Saturday, August 13, 2011

Left Mt. Vernon, Illinois this morning and had a nice relaxing day on the road.  Stopped and got the truck serviced - oil change, grease, and all the filters changed.  Even made it through Atlanta with NO bumper to bumper traffic.  Weekend driving is really nice.  Stopped for the night in Tifton, Georgia at the Pilot truck stop.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Got on the road early this morning from Springfield, Illinois and drove into Springfield Missouri and delivered the Dumpsters first thing this morning.  After that drove over to Jefferson City, Missouri and picked up 5 transformers.  Those things are heavy!  They ( all 5 ) weigh over 42,000 pounds.  The two at the back of the trailer weigh 13,000 pounds each!   They are going to West Palm Beach, Florida.

Drove through heavy, heavy rain in St. Louis, MO.  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Mt. Vernon, Illinois.  Picked a good one tonight.  There is a Chilli's restaurant across the street.  You know where I ate tonight!!!!!   It was good too.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Had a very good reset  Slept a lot and it felt great!!  Drove over to Antigo, Wisconsin today and picked up two brand new dumpsters.  They are going to Springfield, MO.

After getting those things tied down I got on the road.  Drove down to Springfield, Illinois to a small truck stop for the night.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Got on the road very early and drove in to Minneapolis and delivered the railroad rails.  Have to do a reset so I got a hotel.  I need a good rest!  Didn't get much the last few weeks.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Got up this morning after a GREAT nights sleep.  That bed was soooooo comfortable!!!!  Had an excellent breakfast in the hotel restaurant.  Then walked over to the trucks where the crane was waiting to unload us.  I was last to be unloaded.  While waiting, the local sheriffs deputies started to show up.  They wanted to take a bunch of photos of my truck.

Then the fire department arrived.  They too wanted photos.

A survivor of the 9/11 attack, who now lives in the Denver area, was brought over by one of the deputies.  He was the Emergency Management Director in NYC.  He has been suffering major health problems since then.  So far he has had two transplants and needs a third.  It was on honor to talk to him.

After I got empty, I drove down to Pueblo, CO for my next load.  Back to the real world.  Picked up 26 railroad rails weighing 44,000 pounds. 

They are going to Minneapolis MN.  Drove up to York, Nebraska to a truck stop for the night.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Very uneventful day on the road.  Still had people taking photos when passing us and asking questions in rest areas.  Just west of Salina, KS we drove through a weather front.  Had a little rain.

Other than that, the weather was clear and sunny.  Stopped at a truck stop that had a truck wash so our "parade" truck could get the rain dirt washed off.

Then we were back on the road again.  When we crossed from Kansas into Colorado the National Guard was waiting there for us.  They escorted us all the way into Denver.  In Denver they escorted the parade truck to the military base.  We drove to the delivery site in Englewood.  It is right across the street from the hotel they had booked for us. Parallel parking a semi truck after driving all day. anyone want to try?

The Inverness Hotel & Conference Center    http://www.invernesshotel.com/    Is absolutely gorgeous!!   I have a very nice room.  After checking in and getting a well deserved shower, we were taken out to dinner at an exclusive steak house in Denver, all expenses paid.  I was instructed to bring the flag that was on my load to dinner with us.  We were thanked by so many people in the restaurant.  We were given flowers, a red rose, and a yellow rose and a purple carnation with a small flag. 

There was a stack of Sunday's edition of the Denver Post that had the front page, above the fold, article about us.  We all signed each newspaper.  We were given our own autographed copy. 

Then we had a great meal!!  I had fillet Mignon.  It was perfect.  This meal for everyone had to have cost a fortune.  My steak alone was $49 !!!  Then there were drinks, appetizers, and deserts!!

After we ate we posed for a photo out front.  Sorry, the photo is not very good. 

Then back to the hotel for a real nights sleep.   Unload tomorrow morning when the crane arrives at 7 am MDT. The parade truck will be in a parade tomorrow morning sometime.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Left Girard, Ohio and drove all day.  This morning we put a flag on my load.  Was difficult to find a place to put it because of all the sharp edges and jagged metal parts that would rip a flag to shreds in no time. 

There were cars passing us and then when they realized what we had on board would slow back down and let us go by them and then they would take photos out the windows as they passed.  Others would race ahead , pull over and stand on the side of the road and take photos as we passed.  We went through a toll booth and the female toll taker was so moved that she burst into tears and could hardly do her job.  When we arrived in St. Louis, MO we were told to get off I-70 at Memorial Drive.  That is the road that passes in front of the Gateway Arch.  When we left the Interstate the police and traffic units had the road blocked off for us.  We stopped briefly in the road for photographs.  As we passed by, people were taking photos, law enforcement officers stood at attention and saluted.  It was an amazing and very emotional site to behold. We then pulled back out on I-70 and continued west.  We found out that we would be in the St. Louis newspaper Sunday morning.  Here are a couple videos that I shot from my dash cam. 

When we would stop at rest areas, it took twice as long to get back out because people would recognize what we had and came over to talk, ask questions, and take photographs. Others just wanted to touch the steel.  Here is a photo that I took of one of the many photographers that took our picture as we were leaving a rest area.

Stopped for the night in Kingdom City, Kansas.