Saturday, November 2, 2019 Part 2

Saturday, November 2, 2019

We left at sunrise this morning and drove to the Flying J truck stop in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  Had to get out of Maryland before noon today, otherwise we would have been stuck until Monday morning down there. We got to the truck stop at 12:15.  Will be here until Monday morning.  Now it is time for more SEC  football!!!!!   Go Gators!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This should be a good game!!!

Friday, November 1, 2019

We left at sunrise this morning.  Had great weather today.  Another good day on the road. Except for one area.  We were on US-60 in Versailles, Kentucky when our permit route was closed.  They were rebuilding the railroad crossing and had the entire road closed.  I pulled to the side of the road and stated making phone calls.  First one was to Daily, like we are supposed to do.  The were no help.  Next was to the local police.  They were no help.  Then four different state police phone numbers.  They were no help either.  Finally got through to the state permit office.  They were not aware of the road closing.  After being put on hold a few times, then several returned phone calls they were finally able to give me a way out and back to where we needed to be.  Next problem was to get turned around.  Had to pull forward to an intersection then back in on my blind side (although both sides are blind with something that big) then pull back out the correct direction.  That was fun.  It's a good thing I can back up.  My two escort cars stopped traffic while I did that.  We made our way around Lexington and back to my permit route.  From then on it was uneventful.  Stopped for the night at the Jane Lew Truck Stop in Jane Lew, West Virginia.  Sometime during the day the access door on my APU fell off.  Have no idea when or where.  Oh well, just one more thing to fix when I get to Carlisle.

Thursday, October 31, 2019

We left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  Slight rain on and off most of the day.  Our other escort car joined us at the Kentucky state line and fell in behind me.  Finally had a good and full day of driving with no problems.  Had a little more snowfall just north of the Corvette plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  But is didn't last long.  Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Glendale, KY.

Tuesday, October, 30, 2019

Once again, the day started off great!  We left a half hour before sunrise this morning. Shortly after we got on the road the snow started.  It was heavy, wet snow but it was sticking to the roads.  Enough came down that the plows were out doing their thing.  Passed about 5 cars that had spun out in the median in different places along the way.  Fortunately we drove out of the snow in about an hour and a half.  Then it rained.  Stopped to get fuel at the TA truck stop in Effingham, Illinois.  Found this...

Checked in at the truck shop at the TA.  I was third in line.  I parked the truck, dropped the trailer, then waited.  When I finally got into the shop, this is what was in my tire...

So I got 2 new tires.

Parked for the night.  Hope tomorrow goes better.  Get another escort car tomorrow when we get to Kentucky.  So I'll have my pole car and a chase car.  Good!!

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Had a little snow overnight.

Left at about 5 am and drove to Darien, WI and loaded a large generator in an enclosure that is going to Hummelstown, PA.  

I'm stretched out about 10 feet for this load.  Once my pole car arrived, we left.  The route through Wisconsin wasn't too bad at all.  The route through Illinois is a different story.  Lots of low hanging trees and at least 6 power lines the I would have hit if I didn't have a pole car.  We were doing great avoiding everything until Streamwood, Illinois.  There was a power line that was a bit too low.  My pole car hollered that he hit it.  But because we were in a city and had just left a traffic light, I didn't have enough time to stop.  I clipped the power line.  When I did so, the line popped up as I passed under it.  When the line went up it arced and blew the power out to the area.  The line, much to my surprise, did not come down.  Of course we stopped.  While I was on the phone with 911, a cop pulled up. I explained everything to him and he got everything started.  They shut down the road.  It was 4 lanes plus a center turn lane.  The fire department came and then the power company came.  Everyone got there pretty quick.  The power company said that the line had been hanging low for a while.  The cop said another truck hit it last week.  Everyone said that it was not my fault at all.  

There was absolutely no damage to my load at all.  While the fire department was there, they brought a ladder truck, they went up and photographed the roof of my load for me.  No damage at all.  Got very lucky!!!!!

After all that was done, we left and continued on our merry way.  Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Rochelle, Illinois.

Monday, October 28, 2019

Went back over to Milwaukee and re-attached to my trailer very early this morning.  Didn't matter that I was there early, didn't get unloaded until noon.  After that, I went to the Daily terminal in Lannon, WI and swapped into a different trailer.  It is a stretch trailer.  I'll need it for my next load in Darien, WI.  I load in the morning.  Supposed to get rain then turning to snow tonight.  Not supposed to get much though.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  Drove the rest of the way into Milwaukee.  Dropped my trailer in front of where I'm delivering tomorrow.  Then drove bobtail over to the Love's truck stop for the night.  It is about 7 miles down the Interstate.