the imes'

on wednesday we were in north carolina, waiting for a load, and we stopped by a cracker barrel for lunch. we were very close to charlotte, north carolina, and sarah has some friends there, so she called them. they lived 1.6 miles away!

so we went to their house and ate dinner with danny and carmen and their two little girls, eliana and emma. eliana is almost seven, and emma is two. i tried not to act nervous. they were very nice.



emma liked to kiss me.
she almost didn't give me back to sarah.



sarah was very happy to see her friends. and zack was happy to meet them. (i was happy to not be eaten by a two-year-old!)

the rockies

we were in colorado today. the mountains there are very tall.

we were planning on going to nevada and california after this, but we switched our load, and now we're driving back to tennessee.

sarah and zack have nine days left of training. then we'll go back to tennessee - that's where covenant's head-quarters are. head quarters are where a company has it's main offices. i can't figure out why they call them head quarters.. aren't quarters a coin? i mean.. coins have heads on them sometimes, but i don't think it makes sense that way. quarters are also one-fourth of something. but that doesn't make sense either.

oh.. zack just said that quarters can mean a place where someone stays or lives.
that makes sense. because a head of a company is the person in charge. and that person is at the headquarters!

anyway.. i was telling you that we'll go back to the headquarters so that zack and sarah can take their final test and get a truck.

we're very very very excited about this.

the south

georgia and florida are very warm and muggy. 'muggy' means the kind of feeling like there are too many people in one truck. the air feels heavy and warm. it's the opposite of wyoming, where it was dry and snowy. it was so cold and dry, it made my hair frizzy. 'frizzy' is what sarah says when her hair sticks out every-which-way and makes sparks when she touches zack or the sleeping bag or her sweater.

sarah has been drinking a lot of sweet-tea. she let me try some. it's very tasty. they serve it everywhere down here in the south.

zack drinks coffee to stay awake. he has a big thermos-cup. it keeps the coffee hot for longer. and he eats peanuts and raisins. and potato chips that taste like salt and vinegar. and he drinks a bottle of water every night while he's driving. he also likes to listen to sermons and music while he's driving. he laughs a lot when he listens to sermons. and then he tells sarah about them in the morning. he also likes it when sarah sits up with him after she's done driving. linda's usually asleep and sarah sits in the passenger seat and he drives and they talk and laugh and make kissy-faces at each other.

when sarah needs to stay awake, she drinks coca-cola. in some of the truck stops they have little buttons you can push for different flavors to add to your pop. she likes the vanilla. they also have cherry and chocolate and lemon. she also drinks a lot of water and likes to eat cashew nuts and cranberries. and crackers. and she sometimes takes a little pill that has 'royal jelly' - that's the part of the honey that bees give to the queen. sarah's friend, brekka, told her about it. it doesn't really give her more energy, but it helps her brain to stay alert. and that's a good thing, because it's important to be alert when you're driving a big truck like this.

we're waiting for a load assignment. this rest stop is full of trucks. there are lots of truckers in america.

wyoming

last night we drove across wyoming. it is very long and yellow and mostly flat. and it's spelled funny.

right when the sun was setting behind us, zack got out the camera and started making "moon-art".. the moon was big and round and right in front of us. it was really cool. (i think 'cool' is a word that people use when they think something is nice or special or fascinating.)

sarah's going to help me get the pictures later today, so i'll show you them later.

we're going to take part of our load to south carolina and part of it to florida.

this is a very good trip.

trucker zack

this is one of my favorite pictures that Sarah has taken.
we were in utah.



it was zack's birthday on friday.

our time in portland

tonight is tuesday night. we got here a week ago sunday night. we thought we would be here for two days starting last saturday, but we couldn't get a load to portland until sunday night.

when we got to zack's family's house, thanksgiving dinner was over. zack and sarah told me that thanksgiving is actually this week, but that his family was celebrating early because kristan and charlie were going to be here.

thanksgiving is a day when families get together to eat turkey and be thankful for each other. they sometimes travel hundreds or thousands of miles just to be together. and the turkey is very important. i'm not really sure when this all started..

even though we didn't get to eat turkey with everyone, we did get to see zack's cousin, mark, and mark's girlfriend, heather. they are very nice. sarah and zack were very glad to be home.

kristan and charlie were there too. they have a one year old daughter - olivia. after my experience with sarah's nieces and nephews, i was understandably nervous. so i mostly hid from her in sarah's bag. i like little kids.. but.. they are very very unpredictable. but they are cute.. in their own devilish way.....

