Butte La Rose

Bonjour!
Memories! One April, I came out of Roswell, N.M., after a delivery there. Beautiful country. Sometimes lonely in my truck, I gabbed on the CB, headed to Woodward, Okla., to pick up a load of plaster of paris.
This product’s used to make bathtubs and lavatories. I could not imagine how lavatories and bath tubs were made with plaster of paris. The load went to Nevada, Mo. – my first time picking up in Woodward, first time delivering in Nevada.
I ran north to Clovis, N.M. From there I went on to Amarillo, Texas, and ran the country roads north to Oklahoma to make my destination before dark. I ran Highway 80 through the hills of Texas and Oklahoma.
At one point I was running the direction of east-northeast. In my left rear view mirror I saw the sun setting. And through my windshield ahead slightly to my right, saw the setting sun appearing as the glittering of gold on the sides of the bare hills. Beautiful! Those golden hills were several miles long. There are many hills in Okie but those were breathtaking, beautiful, mighty and wild. God’s creation!
I got loaded the next day. By then, was all rested up for my run to Nevada. I arrived at mid-afternoon and pulled my truck up along a fence on one side of a long building. I got my paperwork and went inside to see where I’d be unloading. I handed my bill of lading to some fellow there and he said for me to tell my husband meet him out back and he’d show him where to back in.
“Excuse me,” I said “but do you mind if I back in?”
“No ma’am. Do you do most of the backing?”
“No, I do it all because I run solo.”
Well, there came this look on his face as if to say, “Oh Lord, another nut driving a truck.”
So I met him out back and he told me to pull up away from this big ol’ fence and gate where I would have to back in about 500 feet. Railroad tracks ran close along the narrow driveway. I was careful my bottom hoppers wouldn’t get hung up on the tracks so I walked the distance to the unloading platform and checked it out real good before backing in. I didn’t want any mistakes.
I jumped back into my rig and pulled up. I straightened up my truck and tank evenly. Anytime you can straighten your rig where you can see the back end of your trailer from the rear view mirror, you can back your trailer in any hole you want to put it in. When I was learning to drive trucks, as good as my teacher was, he did not teach that to me. I learned it on my own. Like backing in between trucks at truck stops is tricky. They’ve got those big mirrors on both sides of the doors. Space between trucks is narrow. It’s easy to hit ’um and leave ’um hanging there. Thank God, never happened to me.
But I had an audience as I backed in. Not only did I see my back bumper, I saw the employees watching me from the windows and doors and along side the building. They were setting themselves for a free show – a woman backing up a rig.
Tiona drivers told them the company had hired a woman driver. Jokes had circulated about me. I backed my rig in right in one shot. Afterward the moviegoers came out and met me. Even told me I was the first Tiona driver to have done it the first try. Said they were proud of me. I said thanks to them all. Other Tiona drivers had to live that down.
Dear readers, I’m proud to say I came from working papa’s field in Catahoula to the adventure of truck driving across the United States and Canada. Thank you Lord! Amètie,

Cousine Hélène
337-280-1988.
helenboudreaux@juno.com.