Dignity

My apologies in advance for the mass flood of road side pictures lol I'm that weirdo that has to stop and take pictures of EVERYTHING LOL. Also, it's a long post, not really "trucking related" if ya don't feel like reading about my day stay tuned for tomorrow lol.

Today has been more like a fun road trip than "work" it seems. We were able to sleep in a bit, woke up to an amazing sunrise in Mitchell, SD made a cup of coffee in the truck and enjoyed the morning before the days long drive. We make a brief stop at the Dignity statue in Chamberlin, and my goodness she's an absolute beauty. She's 50 foot tall and was designed to honor the Lakota and Dakota people. A little quick research finds that the sculptor Dale Lamphere designed the statue with "the hope that the sculpture might serve as a symbol of respect and promise for the future." (I am a home school momma so I'm always finding a potential lesson for Drake in everything I do LOL).

Her dress was patterned after a two-hide dress of the 1850's, with a quilt that has 128 stainless steel blue diamond shapes that flutter in the wind. That was the perfect start to our day. I highly recommend anytime you are in the vicinity you take a few minutes to stand in her presence, it definitely moved my spirit. The land around the stop is beautiful, lush trees with beautiful fall colors. I've never seen foliage change colors with the seasons so I'm still taken aback by something so simple.

From there we continued on to Wall, SD where we stopped in at Wall Drug for a bit to let me feed my addiction for sightseeing and souvenir shopping and a quick bite to eat. This place did NOT disappoint lol I'll preface this with the fact that I'm a total tourist and also an avid "hokey, cheesy" roadside attraction sucker lol. Giant Ball of String? Absolutely I have to stop to see it! World's Largest Belt Buckle? You better believe I have a picture snapped in front of it LOL (I actually do btw, was at the roadside shop Uranus Fudge Factory in St. Robert, MO and its FANTASTIC right Kristen Rutherford?? lol But I digress...

I got a steal of a deal on a few tops and a new ballcap, pretty sure the saleswoman took pity on me and gave me a 50% discount after she completely broke my heart when she told me they couldn't ship an absolutely gorgeous gawdy bull skull that would have looked amazing hung above my stairwell and there was no way Daryl was going to let me cram that into the truck haha we are already crammed for space in 'ol Obsidian LOL.

The rest of the trip was spent with me snapping pictures like a total dork at every pretty hill, cloud, rock formation, etc lol. Traveling along US 212 from South Dakota, Wyoming, and into Montana kind of all ran together, but I enjoyed every single minute of it. This side of the country is absolutely stunning! I've never been to this part of the country so I have been glued to the bug guts smeared windshield the whole trip. We drove through quite a bit of a rain/hail storm which totally had me freaked out because yeah...we have 14 thousand pounds of GLASS worth THOUSANDS of dollars strapped down the the back of our trailer lol Once that cleared a beautiful rainbow appeared (of which I happily snagged pics of...naturally lol).

Update on the load...It's a total pain in the ass lol We need more bungee cords to strap the back down and have made multiple stops to tighten up the straps and keep the thing from ballooning up while making today's 540+ mile journey. To Daryl those are rookie numbers, I'm just along for the ride LOL. In the words of our dear friend, Brent J Tucker, he's gone from having Apollo the Bye-Bye Dog on the truck to having Nicole the Bye-Bye Wife on the truck!

Got to witness my first Montana sunset, not going to lie...Almost brought tears to my eyes. It was literally that beautiful! With such a desolate area, it seemed like we were the only people in the world for hours! I always think about what life would have been like hundreds of years ago, in many areas minus the electric poles and road signs there was no signs of modern life. There is so much rich history and I can definitely feel the powerful energy in the area.

The rest of the evening was spent driving through ABSOLUTE pitch black darkness with the exception of a light here and there and the occasional passing car. We spent quite a bit of time in silence due to no internet connection (so no tunes for me to belt out while Daryl danced like a total goob...Oh yeah, he gets funky with it behind the wheel LOL).

It's been such a blessing getting to see him in his element. He has so much pride in his work, in our little brand new company and what he does every day, it honestly has made me see him in a whole new light. He's spent so many years feeling like he missed the boat in some capacity, working for crap companies will do that to a person. But he's just gleaming.

Anywho... Not much for trucking to discuss today. Was a much needed mental health break day. Did you know, according to one study, drivers in this large industry are at the highest risks for mental health and psychiatric disorders such as depression, chronic sleep disturbances, anxiety, and other emotional problems due to prolonged periods of isolation, high stress from dealing with dangerous distracted drivers daily/nightly, and disrupted circadian rhythm? Welp, now ya do! Please try to remember that when you come across one of these hard working men or women in a truck stop or out on the road. They are keeping us as a country moving, and are often treated like 3rd class citizens. They could definitely use a kind smile and a wave while in passing, and they absolutely love it when a kiddo give them the ol' horn honk salute!

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