Surprised By Luxury
Oct 24, 2010
We arrived home late on Saturday 16 Oct, after delivering a trailer in Charleston, MO – 59 miles from home. We had a busy Sunday morning because both of us were scheduled for the prayer room. I prayed at first service and attended the second; Peggy vice versa. Then we ate at a Chinese place and had a relaxing Sunday afternoon at home. We took a walk down the hill from our house to look at a new luxury home that is being built on the waterfront. It's all framed out, and the roofing was started It's on a steep lot. The entrance is through the garage, and the rest of the house is downstairs from there – 3 levels total. The views are grand from the large windows out onto the lake. Can't wait to meet who's going to live there. Monday we didn't go out trucking. We got home late for the weekend, so didn't feel like rushing out again so soon, plus we hoped to receive new equipment from Sprint to replace an air card that had shorted out and a phone.
I started my Monday at 4:30 a.m., met a friend at the Marion Truck Stop at 5:30, taught my students at the antique mall at 8:00, and spent the rest of the day doing antique mall business on the computer, while Peggy enjoyed a day at home. And Maryanne from Allen, TX came in – wow – good timing. We first met her at our shop at least a year ago and have now visited her church in Allen twice and met her whole family there. She and her husband grew up around Marion but have lived in Allen for 25 years. I got home about 4:00. The house was clean and organized, and Peggy had prepared a nice dinner. (It was luxurious, but this is not what 'Surprised By Luxury' refers to.) We watched the video “JFK”- about the post-assasination investigation of a New Orleans district attorney, finding the Warren Report to be fabricated, and finding tons of evidence suggesting a very high-level government coup... Eye-opening.
Tuesday we gave up waiting for our equipment from Sprint and took the truck to Marion to do a few chores. I dropped Peggy at the rooming house and went on to the antique mall. Without the air card, I had to do all my banking and email at the shop where we have a hotspot. On the road we depend on the air card to access internet while rolling. This trip we paid for a month of wifi at Flying J, but we have to find a Flying J and stop every time we need to get online. Next time we're home, our new equipment will be waiting. Our load assignments took us to Terre Haute / South Bend, IN; then Detroit to Tacoma, WA. En route we picked up a hitchhiker in Sioux Falls, SD and took him 1200 miles to Spokane. Shaun is 40, lives near Seattle, has converted from Catholic to Mormon, does farm work. We very seldom pick up hitchhikers, and this was the farthest we've ever taken anyone. He was a good rider - clean, polite, smart. We took him to breakfast at our favorite breakfast place - Michael D's Eatery in Coeur d'Alene, ID, at I-90 exit 15. We arrived right at 6:00 a.m when it opens. We hadn't been this route in 4 years, so we were greatly anticipating eating at Micahel D's again. He's a trained, executive chef and specializes in eggs & chicken. He's open 7 days a week – breakfast & lunch, 6 a.m. - 2 p.m. It's not far at all from Coeur d'Alene to Spokane. We dropped off Sean and got to Tacoma mid-afternoon Friday. Peggy noticed a coolant leak; we had to have a couple hoses replaced before leaving town. It was 500 miles to Boise for the next pickup.
Since it was now the weekend, and we had more than 2 days to deliver in Stratford, TX and then get to David City, NE by 6 a.m. Monday, we were moving at a leisurely pace. We finally made it to Boise about 4:00 saturday afternoon to pick up. Peggy has friends who recently moved from Washington, D.C. to Boise, ID. Peggy first met Tony & Valerie Snesko at church in Poway, CA about 30 years ago. This is the 3rd time I've met them. In Jan 1995, Peggy and I drove from Urbana, IL to LA to catch a flight to Korea. For a couple days she took me to many of her old stomping grounds, including the Snesko's house. That was too long ago for me to remember much about the encounter. The 2nd time I met them, they were living in D.C. Tony was a PI/process server. Valerie was secretary to Duncan Hunter, Congressman from San Diego. We were attending the Voters Values Summit at the Washington Hilton in Fall 2007. The Sneskos invited us to their home for dinner on a Friday, and then we met them again on Sunday for breakfast and church. Now in Boise this is the 3rd time I've met them. Duncan Hunter's term of office ended, and now his son Duncan Hunter, Jr. has won that seat. So Val's job ended. She went to work with her husband and son, helping in the family business. Now son Brandon is married. He's taking over the