer where they want it and off he goes running down the hill to get to a phone. The load as it turns out goes straight into Louisville, Kentucky. What luck huh? They tell him it loads today when he gets there. Only took these guys about 20-25 minutes to pick that steel off there. Pretty slick and neat to watch, but it is tough on the nerves too. Knowing how much they weigh and watching them sway and swing in the air like that ... that was scary ... dropping one of them could do alot of damage. Thank goodness those guys know what they are doing.

We pull out and head for Allenport, Pennsylvania to load. We arrive at 11:15 a.m. won't load until 3:30 - 4:00 p.m. It is raining and it is very cold outside. The boys and I watched some t.v., Paul was inside making phone calls. Then it stopped raining and Paul took the boys out there in the lot so they could stretch their legs and move around some. Joseph was running around and having a lot of fun being out of the truck. Joseph kept asking when are we going to get to EnTucky? We sat there from 11:15 a.m. until 2:45 p.m. so far. Watched shift change at the guard house. The new guard comes out and tells Paul we can not go in there with him. Oh great! now what? It started raining again so we can not wait out here. Now what? I told Paul to ask the guard if there was any place close by that we could go since it is raining? As luck would have it there is a Wal-Mart three exits away (the exits were very close) so Paul takes the boys and me to Wal-Mart and let's us out. I could see he did not like doing this, but he had to do, what he had to do. Besides I am not going to cry about getting stuck at Wal-Mart with a few dollars in my pockets *smile* beats sitting out there in the rain. We arrived at Wal-Mart at 3:07 p.m. Paul's gotta get back because he is due to go in to get loaded in about 25 minutes to a hour based on what they said. I told Paul we will be fine and we will be here when you get back. It just bothered him leaving us in a town we don't know anything about.

I had a pretty nice time at Wal-Mart and so did the boys. Took Joseph to the toy department which he loves doing. What kid does not love the toy department ? Bought Curtis new sneakers which he so badly needed and the price was right so could not pass on that. Bought a few things for Paul and the truck. Didn't spend much but enjoyed it anyway's. We went out front still no Paul so I let the boys play a few video games. Curtis said, wonder what is taking dad so long? I told Curtis well now that we are out of the truck maybe he is enjoying the peace and quiet and might purposely forget us *smile* ... Curt said or he fell asleep! I said well if he falls asleep ... good thing Wal-Mart is open 24 hrs. huh? I could see this worried look on Curt's face ... *smile* I told him calm down and relax ... dad is not going to forget us ... geez ...

Around 5:45 p.m. Paul pulled in. We ran across the parking lot to the truck because it was pouring down rain outside. I told Paul about ''ole worried Curt and he got a chuckle out of that.

Drove across the parking lot and saw there was a Denny's ... looked like a good place to eat after all this is where we were headed when we left home might as well make up for it now. We went inside to eat. Joseph was in heaven ... finally got his pancakes and bacon he had been asking for, for three days. He ate it all and when he was finished he wanted ice cream which he finished also. Ice cream with breakfast ??? well it worked for him and he was happy.

We sat there talking it was nice to get out of the truck as a family and just sit down together for a little bit. It was also nice to finally be able to enjoy more then one cup of coffee on the run (I sure miss my coffee pot when I go on the road with him). That will be an investment I will make for Paul's truck. There are still many things I want to get him, but it will have to be one piece at a time. Left Denny's and called home to check on our oldest son ... Nathan is not a truck fan at all ... ask if he could stay home with some friends. We make it a habit to always call home just to see how the kids are or just to say I love you. Guess I do call home to much as Nathan says ... but I feel like since he is the only one home and the other two boys are with me ... if I don't call him, he will feel like I don't care about him or that he is behind. It bothers me, but I would never pressure him to make those trips since he don't like the truck. It's for some and not for others. Nathan is one of them who don't like it. So we call home ... all is fine so we are going to get going. It is about 7:30 p.m.

