Saturday, August 28, 2010

Left Dallas this morning and drove 620 miles to the Oasis Truck Stop in Robertsdale, Alabama.  That's almost to Florida.  Passed the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile on the way.

Friday, August 27,2010

Today I didn't go anywhere.  The Great American Truck Show was at the Dallas Convention Center so I spent the day at the convention. Free truck parking and free to get in.  Here is a photo of our booth at the show.

There was a lot of exhibits.  I looked at all of them.

There was (of course) a lot of gorgeous trucks!!  

Alex from Ice Road Truckers was there posing for photos and signing autographs.  I got a chance to talk with him a little bit.  Seems like a real nice guy.  Very "down to earth".

The guy took the picture before I was ready. I look funny!!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Picked up my next load in Wichita, Kansas.  A truck load of insulated panels that are going back to Deland, Florida to the manufacturer.  Drove down to Denton, Texas to spend the night at the TA truck stop.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Delivered the panel to a job site in Wichita where they are building a Quick Trip convenience store.


My next load is here in Wichita but doesn't load until tomorrow morning so I splurged and got a hotel room. Not anywhere near as nice as the one in Las Vegas.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Drove into Ft. Worth and delivered the bowling alley stuff without any further problems. Glad to get rid of that load!!

Then went a few miles down the road for my next load. It is one insulated panel going to Wichita, KS. One of the easiest and lightest loads I have ever had. After the last one, I really needed that!! The photos below are of the loading dock I backed into. I love those! They are a fun challenge to back into without hitting anything. Have to look close at the photos. Inside the sides of the loading dock come in toward the trailer leaving only 2 inches on either side of the trailer. That is so the fork lift can drive right to the edge of the trailer. Makes it much easier for them to center the load on the trailer. Of course I didn't hit anything.

On the way to Wichita I passed the Texas Motor Speedway.

Stopped for the night just south of Wichita, Kansas at a rest area on I-35.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Got an early start today. Everything was going great until I noticed that my load had shifted. The front part of the load had shifted toward the passenger side of the trailer. That caused the trailer to lean. I limped into a truck stop to fix it. 2 guys and a fork lift came out to help. So here I go again un-tarping, this time it was the front half, the blue tarp in front in the photo below. The whole stack had shifted. Had to take them off one at a time and then put them back on one at a time. Then re-strap and re-tarp. It was 104 degrees in west Texas when we did this. I was sure glad to have the help. Wasn't nearly as exhausted as I was Friday. Three hours and $235 later I was back on the road.

While driving I saw a dust devil.  Finally one close enough to get a photo of.

Drove 659 miles in spite of my difficulties and stopped for the night in Big Spring, Texas at the TA truck stop.

When I went in to eat I picked my booth and went to the salad bar.  When I returned and started eating this came in and sat right in front of me.  I could hardly keep from gaging while I ate.  Had to look around the room or down at my plate so I could eat.