business, and it's time for Tony & Val to retire. They are building a home outside Boise to the north, overlooking a valley. It will be done in early December. We had trouble getting in touch with them. Peggy's lost phone had their numbers in it. We did finally get their number when we arrived at a Flying J to use the wifi, just outside of Boise. We got hold of Brandon in D.C. We sent linked-in and facebook messages. We sent email, and we left messages on both cell phones. Then we proceeded the 30 miles to pick up the trailer. Finally we weren't expecting to hear back from them, but we did! They were excited to get our message and came out to where we were parked to pick us up. This is when we were “Surprised by Luxury.” I knew they were building a house, but had no concept of how it would look. They drove us through very nice neighborhoods to get to their new home. It's in a large neighborhood association, with very many strict rules. The town of Hidden Springs, ID was started in 1997. Each home is unique - no two look alike. V&T's house is based on their neighbor's house, which they liked, but components rearranged so they don't look alike. All plans, colors, changes, must be submitted for apporval. Because of this, the whole community is coordinated and remarkably beautiful. From the top of the hill, looking down on the valley from T&V's patio, it looks like a Thomas Kinkaid painting. The floor of the valley is covered with colorful, luxury homes – all coordinated. We saw some sprawling homes and some smaller, but all up-scale, wonderfully landscaped, expensive. We walked through Tony & Val's half-done house. The neighbor couple joined us, the one's whose house inspired this one. The ceilings are very high. The master bedroom has a walk-in closet large enough to be another small bedroom. The 3 car garage is cavernous. The door from the house into the garage opens onto a spacious in-between space, where Tony says there will be a ping pong table and a bench for processing deer against the wall. Val says it will be piled to the ceiling with stuff... We were so glad to see the house at this stage, all drywalled, roofing material poised on the roof. Next year we'll have a chance to get through there again to see the finished product, and to stay in the guest room. Tony & Val then took us out to dinner. The three of them had the lasagne special, and I had the baked salmon – on Val's strong recommendation. The contrast from being truckers to being ushered into the higher society of Boise, was serendipitous. The Sneskos are wonderful hosts, committed to God, very hospitable, most interesting conversationalists, and rich in past accomplishments and experiences. I'm sure they could write a book, and I'd love to read it. We stepped out of the Lexus back into reality and said our goodbyes in front of the gate of Trinity Trailers, next to I-84 on the south side of Boise, ID.
We arrived home late on Saturday 16 Oct, after delivering a trailer in Charleston, MO – 59 miles from home. We had a busy Sunday morning because both of us were scheduled for the prayer room. I prayed at first service and attended the second; Peggy vice versa. Then we ate at a Chinese place and had a relaxing Sunday afternoon at home. We took a walk down the hill from our house to look at a new luxury home that is being built on the waterfront. It's all framed out, and the roofing was started It's on a steep lot. The entrance is through the garage, and the rest of the house is downstairs from there – 3 levels total. The views are grand from the large windows out onto the lake. Can't wait to meet who's going to live there. Monday we didn't go out trucking. We got home late for the weekend, so didn't feel like rushing out again so soon, plus we hoped to receive new equipment from Sprint to replace an air card that had shorted out and a phone.
I started my Monday at 4:30 a.m., met a friend at the Marion Truck Stop at 5:30, taught my students at the antique mall at 8:00, and spent the rest of the day doing antique mall business on the computer, while Peggy enjoyed a day at home. And Maryanne from Allen, TX came in – wow – good timing. We first met her at our shop at least a year ago and have now visited her church in Allen twice and met her whole family there. She and her husband grew up around Marion but have lived in Allen for 25 years. I got home about 4:00. The house was clean and organized, and Peggy had prepared a nice dinner. (It was luxurious, but this is not what 'Surprised By Luxury' refers to.) We watched the video “JFK”- about the post-assasination investigation of a New Orleans district attorney, finding the Warren Report to be fabricated, and finding tons of evidence suggesting a very high-level government coup... Eye-opening.
