Saturday, October 27, 2012

Before I left the truck stop this morning I got the truck and trailer washed.  Then hit the road.  Here is the Kansas sunrise this morning.

In Kansas, this passed me.  Don't see a Lambroghini too often outside of Miami or Los Angeles.

I stopped at a rest area to use the facilities and guess who was in there too.  Yup.  It was him. When I parked he was showing off his car to some other people so, naturally I had to look too.  He said that he paid over $400,000 for that car. Must be nice!!   He was on his way down to Wichita to race it. He said that it goes 220 mph.

That was the extent of my excitement for the day.  Stopped for the night at a very small convenience store with a few truck parking spaces in Conway, Arkansas.

Friday, October 26, 2012

Left Bunker Hill, KS just before sun up.  When I got to Colorado the weather had changed a bit.  Got my first snow this season.  Wasn't much, just enough to see the plows.  

Stopped at a rest area to use the facilities and saw this sign:

JUST GREAT!!  They said that the Interstate was indeed closed due to a multi car and multi semi truck crash.  One of the semis burned.  Haz-mat units were on the way.  They said that the road would be closed for at least 6 hours.  I was still an hour from Limon so I continued on in hopes that there would be a way around it.  When I arrived in Limon the road was still closed.

I stopped for fuel in Limon at the TA truck stop.  After talking with some of the folks there and my office in Jacksonville, FL calling Colorado State Patrol, found a way around the mess.  Look what the weather did to my machine!!

It turned out to be only 26 miles farther but it took 45 minutes to get back to I-70.  Made it in to Denver and delivered the wheel loader.  My next load was right there picking up another wheel loader going to Memphis, TN.  This one is a bit smaller and does not require permits.

Got back on the road.  The east bound lanes of I-70 had opened up for traffic.  I passed 3 semi trucks being towed away from the crash.  Where the crash occurred was at a very wide section of Interstate.  I took a few photos of what was left as I went by.

I zoomed in on this one for you.

Here are a couple web sites for you to see more info on the crash.

http://kdvr.com/2012/10/26/semi-with-explosive-on-board-catches-fire-closes-i-70-near-limon/

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2012/10/26/i-70-near-limon-closed-after-multiple-accidents/

I continued on into Kansas and stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Oakley, KS.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Left East St. Louis, Illinois at 8:30 local time.  Drove through a cold front on the west side of Missouri.  Had rain and watched the temperature drop from 72 down to 45 in about 30 miles.  Cleared up after Kansas City.  Stopped for the night at a small truck stop in Bunker Hill, Kansas.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Got on the road a little after sun up.  Had some nice fall color in north Georgia / Southern Tennessee.  These photos are along I-24 going up and then down Monteagle, TN.

Had to stop in Kentucky and wait for the KY permit.  Fortunately it didn't take long and I was back on the road.  I couldn't get into the truck stop that I wanted to go to because an oversize load truck carrying a large and long tank rolled over in the middle of the road at the entrance to the truck stop. The truck was on its side and the tank came off.  Big mess. Didn't get close enough to get any photos.   Blocked the entire road both directions and no one could get in or out of the truck stop.   Stopped for the night at the Pilot truck stop in East St. Louis, Illinois.  It is right across the street from the Gateway Speedway (NASCAR races there.  So does NHRA).  I can see the Gateway Arch from here.

Will be a late start in the morning.  Have to wait until 9 am local time for the St. Louis curfew to get over.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Went in to Tampa this morning and loaded a Volvo L110F wheel loader. It is going to Denver, Colorado.

Went to the scale at the Flying J truck stop just north of Tampa and scaled.  Had to readjust the loader a few times to get the weight correct.  Finally did and got back on the road.

Came up behind this truck and I saw this on the back of the truck.  Does anything look a little strange?

I don't think I want to see that driver's package.

While going around Atlanta passed this.

Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Cartersville, Georgia.

Monday, October 22, 2012

After I got the stitches out of my mouth this morning, I drove to Thermo King in Orlando and got my APU fixed.  Works great again!!  After that drove down to the TA truck stop in Seffner, FL, just outside of Tampa.  Replaced all eight drive tires.  Glad that's done!!  Now I'm here for the night.  Load in Tampa in the morning.