My first load took me to Terrell, Texas. Oh how I looked forward to driving thru Wyoming and Colorado and Texas. I longed to see the east side of the Rockies where the West began.
I was not disappointed.
I saw so much wildlife.... antelope, coyotes, elk, along with the usual assortment of cows and horses - domestic, of course. In Texas, the #1 roadkill animal was the armadillo!! I never did see a live one, though. (bummer)
My biggest adventure came in Texas. First of all, I got to make a stop in Amarillo and saw my long lost childhood friend, JoLynne! It was so nice seeing her. It had been 30 years since we'd last saw each other. Her family had moved away and we lost contact. I am glad to report that she looked exactly the same as I remembered her! It felt good seeing her.
But then, I got close to Dallas. At first, it was no big deal. But suddenly, it became a big deal. I was driving into a tornado warning! And when I turned on the radio, a tornado had just touched down and was on the freeway that I was headed towards! I called my Dad and asked him where the tornado was located. As it happened, it was just southwest of where I was, but it was headed northeast - straight at me!
I called my driver manager and she told me to find a safe place to park. I did not know the area, so found a shopping center that was partially under construction with few cars, so pulled in there. Just as I was turning, I heard on the radio that the twister was picking up trailers and tossing them 200 feet into the air! Big rig trailers!
Needless to say, I started freaking out. So much so, that when I tried to turn my truck around, I forgot about how big it was and landed my trailer tires in a newly planted planter box. The soil was so new, that it was very soft and my fully loaded trailer sunk all the way up to the middle of the rims. I was stuck where I was! I couldn't get myself out!
Certain I had just lost myself a job, I called my driver manager and she took charge. She told me what to do and called a wrecker to get me out of there. Of course, right about then, the tornado sirens for the town I was in started going off so the wrecking company didn't come. They waited until the tornado warning expired.
In the meantime, I am still freaking out. I can hear the sirens and I just know that a tornado is going to come out of the black clouds above my head and toss me around like a matchstick! Of course, that never did happen, but I was just sure that it would. After a bit, I thought if a tornado did come, I could blame the tornado for being in the predicament I found myself. Of course, that didn't happen either.
My driver manager and OCM (operation center manager) kept in contact with me during the whole ordeal, making me very glad that I worked for this company. I didn't know if any other company would take the time to keep an ELD (entry level driver) company while under her very first tornado warning. It was comforting, in a way.
The tornado warning that I was under finally did expire - about 4 hours later. And the wrecker came and got me out. Of course, I did more damage to the trailer than I did to the planter box - thank goodness. All repairable. But it put me down for the night.
And I didn't lose my job.
When I finally got home and was able to thank everyone for staying with me that day, I told my employer that, while I thought it was one hell of an initiation, they weren't going to make me quit that easily! And the safety manager wasn't as harsh on me as I thought he would be. I imagine it was because of the circumstances. At least, I hope it was.
I'm happy to report that I survived my first trip out as a professional truck driver, no worse for the wear. I got to add New Mexico and Oklahoma to the list of states that I have driven thru, in addition to Wyoming, Colorado and Texas.
And yes, I am currently adding more states to that list, as I have not quit driving.
It is, after all, my dream!
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