Live from camp Iowa.

Howdy.

So I know I mentioned before that after you get your Class A you go out on the road with a trainer, and since Central runs everywhere in the lower 48 of this great country and also Canada (which I won't be going because I don't have a passport and I'm sure there are some other permit hababaloo involved, not interested. Sorry, Canada) that means that you will be sent anywhere you are needed. The thought of having no idea where I'm going to be two days from now is exciting and more than a little frightening. I'm not scared of being far away from home (that's a lie) but moreso of the areas I'll be and how I know I am going to get lost. But I've got a wedding on my mind and I will go anywhere to get that job done.

Our first load sent us from California to Illinois, which right from the start was rad because I've never been there. So stoked. My trainer is this little dude named David from Columbia who literally works nine months out of the year straight and then goes home for three months to be with his wife. The trainers are paid SO damn well. They make, starting, $1.06 a mile for every mile they run AND every mile their trainee runs. It's insane. This week alone we ran over six thousand miles. Yeah. One week. Crazy Columbians... But this particular is also leasing the truck we are in so he has to pay for his own fuel (something I WON'T be doing as a company driver) as well as any maintenance on the truck. He has a pretty thick accent and more than once already I've smiled and nodded at the things he's said. I feel like I am the one that doesn't know the language, especially considering that he is pretty much the only person I speak to. He says some pretty funny stuff when he doesn't mean to and we've recently discovered that he hates punk rock. That's good to know for him, but I'm still listening to it on the regular.

Anyway, we make our way East having a gay ol' time, get to Illinois and we are early for our drop so we have the rest of the day to kill. I am sitting inside the truck stop and watching TV when I hear about these crazy tornadoes. I'm a California boy, tornadoes terrify me and in my opinion are just Hell coming straight from the sky. Turns out that we missed the tornado that decimated Oklahoma by just a few hours. I am not okay with that. For the rest of the day I was just checking the weather channel app and looking at warnings. I was so stinkin' close to the danger zone there, dude, I didn't sleep AT ALL that night. I was waking myself up and also every little noise that was slightly menacing made my eyes open up like that Don't Wake Daddy game (you remember). Truck motors starting up, in my head, sounded like trees being uprooted and coming straight for me. Obviously, I made it through (or I am writing from beyond the graaaaaaave... Or sitting in a Flying J in Iowa listening to Rocket From the Crypt. One of those two).
After that trip we went back to Utah, which was boring, nothing fun about a Mormon state. Then the big one. We got sent to New Jersey. Gaaaaaaaah!! I was doing my best to be cool about how excited I was. Gaslight Anthem, dude. Bigwig. MOTHERFUCKING BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN. Sure it was like two thousand miles away, and it's not like I can site see, but just being there was awesome. It is honestly, from what I saw, a beautiful little place. Granted, this is May and it's pretty much nice everywhere I've been so far, but still. WOW. I saw the New York skyline. Never thought I would see that. Also drove through North Eastern traffic on a weekend and didn't hit anything, so that really eased my mind and made me much more comfortable driving that beastie.

Something that I am noticing though is that, yeah, these places are cool, and are places I've wanted to go, but man, it's not that fun with no one to share it with. I text my friends and family and they usually responded excited for me, but I just wish they were with me. Moments aren't so special with no one but a tiny man with a language barrier to share them with. Eyes on the prize though.

I've got a lot more to write about (a town in Pennsylvania owned by Hershey and was MEGA creepy) but the wheels gotta' keep rollin'. Nothin' but love, I'm doing my best to update often, honest promise.

David on Kid Dynamite (said with accent, and not meant to be funny): "What the hell is this?! It sounds cats are fighting while being ran over!! Ugh!! You're giving me a headache."

Bear out.