Aboy had to pick up some seats from 2 customers in Vegas. Between Aboy being in New York from October until mid December and I left for Utah a day and a half after he arrived in Texas….then Aboy left for Florida while I was in Utah… some quality time with my husband was in order.
We used his Vegas trip as a busman’s holiday and I took the ride. It’s a little over 18 hours one way to drive and you remember from my Trucker in Training adventures – Aboy is limited to being on duty for 14 hours in a 24 hour period, with 11 hours of driving – so, about 2 days there – and 2 days back. Being cooped up with him in the cab of a tractor trailer for 4 days… now that’s quality time! Add in the fact that data connection service on my cell phone through long stretches of New Mexico and Arizona was non-existent (no Facebook), I actually had to talk to him.
I’m joking, of course. Aboy and I are great friends. He’s a closet comic too and always says or does shit that makes me laugh.
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Aboy started driving a truck over-the-road in 2005. His first “real” trip was a cross-country trip from Long Island to Las Vegas. Since that time, he’s wanted me to take a ride with him across I-40 to experience nature’s natural beauty and mystique. I have to tell you, he wasn’t kidding.
Don’t get me wrong – there are some very long stretches of NOTHING (I mean NOTHING!!) but, then you’ll come up on some mountains and valleys and there is so much going on, you don’t know where to look first or what is more impressive.
For some of you, mountains and shit might not be impressive – but I grew up on (flat) Long Island… the biggest mountain adventure I’ve ever been on was – while driving the cab, taking a passenger to the VA hospital in Northport and navigating the (mole) hills on the North shore. Then, I’d get to use the parking brake because I didn’t want the cab to roll away on the (slight) incline when I had to run inside to get the medical voucher stamped. Northport ain’t got shit on New Mexico & Arizona!
Then there was the snow in Arizona! YES - SNOW!! The elevation of Flagstaff, Arizona is around 6,910 feet… We spent the night at a truck stop in Moriarty, New Mexico. In the morning when we went inside to get our coffee, the cashier asked us which way we were headed. Aboy (with conviction) announced “VEGAS!” So she says, “Well, I guess I should warn ya’ll – there is a big storm headed this way and they’re probably going to shut down I-40.” Have you ever been in a “romantic” mood – then someone busts in on you and the “feeling” is gone… yep, there went the Vegas hard-on.
So, I could see Aboy doing a mental inventory (kind of like smoke emerging from his ears) of what his plan of attack was going to be if we ran into this blizzard. He keeps boots and stuff like that on the truck – but, I’m a passenger and my job is to look cute in the passenger seat. I’ve got some soccer slides and a hoody… not exactly Winter Weather Advisory attire. Aboy is an experienced driver though and he assures me that he’s driven through poor road conditions (through the mountains) on many occasions and I will be fine… then he adds in “but, I usually have a loaded truck and tire chains – that could be a problem”. I do the mental scream “THIS IS JUST FUCKIN’ GREAT!” and think of all the worst scenarios that are going to happen like sliding off the road, ending up in a ditch, walking through 4 feet of snow with a hoody, flip flops and socks… need I go on?...
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So, we get on the road. We’re in Mountain time – and our internal clock has us on Eastern time… it’s still dark out. We drove for a couple hours before the sun started coming up and I wasn’t able to get a look at the scenery for a while.
Shortly after we passed through Albuquerque (BTW, it was 29 degrees there!), the sun came up. The mountains and landscape are just gorgeous! Have you ever seen something and said “that would make a great puzzle”? Yeah… like that! I took some pictures but my camera did it no justice.
I have to say – there are a lot of common parts in New Mexico – there are shanty-town developments that probably never heard of the Tea Party or Occupy Wall Street movements or the ongoing cholesterol problem in the nation – because they are just worried about what they’re going to eat today – it looks that poor. I think that’s part of the beauty of New Mexico though - because to them, life is very basic. Then there are the parts where it is over developed and crowded. In either situation – no one has to worry about cutting their grass – because there is none.
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As we’re driving along – we came across miles of mountains. Aboy began the ascent into the mountains and while we were in the mountains I asked him “What is the name of these mountains?”…
Remember I told you Aboy grew up in Central Islip’s Carleton Park? Not that it had a total impact with his educational experience – but going to school for Aboy meant drinking a pint of wine before he got to school in the morning and playing basketball (while he should have been in class) were a part of his curriculum. He was also the class clown, so teachers let him slide with a lot of stuff because he could usually joke his way out of trouble... except for that one time – after he told the teacher his name was Joe “muthafuckin” Braxton – then the teacher said “OK Mr. Braxton – come to the office". I've said timing is a flaw – yeah, it started young.
So, Aboy’s in depth knowledge of geography could have been covered on one of those days when he was improving his cross-over or jump shot because when I asked him “What is the name of these mountains?” without taking a breath or any hesitation (and with conviction) he said "The HIMALAYAS!". It took a second to sink in (because he said it so convincingly) - then I just looked at him and rolled my eyes and we both bust out laughing.
Of course, we were in one of those long stretches of no data connection – so I’ll never know the name of those mountains. <sigh>
(to be continued…)