Friday, August 24, 2012

Got on the road at sun up this morning and drove one of my favorite sections of interstate highways, I-70 between Grand Junction and Denver, Colorado.  It is absolutely gorgeous as is snakes along beside the Colorado River, through Vail, and Breckenridge, and up and over some pretty steep Rocky Mountains.  I took some photos as I was driving.  They definitely don't do it justice.  Here are a few that I took along the way.

How would you like to live there?  Trying to tell someone where you live could turn into an Abbott and Costello routine.

You can see some of the ski slopes carved out through the trees in Vail.

Then over the first real big mountain. It is just east of Vail and goes up to 10,600 feet.

And then back down.  You can see the tree line in this photo - the altitude at which trees will no longer grow.

Then back up again to the Eisenhower Tunnel.  Elevation 11,158 feet.

This was at the entrance to the tunnel where the road leveled out to go in.  Notice that I'm climbing at break neck speed!!  Had to stop and wait for a few minutes, just before the tunnel, and let the truck cool down.  Remember, I'm pulling about 94,000 pounds up those mountains through that very thin air.

Then I drove in to Aurora and delivered the excavator.  My next load is Monday in Aurora so I went over to the TA truck stop in Denver for the rest of the weekend.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Got up this morning and my back was still a mess.  Did way too much walking yesterday.  Checked out of the hotel and back into the truck.  Of course the rain had stopped, the sun was out and it was going to be a gorgeous day.  Got on the road and drove up I-15 to I-70 and then through Utah.  Here are some of the many photos I took along I-70 in Utah.  It is like driving through 200 miles of Grand Canyon (but on a much smaller scale).

Stopped for the night 19 miles in Colorado at a small truck stop in Fruita, CO.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Didn't hurry getting started this morning. Drove up to Las Vegas.  Haven't been here in a while and after the day I had yesterday, I decided that a little R&R was in order.  Of course it was raining.  Probably first time all summer.  I stopped at the Orleans Hotel and Casino.  It is just a few blocks from Las Vegas Blvd.  They have a large truck parking area.  I have stayed here before.  Rooms are very inexpensive and nice!

Here is the view from my room.  Can you see my truck?

Here it is.

Here is more of the view.

Took the shuttle over to the "strip", also known as Las Vegas Blvd.  Went to Caesar's Palace and walked around a lot.

Then went to Paris and had dinner at the buffet.  Boy was that good!!

After that went to Rio Hotel.  By then my back was killing me!!!  I sat in one of the bars and had a Coke.  This was my server. Nice eye candy!

After that saw a show.

Before it started they had everyone (that wanted to) go up on stage and sign a large envelope.  I signed it.  See my signature?

While I was up there I took a photo showing the view from up there.  The arrow points to my seat. I was six rows from the stage.

Then the show started.

I enjoyed it thoroughly!!  It was very good.

When it was over took a taxi back to the hotel and a good nights sleep.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Made it through the night without being hassled by the cops.

This morning my load was at the Port of Long Beach.  Because my truck is older and doesn't have a bunch of pollution crap on it, it can't go into the port to load.  Welcome to "The People's Republic of California"!!  Now how smart is this??  Have to go to a business that will take you and your trailer, on a different truck, in to the port and load up.  Then come back out and put the trailer back on my truck.  Now if the idea is to reduce emissions, what sense does it make to spend hours idling or running the APU (generator) and swap trucks??  How f'en stupid!!  The environmentalists and liberal nut jobs are absolutely destroying this state with all these STUPID regulations!!  All this does is add to the cost of everything.  Does nothing to reduce pollution, in fact, it makes it worse!!  So, I was at the business at 6:30 am local time, not knowing when they open.  They opened at 8.  Sat there all morning polluting the air running my APU instead of just going in loading and leaving.  Finally a truck showed up at 11:30, local time, to take me and my trailer into the port.  I dropped my trailer and he backed up to attach to mine.  It was a brand new truck and the only one they had that didn't have RGN ramps yet, so it couldn't attach to my trailer.

For those of you that don't know, this is what RGN (Removable Goose Neck) ramps look like, and what they are for.  Look below. See the difference between the two trucks?

Had to wait some more because everyone was at lunch!

A different truck finally arrived at 2 pm local time!!!  We then went over to the port and loaded a Caterpillar  321 excavator and a small box of parts that are going to Aurora, Colorado.

