Road trip 1 - DONE

After 5 months we were finally able to make a trip home! We have tried several times but it was either too cold to leave the trailer un-winterized or Dylan couldn't get away from work.

The ride home was normal. We were not going to leave until Saturday morning so we wouldn't be driving at night but we ended up leaving Friday night about 7 pm. We had everything ready and we lost power, actually the whole town of Albion was out of power so we hit the road.

Once home we got a much needed and wanted crawfish boil. I thought this was going to be my first year with out crawfish but we made it home just in time. We got to eat everything we wanted while we were home - A&N Burgers, Foxes Pizza, Johnny's Pizza, and fried catfish. In between eating and visiting family Dylan finally finished painting our bedroom, its only taken 2 years!

Friday was all about Hannah, Dylan's little sister. We both can't believe it's time for to graduate and head off to college and are so proud of all she has accomplished and cannot wait to see her reach her goals in life.

The drive home we decided to mix things up. We left around 7:30 Saturday morning and decided to drive through Birmingham, Al so we could drive uo through the hills and take 2 days to make the drive. Just west of Tuscaloosa the interstate was closed so we detoured 2 hours through the back roads of Alabama with an LSU decal on our truck, that was fun. We decided after our delay to stop in Bowling Green, Ky. WELLLLL there were no hotel rooms available with in a 30 mile radius of there thanks to University of KY graduation. So we kept driving and trying to find a hotel with a room available that also accepted pets. We pulled up to the LaQuinta in Elizabethtown, Ky and got the last room they had. Exhausted, upstairs we go, open the door and the room is occupied! So back down stairs we go. The lady at the front desk can't figure it out what was wrong, that room was just cleaned and the last room they had available. FINALLY she realizes room 316 was the last one available not 315.  Thankfully after all that Mo did really good for his first time in a hotel room with us.

Sunday morning we continued our drive back to Michigan. We were not back at the trailer just a few minutes before we were off again, this time hunting Morel Mushrooms. After the last few weeks of finding fakes we finally found real ones this time and after trying them if that's what they taste like I will gladly continue "hunting" mushrooms!

Dylan is back at work today and I am back to my normal duties :)

We moved AGAIN

After one month staying in Angola, Indiana with Dylan driving a hour to and from work we are now living at show up, he has no excuse for being late for work now lol.

All the rv parks around the area do not open until mid May so we talked with the property owner and he was ok with us putting the trailer here so this is our new home location. Its more of what we are used to. We are surrounded by a pine field with corn fields behind us, great for watching deer in the evenings and we even had some come out close to the trailer yesterday evening. The drive was uneventful which was a blessing since it was my first time to haul the trailer except for a few miles around the house. The weather is trying SO hard to be warmer and some days it is but we are still getting snow/sleet from time to time.

Mo is a much happier dog, getting to run free all day. We have discovered one thing, he doesn't care too much for men in hard hats lol. But he is getting so much better at meeting new people and letting them pet him, he has come a long way in one year.

Things are starting to pick up on the job site, I'm hoping to get some good pictures soon. Their first wire pull should be next week so after that I will get some good shots for sure after wire is in the air.
Dylan and the guys will be pulling 10 wires into the air at just over a mile, stressful but exciting!

I have been told they guys have been asking when sausage balls will be made again so it looks like I a back in the cooking business! They don't know I am planning a big lunch for Lineman Appreciation Day, we will just have to celebrate a days early on the 17th. For now I am off to bake cupcakes before Dylan eats all the icing!

Finally an Update

Oh hey long time no see!

The past few months not much has happened.

We did say goodbye to our first tramp home in January, wasn't to sad to see it go as we are both still enjoying the room in our new trailer.

Dylan worked in St. Louis from January 5 till February 20.  On Monday, Feb 23 we moved to northern Indian and he signed the books at 876 and took a call. So we are back in Michigan, a little sooner than we had originally planned and A LOT sooner than we would have preferred weather wise. And just so you know if you haul a camper in 3 degree weather it will be COLD inside when you reach your destination. Since it is so much colder, especially at night, we joined the big boys and upgraded to a 100 lb propane tank after a 30 lb bottle only lasted about 2 days.

Now thats its official we can finally say that Dylan took his first foreman call. We are both really excited for him to have this opportunity. He has done it in the past, just now he has the title and truck ;) to go with it.

We will be staying in Angola Indiana until campgrounds in Michigan start to open in April if weather allows. So hopefully winter will ease up soon and things will begin to warm some.  

Mo in St. Louis

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I try my best to post everything in here but sometimes it's easier to post a small update in Facebook, especially when we are traveling. Also I don't always post all our pictures to our blog, just my favorites or the ones that stand out to most.

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We were not made for the city life.

We have survived city life for almost one month, yay us! Even though we are surviving this city life is getting old quick. Sirens, trains, air planes, helicopters, and big trucks every night while you are trying to sleep gets old QUICK. The best part is the train only comes through at night, or thats how it seems anyways. Oh and people in the city cannot drive,  if you are driving the speed limit you are going too slow for everyone else on the road. People don't realize that my 3/4 ton truck is bigger than there 1/2 ton truck or car and they are not going to push me off the road. We are both missing our dead end road where our closest neighbor is a half mile down the road not feet away. Dylan keeps saying he just want to start driving and not stop until he hits a dirt road and then just stay there a while. Once again God knew what he was doing when he chose for me to be raised in the country.

