Saturday, July 17, 2021

 Left early this morning. No issues on the road today!!  Yeah!!! Drove through Arkansas and into Texas.  Stopped, after driving 577 miles, at the Love's truck stop in Lufkin, Texas.

Friday, July 16, 2021

 Early this morning I drove the rest of the way to Decatur, Illinois.  At the Caterpillar plant there loaded a radiator and 5 crates of parts for a caterpillar 994K Wheel Loader. They are going to the port in Galveston, Texas. Then they are going on an ocean cruise to Chile.  

This is what a 994K wheel loader looks like all put together.

Left there and drove to the TA truck stop in Matthews, Missouri for the night.

Thursday, July 15, 2021

 Got up at 1 AM EDT, was on the road at 1:45 AM EDT.  I had to get to the Kentucky / Ohio state line between 5:55 AM EDT and 7 AM EDT.  In other words, a half-hour before sunrise (5:55 AM) and when the Cincinnati curfew starts (7 AM).  If I didn't get there in time I would have had to wait south of Cincinnati until 9 AM when the curfew ended.  I timed it just about perfectly.  I crossed into Ohio at 6 AM.  Continued on to Washington Court House, Ohio, and delivered the tractor.  Next, I went towards Indianapolis, Indiana.  I-70 east of Indy was a total mess!!  I went around it like a lot of other people did.  Still made better time than staying on I-70 in all that bumper-to-bumper traffic.  Then I got to the Indy beltway.  It too was a mess.  No way around it. Finally, I made it to the International truck shop, where I had the work done on my truck and left my trailer.  I dropped the trailer I was using and got mine.  After that was done I made my way through all that traffic to the Thermo King shop in Indy.  Two nights ago the A/C went out again on my APU.  I was lucky.  They took my truck in right away and started working on it. After a couple hours, it was fixed, hopefully for the last time.  Then I went to the Love's truck stop in Pittsboro, Indiana for some sleep.  Good night!

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

 Left a half-hour after sunrise this morning.  Lots of bumper-to-bumper traffic in Atlanta.  Thought I'd never get through there!!  Then more of it in Chatanooga, Tennessee. No problems going around Nashville.  Stopped for the night at the Flying J truck stop in Franklin, Kentucky.  Will leave in the morning to time it so I get to Ohio a half-hour before sunrise.  Have to beat the Cincinnati curfew.  

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

 Left Vero Beach at about 2:30 this morning and drove straight up to Garden City, Georgia and delivered the twin backhoes. From there I drove up to Grovetown, Georgia and loaded a John Deere 8370 Tractor that is going up to Washington, Ohio.

It is a bit wide.

My Georgia permit doesn't start until tomorrow so I stayed put for the night. 488 miles today too. The phone is off and I'm going to sleep.  Good night.

Monday, July 12, 2021

 Went to Fort Myers first thing this morning and delivered the JLG Lift.  Then drove over to Miami.  Had some bumper-to-bumper traffic getting there.  Loaded two used John Deere 310 Backhoes that are going to Garden City, Georgia.  When I was about halfway done chaining them down the heavens opened up.  LOTS of heavy rain and a bit of thunder and lightning, for good measure.  That lasted about 45 minutes until it had slowed down enough to get back at it again.

By the time I was finished I was soaked through to the bone!  When I left there almost every major road in the Miami area was a total mess with traffic.  I was, however, able to find a way out of there with minimal bumper-to-bumper traffic.  Drove to the TA  truck stop in Vero Beach. I won't even begin to tell you what a total disaster my dinner was in the restaurant here.  I'll be out of here as soon as my ten hours are up.