My Trip to Idaho City, Idaho

My truck driving class, which has been reduced to four students since three of us successfully tested out yesterday, took a trip to Idaho City, Idaho. I drove approximately 2 hours - one hour before lunch and one hour after. Before we headed in the direction of Idaho City, which took about one hour, we first drove thru downtown Boise. That was so much fun, I do not even have a comparison for it. Seriously, though, I took the hot seat last, and as such, was given the distinct pleasure of actually driving the streets of downtown Boise.

For which I am grateful!

I had wanted that experience, if for no other reason than to get the nervousness of driving in downtown traffic out of my system. You see, when we first started transitioning from freeway driving to city driving, I would go from being a decent driver to having a train wreck in the cab of the truck. I would grind gears, lose gears, run over curbs... you name it, I probably did it. Well, except for kill anyone. I've never done that.

So my instructor, Steve, made me drive thru downtown, making all kinds of right and left turns and you do you know what happened? I wasn't nervous, or jittery, and I didn't run over any curbs or hit any poles. I did, however, hit a few trees on a very narrow street. But that could hardly be avoided without going over the center line. I didn't allow the traffic, which was not as great as it could have been, to bother me. In fact, except for the tailgaters, I didn't even pay attention to those pesky four wheelers. I did make sure that I wouldn't hit any of them, but did not let the fact that they were probably getting annoyed at me for driving under the speed limit get to me. I forgot about that, altogether. I kept my instructor, Tracy's, voice and words in my head - "They don't know you're having a train wreck in the cab." Those words took all of my anxiety away. I don't know why, but they did.

After lunch, which was spent at a truck stop on the outskirts of Boise, we headed in the direction of Idaho City. It was snowing and the snow on the ground was so beautiful, I had to take pictures. Not that I've never seen snow, but we've had such a mild winter here that we haven't seen much snow. I think it's snowed twice this winter here. The first time the snow was gone within three hours. The second time, it was gone within two days. I'm still waiting for that good snowfall. I took the pictures from the back seat of the truck. Usually, I have a side window from which to take the pictures, but we were in a different truck and the only window I had was the windshield. A couple of pictures were taken from behind the driver so it looks like I was driving when I took them. But I didn't.

Anyway, the trip itself was uneventful for all of us, which is really good news considering those of us who are left. Roger, who has taken the longest to feel comfortable sitting in the driver's seat, has come a long way in the last two weeks. I no longer feel afraid when he takes over the reins. I can really see the difference in his attitude towards the truck, as well. His confidence level has improved dramatically along with his driving abilities. I think the last test we took, which was really like a pop quiz to test our abilities, really helped him because he did better than he anticipated and the instructor only had good things to say to him. That helped him a LOT.

Speaking of the pop quiz, Steve, our instructor, who has been gone for four weeks, gave us the pop quiz upon his return so he could assess our training. When I had completed my road test, he told me that I missed four things, two on the backing skills, and then told me that he was impressed with my progress. I think I have exceeded his expectations of a female driver! And I like that! I do know that I am enjoying the hell out of my time behind the wheel as well as the road trips we are taking. I'm seeing places in Idaho and Oregon I might not otherwise get to see. Granted, we don't spend much time in each city we visit, but it's the journey that matters. Right?

In any case, I'm so looking forward to doing this for real! May Trucking is where I've accepted employment, and they have graciously accepted me as an entry level driver. However, they only have one female trainer and she won't be taking students until the end of February. So I'm stuck in school for another three to four weeks. Which is okay with me because it will give me an opportunity to further advance my skills, thereby giving me an opportunity to impress my new employer. Do you think that's even possible?? LOL

Truck Driving 101

I have, as some of you are already aware, gone back to school. Finally. I decided, and am being allowed, to follow my dream of being a truck driver.

