Friday, February 14, 2020

I had no idea that where I was parked at the Love's truck stop I was right in front of a Thermo King dealer.  What are the chances of that happening????

I was there at 7:30 MST waiting for them to open so I could get my APU repaired.  They took me in right away and fixed it.  The fuel pump was defective and they replaced it.  I was done and back on the road by 10 AM MST.  Today was all mountain back roads in Idaho and Wyoming.  Here is a video of US-26 in Idaho not too far out of Idaho Falls.  That sky didn't look good.

The next video is on US-191 in Wyoming.  Beautiful drive through there.

And here is what it looks like at the Flying J truck stop in Rock Springs, Wyoming at 3:30 PM MST.  This is why I stop early.

An hour later...

Then an hour later the truck that was next to me left and another pulled in.  But the idiot hit my mirror. Fortunately, he didn't break it.

I-80 is closed between Rock Springs (where I am) and Laramie due to high winds.  They say it won't reopen for 14 to 16 hours.  It is very windy.  This truck is really rockin' !!!  I can see why they closed the Interstate.

EASTBOUND between Exit 235, Walcott Jct and Exit 255, WY 72	Road Closed Due To Winter Conditions As of February 14 at 03:30 p.m., the estimated opening time is in 14 to 16 hours. Parking on the roadway is prohibited and delays WYDOT from opening the road.			Feb 14, 2020 06:54 pm
WESTBOUND between Exit 235, Walcott Jct and Exit 255, WY 72	Road Open	Extreme Blow Over Risk	Closed to Light, High Profile Vehicles Due to Gusting Winds	Feb 14, 2020 06:54 pm
EASTBOUND between Exit 255, WY 72 and Exit 267, Wagonhound Rd	Road Closed Due To Winter Conditions As of February 14 at 03:30 p.m., the estimated opening time is in 14 to 16 hours. Parking on the roadway is prohibited and delays WYDOT from opening the road.			Feb 14, 2020 06:54 pm
WESTBOUND between Exit 255, WY 72 and Exit 267, Wagonhound Rd	Road Open	Extreme Blow Over Risk	Closed to Light, High Profile Vehicles Due to Gusting Winds	Feb 14, 2020 06:54 pm
Arlington NWS Forecast	EASTBOUND between Exit 267, Wagonhound Rd and Arlington	Road Closed Due To Winter Conditions As of February 14 at 03:30 p.m., the estimated opening time is in 14 to 16 hours. Parking on the roadway is prohibited and delays WYDOT from opening the road.			Feb 14, 2020 06:54 pm
	WESTBOUND between Exit 267, Wagonhound Rd and Arlington	Road Open	Extreme Blow Over Risk	Closed to Light, High Profile Vehicles Due to Gusting Winds	Feb 14, 2020 06:54 pm
	EASTBOUND between Arlington and Exit 279, Cooper Cove Rd	Road Closed Due To Winter Conditions As of February 14 at 03:30 p.m., the estimated opening time is in 14 to 16 hours. Parking on the roadway is prohibited and delays WYDOT from opening the road.			Feb 14, 2020 06:54 pm
	WESTBOUND between Arlington and Exit 279, Cooper Cove Rd	Road Open	Extreme Blow Over Risk	Closed to Light, High Profile Vehicles Due to Gusting Winds	Feb 14, 2020 06:54 pm
Laramie NWS Forecast	EASTBOUND between Exit 279, Cooper Cove Rd and Exit 290, Quealy Dome	Road Closed Due To Winter Conditions As of February 14 at 03:30 p.m., the estimated opening time is in 14 to 16 hours. Parking on the roadway is prohibited and delays WYDOT from opening the road.			Feb 14, 2020 06:54 pm
	WESTBOUND between Exit 279, Cooper Cove Rd and Exit 290, Quealy Dome	Road Open	Extreme Blow Over Risk	Closed to Light, High Profile Vehicles Due to Gusting Winds	Feb 14, 2020 06:54 pm
	EASTBOUND between Exit 290, Quealy Dome and Laramie	Road Closed Due To Winter Conditions As of February 14 at 03:30 p.m., the estimated opening time is in 14 to 16 hours. Parking on the roadway is prohibited and delays WYDOT from opening the road.			Feb 14, 2020 06:54 pm
	WESTBOUND between Exit 290, Quealy Dome and Laramie	Road Open	Extreme Blow Over Risk	Closed to Light, High Profile Vehicles Due to Gusting Winds	Feb 14, 2020 06:54 pm

I may be here a while.

