A Happy Reunion and other thoughts

Last Saturday found us on our way to a Schneider facility in French Camp, California, near Stockton, to drop the load we had picked up in Michigan.  A good run, with lots of miles.  And a good stretch of it was new road for both of us:  I-80 west of Big Springs, Nebraska, all the way to Sacramento.

Beautiful country; easily my favorite stretch of road next to I-70 west of Denver.  Especially beautiful is the part of I-80 that runs through northern California, through Truckee, over the Donner Pass (site of the infamous Donner Dinner Party -- "somebody pass the rolls?") and then into Sacramento.

We stopped in Sacramento.   Roxy was there.

I last saw Roxy back in 1991, when I left Dallas to move to Chicago.  She was a new mom then, and baby Victoria (nobody had started calling her "Vickie" at that time; it was still "Victoria") was 3 months old.  She's been in California for eleven years now, and is happily married to a great guy, and now has three handsome young men in her family.

I've known Rox (now she's Roxanne to most everyone; but to me, she will always be "Roxy" or "Rox" or just mi'ija) since she was about 8, and have been best friends with her mom and her step-dad for over 20 years.  We were close when she was growing up, but we had been in touch infrequently over the years, mostly keeping up with each other through sporadic phone calls.

So, in one afternoon, thanks to being able to drive through Sacramento and stop for a couple of hours, I felt myself age 15 years in one sitting as I looked at photos spanning the time since I last saw Roxy.  

And seeing Victoria (it is not in me to call her "Vickie" quite yet) reminded me that the last time I saw her I was holding her so awkwardly, afraid she'd break -- and then she threw up.  Well, over the past 15 years, she didn't break, and I'm happy to report that she didn't throw up while I was there this past Saturday.

Were it not for this orange truck, and driving it all over the country, I don't know when I would have had the joy of seeing Roxy and the wonderful woman and mom she's become (just like her own mom), and meeting the extended family I have out there in California.

So, to Rox, Carlos, Victoria (I would say to call me sometime, but I guess that's hard with no phone, isn't it?  Somehow, I don't know if she's laughing at that or not.), Jesse, Jonathan, and Justice, I say thanks for the happy memory and I'm already looking forward to next time.  Love you guys!

Other bits of fluff from my mind's lint collector.  

• Our miles have been generally better the past couple of weeks, and our paychecks today finally showed it.  Yes, we are glad.
• Terry got to see his mom last week when we were on our way to Laredo.  They had a good visit.
• Next weekend, we're supposed to be in Virginia Beach again (wonder if the vollyeball games will be going on again?  I sure hope so.) to see Terry's son before he goes off on a seven-month deployment at sea.  My nephew, who is also stationed in the Navy there, will be visiting our family in Georgia.
• Our friend Billy Day will finally know there is nothing wrong with his computer because he will see this new blog entry.  Hi Billy!  
• My intention is to start adding some new experimental features to the blog, for fun and for the learning experience.  Comments are welcome -- let me know if you like them or if you have suggestions.  Since no one who reads this blog cares to comment much (or perhaps you all don't know how?), you can also e-mail any comments to us at ldx@allanmills.com .
• Have a great July 4th (if you are reading this before then; if after, I hope it was a good one for you)!

Until next time . . . keep the wheels rollin' . . .

Allan