St. George Update & on to California next week

[Vegas Teacher]

Howdy all!!!!!

Hey first I would like to say thanks for all of the great advice you have given over the past week or two for the dealing with the expense of the Semi and travel from state to state!!! Somebody guessed I am a little bit younger and married less years than the average bear on this forum and yes you are correct. Those of you who know a little bit more about me on the forum can skip this paragraph but just wanted to fill in those who do not know me as well as others do.

So yes I am a little bit younger than most folks on this forum. I have just turned 46 and I have about 12 years until I can retire from teaching. I teach high school Biology at Shadow Ridge High School in Las Vegas. I have been teaching in Las Vegas since 2000. For those of you who are snow birds and park your rigs up at the Clark County Shooting Range my high school is the last thing you pass, actually you pass the football field and if you come up Decatur off of 215 and go past Walmart and Costco you pass the turn off for my house at Farm and Decatur as you travel north on Decatur just past the DMV about 3 blocks. Anyway I am also relatively new to the married life. I got married on July 26, 2003 at 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon at the Rio Hotel and Casino. She is from Michigan and I am from Kansas. To be fair to both families we made each of them travel, did you all notice I was able to recall both the day and time of my wedding? I get quizzed every once in a while on that. So I have been married 13 years and some change. We don't have kids. She will be 48 this year in December and we got married to late in life to have children, so we have 4 German Shepherds, they are expensive enough especially with Schutzhund training. Vegas Flyer was my first dog trainer and that is how I met him originally. So Pam can retire in about 4 years because she has only taught in Vegas. She also teaches at Shadow Ridge, she also teaches Science and our rooms are right next to each other. So yes we work together, drive to work together, eat lunch together and drive home together. We spend a lot of time together. We laugh and say we have one of the only careers where we are semi-retired even when we work full time. In the summer, for 9 weeks, we get to get a brief glimpse at retirement. So I already know what I am going to do........ TRAVEL. I taught in Stockton Missouri for two years prior to coming to Las Vegas and got my Masters degree, in Biology, before I started teaching. So I started working a little later than she did and I did not come to Vegas to begin with. Teachers know years of experience transfer for pay scale but not years of service toward retirement. Pam also has a Masters in Biology. Even with a Masters degree in Molecular Biology nothing humbles me more than this semi and finding out how much I have to learn. I am truly a student all over again from attaching to the trailer to backing to putting in windshield wiper fluid, I am learning each and every day.

So we packed up after dog training on Saturday and left the field, Patriot Park, at 11:38 a.m. and were on our way to St. George Utah. We bought Diesel for .25 less per gallon up north of town at the turn off for the Valley of Fire. I got back in and we made it through the gorge and into St. George without any problem. We were going to stop at Cracker Barrel to eat, so I pull off of 15 and down to the side street. I go to make a right hand turn into the parking lot when I see the sign that says no tractors allowed, but they have R.V. Parking, so I keep going, get turned around and headed south on 15 back to Vegas. Now the Gorge is down hill pulling some steeper grades. Oh I did not stop at the inspection site. LEO and DOT did not come after me so I assume I am O.K. At Saint George they are just south of town as you are both entering and leaving the state. So we get to the Gorge and I set my cruise for 55 and my cruise brake for 60. I had 2 refer units pass me like I was standing still but I noticed a large convoy of semi's behind me not passing and it was more than possible to do, traffic was light in the left lane. So I figured if other truckers were not passing me I was doing it by the book. So cruise set and me paying attention we made it through the Gorge without incident and back to Vegas. By the time I got the Semi - Backed into position SMOOTHLY very happy with myself, and home it was about 6:00 p.m. It was a great day and I am going to Fontana California in it next week!

Once again I want to thank all of you for the advice I have received, and for your advice. I am new to this and have so much to learn. I am going to try to make the WCR next year, or maybe I should just take the time off, drive home and to the National Rally next year in October. Pam has calmed down a little. I took back almost 500.00 in unused parts in the last repair. 

Later,

Vegas Teacher - Cory Ossana