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Had another real good breakfast this morning.  They have really good food there.  I love the old "mom & pop" truck stops.  Unfortunately they are few and far between.  Anyway, I left at sunrise.  Real nice day on the road.  Still having beautiful weather!!  Hope my good luck holds.  Stopped at the Love's truck stop in Idaho Falls, Idaho for the night.  My APU quit working.  It's always something!!!!   Oh well, have to idle the truck until it gets fixed.  Wyoming tomorrow.  Start off on a bunch of back roads.   

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Left at 3 AM PST this morning. Only had about 6+ hours available today.  Great weather this morning.  No problems at all going over Deadman's Pass, Meacham, or Ladd.  Much different than last time!!  Stopped at the Baker Truck Coral truck stop in Baker City, Oregon.  Had 56 minutes left on my clock when I stopped.  Tomorrow I'll gain almost a full day's time.  Great restaurant here!!  Time for a good breakfast.  Their bacon is excellent!!!!  So is their coffee. 

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

I only had 6 hours and 6 minutes to work with today.  I left this morning to time it to get to Rochester, WA a little before my loading appointment of 8 AM PST.  I gave myself a bumper to bumper traffic cushion since I was going to go trough Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia right at rush hour.  Traffic was really heavy, but much to my surprise, I had no bumper to bumper traffic all the way!!!   Not even a slow down.  I couldn't believe it!!!   I made it to Rochester early!!  That was good.  At 8 AM I was all ready when they brought the machine over and loaded it on my trailer.  A Komatsu HM300 Articulating Dump Truck that is going to Concord, North Carolina.

I left there with a little over 2 hours left on my clock today.  Drove down to the TA truck stop in Troutdale, Oregon.  Had 5 minutes left when I stopped.  I'll have 6 hours and 51 minutes available tomorrow.

Monday, February 10, 2020

Left at midnight PST and drove in to Seattle then up to Arlington, Washington and delivered the crane.  I was totally out of hours when I finished.  Had 1 minute to spare when I got to the truck stop to park.  Stopped at the Pilot truck stop in Arlington, WA.  

I have a reload tomorrow!!!   It is down in Rochester, WA.  That's about 2+ hours from here.  I'll be down there in the morning.

Sunday, February 9, 2020

Didn't get very much sleep.  Entering the most difficult part of the trip and had a lot on my mind.  Wanted to leave around midnight EST but the roads were not conducive to permit load travel.  In other words, we got some more snow.  At about 4 AM EST (2 AM MST - local time) I checked the weather radar, the Montana web site, the Idaho web site, and called the Montana Highway Patrol on the phone.  Everything was "good to go!"  I pulled out of the truck stop at 4:30 EST.  Some areas were snow covered and ice packed, others were clear and only wet.  Montana does a lousy job of keeping their roads plowed and salted/sanded.  Here is the view of Bozeman, Montana as I was coming down and almost at the bottom of  the west side of Bozeman Pass.

Here is a photo of the big, bright full moon just after sunrise this morning.

Much later on, I went over Lookout Pass.  That is on I-90 at the Montana / Idaho state line.  Notice how deep the snow is.

Starting down the other side...

Photos do not show how beautiful all this is with fresh snow all around.

Continued on to the Flying J truck stop in Post Falls, Idaho. It is on I-90 at exit 2.   Had to stop there because my Washington permit does not start until tomorrow.  Even at that, I still got 522 miles in today.  I'll leave here in the middle of the night again when my 10 hours is up.

Saturday, February 8, 2020

As soon as my 10 hours were up I left.  That was 1 AM EST or 11 PM MST.  Had great weather all the way across North Dakota and into Montana.  But about an hour and a half east of Billings, Montana the weather caved in.  

I continued on.  Only broke traction once going up hill.  But I straightened out quickly and continued on.   Made it to the Flying J truck stop in Billings, MT.  Drove 597 miles today.  Hopefully all this weather will pass by and I can go as soon as my 10 are up again.  I'll worry about that after I wake up.  Good night.

Friday, February 7, 2020

As soon as my 10 hours was up I left. That was at 2:15 CST.  Pretty good day on the road.  My trailer ABS light came back on again.  

