Waco Trip

Well, today was a bit different from most trips.  From time to time, we start taking a certain grade of scrap metal called "shredder" to Waco, TX.  Waco is about an hour and a half South of Fort Worth.  Some cool things about Waco:

Home of Baylor University
Soda:  Big Red was invented in Waco
One of Texas' most famous rivers, the Brazos River, flows through Waco.
Rocker Ted Nugent - lives in Waco
Ashlee Simpson - born in Waco
LaDanian Tomlinson (Running Back, New York Jets) - grew up & graduated High School in Waco
Casey Fossom (Pitcher, New York Mets) - grew up & graduated High School in Waco
Actor Steve Martin - born in Waco (moved to California when he was 6)
Actress Peri Gilpin - born in Waco (Roz in the TV show Frasier)
Texas US Congressman Joe Barton - born & raised in Waco

Well, back to business.  Shredder is tin, pieces of junked cars cut up into small pieces and light-weight metal that is put into a shredder and then seperated into smaller pieces.  It makes piles of wire, rubber, glass, rubber, and fluff after it goes through the shredder.  I'll try to get a picture of it some other time!  I was in & out in 15 minutes today, which is very fast for a big operation like that. 

One cool thing I got to do today is drive over a lake!  Yes, a lake!  Growing up in Arizona, that wasn't a common thing for me to do.  In fact, after moving to Texas back in 1998, it took some time for me not to get scared driving over Texas' many lakes.  We were used to driving over mountain passes taller than any mountian in Texas but never over a lake. 

Lake Waco out my passenger window.  You can see my trailer in the big mirror!

Highway 6 road over Lake Waco

I am also in a different truck than usual.  I have been for about a month.  My truck, Truck 24, is broke down.  It has been for about a month and a half.  I am in truck 7.  The driver that is usually in 7 is filling in for another guy that is sick & using his truck.  I'll try to get you a picture of truck 7, since I've already posted one of truck 24.  It's very similar, but I will show you some differences later. 

Today I left at 4:30 AM and got back to our Sweetwater, TX yard at 1:45 PM.  After loading there for the next day, I went home.  Sweetwater is just 40 miles from Snyder.  Today is the 1st day of school for lots of kids in Texas.  My nephews went back to school in Clyde, TX.  It's a town I pass through on Interstate 20 (I-20) all the time.  I only saw 1 school zone I had to slow down for and that was in De Leon, TX - a town on Highway 6. 

I hope you guys enjoyed your 1st day of school.  By the time you get around to reading this, it's your 2nd day of school (Tomorrow, Tuesday).  Tuesday, I will be leaving around 4:00 AM to go to Waco again.  I'm glad to be sharing things about geography, social studies, math, science that apply to my daily life as a farmer & trucker.  "Trucker Buddy" is the program we will use that sponsors this pen-pal type of program.  I know having a 'buddy' as a 4th grader seems silly, but by using a blog & emails, sharing pictures, and more modern communications, I think we will have some fun. 

Soon, I will try to get you guys a few things in the mail.  A map of Texas.  Maybe you can look at it and see some of the places I'm going and pin-point them!  A logbook.  A logbook is something every trucker uses to track their hours of service.  If I can think of something else, I'll try to sneak it in!  I look forward to hearing from my followers.  I hope you enjoy your first week of class!