Dear Mrs. Mizer,

I became even flatter than I was before and I was made into little pieces and then put back together again! Mr. Ash [Kenleigh's Dad] took me to his job at FedEx Custom Critical and sent me through the FAX machine to another FAX machine. I went from Akron, OH to Chattanooga, TN in just seconds! To do that, I was made into little pieces by the FAX machine and then sent through the telephone lines to the machine in TN. I was able to come out of the TN machine in one piece because the FAX there knew just where to put all my pieces. WOW! It was kind of scary, but pretty cool. All kinds of information was going through the telephone lines with me. I'm glad that the FAX machine is smart enough to know which pieces were ME and which ones were telephone calls to other people.

The company I went to was Westinghouse in Chattanooga, TN. It is a very large international company. A man was waiting for me to come out of the FAX machine. His name is Mr. Mike [Swiger] and his wife is Miss Gail [Swiger]. They really live in West Allis, WI but they were in TN because their job is to drive a truck all over North America. They have even driven to Fairbanks, AK! Their truck was already hooked up to a flatbed trailer with a sea container on it by the time I came out of the FAX. The container had tools in it that would be used to work on a nuclear reactor in Taft, LA. I don't know anything about that stuff, but asked lots of questions and found out that it's really safe to move radioactive things around in trains and with trucks. There has never even been an accident that let any of the radioactive particles out of their very secure containers - WOW! So, we hurried up and started driving to LA. The truck is far out!

I asked Miss Gail to attach a file to this letter so you can see it. She found two photos of their truck on the computer hard drive and has attached them so you can see where I was.

They don't have any photos of the inside of the truck, but I can tell you that it's got an awful lot of things in a small space. There are two seats and a space in between them in the front part of the cab [that's what the part where the people ride is called]. The space is called the 'doghouse' and it's the same height as the seat bottoms. The Swigers keep a satellite communicator and a laptop computer on the doghouse. It's their desktop. They can write to dispatchers in Akron, OH and get answers to important questions really quick. It's easier than stopping their big truck to use a telephone. Under the doghouse is the engine, because they don't have an engine or hood out on the front of the truck, like most you see, and like your family car. Strange, but it makes a nice desk for their electronic stuff. Behind the seats and doghouse is their bed. WOW! They have an air bed that's adjustable for each person plugged into an electrical inverter. I had fun playing with the air control. In the bed part, really called the 'sleeper,' they have a television, video player and a DSS satellite box and dish. I didn't think they would have those things!

We didn't watch TV because we didn't sit still very long. One of the Swigers is sleeping while the other one is driving. I had a really hard time deciding when to go to sleep, so I didn't - haha. I wanted to see as much as I could. There are shelves and cubbyholes for storing clothes, books and supplies all over the place in their truck. They need paperwork, winter and summer clothing, tools, spare food and carry a lot of their mail with them. The last time they got home, there was almost three months of mail waiting there for them. It takes a long time to read all the letters and magazines, so they have to store them until they get done and can recycle things to other drivers. I rode up by the windshield most of the time, right next to their permit book. It has all the legal papers needed to travel the USA and Canada in it. The Swigers have lots of papers to keep track of, but they're really organized. They have to show their papers to many different state officials when they're hauling freight. Mr. Mike and Miss Gail knew where every piece of paper was when the inspectors asked for it. There is just so much to tell you, that it's hard for me to know the best way to tell you! Mr. Mike was the first driver when we left Chattanooga, TN.

Oooops! I forgot to tell you that the day I met the Swigers was October 31 and that it was Miss Gail's birthday! Anyway, Mr. Mike drove to McCalla, AL so that he could get ready for bed and Miss Gail could buy breakfast and start to drive. We got to McCalla at 12:45pm and left at 1:30pm. Miss Gail decided to have a sandwich from a Subway next to the truckstop. She bought it while Mr. Mike was cleaning the windshield, making some phone calls and getting ready for bed. She was able to eat half of it while waiting for him. It was her job to drive to Taft, LA so we could leave the trailer and container there. It's called 'dropping' the trailer. We arrived in Taft, LA at 7:15pm and didn't leave until 11:15pm. It took a long time for inspectors to be sure the load had moved safely and then we had to wait for a supervisor to come out to he waiting area and say that we were cleared to drop the trailer and leave. We got all of our paperwork signed, so the Swigers can be paid for hauling the freight, and then 'bobtailed' back to Chattanooga, TN. It's called 'bobtailing' when you drive the truck without a trailer attached. Miss Gail ate the other half of her sandwich while we were waiting and she even had time to take a shower in the employee locker room! She drove us to Russell, MS and it was 3:00am when we got there. Miss Gail brushed her teeth, washed her face and got ready for bed. Mr. Mike woke up, fueled the truck, took his shower and ate while we were in Russell. There was room for 157 gallons of diesel fuel - WOW! The tanks will hold 200 gallons when they're full. We left at 5:00am. We made a few stops on our way to Chattanooga, but we got there at 11:00am. We had to hook to the Swiger's trailer so they could haul different freight. We waited for a message over the satellite saying that there would be a load they could haul, but there were no loads that interested them. The Swigers knew that they had an appointment in Columbia, SC for Friday, so that's the direction they wanted to go. By 5:00pm there were no loads going toward SC, so Miss Gail drove us to a truckstop in Columbia, SC. We were very lucky to find a parking space when we arrived at 11:15pm. We all slept with the truck turned off. It was very comfortable in their sleeper. A curtain between the front and the sleeper keep it really dark for sleeping. It was late and we didn't watch any television - darn. Mr. Mike woke up the next day and had many phone calls to make. It takes a lot of work to run your business while you travel all the time. We moved into a Fairfield Inn for a couple days while Mr. Mike get ready for their next job. He is moving flatbed trailers from Charlotte, NC to Columbia, SC for another division of Westinghouse. There is a project being planned and six rigs will move freight to an airport and put the freight on airplanes - WOW! Mr. Mike is making sure that all the trailers have been inspected for safety and have their paperwork. He is also being sure that the containers are secure on the trailers. They won't fall off after HE gets done tightening them - he's really strong! Miss Gail is using her time to catch up on reading eMail and regular mail, fill out paperwork and continue to get organized after having been away from home for so long. The Swigers will probably not be home until around Christmas time, so it's important that as much work as possible gets done before they start all over again with two months of mail.

WOW! This is a long letter! There is so much more I could tell you, but Miss Gail is sending a Priority Mail package to school so you can see some brochures I picked up while I was going from TN to LA to SC. I wish we could have stopped along the way, but we had to be kind of in a hurry. We traveled 1,364 miles in a day and a half - we were really truckin' ! I just found out that I am going to go to Victor, ID - WOW! I don't know where that is, but Miss Gail showed me on the map that it is a long way from OH and even longer from SC. One of Miss Gail's sisters, brother-in-law and a niece and nephew live in ID and the children are home schooled. They have most of their classes at home - WOW! I'm sure that I will learn about that when I get to the Ruthardt home in ID. I can't wait to get into my envelope and start that trip. Enjoy the things I picked up for you!

Good bye,
Flat Stanley :-)

P.S.: WOW! Miss Gail figured out how to get me into a swimsuit and also made me look like I am wearing one of their truck driving uniforms - cool! I had her attach me to this note. I hope you're having as much fun reading about my travels as I am making them! Flat Truckin' Stanley - from Columbia, SC