Sunday, January 11, 2009

Just What I Need

...Another addictive website.

From the time I was able to see over the dashboard (long before car seats were needed) I have loved to look out the windows or better windshields of a vehicle in motion. No idea why. But some of my happiest moments come from driving across unknown territory and looking out the window, whether it was Helsinki to the Russia border, or travelling the back roads of Poland going from one castle to another, or an eight hour tour of Iceland by tourbus.

And so when a website was linked which provides an "out the windshield" view of a truck driving around the US, I was almost immediately "hooked". OK, yesterday it sat, unmoving, in a truck stop in NJ while the snow melted, but today it is traversing toll booths and bridges and headed on its way from NJ to Utah. Perhaps some of the fascination derives from the fact that I have personally driven at least twice in each of the fifty US states, plus a fair number of places outside the US.

Anyhow, you are warned it may be addictive, but enjoy. http://www.bigrigtravels.com/

33 comments:

BenB said...

Yeah, pretty cool for a trucker that's doing OTR to have a live webcam running all the time. I would love to be able to do that as well - but I assume that means purchasing a laptop and probably a rather expensive camera for good, clear quality. I haven't had any problem posting here. I have had problems on various sites, but have figured out how to get comments posted. Especially on Blogspot sites - just make sure your logged in and when you go to another Blogspot site, it will automatically show your user name and simply pushing the post comment field should suffice instead of - all the rest of it.

greeneyes67 said...

That sounds really cool. I know what you mean about addictive websites though! I hate when I find another one. It's hard enough to get offline as it is!! lol Happy Sunday Fin!

GirlBlogger said...

I'm glad you shared the website. It is fun.

Anonymous said...

Just clicked his map link, changed it to the satellite version and found he is about a half mile from the last airport where I changed planes on my last visit to Girlblogger. The city and bridge I saw "out the windshield" earlier was Philly.

Now that he is parked, I can get some stuff done.

Anonymous said...

I think I will give this one a miss although I will pass the link to Tony; sounds like something he would get hours of fun from. As for me, if I am staring out of a windshield, I want to BE there. maggs

Benita said...

Fin, please come over and join my "followers". This is embarrassing...C'mon. You can put me into double digits! :)

Fijufic said...

That will keep you busy...

Sunny said...

I think I might take a peek. Thankyou, Fin.

I was married many years to an over-the road-big-rig-truck-driver.

Sunny said...

WOW !! Thankyouuuu. :) I'm hooked, lol.

It feels like I'm right there going down the road along with!

Gorgeous pictures too.

I put this site on my desktop fave's. :)

'Breaker breaker, ya'll got a copy on this one sundowner?' :)

Sundowner used to be my handle on the CB.

Bye bye, I'm going truckin'

Anonymous said...

Judy - glad you like it. Ben notice nobody ever cuts him off LOL. Benita, I did, now how bout you update? fin

Anonymous said...

Finland...Russia...Poland. Big deal. Bet you haven't made the trip from Frog Knot to Goat Gap. Eat your heart out, fin. ;)

S

Fin said...

Macauley to Hamlin count?

fragilewisdom said...

Pretty cool site.

Benita said...

Thanks, Fin. (You'd left a comment early-on that you planned to follow...but that was when your house was covered in oil! :( Yes! I did update! The GirlBlogger is there as well. Stay warm!!)

Benita said...

BTW: Thanks for the connection to the "big rig". It's fun to watch!

intelliwench said...

I should've known better than to check it out at night . . .
(And I always liked looking out the back window best.)

Anonymous said...

Over on the new JS site, I wrote 5 paragraphs about my day and the linked website showing the truck. It vanished and three subsequent efforts to post even a test post have vanished as well. One is NOT in the mood!

Anonymous said...

Today he is driving thru Iowa and Nebraska in blowing sky with brilliant blue skies. In places, the median and shoulders are littered with semis and SUVs, often facing the wrong direction.

Fin said...

actually it was snow that was blowing....

BenB said...

I keep missing it - I forget about it after I get home from work until it's too late and he's already parked. I am interested in seeing whether he experiences the same thing out there on the open road as I do in the city on a daily basis.

Anonymous said...

Ben I have been watching pretty much steadily from NJ to Nebraska. Nobody has come close to cutting him off. He is almost always in the slow lane. Cars pass, get way ahead, put on their blinkers and return to the slow lane.
Going thru Iowa this morning, it looked like a war zone. Semis and SUVs were every few miles, often facing the wrong way in the median or shoulder. For much of the morning, only one lane was free of snow and ice, making passing tricky. He seems to have followed I-80 most of the way.

Anonymous said...

Well, I've heard that driving is different in different parts of the country and that motorists have differing amounts of respect for big rigs depending on where you are. In Phoenix - talk to any local driver - and you will hear that driver tell you about getting cut off quite frequently. It isn't just me. This guy is on the open road and there's much less of that going on out there. It's big-city driving where you experience this kind of nonsense. Also remember I am living in a smelting pot of driving beliefs coming from California, New York, Chicago and other places.
I noticed now that I finally got sound working again on my computer that this guy's setup is video only, no audio.
ben

Fin said...

nope - no audio. I wish he had a little gps readout of lat longit in one corner of the screen, but really I can't complain. The Purple Mountains Majesty were just coming into view as the sun set behind them in Wyoming.

Fin said...

He has passed into Mountain time zone and has had a long day. Seems to be very careful driver. It occurs to me that invalids or shutins or others with limited travel outside their own areas can really get a nice view of some of the rest of the country. I first drove in Wyoming when I was 16.

BenB said...

Beautiful country there. I have driven all 48 mainland states - umpteen dozen times over. You definitely don't get the same kind of view of this nation in doing much of anything else. A few states I've only been to a few times - and never been to Hawaii or Alaska - the 2 places I have on the "Must See Before I Die" list.

Fin said...

He has come to rest in Rawlins, where I know I have been, but not recently. Lots and lots of very empty space round those parts!

Fin said...

He has now reached Ogden and the shadows show he has turned north. Peaks there are close to ten thousand feet.

I may need to take down the link now, as a new line shows that he can only accomodate so many viewers.....

Anonymous said...

Well, like a typical trucker, I've been on every interstate highway - more times than I can remember, on the mainland and many many more state routes. I always liked the little 2-lane highways far better than the interstates.

Unknown said...

Before car seats were needed, or enforced? Those car seat manufacturers are sho' making more money now that kids have to use some form of "seat" up until about age 8 ...

Anonymous said...

Ben - if you take a few minutes to check out his home page, you may find him even more interesting. I am still impressed at the fantastically good quality of his video.

fin

Fin said...

This morning he is up in Idaho. I drove Salt Lake City to Pocatello in June 2000. His website has lots of photos of the truck and video equipment. His guestbook has people watching him from as far away as Siberia.

KIT said...

That was surprisingly addictive. Thanks for sharing, I will be going back!

Fin said...

Yup. I have had the little window open in the bottom right hand corner of my screen for most of his trip from NJ to Idaho and now back to Wyoming. Since he will be back tracking tomorrow along I-80, maybe I can take a break.

I remain astonished at the clarity and color coming over the net though.