When I stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Fargo, North Dakota I checked in at the shop.  While I was there waiting the trailer developed another big air leak.  Glad I was there.  They fixed everything while I ate dinner.  When I came back, it was all done.  

Thursday, February 6, 2020

We got about 3 inches of snow and a little bit of ice last night.  Enough to bring out all the plows.  My Indiana permit came in at 8:15 this morning and I left.  The roads had been cleared real good.  Had misty rain and some more light snow most of the morning, but no big deal.  Back roads for most of the day to avoid the toll roads.  Stopped for the night at the Flying J truck stop in South Beloit, Illinois.  I'll be pulling out of here as soon as my 10 hours is up.  Good night.

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Left at sunrise this morning.  Good day on the road.  Nothing exciting.  Still do not have my Indiana permit so I stopped at the Flying J truck stop in Ft. Wayne, Indiana for the night and to wait for it to come in.  Supposed to get some snow tonight.  They say 1 to 4 inches.  

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

They finished my trailer last night and it was outside waiting for me this morning.  I was at the shop door with the truck before they came in to work.  They took it in as soon as they got there.  At about 9 AM they finished.  Hooked up to my trailer and headed for Shady Grove, PA.  Got there and loaded a Grove RT540E Crane that is going to Arlington, Washington.

Left there and drove to the TA truck stop in Lamar, PA for the night.  After dinner i wanted to take a shower BUT the showers were out of order.  They have no water!!!!   Just great!!!  They said that they were working on it but had no idea when it will be fixed. 

Monday, February 3, 2020

Left at sunrise this morning and drove the 25 miles to delivery and delivered the crusher.  My trailer still needs work done on it and my truck was due for service so I drove back to Carlisle, PA to get it done.  When I got there I was lucky and they took both the truck and trailer in and started on them.  Didn't finish the truck today but will finish in the morning.  Don't know about the trailer yet.  Have to load tomorrow so they put some pressure on the two shops to get it done quick.  It seems to have worked.  

Saturday, February 1, 2020

I woke up real early this morning, 3 AM, and went in and did three loads of laundry, showered, and had breakfast.  At 8 AM I left. Had to wait until 8 because of the Harrisburg curfew.  One of the few states that curfews apply on weekends.  I got there right at 9 AM when the curfew lifted.  Took forever getting through Pennsylvania because I was routed on back roads most of the way to avoid the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  Went through the Amish areas and Pennsylvania Dutch areas too. Went past the beautiful Longwood Gardens.  When I finally made it to Philadelphia, I had to wait at the Walt Whitman Bridge for a police escort across the bridge.  That is because of my weight.  He got here and over we went.  I continued on to the Petro truck stop in Bordentown, New Jersey.  I'll be here for the rest of the weekend.

Friday, January 31, 2020

Left at sunrise this morning.  Very uneventful ride through the mountains of West Virginia.  I stopped at the Maryland Welcome Center and waited for my escort car to arrive.

 About 45 minutes later she arrived and off we went.  As I crossed into Pennsylvania she dropped off since it was only required in Maryland.  I stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Greencastle, PA.

Thursday, January 30, 2020

Went back over and got my trailer early this morning.  More trailer light problems again.  Had to fix another broken wire before I could go.  Left there at about 7 am.  Stopped and scaled...

After a while I stopped to check my chains and found that the rear lights were not working except for the three in middle.  Break and turn signals did, however, work.  Winter is so hard on the electrical systems on these trailers.  Stopped a bit earlier than I had wanted to in order to get them fixed.  Stopped at the TA truck stop in Hurricane, West Virginia.  Fortunately the shop was not busy and I was pulled into the bay right away.

He worked on it for about two hours tracking the problem down.  He found three areas that were messed up and fixed them all.  They are all working again.  Hopefully it will stay that way.  Will be back on  the road again at sunrise.  Have to have a pilot escort car in Maryland so I'll meet him/her at the line when I get there.

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Left this morning with all my lights working!!!!  Drove to Evansville, Indiana.  Wasn't supposed to load until tomorrow, but I got lucky!!  They let me load today and leave my trailer there until tomorrow morning.  My permit is not valid until tomorrow.  Loaded a Screen Machine 4043T Crusher that is going to Millstone, New Jersey.  More mud again!!  Yesterday I spent several hours cleaning the last batch.  Have to start all over again to clean this mess up, although this mud was not as bad as the last batch.