that night we went to a hotel, since the house was crowded.. and zack and sarah hadn't been alone in a long time. they had a room with a huge jacuzzi bathtub and when they were gone, i snuck into the tub and took a bubble bath.
actually, i took three of them.
i'd never had a bath before, but i'd heard about them.
it was amazing.
i think i scared the cleaning lady on wednesday.. maybe she'd never seen a little llama in a bathtub.

zack and sarah went out for coffee a lot this week.
and they ate sushi.
and they had a lot of fun with zack's family.
zack went out with charlie a couple times for some "guy time". they really like each other. and they both really like beer. i'm glad. it's nice to have friends.

we're going to be here until thursday. then we'll meet linda at the truck stop that's close to zack's parents' house and get back on the road.
we didn't expect to have this much time in portland.
it's been nice to spend time with people and drink yummy coffee.
but we're really looking forward to getting back on the truck.
i haven't seen montana in the daylight, but everyone keeps saying it's beautiful.
and zack wants to go to alabama and louisiana.
sarah wants to see kentucky and georgia.

we have 20 days of training left, and then we get our own truck. they said they're going to make a little seat just for me on the dashboard. i'm really excited about that! then i can see everything, and i won't have to be afraid of falling. not that i'm afraid now.. i mean.. not very much.. really..

today is zack and sarah's eleventh month-iversary of their first kiss. they've been really mushy today. actually, not any mushier than any toher day.. maybe i've just been noticing it more today..
they're really mushy.

and some seymours

the wallaces are quirky..
but the seymours are downright strange...

some wallaces

This is a picture Sarah took the weekend we went to her uncle's funeral. I'm sitting on Alli's head. (a lot of these pictures are coming out blurry and i don't know why..)



Sarah's dad, Bill, is on the left. and then there's debbie and david (David is sarah's brother) and their kids Chris, Alli and Lauren. Zack is behind Lauren. Lauren is holding Abigail. Abigail is Sharon and Ahshuwah's daughter. (Sharon is Sarah's sister.)

arkansas

Linda is driving through arkansas right now. yesterday we stopped at a terminal in texas and had the mechanics change the fuel filter. i got to stay in the truck and watch I sat on the dashboard right next to the steering wheel and watched them take it apart and put it together. i like the mechanics. it looks like they enjoy their work. Maybe i'll be a mechanic when i grow up....

texas

tonight we're in los angeles. sarah had to back up into a little tiny space between two trucks. actually, it wasn't that little. it just looked like it from where i was. i didn't think she would make it. neither did the old trucker in the next truck.
but she did it!
we are all very proud of her.

as soon as we're all loaded, we're going to drive to texas.

more trucker pictures

zack showed me how to open the hood..



..and check all the fluids in the engine..



sometimes i like to sneak up on zack..


and jump from his shoulder..


to the steering wheel..

pictures from the road

this is my first trip to new mexico. (i told you it was dark..)


this is me in oklahoma.


and me again in pennsylvania.


this is zack driving through connecticut.


this is me in utah.



did you know that there are 401 miles of interstate 80 in wyoming? i didn't know that until just now..

pictures of the bus trip - FINALLY!!

we left portland at 11pm on friday night.


it was a long trip..





we got to los angeles at 10pm on saturday night.
then we waited for a bus on a dark street behind the greyhound terminal.
that was scary.
i think that zack knew i was scared, 'cause he asked a taxi driver to drive us to claremont.
we got there at 11pm on saturday night.
i was tired.

to portland

we're going to be in portland next weekend! we get to meet charlie! charlie is kristan's husband. kristan is zack's sister.

happy day!

north carolina

this week we went to north carolina. we took i-40 all the way from arizona to greensboro, north carolina.

we stopped in nashville, tennessee for barbeque. did you know that tennessee invented barbeque? we went to jack's. i only ate corn, 'cause i don't eat meat. the corn was creamed and yummy. sarah had pork ribs. she looked very very happy.

then we drove over the smokey mountains. they were beautiful.

sarah's mom lived in old salem, north carolina. that's right next to greensboro. sarah cried a lot when they passed the exit where her mom had lived. that's also where her mom died. i think sarah was thinking about a lot of memories, 'cause sometimes she would smile and then cry harder.

right now we're in arizona again. it's very very pretty here.