We go down the road a piece and decide to pull over and get some sleep. Dad has to sleep he has had a long day. Always says he feels like he could run for hours, but once his head hits the pillow he is out cold. Sometimes I think he is snoring before his head touches the pillow.

Joseph crawls in bunk with dad and goes to sleep. Curtis and I sit up front and watch t.v. while their sleeping. Curt spent more time watching all the pretty trucks pulling in to fuel and park. Kid has it bad for trucks ... I am trying to watch t.v. and he is sitting over there going mom look at that one .. oooooo that is a pretty one. I'm like Curtis you look at 'em you've seen one .. you've seen 'em all ... let me watch t.v. Then Curt wants to get a post card and send it to his girlfriend so I let him run into the store and buy a post card. He sits there filling out the card and all wants to go back in and get a stamp. I told him sit still ... your dad is sleeping and you getting in and out opening and closing that door is not helping him get any rest. Sit tight you will get that post card mailed.

About 2:30 a.m. Paul wakes up and said we're going to get going. The bunk is so hard on his back. He can not lay there for long periods of time or it messes his back up. He goes in to get a cup of coffee Curtis on his tail for a postage stamp ... we are on our way again ...

We make it to the 69 mile marker on 71 S and there is a back up. There had been an accident that involved four cars and a big rig. We sat there from 3:00 a.m. until a little after 4:00 a.m. Paul took advantage of it after we sat there for a few minutes grabbed a pillow and laid his head down over the steering wheel waiting for it to clear up. I'm not sure actually how long the back up was but I do know we could see lights as far forward as well as back wards as the eye could see. Now if North bound was telling the truth they informed that so far it was an 11 mile back up .... phew! that is a long back up.

Around 3:57 a.m. we start to move again. We were there almost and hour sitting in the middle of the road. Some of those guys were there as long as two hours and then some. We start moving down the road and there is a car in the ditch. The TRUCKS! (not all) they were a very big disappointment to watch their behavior out there on the road. Here it is icy to no end. They knew what just happened ahead. There was no salt truck ahead of us because with traffic in both lanes there was no way for a salt truck to get up there and salt the roads. These drivers were driving like nuts. I was really disappointed to see how they were driving given the conditions out there. There were so many of them that were so impatient that they had to go zipping by us ... they made me very nervous. They made Paul nervous also ... I could feel him backing out of everytime one of these jerks passed him and zipped in front of him. They were not using any common sense at all. As for safety first "ha!" those guys didn't know the meaning of the word. They not only put themselves in danger, but everyone in their path.

We go down the road a little ways see flashing lights. Thought for shore we would find one of those drivers in the ditch or something. Luckily that was not what happened, but it was a wreck none the less. A van had lost control and went down the embankment, crossed over a ditch and some how ended up out at the edge of a farmers field. He stayed standing which was good to see. But he had to be moving pretty good to get that van out there where it was from the interstate. Gonna take a wrecker to get him out of there ... no doubt about it.

We got down a little farther and the road is not looking good at all. It is glassy in some places, snow covered in others. Paul and I agree that we are not going to push it anymore. We are getting off at the next exit and waiting for the salt trucks to go through. We stopped at Speedway exit 50, I-71 went in to get coffee, got Joseph a hot dog (he woke and said he was hungry once the truck stopped). We hung around there for a while. We saw a salt truck go by and the drivers coming in said they salted 71 so we are going to give it another try. Looks pretty good so far. Roads are wet and some what slushy. We are just going to cruise along. We're not in a really hurry to get any where ........ just headed to the truck show is all. That is nothing earth shattering that we have to push. We either make it or we don't. I would love to meet Bruce from Layover and RJ owner of 'Ol Blue, shore it is important to me, but not an emergency that is worth risking our lives for, our children's lives or anyone else on the highway. We paced ourselves about 40 to 45 m.p.h. trucks whizzing by us and then out of site. We finally arrive to the out skirts of Cincinnati.