Saturday, April 20, 2013

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Had a light dusting of snow last night.  It is still cold!  Did a little sightseeing this morning.  This area is mostly Amish.  There are buggy's everywhere.  Walked through a few of the local  Amish stores.  For some additional information on Shipshewana, click here:      http://www.shipshewana.org

Here is an Amish parking lot


I even saw an Amish race car!!


I'll never understand that way of life.  To me, it's just dumb to live that way.  To each their own.  That's what makes this country great.  We can all live side-by-side and accept each others way of life with no problems.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Friday, April 19, 2013

Went in to Greenwood, IN to deliver this morning.  The place was in a residential area with narrow roads.  Had to go real slow while oncoming traffic had to go half way off the road to get around me.  Of course this was happening when everyone was going to work and the school buses were picking up kids.  When they showed me where the place was and the way in I knew right away that there was no way I was going to get in there.  Also it had been raining there a lot!  The ground was saturated.  The rivers, streams, and creeks were all overflowing.  Any tire off road would immediately sink in the mud.  I pulled off to the side at a bridge, the only wide place on the road.



It is hard to see in the next photo, but there is about a two (or more) feet drop off on the other side of the road.  No wiggle room at all.


When the rest of the crew arrived it became apparent that they had already made plans to unload me in a different location.  I had to turn around and go back to a golf course parking lot about a half mile up the road.  The crane was going to set up there and I was going to be off loaded.  The building was going to be put on a much smaller trailer with a much smaller truck so it could get in there.

Here is the crane setting up.  The truck next to the crane in the next photo is the truck that had the crane rigging, not the one to be used to transport the building.


Here is my truck parked next to the smaller truck.


When they finished rigging the crane I backed up next to the crane.  They lifted the building up and I pulled out.  Then the smaller truck backed under the building and they set it down.


When that was done I left there and drove up to ARI in Shipshewana, IN.  That is where my sleeper was made.  I have an appointment Monday morning to have a few things fixed.  When I got there they were super nice.  I was able to refill my water tanks and I had a place to plug in so I didn't have to run the generator.  They even gave me a car to use for the weekend!!  I will make very good use of that!!  Went to Wal-Mart right away!!

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Thursday, April 18, 2013

At 11 am my Indiana permit finally arrived!  It had just started to rain.  I got on the road quickly and drove out of it.  Didn't go very far.  Stopped for the rest of the day at the TA truck stop in Clayton, Indiana.  Now the bad weather can catch up with me again.  Will deliver tomorrow morning in Greenwood, IN.  That is just south of Indianapolis.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Good day on the road.  Perfect weather!!  Drove to an abandon Walmart, a very small one, in Marshall, Illinois.  Couldn't go any further because I still don't have an Indiana permit.  Don't know why it is taking so long.....oh, yes I do..... Government!!!   I'm only a few miles from Indiana.   

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Went over and loaded a building that is for AT&T going to Greenwood, Indiana.  I gross at about 101,000 pounds.



 While I was securing it to the trailer I found a small hole in one of the trailer tires. 



 After I was all done I drove back to the small truck stop I stayed at last night.  There was no shop there.  Road service came out and fixed the tire.  


Once he got the tire off the hole was a lot bigger on the inside.


He also found the culprit!!


Once that was done I got on the road. Arkansas routed me all over the place!  I zig-zagged all the way through the farm country of Arkansas, mostly on 2 lane roads.  Took all day to get up to Memphis.  Finally made it to the Petro truck stop in West Memphis, Arkansas for the night.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Monday, April 15, 2013

Had the worlds largest BBQ grill park across from me last night.  I have seen this truck on TV before.  It's pretty cool!!  The entire trailer is the grill.


Went over and delivered the crane this morning.  Took most of the morning to get it unloaded.  Lots of security stuff to go through to get into the chemical plant.

Next load is in Minden, LA tomorrow morning.  Drove up to a small truck stop just down the road from where I load in the morning.