OldTroubador's blog post - By the Numbers

Well, another run has ended for me. It is time to head to the truck stop for a long weekend of visiting my daughter. And the best part – she is having her 8th grade graduation on Saturday night; that means it is time for this old redneck to get slicked up again. [I know, I feel the same way – graduations should be for getting out of high school, college, GED’s. But hey, it’s my daughter this time LOL]
I was going to post pictures for the last blog challenge, but they looked like crap when I posted them. Let’s just say they involved me, cups of coffee, bottles of water, and potholes. The good part was, the spilled coffee did a nice job of coloring out the gray in my beard.
For those in the United States, don’t forget the reason for the long weekend. Please take a moment to remember those who have died in the line of fire while protecting us and our freedoms.

Okay, by the numbers:
Run started - 25 March 2013
Run ended – 24 May 2013
Run length – 61 days
Full days off – 1
Total miles – 25,825
Miles per day – 430 (average)
Most miles in one day – 638
Least miles in one day - 180
I covered the country from Franklin, MA to Jacksonville, FL to Laredo, TX, to Pueblo, CO to Manitowoc, WI – and hundreds of places in between. The weather included 100 degree heat, thunderstorms, a little hail, lots of rain, strong winds, 20 degree cold, snow, and ice; sometimes all within 48 hours. I got to see the devastating floods in the Midwest; I also saw a little bit of the tornado damage just south of Oklahoma City early this morning. I was very fortunate to see spring arrive throughout all the areas I travelled – got to admit though, I am still biased: Texas wildflowers in the spring are the most spectacular. I got to meet Rockhard on this trip – a true gentleman and a very funny person – also one helluva cook. He and I spent a few hours in a truck stop McDonalds eating HIS cooking - we also had the lovely TruckerGirl with us for supper before we all went our separate ways. I spent an evening with Howlin and Sugar – always a pleasure to spend time with them.
I have 250 more miles to go to make my final delivery. Unfortunately, I have to leave at 0100 to get to the warehouse on time. Then another 190 miles to my home truck stop. I might be checking in if I have a few minutes free, otherwise I will see you all again on Tuesday.
See you out there where the highway meets the sky. This is the Concrete Cowboy, the Old Troubador, signing off.