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