We got a rude awakening at 2 am this morning when some weekend campers decided to come in and set up. After all the hollering and unhooking the trailer (which sounded like the tore the fifth wheel out of the trailer) I am exhausted and I can only imagine how Dylan feels at work. They don't know it but they were moments away from meeting my not so good side. AND to make matters worse this is our second run in with these people so the owner of the park will be notified.

Except for city life and rude people things have been going pretty good for us here. Dylan is working 40 hrs so this summer is going to take a good bit of adjusting if he gets on a job working 60 hours.

Most have heard about my kitchen accident,  I tried to cut my thumb off instead of the deer meat. After almost 2 weeks the swelling is starting to go down. I am hoping after the swelling is gone I will get feeling back on that side of my thumb but we shall see. Just a word to the wise if you are ever around this part of the country don't go to Belleville Memorial Hospital in Illinois. It was a terrible experience all together. But that is over now and I am healing well and it was just an minor injury. Dylan was just being overprotective and wanted to make sure I was ok.

Hopefully we only have one month left here in the city and then off to bigger and better thing!

On the Road Again!

After a 2 month vacation we are back on the road!

As most know this time our journey has landed us in St. Louis Mo for work. We are currently staying in Illinois until Monday (1/5) till we find out exactly where Dylan's' job will be. He signed the books at Local 2 (St Louis) yesterday and reports next Monday morning next to the Gateway Arch. 

We wanted to avoid cold at all cost but it looks like we couldn't, for a few days at least, but we are trusting God has a plan for us being here and we are making the best of it. As we were setting up the trailer, we were approached by our neighbors --- we are parked next to another lineman and his wife! Its our first run in with another line family so that has been nice being next to someone who understands what we are doing and why we are here. I am already combating moisture unfortunately, all the cabinets are open above the chairs, we have pulled the mattress off the wall and I have purchased a small stock in damprid. After we find out where were are going to be permanently we are going to order a dehumidifier to hopefully help with this issue. Our water tried to freeze our first night here, but we are getting better at preventing that. Unfortunately the temps are getting lower so we are not 100% sure we wont freeze. 

We arrived here Saturday evening after a long raining trip from home to Cahokia, Illinois. Since neither one of us like the cold we decided on Sunday we would go ahead and see the sights, plus it doesn't look like its going to get any warmer! 

The Gateway Arch is breathtaking and absolutely beautiful. Seeing sights like that make us both thankful that God is allowing us to travel and have the opportunity to see some of the great sights all through out America. No we did not go to the top. Heights and small spaces are not what I consider a good time and the line to get inside the museum was too long to be standing outside in the cold. 

Mo-mo is doing good, but he doesn't know that he is getting booties and I am sure that is going to go over good since he doesn't even like wearing his sweaters and jackets. 

We are hopefully that in the coming weeks more jobs will come available so we can find some where just a little bit warmer! 

Our Conclusion to Michigan

One of my favorite things about being on the road is that it gives me the opportunity to watch Dylan do something that he loves. It gives me a sense of peace knowing the guys he is working with. I  guess seeing the passion that all the guys have for their career and that they will do anything to keep each other safe.

When we began this journey there wasn't much distribution work available so Dylan had to take a transmission job. It was a little nerve racking for the both of us since he had never done much transmission work. To be honest the last thing I wanted was for his first transmission job to be climbing tower and working on a 500kv line.

Thankfully there were a few open calls in Michigan so he was able to choose which one he wanted to take. The call he took was 46 re conduct with distribution under build. Like in this photo the transmission is on top and the distribution is below them. I will explain a 46 line the way I was explained, its the fine line between transmission and distribution. Some consider it transmission and some consider it distribution. This particular job they replaced all the poles and the 46 line. The crew Dylan joined seemed to be the perfect match; Dylan knew a lot about distribution and the foreman knew a lot about transmission so they have taught each other along the way. The way Dylan just picks things up and the job comes so natural to him that it proves that this is what he is meant to be doing.

Its amazing to see the progress Dylan has made in the last 3-4 months. When he started he knew the concept of what they were doing, now he is running crews when his foreman is out, being called to other jobs to help when they can't get everything done, and being put in charge on wire pull day. 

In Michigan Dylan worked on 3 jobs and helped rebuild about 14 miles of line. We talked about it the other night how amazing it is that he is replacing a line that was built in 1940's and wont be touched again for years to come. We also discussed some of the the things we have learned and experienced while being here. Hate to hurt peoples feelings but boiling crawfish in saltwater is not acceptable, dear sir: crawfish is more than bait it is very delicious if you would have been open to trying it, and I still think everyone is lying to me about freeze drying clothes.

We are now back home, and have been for a few weeks, and things have been non stop. We left Michigan Friday November 1st at 3:30 am eastern time, just hours before the snow started. Since snow is technically drag dust it seemed like perfect timing that and the water at our park was cut off Thursday morning instead of Saturday when they closed. After a LONG day we arrived at home at 9:30 pm central time. Saturday and Sunday was spent surprising our family that we had come home 2 weeks early.

We are now settled in at the hunting camp in our new trailer. It is amazing compared to our little 17 footer. Our new adventures will take place in a 2009 Crossroads Cruiser------with 3 slides!!!! After all the times Dylan said he would never own another diesel Ford thats exactly what we have! 

 If all goes right we will be back on the road shortly after Christmas!