A Newbie's Point of View {from when I was a newbie in early '07}

"You don't look like a truck driver," the waiter at Conway, Arkansas' Waffle House said to me. But don't judge a book by its cover.

I've retired my pink Victoria's Secret shower bag, but I still haven't seen another female driver with such a girly accessory.

Although I've seen one other female driver walking a little dog in a sweater in truck driving land. My dachshund has her own wardrobe… a purple sweater, a red dress,

a pink jacket, a lifejacket,

a raincoat and a corduroy coat. Wish she would wear some doggy rain boots so she wouldn't get the floors and seats dirty after being in messy weather. My husband makes Lolo do her business in the cold, refusing to be seen with a dog in a coat… especially a pink one.

I'm meeting lots of interesting people out here… such as this guy who rode up on a bicycle not proportionate to his size.

Other oddities I've seen on our nation's Highways:

• A running Ford Pinto
• Two van loads of men in skirts and tennies at an Ohio McDonald's
• Twice in Arizona, a man walking along the shoulder toting a cross on wheels on his shoulder
• A helicopter crash-landing on the shoulder
• A hitchhiker on crutches
• Truck balls

Things I've learned since becoming a truck driver :

· Things ARE bigger in Texas

· You can't pull a big rig into your choice of restaurant

· Don't answer a knock on your door… usually it's either a lot lizard or someone wanting money or cigarettes

· Super truckers dislike Swift (the company I drive for) since our trucks are governed at 62 mph and most of the drivers are new. Dumb asses, they call us. And I've got a rant ready to post on that subject. How I respond to the name-calling super truckers… "Lay off of Swift already… I'm just trying to grow up to be an asshole like you."

· Truck drivers don't see many pretty truck drivers

I'm driving down a busy Interstate in Texas one day when another truck initially intending to pass me starts hanging out beside me. I grabbed my mic and said, "Move along driver, you're holding up traffic."

"It's worth it," he said.

"What… you've never seen a pretty truck driver before?"

"No," he said.

· Things you think you find necessary living in a house become unimportant when you have to live in an itty-bitty house on wheels.

· Keep water and food stocked for when you're stuck for anywhere from 4 and ½ hours to 2 days due to an accident or bad weather. Or hope you get escorted into a Wal-Mart parking lot...

We picked up our load in icy Seattle

and headed south across Snoqualmie Summit, over Yakima Pass, through the mountains of Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico, all notorious for harsh winter weather. And winter weather we did hit. Slowed us down a bit, but we kept on trucking. But they're used to it up north and have the equipment to keep traffic and merchandise flowing. Where do we get stuck at? Sixty miles west of low San Antonio, Texas… mere hours from our destination.

I was driving I-10 from El Paso heading for Laredo in the rainy night when it started getting slick and I was getting tired. I pulled into a picnic area where my husband judged the situation and thought it better to get some sleep and leave at sunup. But before sunup we were awakened by a big Baboom!! A big truck had slid into another trying to exit off the Highway and pull in behind us. Trucks started lining the shoulder, unable to get into the quickly packed picnic area... then, another wreck on the shoulder. The highway patrol showed up and told us I-10 was being closed and we were to stay put until they came to get us, line us up and escort us to the next exit, through the neighborhoods of Kerrville and into the Wal-Mart parking lot.

Around noon we slowly made our way through the residential area ) and into town where police were at intersection after intersection directing us on which way to go.

A lady was in her yard taking pictures of the endless 18-wheeler caravan going through her neighborhood.

Once at Wal-Mart, another officer packed us in like sardines. We couldn't have left if we wanted to, surrounded by about thirty trucks. Sixty-eight were there by the time we left.

Chili's – on a skeleton crew and only serving burgers, sandwiches and soup – and Wal-Mart were the only things open around us. There was a Sonic, Wendy's and McDonald's within walking distance… all closed. Time almost stops for Texas in icy weather.

My husband and I went into Wal-Mart and bought canned stew to heat in our Stove to Go and movies to pass the time. Another lady driver kept the coffee flowing to all the drivers, offering it over the CB radio. She also got on the phone to the local Red Cross since some drivers had no food or money.

The second and last night we were there, the disaster relief van showed up with gratis chicken, green beans, corn and coffee. Thank you Red Cross!

Only I-10 East opened up later that evening, luckily it was the way we were going. Enough east bounders left to leave us enough room around us to shimmy out. We finally got our load delivered in Laredo the next day. By the time we came back through San Anton that night, all was flowing smoothly again.