I bobtailed to the Flying J truck stop about 13 miles away for the night.

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

My next load is in Evansville, Indiana and loads Thursday.  I went to leave today and head that way but my trailer lights were messed up and half of them didn't work.  So instead of leaving, I went into the shop and got them fixed.  I'll head to Evansville tomorrow.

Monday, January 27, 2020

Went in to Cleveland this morning.  Loaded a Screen Machine from a job site that was ankle deep in mud.  You can see from my tires how deep it was.

I did, however, find a place on pavement to load so I wouldn't get stuck.

Left there and drove to Pataskala, Ohio and delivered it.  Don't have another load yet so I went to the TA truck stop in Hebron, Ohio for the night.  Needed a jack hammer to get all the mud off me.  It's all over the inside of the truck too.  I've got a big mess to clean up.

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Didn't get any snow last night.  It started just before I left this morning.  At exactly a half hour before sunrise I left.  Stayed in snow pretty much all the way to Ohio.  It was a very wet snow and was not sticking to anything.  Continued to a huge landfill in Cincinnati, Ohio and delivered the dozer.  Next load is Monday u in Cleveland.  I went that direction.  Stopped for the rest of the weekend at the TA truck stop in Lodi, Ohio. Supposed to get a little more snow here tonight.

I forgot to put in the blog yesterday the crash I went past just after it happened.  This was in Illinois on I-74 just south (east) of I-80 at exit 32.

Friday, January 24, 2020

We got more snow last night.  several inches.  Woke up to the plow clearing the parking lot. When the mechanics arrived for work I put my trailer back in the shop first thing to get the lights fixed.  As I returned from breakfast they had just finished.  All better now.  I attached to my trailer and left.  Went to the Caterpillar Proving Grounds in Washington, Illinois and loaded a Caterpillar D8 Dozer that is going to a landfill in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Left there and drove to the Pilot truck stop in Crawfordsville, Indiana for the night.  Supposed to get more snow tonight.  They say up to 3 inches. 

Thursday, January 23, 2020

They worked on my trailer all day.  I took my truck to the Kenworth shop in Rock Island, Illinois to get a light fixed.  They found the problem in the wiring harness after they took it apart to track it down.  Fixed it and I went back to Daily.  My trailer was out side when I got there so I hooked up to it.  Unfortunately it was still not fixed.  The trailer lights on the right side were not working.

This is how they are supposed to look...

So it will go back inside in the morning to try again.  So far they have done a lot of work on the trailer and have done a great job.  I have a load for tomorrow too.  Hope they can find the problem quick.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Once again, as soon as my 10 hours was up (00:15 CST) I continued east.  The weather system was just arriving as I left this morning.  Started off in freezing rain.  After about 25 miles I drove out of it.  Drove to the truck wash in Walcott, Iowa and got all that gunk washed off the truck and trailer.  After that over to the famous Iowa 80 truck stop for the rest of the day.  Now the weather can catch up with me while I'm sleeping today.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Nothing exciting today.  Left when my 10 hours was up and drove to the Flying J truck stop in Avoca, Iowa for the night.  Might be here a little longer that I want.  Weather coming tonight.  Rain, Ice, and snow.  Not much snow, only a couple inches.  We'll see.

Monday, January 20, 2020

As soon as my 10 hours was up I left. Heavy fog this morning.  Developed a large air leak in my trailer so I had to stop and get it fixed.  Stopped at Little America and they fixed it, but as usual, it took a while.  When I got out of there I continued on and stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Laramie, WY.  Went in the restaurant for dinner.  Once again the service was horrible even though it was not busy at all in there.  Took over a half hour to get a cheese burger. When it finally got to my table it was under cooked and wrong.  I made no secret on how mad I was.  I was not even offered a discount, they charged me full price!!!  She got NO tip.  Single people in restaurants get horrible service.  Happens far too often.  I won't be eating there again.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

After checking the weather and travel conditions on all the mountain passes that I was going to go through, I left and headed east at 1 AM PST.  Great day on the road.  No problems at all.  Stopped for the night at a small truck plaza in Heyburn, Idaho.  Going to sleep now so I can start in the middle of the night as soon as my 10 hours is up.