The end of an era.
On Sunday afternoon, I parked our rig and finished my last drive for a bit. Due to some unforeseen circumstances and extremely generous individuals, kiddo and I are going to be spending a year in the Phoenix area with some family, while my honey is going to stay out and keep the roads hot. It’s a perfectly timed change in a lot of ways for us. The universe is funny that way, no? 😊
I would have chewed off my arm for this day when we first started this adventure.
In late 2018 we had been working tirelessly to build our own business for almost a year, and when an untimely emergency appendectomy knocked out the rest of our funds, we were forced to change our priorities entirely and quickly. There was enormous potential in the trucking industry, so we were optimistic and moved forward with it, but transitioning two adults, a toddler, a cat, and everything needed to live full time in a truck cab was rough. Add to that the feeling of having failed at our business goals, mourning the loss of our beautiful apartment, and being unable to do things like cook food, shower at home, have plants, sit quietly, or wash our hands, the first year was SO CHALLENGING.
As I write this, I feel a tremendous amount of pride in us for having overcome this last couple of years. I’m thrilled to see that in the face of big adversity we were open minded enough to try something unconventional, stubborn enough to see it through, tough enough to power through all of it together, AND still like each other.
TREMENDOUS thank you to my fearless, kind, tough-as-nails husband, whose creativity & determination not only diverted our family from looking homelessness squarely in the face, but found a way for us to expand our belief of what is possible, conquer hardcore fears (anyone remember my days of “no f#<%ing way am I driving that thing!!!”?), visit every state in the lower 48, and ultimately experience these last two years together while learning to thrive as a family regardless of circumstances. We may have never figured it ALL out, but we did an impressive job of making the things happen. I’m so grateful for having had this whole experience together. ♥️♥️♥️
A couple more shoutouts;
Thank you to our amazing friends and family on both sides who, on more than one occasion got dropped in on for extremely specific amounts of time and always last minute...and only under the circumstances that they come pick us up. You guys are the best.
Thank you to states who care about the condition of their roads. Seriously. Nothing is better than cruising onto smooth, quiet, well marked blacktop after knocking everyone’s teeth out and keeping your co-driver awake on a miserable road filled with potholes for the last 300 miles.
Big appreciation as well to Prime Inc., who facilitated our ability to make this adventure a profitable one, and allowed us to take our family onboard...most larger CDL companies don’t allow passengers, so that was a big part of the picture. **Note to existing Prime drivers; if a blonde in a pickup waves at you emphatically, it’s me. I already miss giving y’all the peace sign as we cross paths. ✌️
Lastly, thank you to our rig, which I’m sure has played more Taylor Swift than any other Peterbilt on the road. 😂 Petey is quirky and also not perfect, but she has served us well and always kept us safe and warm and dry...she has been our home. I can’t believe how much I’m going to miss driving her.
Like all massive transitions, this one hasn’t really sunk in yet. I am thrilled about the opportunity to continue working toward those big fat business goals we set so long ago, and making good on them. We have worked SO damn hard the last several years, and I can’t wait to see it all pay off. It’s a hopeful, rejuvenating, exciting feeling.
I leave y’all with some shots from my last drive from Kansas to Missouri, and the windiest wind I think I’ve seen since I was in Virginia for Hurricane Isabel in 2003. 😳
Thanks for reading, folks...more later from sunny Arizona!
Happy Wednesday folks!