Truckers

“Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” Psalm 25:4-5


When we went to the Precious Moment’s Chapel a few weeks ago, I forgot to include that we stopped by the Petro Truck Stop on the highway on the way there to eat lunch.


This was probably, in all honesty, the highlight of the trip for my two boys.


We ate at the Pizza Hut/Taco Bell amongst all the souvenirs and gifts available at the truck stop. They’d seen the neon sign for “Theatre” when we came in so that drew them further into the truck stop. Unfortunately, the theatre was under remodel and shielded in plastic.


But they ventured on, into the Super Truck Showroom (you really need to flip through the pictures to get the full effect), where you can buy fancy chrome things for your semi and mud flaps and all kinds of light kits. There was a big semi inside with a mural painted on the trailer of scenic sites from around the US (you’ll find it in the slideshow). Then there was a lime green “tractor” (of tractor-trailer fame) on a turntable by some big windows. (It’s in the slideshow too.)


Anyway, the turntable was turned off.


While the kids were checking out the lime green beast, they were especially fascinated by the Peterbilt symbol enshrouded in a fancy light kit on the giant chrome bumper. My 8YO pointed out the logo to me and when I walked around to see what he was pointing at, the truck began to move.


“Did I do that?” he said.


I noticed that a man and a woman had walked up to the wall close to the side of the turntable opposite of where we were standing. They were talking about something on the wall and there was some kind of switch.


“I don’t know,” I said.


Then, the man and woman noticed the kids’ wide eyes at the rotating semi, and they turned it off.


The 8YO asked the man, “Did I do that?”


The man said, “No, but your brother did.”


“Really??” they said.


He said, “Yeah, when he steps on the floor like that, it turns it on.”


So my 6YO stepped onto the turntable, and it started up. Then he stepped off of it, and it turned off.


The man and woman were really grinning at this.


All in all, we spent probably 10 minutes at the semi turntable with the kids trying different things to get it to go. The kids never figured out that the man and woman had anything to do with their turning off and on the turntable.


Later in the trip, I spilled the beans.


Tonight, two weeks later, my 8YO is still mad at me for telling them the truth about the turntable.


He said I took all the fun away.


He said he “thought it was a miracle or maybe magic”, but I ruined it. He also thought at the time that he might have “forced” it. He’s pretty in touch with all things Star Wars.


Remind me not to disclose any other fun killing truths inherent to childhood for a good LONG time! I guess when they want to know the truth, they’ll ask me.


Oh, and I’m pretty sure after all this, that both of my children will grow up to follow in their Pa Pa’s footsteps and become truckers!


Maybe I’ll ride shotgun on a few long hauls.


Nope, I’d probably take all the fun out of it!