Then we went back and he dropped my trailer and I picked it up.  Now I have to wait because of the Los Angeles curfew.  I went over to the scales that was only a few blocks away and scaled.  Wouldn't you know it!!  I was overweight on the trailer axles.  Untied the machine and moved it, tied it back down and re scaled.   Still not right.  Did this three more times and finally got it right.  By now curfew was over.

Got on the road at 6:30 pm local time.  Of course I can't go anywhere in LA without bumper to bumper traffic.  Finally got out of that Hell hole and over the first of many mountains - this one was over 4000 feet - and stopped for the night at the Pilot truck stop in Hesperia, California.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Left Eloy, Arizona at midnight local time and drove in to Rancho Dominguez, California (Los Angeles) and delivered.  My next load is tomorrow morning at the Port of Long Beach, just a few miles from here.  Found a side street to park on for the night.  Hope the cops leave me alone. It really sucks when you have to worry more about the cops screwing with you more than the "bad guys".

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Left El Paso at sun up this morning.  Passed a real bad car crash, actually there were several car crashes, along a stretch of I-10 in El Paso.  The worst was about 5 or 6 cars crashed all over the east bound lanes.  Looked like they were doing a fatality investigation.  A little further down there was a cop car crashed along with a few more cars.  They had the whole east bound side closed and diverting all traffic off the interstate onto the frontage road.  Glad I was going the other way!!

From San Antonio to El Paso the speed limit was 80 MPH.  Need more of that in this country!!  FYI... where all the crashes were in El Paso the speed limit was 55.  So I don't want to hear from anyone whining that "its not safe to go that fast!"  Bull S*^# !!!!  That argument doesn't wash with me.  

I ran out of hours by the time I reached Eloy, Arizona so I stopped and got the truck washed then parked at the TA truck stop for the rest of the weekend.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Went back over to pick up my trailer, hopefully my loaded trailer this morning.  When I got there my load was still not ready so, once again, I had to wait. I took a nap.  Several hours later the load was ready.  They put it on the trailer and I chained it down.  It is over width, over height, and over weight.  It is a chiller and it is going to the port in Rancho Dominguez, California (basically Los Angeles). Not sure where it's going from there.

Got on the road and drove straight through to El Paso, Texas to the Petro truck stop for the night.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Got on the road real early and drove into the Port of Houston to deliver this piece of crap.  Arrived at 7 am (local time) and, after waiting in line, found out that I didn't have all the paperwork.  SURPRISE, SURPRISE!!  Finally got all the paperwork and went in.  The guy in there said to unload it and he would be back to tell me where to park it.  I unloaded it and then had to wait for them to come back from lunch!!  I finally got out of there at 1:45 pm (local time).

Next load is in San Antonio, Texas.  I headed down there.  On the way I passed this truck.  Look at how badly this guy secured his load!!  What would happen if he had to stop fast?  DOT would not like that either.  WOW!!

When I arrived this evening my load was not ready.  They asked if I would drop my trailer there and they would load it tonight if they could get it ready.  I dropped my trailer and went over to the Petro truck stop for a very badly needed shower and dinner then a good nights sleep.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Took the 15 minute drive into Dewey, TX to load my next load.  It is a piece of crap, beat up, old 1994 Kenworth T600 that was bought by someone, at auction, who is sending it to Zambia.  

Loaded it up and tied it down.  Now back to Houston.  Last night my APU belt was squealing way too much so I stopped at Thermo King in Tulsa and had the belt replaced, the motor mounts replaced, and routine maintenance done.  Then drove down to Dew, Texas to a small truck stop for the night.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Drove on into Wichita, Kansas and delivered the grader.  Next load in down in Dewey, Oklahoma.  Drove down to a very small truck stop in Copan, Oklahoma for the night.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Got on the road real early and drove down to Houston.  Got to the port before they opened and was second in line.  Waited about an hour or so to get unloaded. Finally got empty and headed for Galveston for my next load.  Looking forward to this one.  Got to the port and loaded a Caterpillar 120 Road Grader that is going to Wichita, Kansas.  I have never driven a grader before so I was anxious to do it.  When I got in the thing I was a bit surprised, there was no steering wheel.  Didn't expect that. I figured out how everything worked and brought it over to the trailer and loaded it.  That was really fun!!  I just love playing with "big boy toys!!!"  Then tied it down.

Got on the road and drove up to the TA truck stop on the south side of Dallas for the night.