Fort Wayne, IN / Duluth, MN

Two deliveries to report. I'm now in Fort Wayne picking up a load which I'll take to Gary, IN and drop off. Someone else will be it down to Waco, TX. After that I drive to Manteno, IL pick up a load at a Sears Dist Ctr. I am to take that load to Duluth, MN by Wed morning. I should be back to Red Wing Wednesday afternoon sometime. Possibly, I'll be able to drop off the trailer tomorrow afternoon, but we'll see

Now to talk about the important stuff. Did you hear about the Bears? What a game! They were losing 16-12 with under 2 minutes left. They had 97 yards to go for a touchdown with no timeouts. They methodically passed their way down the field and scored a touchdown with 9 seconds left. Their quarterback, Brian Griese said that his headset wasn't working so he had to call his own plays. Quite a game. So now I think the Bears will win the Super Bowl. Next week if they lose, I'll think they're worthless. What a fickle fan.

Hope your week is starting out well. I'll let you know how the next two days go. - James (Jibs - Dad/Papa )

Elizabethtown, KY

-- also a Cameron Crowe film --

I-65 has become a parking lot. I'm sitting amidst a bunch of cars and trucks. There is an accident north of here. It might be a truck rollover, but don't know for sure. So, I'm listening to ESPN on my XM radio. People are walking around, doors open. It could be awhile before we get going again. The skies are blue, it's 80 degrees and the leave are turning. Not a bad place to wait. - James (Jibs - Dad/Papa )

Elkhart, IN

I'm headed North once again. This time to Elkhart, IN. I need to be there by Monday Morning. (1100 miles).

I did get my previous load dropped in Fort Worth yesterday. I had to get up at 2:30 am in order to make it on time. I then needed Tristan do to Dallas for some training (Winter Training) where they basically scare you about the dangers of driving during the winter. I did however, get a new pair of boots and a free meal. I then had to go to Arlington to pick up the load going to Elkhart, IN. I was delayed a couple of hours there, but finally headed east toward AR on I-30. It was a long and tiring day. I'm now close to Texarkana, hoping to get close to Memphis. Tomorrow I'll drive the rest of the way. Hopefully, I can catch up on sleep tonight.

I'm guessing I'll be back in MN sometime late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

The weather is great down here today. Skies are clear and the temp is 80. I hope you will have a nice weekend. - James (Jibs - Dad/Papa )

Fort Worth, TX

I'm waiting to be unloaded in Milan, IL. I'll then head south and a bit west to Fort Madison, IA to pick up a load. Then I'm heading back to TX. Fort Worth to be exact. I need to be there by Friday morning at 7:00 am.

Fort Madison is on the Mississippi River almost as far south as you can go in IA. I've never been to that part of Iowa before. From there I'll be heading south on 61 into MO and eventually getting on I-70 to Kansas City. It's 850 miles to Fort Worth from Fort Madison.

I was thinking of starting another website that would would encompass all the others I've created. I was going to call it Jibber.com. I thought for sure the name would be available. It wasn't! Who, besides me would name a website Jibber.com. Jibber.net and Jibber.org were also taken. I think they are either into making sails (jib) or they're into not making any sense (jibberish). What's this world coming to.

I also want to mention a very important day that is coming up a week from Sunday. I'm doing this so you can get ready. It's October 28th and it's little Julia Van Dines birthday (4 years old) and it is my birthday (58 years old). Start planning. I'll be in Gettysburg, PA that day. Julia will be at Disney World.

I hope you are all doing well. Enjoy your day. - James (Jibs - Dad/Papa )

Milan, IL

I'm down in Laredo, TX. I arrived at about 1:00 pm. I went to the delivery location and they were closed. They won't be open until 8:30 am tomorrow. I tried to arrange to have someone else deliver it tomorrow, but they weren't open to that. So I'm here for the night.

In the meantime I received notification of another load that I'll pick up in Laredo and take to Milan, IL, which is near the Quad Cities. (1400 miles). Unlike the last two weeks where I had many short loads, this looks like a 2 week period with long ones.

I also must admit that I was following the Bears game on the computer. When the score got to 31-17 Vikings with 4:00 left in the game and the Bears quarterback had just thrown an interception, I switched to watching a movie. It turns out the Bears scored 2 touchdowns, but lost in the final seconds 34-31. I'm glad I'm in Laredo, TX and not in MN. Vikings fans are so hard to get along with sometimes. I owe Tristan's dad a 6-pack of beer, and bottles of pop to another 3 people. Oh, the pain!

I hope your weekend is going well. Greetings from Laredo! - James (Jibs - Dad/Papa )

Rerouted: Laredo, TX

-- THE 151st POST --

My run to Green Bay was cancelled. I'm now in Menomonie, WI waiting to pick up a load to take to Laredo, TX (1500 miles). I need to get it there by early Monday morning. That won't be a problem.

