Location: Cheyenne, WY

Last week, after making it back from blustery Kansas, I dropped Russell off at our terminal in Springfield, OH around 1am Thursday morning. It occured to me that I never posted a photo of Russell. I took this the day we traded the old girl in for the new one.



After seeing Russell to his motel room and wishing him good luck, I went in search of the room of my next trainee, Jospeh. I had spoken with him on the phone several times that day to co-ordinate my arrival time with him. He had already completed 86 hours of training which was a good thing, since I would need him to finish my trip to New Jersey then hightail it back to Kansas City by Saturday night for lacyunderall's surprise birthday party hosted by justamy. After helping him move into the truck, I drove a bit more while we talked and got to know each other. He was wired and ready to do some driving, so rather than finish-out my shift I stopped just west of Columbus and let him take over. He had taken several weeks off since beginning his training due to a fractured hand, so he was a little rusty, but I was soon comfortable with his ability to control the vehicle and crawled into the bunk for a nap.

We reached our destination in Jersey around 3pm the following day, far too late for us to get unloaded that day so we were stuck there until morning. I suggested to my new truckmate that we spend the evening in the New York City. While we got our things together, I snapped the following shot. Meet Joseph.



I began making some phone calls to my NYC peeps. First I called mybluenotepad (aka hope_sets_sail, aka AJ) who I hadn't seen since the Slint show in March. I knew he was suffering from a broken foot and had been reduced to getting around on crutches, so I figured the prospect of him being game for any non-essential walking was slim. He said he would call me back when he got off from work to let me know for sure. I also called queenkatieett and left her a voicemail. She called me back while Joseph and I were on the NJ Transit bus into the city. Naturally, the staggering draw of teh soopa was too much for her to resist, so dinner was agreed upon and I was to call her back once my feet hit the street in midtown. Over the course of the past 14 hours I had already given a condensed version to Joseph of How I Met My Girlfriend in addition to Why We Were Going To Kansas City. Now came the story of When I Met The Queen and he was becoming intrigued by LiveJournal.

I love going to New York City. It's even more fun when you're with someone who is visiting for the first time. You get to re-live your own "first time" vicariously through them. Sure there's a subway entrance located inside, but stepping out of the Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown is a jaw dropping experience. 8th Ave is usually packed with yellow taxi cabs vying for fares among the people exiting the terminal. A short walk to the corner and you're looking down 42nd Street, its gawdy marquees and electronic billboards summoning you into Times Square. While I called The Queen and we quickly decided on Little Italy for dinner, Joseph and I strolled along 42nd toward Broadway. The convergence of 42nd with Broadway and 7th Ave marks the southern boundary of Times Square. While I finished talking with Katie, Joseph gawked at all the people and flashing lights.

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