Jubitz Truckstop, Portland, OR

Our load picked up in Salem, OR this morning so yesterday, after we unloaded we headed down interstate 5 to Portland and the Jubitz truckstop.  Out here in the West, Jubitz is famous and we can see why!  It's a HUGE travelcenter with 2 hotels, a country/western lounge, full service restaurant, movie theater, convenience store, gift shop, deli and tons of truck parking and service options.  You can check it out here if you are so inclined.  

Once we got parked and Jack walked, we went in to take a closer look.  While perusing through the gift shop, we met Tom; a driver from Alaska.  We talked a little about de bidness and mentioned that we were going to have a drink in the lounge a little later.  Tom said he had the same inclination and he'd probably see us there.  Well, we did, he did and we got a table together and talked and told stories for quite a long time.  He had to be up at 0500 so we exchanged #'s and parted ways.  Beth decided that we should go too and she was right.  It was my time at night and instead of coffee and the water I'm used to drinking, it was beer so needless to say it wasn't long and my head was pounding.  A throbbing migraine that starts at the base of my neck and travels up and over to stab me right behind the eyes.  I fell asleep at 0200 our time and at 1000 my head still wasn't better.  I don't know if it was the beer that caused the headache or the lack of caffeine or the lack of water, but I can always count on Beth to take care of me.   Before she left this morning, she made sure I had taken something and when she went in, she brought me back a Coke and let me sleep.  Obviously I'm feeling better now, but who knows where I'd be without my guardian angel.  We're now travelling East on I-82 and I'll be taking over soon I just wanted to get it all down before I forgot.

Ti-i-i-ime, ain't on my side...no, it ain't...Ti-i-i-ime..

OK, so who has time to do a daily blow by blow of their life?  And on top of that, who really cares that much about someone else's life when theirs is probably just a full and interesting and THEY don't have to put it down in some obscure little cobweb-ridden corner of the tri-dub?  That being said, I don't promise to do better cause we both know that's a lie.  When something becomes work, we have a tendency to procrastinate( or at least I do), and nothing gets done, then we get behind and then there's stress.  Well, I will promise that I'm not going to stress over this thing anymore.  I want to keep it fun.  I do enjoy it, but it is just too time consuming to keep up with it constantly.

Beth and I had a great vacation.  We went to Washington, D.C. to see Suzy and had a blast!!  It was her birthday and there was a party every night we were there.  After 3 days, we left D.C. and headed down to Patrick County for a little family fun on the farm.  Uncle Frank recently built a FANTASTIC pond on the old home place and between enjoying the pond and seeing all the family We had a wonderful time.  I hate that I didn't get to see everyone (sorry about that) but there's just not enough time in the day to do all we want to do.  I suffered a bout of gravy poisoning and spent most of the day on the porta-loue, but it was worth it.  I haven't eaten like that in months!  It's hard to feel good about eating anything fried, but no antibiotic, hormone free fried chicken makes me feel just fine.  After leaving the pond, we drove down the Blue Ridge Parkway and camped out a night at the Linville Falls State Park.  We finished off the last of our chicken and what few beers we had and called it a night.  Next morning, Beth and I and Jack went hiking the falls.  We started out on the strenuous trails (I mean how bad can it be?  .3 and .7 miles).  Well, suffice it to say, we're not up for strenuous trails just yet.  Even Jack was dragging his tongue by the time we got back.  I've also got to remember that no matter how far you hike, you MUST take water with you!  I even had a camelbak at the site, but did I take it??  No-o-o-o!  
By now, we were really anxious to get home so instead of taking the Parkway all the way down, we jumped off in Asheville and rode interstate.  It saved us about an hour and a half and boy were we glad of it.  We had a couple of days at the house and now we are on our way back from Salinas, CA with a load of lettuce.  So the next time you eat Fresh Express bag o' salad, think about us..