Many of you may not be aware, but ever since I was a little girl I've dreamed of being a truck driver. Of course, for a long, long time I didn't thing it was possible for a girl to work in that man's world. But I met my first Peterbuilt when I was about 10 years old. My neighbor's youngest son drove trucks for a living and he drove one to her house to visit her. We called him Pudge. I can't even remember what his real name was. There was nothing spectacular about the truck he was driving that day; I remember it was white, and I think it was a cab-over (of course, I didn't know it was called a cab-over back then), but I distinctly remember the red oval Peterbuilt on the top of the humongous grill. And it was big. Not just big, HUGE! And I knew that some day I would drive a truck like that.

Ever since then, whenever I would go on a road trip, whether with my family or friends, and right up to the present day, I would watch for those big trucks out there on the highway. And at night, they were so beautiful! All those lights up and down the running boards and the trailers. The more lights a rig had, the better! And the more I looked at them, the more I wanted to learn how to drive one. I wanted to be the one behind the wheel going God-only-knows-where.

When I was 18 years old, I was hired to take care of an elderly lady in the home of her son and daughter-in-law up in Wrightwood, California. Her son, George, would take her to Beverly Hills to visit her daughter. On the drive, I would watch the trucks, as I always had. I remember on one trip, he mentioned that he had a secret love of 18-wheelers. He called it a "romantic" profession, being able to drive all over the country and see things that we often only dream of. I remember thinking he hit the nail on the head. It was romantic. I hadn't realized it, but I had fallen in love with truck driving.

Then, when I was 20 years old, I met a lady on my latest job who also wanted to be a truck driver. We had aspirations of being team drivers and making big money. But she had six kids at home - yes, 6 kids! The youngest one was three years old and she wasn't quite ready to leave him for a life on the road. So we promised each other that we would do it in a few years. Then I got a new job and a new place to live and one thing led to another and we lost touch. A few years later, I heard that she had passed away. I don't know if it ever would have worked out, but it was a good dream, and the memories I have of her I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Then I started having children. Just before I got pregnant with my oldest son, my best friend and I started making plans to live like gypsies. We were going to quit our jobs and she was going to cash in her 401K and we were going to travel the continental United States. We would drive as long as we felt like driving and stop in whatever town tickled our fancy for as long as we felt like we wanted to stay. We might pick up some part-time, temporary jobs to earn some money to finance the next leg of our journey. We even planned all the sights we wanted to see. We were going to zigzag and crisscross the entire nation. And no matter where we went, no matter how long it took us, we vowed we would spend at least ONE New Year's Eve in Times Square in New York. Then I found out I was pregnant and we decided raising a kid in the back seat of a car was not practical. So we never did.

And I never pursued my dream of being a truck driver. Until now. My oldest son is now 18 years old and my youngest is old enough that he does not need to be glued to my hip anymore. My estranged husband loves the idea of being Mr. Mom to the boys and he now has a job that allows him a lot of home time. He even gets a lot of the same holidays that they boys do because he has a job with the government (he works at the VA hospital). So, since I have allowed him to change his occupation TWICE without nary an argument, he has generously agreed to let me live my dream.

And I am almost at the point where I am going to be doing it for real! This next week is the end of my first nine weeks of fifteen. Three out of seven students will be testing out on my birthday. I had hoped to have a job and be able to test out on my birthday as well, but I think I need a couple of more weeks to boost my self-esteem and gain a little more skill. Although I think the skill to be gained will be more in my head than what I really need. I'm not half bad, really, as a driver. I keep getting Kudos from my instructors - I've had four so far. My very first instructor told me after my first week that I did allow the size of the truck to intimidate me. Apparently, that's not usual. The second instructor I had said I drove "his" truck better than 9 out of 10 of his students. And I think I'm the only student who hasn't been instructed on how to drive in heavy traffic. I think my Southern California training has come in handy!!

My instructor for the last week has decided to do evaluations next week. So I'll be evaluated on my birthday for two weeks of progress. Each week they pretty much say the same thing... you are showing progress. Thankfully, tho, they have also pointed out at least one ares that needs work and one area where excellence was shown. Since I don't know what the rest of the students were told, I can only gleam at what I've been told: that my driving skills are very good and my instructor has confidence in my ability to make it in the trucking world. I think that was the most complimentary thing he could have said to me.

Ever.