Tuesday we gave up waiting for our equipment from Sprint and took the truck to Marion to do a few chores. I dropped Peggy at the rooming house and went on to the antique mall. Without the air card, I had to do all my banking and email at the shop where we have a hotspot. On the road we depend on the air card to access internet while rolling. This trip we paid for a month of wifi at Flying J, but we have to find a Flying J and stop every time we need to get online. Next time we're home, our new equipment will be waiting. Our load assignments took us to Terre Haute / South Bend, IN; then Detroit to Tacoma, WA. En route we picked up a hitchhiker in Sioux Falls, SD and took him 1200 miles to Spokane. Shaun is 40, lives near Seattle, has converted from Catholic to Mormon, does farm work. We very seldom pick up hitchhikers, and this was the farthest we've ever taken anyone. He was a good rider - clean, polite, smart. We took him to breakfast at our favorite breakfast place - Michael D's Eatery in Coeur d'Alene, ID, at I-90 exit 15. We arrived right at 6:00 a.m when it opens. We hadn't been this route in 4 years, so we were greatly anticipating eating at Micahel D's again. He's a trained, executive chef and specializes in eggs & chicken. He's open 7 days a week – breakfast & lunch, 6 a.m. - 2 p.m. It's not far at all from Coeur d'Alene to Spokane. We dropped off Sean and got to Tacoma mid-afternoon Friday. Peggy noticed a coolant leak; we had to have a couple hoses replaced before leaving town. It was 500 miles to Boise for the next pickup.
Since it was now the weekend, and we had more than 2 days to deliver in Stratford, TX and then get to David City, NE by 6 a.m. Monday, we were moving at a leisurely pace. We finally made it to Boise about 4:00 saturday afternoon to pick up. Peggy has friends who recently moved from Washington, D.C. to Boise, ID. Peggy first met Tony & Valerie Snesko at church in Poway, CA about 30 years ago. This is the 3rd time I've met them. In Jan 1995, Peggy and I drove from Urbana, IL to LA to catch a flight to Korea. For a couple days she took me to many of her old stomping grounds, including the Snesko's house. That was too long ago for me to remember much about the encounter. The 2nd time I met them, they were living in D.C. Tony was a PI/process server. Valerie was secretary to Duncan Hunter, Congressman from San Diego. We were attending the Voters Values Summit at the Washington Hilton in Fall 2007. The Sneskos invited us to their home for dinner on a Friday, and then we met them again on Sunday for breakfast and church. Now in Boise this is the 3rd time I've met them. Duncan Hunter's term of office ended, and now his son Duncan Hunter, Jr. has won that seat. So Val's job ended. She went to work with her husband and son, helping in the family business. Now son Brandon is married. He's taking over the business, and it's time for Tony & Val to retire. They are building a home outside Boise to the north, overlooking a valley. It will be done in early December. We had trouble getting in touch with them. Peggy's lost phone had their numbers in it. We did finally get their number when we arrived at a Flying J to use the wifi, just outside of Boise. We got hold of Brandon in D.C. We sent linked-in and facebook messages. We sent email, and we left messages on both cell phones. Then we proceeded the 30 miles to pick up the trailer. Finally we weren't expecting to hear back from them, but we did! They were excited to get our message and came out to where we were parked to pick us up. This is when we were “Surprised by Luxury.” I knew they were building a house, but had no concept of how it would look. They drove us through very nice neighborhoods to get to their new home. It's in a large neighborhood association, with very many strict rules. The town of Hidden Springs, ID was started in 1997. Each home is unique - no two look alike. V&T's house is based on their neighbor's house, which they liked, but components rearranged so they don't look alike. All plans, colors, changes, must be submitted for apporval. Because of this, the whole community is coordinated and remarkably beautiful. From the top of the hill, looking down on the valley from T&V's patio, it looks like a Thomas Kinkaid painting. The floor of the valley is covered with colorful, luxury homes – all coordinated. We saw some sprawling homes and some smaller, but all up-scale, wonderfully landscaped, expensive. We walked through Tony & Val's half-done house. The neighbor couple joined us, the one's whose house inspired this one. The ceilings are very high. The master bedroom has a walk-in closet large enough to be another small bedroom. The 3 car garage is cavernous. The door from the house into the garage opens onto a spacious in-between space, where Tony says there will be a ping pong table and a bench for processing deer against the wall. Val says it will be piled to the ceiling with stuff... We were so glad to see the house at this stage, all drywalled, roofing material poised on the roof. Next year we'll have a chance to get through there again to see the finished product, and to stay in the guest room. Tony & Val then took us out to dinner. The three of them had the lasagne special, and I had the baked salmon – on Val's strong recommendation. The contrast from being truckers to being ushered into the higher society of Boise, was serendipitous. The Sneskos are wonderful hosts, committed to God, very hospitable, most interesting conversationalists, and rich in past accomplishments and experiences. I'm sure they could write a book, and I'd love to read it. We stepped out of the Lexus back into reality and said our goodbyes in front of the gate of Trinity Trailers, next to I-84 on the south side of Boise, ID.
posted by Trucking Fiddler at 6:04 AM
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