One Last Hurrah

After 2 weeks at home, with lots of conversation, prayer, and lists of pros & cons, Hubs and I made the decision to make another life change. 

Nothing happens by accident, and I wouldn't change the past year, but we found ourselves facing one last journey as a hotshot company. There were many Pros on our list: travel, new experiences, time together, exploring, learning, and growing. The Cons won out in the end: high operating costs, limited load capacity, significant self-employment responsibilities, and the demanding nature of long hours and unpredictability. We also had to take into account the safety factors involved with staying on extremely busy roads and truckers coming from all walks of life. 

We made up our minds to stay somewhat local for the next week, and the first leg of this last grand tour would be from home to San Angelo to Lubbock and back home. The entire trip would take roughly 7 hours, so we took off after breakfast, and got to San Angelo to load up a UTV before lunch. 

Off to Lubbock we went, Hubs thinking about routes through town, me thinking about a hot burrito from my favorite taco shop, Taco Villa. 🤤 

The drive ahead was only about 2 1/2 hours. Lots of backroads through little Texas towns, and scenery you'd expect in any old Western worth its salt. 

Not far from Lubbock, we passed another familiar image. Out on the open plains you can see smoke for miles and miles. 

The buzz at the local Allsups gas station was that nobody out there was in danger. 🔥 

We made it to Lubbock in good time, and got back on the highway taking us home. We wanted to get back and sleep in our own bed. It was also Hubs' birthday, and we were trying to get home for a nice dinner made by one of our girls and granddaughter. Don't forget the lemon cupcakes! 

The next few days would take us a little further out. We planned to get a load near Dallas and transport it to Mississippi. I think we waited in line for nearly two hours before we got the pallets strapped down and took off to east Texas. 

Our first night out there was very late, making it all the way to Vicksburg, MS, just on the east side of the grand Mississippi River. From there we went on into Morton the next morning, about an hour further up the road.

The next day stayed overcast and rainy, which makes for a pleasant drive. Not so great for loading things in the mud, however. We actually made 2 separate stops for a total of 24 tires that were needed in Houston. So, back to Texas, with a restful night in Lake Charles,  Louisiana, first. 

This was supposed to be an easy week to round out our hotshot adventures. But, what 'fun' would it be without the unpredictable occurrences we'd become accustomed to??  Less than a mile from our destination in east Houston and PoP! There went a trailer tire. 🤦🏼‍♀️. Sidelined again, we waited on roadside assistance. Interestingly enough, the customer sent a couple of guys in a truck to offload the order we had brought them. 

In the meantime, Hubs and I got lunch from a little chicken place next to a gas station.  By the time our tire had been replaced, we were already looking for another load that might get us closer to home.  Once again, nothing much was found for the day. This is one of the drawbacks that was beginning to wear us out. My sweet husband made the command decision to book us a room north of Houston and said we could continue our search for something in the morning. 

Looking out from the hotel window, I began thinking about what life may have in store for us next. It was really bittersweet to think about a new chapter. I guess it always is. There are fun memories on one hand, and some exciting things to look forward to on the other hand. 

I continued pondering things as our supper was delivered. We showered, ate and settled in for another night. 

Did I mention unpredictable things??  Tossing and turning through half the night began for both of us. Tummy trouble. 🤢 The next command decision was to be more careful of gas station food. 😬. 

Thankfully the next day we felt fine.  Hubs also had a load scheduled to pick up and take to an oilfield outpost on the opposite side of our hometown. This meant we could stop at home to sleep before our very last delivery. 

It was very late when we arrived at home, and only had time for a few hours' sleep. 

The delivery was scheduled fairly early in the morning. 

Coffee, coffee, and more coffee until we made it near the drop off soon after breakfast. 

This was the best map for finding the spot between the sand and cactus and mesquite trees where we were to go. 

Another successful delivery. Our final delivery. 🥲

Driving back home, the skies went from sunny to cloudy. We had gone full circle with the travels during the past week. As we talked about all of the places we'd been, we realized a year ago we'd made our very first delivery across some of the exact same highways: east Texas into Louisiana, over to Mississippi. That seemed a proper ending to our story. 
Actually, our journey/story can be seen as a  tribute to the Lord's Presence, Loyalty, Strength, and Guidance. It was never just our story, but His.