Aces and Eights

“Wild Bill Hikock” – Artwork by Stephanie Campos

James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok epitomized the adventureous men of the wild west I envisioned as a boy. He was among my favorite characters I read and heard about, and made even more famous, in the television and film westerns of the 50s and 60s. Characters that included the likes of Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, the fictional Marshall Matt Dillon, Bret Maverick and Paladin from Have Gun – Will Travel. All of them good guys, ‘cept they all wore black hats, Dillon the single exception! Hickok lived a most interesting life of notoriety. Some said he was the fastest gun in the west, but, as boys are apt to be, I was most intrigued by the drama and circumstances of his death.

Independence Day!

World’s Largest Truck Stop – Iowa 80 Truck Stop – Davenport, IA

Hard to believe, but I have just one day left to go in my training before being assigned my own truck. Sometime tomorrow morning my mentor and I, as a team, will be rolling one last time into Lewiston, Idaho. My 42 days of road instruction will come to a close and in just a day or two I should have my own truck and officially a solo company driver.

While we could have easily pressed on last night and arrived back in Lewiston early today, for the first time since hitting the road on Saturday April 12th, we are actually “killing time” on the road in order to finish this trip on my final day of training. So, after arriving early this morning at a Pilot Truck Stop along Interstate 90, some 175 miles east of Missoula, we’ve parked our trusty Kenworth and are enjoying a good 20+ hours of sleep and relaxation. A little less than 500 miles separates us from our final destination. We’ll leave sometime late tonight, with me behind the wheel, to complete the journey and bring our long travels together to an end.