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.