Friday, August 19, 2011

Drove up to Jackson, MS and picked up a fork lift that is going to Indianapolis, IN.

After that went up to Byhalia, MS (that's just south of Memphis, TN) and picked up some "structural braces" that are going to Romulus, MI (that's just outside Detroit).

Stopped for the night in West Memphis, Arkansas.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Drove over to Inglis, FL and picked up a load of crane mats.

Took them over to Pearl River, LA and delivered them.  After that went to Slidell, LA for the night.  Had a hole in my exhaust fixed while there.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

So much for a nice relaxing day off.  The parts I needed to repair my truck arrived yesterday.  Today I changed out a defective motor in my satellite dish.  Then the mechanic at the shop replaced the lower coolant tube on the big truck.  Got a stainless steel one so this one won't ever rust out again.  Also used silicone hose for it. Meanwhile my blue truck was in the shop getting the AC fixed.  Needed a new fan clutch.  Boy! was that expensive!!  To make things worse, found a large hole in my big truck's exhaust.  Have to repair that real fast.  Will do that after I deliver my next load which I pick up in the morning in Inglis, FL.  I'm bleeding money!!!!!!

Monday, August 15, 2011

Delivered the transformers first thing this morning in West Palm Beach.  Drove up to Orlando and had the trailer looked at at the shop there.  Then drove home. Will be home for a couple days.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Nothing exciting today.  Got on the road early and drove home.  Got there and in my bed by 10 am.  Will deliver tomorrow morning in West Palm Beach.

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.

Friday, August 5, 2011

After a very good nights sleep in the hotel went back to JFK this morning and finished loading my truck.  Hanger 17 is right next to the area at JFK where all the diplomats and "important" people including the President go when attending functions in NYC.  It was empty while we were there.

 It took a while to get the two antenna sections on the truck.  They are heavy and awkward.

It took 2 1/2 hours to drive the 22 miles to the George Washington Bridge.  Four of us rode in a procession with the "parade" truck up front.

I brought up the rear.  There were people driving past us taking photos of us as we drove along.  Lots of talk on the CB about us as well.  About 20 miles or so east of Dubois, PA there was a TV news helicopter hovering very low over I-80 as we passed under it.  We stopped at the Pilot truck stop in Dubois .  Will be starting out early in the morning. 

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Left the TA truck stop in Bloomsbury, NJ early this morning.  Drove all the way in to JFK Airport with only a small amount of bumper to bumper traffic.  When I arrived at the airport I pulled in behind two other trucks waiting out on the road near the hanger.  Just in front of our trucks in a small staging area off the road there were about a half dozen "official" looking vehicles and a bunch of guys in suits standing around.  They were Secret Service.  They were there for some unknown (to us) dignitary.  They left all together shortly thereafter and we never saw them again.  I found out that I was a back up truck and I was there just in case another truck was needed.  Such as one of the other trucks broke down or something.  So I didn't know if I was even going to be used.  We all went in to Hanger 17 where the World Trade Center debris is being stored.  There was a lot that has already been taken but there was an awful lot still there.  I walked all over the place, which is huge, and took about 80 photos.  Way too many to post here.  Here are just a few of them.

The next photo is of the base of the antenna from the top of Building 1.

The next photo is one of the motors for one of the elevators.

The next photo is the top of one of the antenna from Building 1.

After lunch they decided that they were going to use my truck after all.  There were a total of 6 trucks.  I was the last to be loaded today.  Here is what my load looks like:

After that was put on they decided to call it a day.  It was after 6 pm.  So this is where I parked for the night: (the blue thing is a subway car under a tarp)

They are going to put on more tomorrow morning.  I am getting some of the antenna.  The guy from the museum took us to the Hilton and got us rooms for the night.  Very nice rooms!!  We will be back over there at 7:30 am tomorrow.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Tomorrow's load sounds like it has not been coordinated very well.  Still don't have much information on it.  For those of you that I haven't told yet, I have been selected to go to JFK Airport tomorrow, along with four other of our trucks, to transport sections of the World Trade Center debris out to Denver, Colorado for a memorial.  It is a tremendous honor to have been chosen to do this.  Click on the web sites below for photos, videos, and information about JFK Hanger 17.  There is an excellent video from a NBC News story about it.

http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/06/17/6882607-hangar-17-is-home-to-world-trade-center-steel


http://www.airportbusiness.com/web/online/Top-News-Headlines/At-JFK-hangar--Twin-Towers-remnants-still-able-to-foment-anger/1$46178



http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/26738/ny1-tours-jfk-airport-s-hangar-17--where-wtc-debris-is-stored/

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Left the Pilot truck stop in Connecticut at 3 am this morning.  Beat the rush hour traffic and went to the Earle Naval Weapons Station in Colts Neck, NJ

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Weapons_Station_Earle   

and delivered the missile simulators.  When empty, I drove out to the TA truck stop in Bloomsbury, NJ to get a reset done before going to JFK on Thursday for our "special" load.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Went into Billerica, MA this morning and delivered the boxes.  After that drove over to Groten, CT to the Navy Submarine Base   http://www.cnic.navy.mil/newlondon/index.htm   and picked up two AURES Missile Simulators.  The place where I loaded was right in the middle of the munitions area.  There were big munitions bunkers all around me with only God knows what explosives in them.  Unfortunately, I was unable to get any photos on the base (for obvious reasons).  There was only one sub in port.  Cool to see that!!  The base is home to the USS Nautilus.  It is a museum now. The photo below is from the Internet.

Here is the load I have.  Had to take these photos when I stopped to get the truck washed.

Will deliver these tomorrow morning at the Navy Base in Colts Neck, NJ.  Stopped for the night at the Pilot truck stop in Milford, CT.  Glad I stopped when I did, got one of the last 3 parking places left.  These truck stops up here (what few of them there are) fill up FAST!!!