Once I pick up the load, I'll head back to the Twin Cities and then head south on I-35. I believe I-35 ends in Laredo. I'll drive another 150 miles today. 600 miles both Fri and Sat and the remainder on Sunday. - James (Jibs - Dad/Papa )

Green Bay, WI

I just heard. I'm Bobtailing (tractor, but no trailer) to Eau Claire, WI and picking up a load at Menards. I then take it to Green Bay, WI. I'll drop it off early tomorrow morning.

I'm on my way....

Waiting, MN

I'm in my truck in Blaine waiting for an assignment. I didn't have to start driving until today, Thur so I had an extra day off which I used to pack.

The transition from days off to driving is not too bad, once I get to the truck. As usual, I have no idea where I'm going, but I should hear soon.

I had a good week off. I spent a lot of time with Greta & Tristan. I'm getting ready to move to my condo. I packed some things and have an idea how the actual move will go.

It's cool up here this morning (high 30's). I'm back to wearing jeans and have a coat on.

Now that the Cubs have lost, my focus is on the Bears. I hope you all have had a good week so far. I'll let you know where I'm headed as soon as I hear. - James (Jibs - Dad/Papa )

The Long Ride Home, MN

My apologies for not keeping you up to date with my travels. I am home now in Red Wing. I arrived yesterday late afternoon. Getting from Kansas City to Red Wing was anything but a straight line or the shortest route between two points. Let me elaborate.

Monday, October 1 - I arrived in Kansas City around 10:00 am and had my load of beer taken off the truck. I was then sent to. ,MO where is was to pick up a loaded trailer and take it to a WalMart Dist Ctr in Beaver Dam, WI just a little northwest of Milwaukee. When I arrived the load was not ready so I had to wait 3 hours to be loaded. I had only 3 hours of driving left and was able to maked it to just north of the IA-MO border.

Tuesday, October 2 - Departing at 4:00 I drove through IA and into IL and diagonally up into WI and arrived in Beaver Dam at 12:00 pm and was quickly able to drop the trailer and pick up an empty. My hopes were that I would be sent northwest to Mpls-St Paul, but to my disappointment I was sent up to Escanaba, MI, 200 miles straight north, to pick up a trailer of paper rolls. After picking it up I would then need to drive 400 miles to the Twin Cities. I had only 4 hours left before I had to stop for the day. To add insult to injury I wouldn't be able to drop it off until midnight Wednesday night-Thursday morning. Which meant I wouldn't get home until Thur aft sometime. That would be almost 2 days later that I anticipated. I talked to the dispatcher seeing if they had any alternatives that would get me back sooner, but this was the only option. So, I headed north. I was able to get to Escanaba by 5:00 pm Tues night.

Wednesday, October 3 - at 6:00 am I picked up the trailer of rolls of paper in Escanaba and headed west into WI and the northwoods. It was beautiful. The air was cool and clear, the leaves were turning and there were wonderful small towns placed every 15 to 20 miles. I was encouraged, mostly because my team leader arranged to have the driver replacing me make the delivery at midnight. I just needed to get to Blaine and drop the truck off. I drove for 7 hours and finally got into the Twin Cities in the middle of the afternoon.

So, to make a long story very short, what I thought would be a day and a half journey from Kansas City to the Twin Cities (450 miles) turned into a 2 1/2 day ordeal from Kansas City to Beaver Dam to Escanaba to the Twin Cities (1200 miles). For the two week period I drove 6850 miles which was about 700 miles over my average. Oh, the travails of a trucker.

So, I am home now resting and eventually preparing for my move to a condo in November.

I hope your week is going well. I'll be back with my Travel Blog in a week. - James (Jibs - Dad/Papa )

Kansas City, KS

Next stop Kansas City, KS with a load of Miller Lite Beer, but it weighs 44,000 lbs. This morning I left from Shrevesport, LA at 4:30 pm and arrived in Palestine, TX at 7:00 am. From there I took an empty trailer up to Fort Worth, TX. I was supposed to drop it there and pick up the loaded trailer of beer. The people in Fort Worth decided they weren't going to take any empty trailers, so I had to drive back to the Dallas OC and drop the trailer there and then drive back to Fort Worth. (60 miles). Eventually I picked up the load of beer and currently about 20 miles south of Oklahoma City.

Tomorrow morning I'll drive to Kansas City and then hopefully head north possibly getting to Des Moines by tomorrow night. I'm hoping to get home on Tuesday, sometime.

Two birthdays this week. Today, Tristan's step brother, Damian is turning 10. Tuesday, Tristan is turning 10. They celebrate their birthdays together. They have a lot of 'boy' energy. They are on the same flag football team, but unfortunately, Damian is a Vikings fan.

Now that the Cubs have made the playoffs we'll have to see how far they get. I'm not even going to mention the possibility of them going to the World Series.

I hope you all had a nice weekend. - James (Jibs - Dad/Papa )