Friday, July 4, 2014

Left this morning shortly after sunrise.  The day started of nicely.  Here is a gorgeous view of western North Dakota.  Unfortunately, the photo does not do it justice.

Here is one of the many new oil drilling rigs that are all over North Dakota.  See all the environmental damage that it is causing?  Dead vegetation, oil flowing all over the ground, pollution, etc.??  Idiot environmentalists!!

About 100 miles from Fargo is when things went bad.  The North Dakota wind got hold of my tarps and shredded them.  They beat the hell out of the load.  I had to stop and remove them.  

To make a very long story short, here is what it looks like now.

Talked to the broker and sent him photos.  He told me that I'm not the only one that had problems. I'm sure there will be more about this later.  Not makin' any money on this load!!   I'm at the Petro truck stop in Fargo, North Dakota until Monday.

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Left Missoula this morning and pushed it hard to get through Montana today.  It was important because I can drive in North Dakota on the holiday if I am under 12 feet wide.  I am 10 feet, 11 inches wide and 14 feet tall.

Went through Clinton, Montana.  There is a festival there that is so unbelievably appropriate!!  Sorry about the blurry photo.  I wonder if Bill attends?

Stopped just inside North Dakota at the Flying J truck stop for the night.  638 miles today.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Went in to Seattle this morning and loaded a large crate full of stuff going to Chrysler in Kokomo, Indiana.  That was the easy part.  

Then it had to be tarped!  Check out these corners and edges.  Do you know what they do to tarps?

Once that was finally finished I got on the road.  Drove a total of 519 miles to the TA truck stop in Missoula, Montana.  Maybe now you will understand why I was tired.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Another wasted day!!  I load tomorrow in Seattle.

Monday, June 30, 2014

Just as I feared, nothing.  Stuck here for another day.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Last night had routine maintenance (you know, oil change and stuff like that) done on the truck.  It was overdue.  

Left Spokane early this morning and drove straight in to Tacoma and delivered the chiller.  After that was done, went to the Love's truck stop that was a couple blocks from where I delivered.  Don't have another load lined up yet so I may be here a couple days.  The weather here is sun off and on, rain off and on and temperatures in the mid to upper 60s.

Friday, June 27, 2014

Hit the road early this morning.  Here is a Montana sunrise.  See the rainbow?

Had a lot of light rain on and off today.  Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Spokane, Washington.

Thursday, June 27, 2014

My Washington permit is not good until Saturday so I have a bit of extra time.  I decided to stop in Billings, Montana and have the shocks on both back axles replaced.  When it was time to pull my truck into the bay it wouldn't start.  GREAT!!  At least it happened at the Kenworth shop and not out on the road someplace.  Finally got it running and into the shop.  Replaced the starter too.  When all that was done I went down the road to the Pilot truck stop for the night.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Fortunately it didn't take too long for my Minnesota permit to come in and I was finally on the road.  Very nice relaxing day on the road.  Stopped for the night at the Pilot truck stop in Murdo, South Dakota.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

This morning I went over to Wal Mart and restocked a few things.  After that went back to sleep. Just after lunch they decided that the chiller was not going anywhere so they unloaded it from my truck.  I was reloaded with another chiller that is going to Tacoma, Washington.  From there it is going to Korea.  This one is a little smaller than the other one.

After loading I went back to the parking lot to wait for my permits to come in.  Wisconsin permit came in but still waiting on Minnesota.  Since I am only a couple miles from Minnesota I really can't go anywhere until it comes in.  Hopefully it comes in early tomorrow morning.

Monday, June 23, 2014

Started just before sunrise this morning.  Drove to Bloomington, Minnesota and delivered the excavator.  Next load is over in La Crosse, Wisconsin.  Drove over there and loaded a chiller that is going to Russia.  

Now here is the kicker!  There are five of these going.  They are not sure how they are going to get to Russia.  They may send Antonov to get them...

 ...or may send them on a ship.  So they aren't sure where to send all the chillers.  So they can't finish the paperwork or tell us where to take them.  We have to sit here and wait.  So I am waiting in the parking lot for now.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

There is a little weather headed this way.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Left Lodi, OH just before sunrise. Pushed it pretty hard today to try to make up a bit of time that I lost yesterday.  Still didn't get as far as I had hoped to.  

Just north of Janesville, Wisconsin I passed a pick up truck that rolled over on the other side of the Interstate.  

Kind of difficult to see in that photo so I zoomed in for you.

Decided to put a couple videos of people cutting me off today.  This happens every single day.

Here is another one.

Stopped for the rest of the weekend at the TA truck stop in DeForest, Wisconsin.

Friday, June 20, 2014

This morning went down the road a few miles and loaded a Link-Belt LBX 235 Excavator that is going to Minneapolis, Minnesota.  I am 103,320 pounds with this one.

Left there and headed west.  Took forever to get out of Pennsylvania going across the mountains.  Lots of up and down.  Seemed like more up than down!!  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Lodi, Ohio.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Left Wheeling very early this morning and drove in the the Port of Baltimore and delivered the screen machine.  My next load is tomorrow morning up in Carlisle, PA.  Drove up to the "home office" for the night.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

They got started first thing this morning repairing all the things that I needed them to do.  They replaced my TV antenna (it quit working and was still under warranty), did routine maintenance on my generator, calked around one of the windows and a bunch of things on the roof to stop the water leak, fixed a bunch of little things relating to the sleeper.  They also replaced both air bags that support the back of the sleeper.  

Here are the old dry rotted air bags.

And here is one of the new ones.

They finished before noon and I was back on the road.  Drove to the TA truck stop in Wheeling, West Virginia for the night.  Thunderstorms are on the way so I'll see if all the calking worked.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Drove over to ARI in Shipshewana, IN this morning.  They are very busy here.  Hopefully they can get my truck finished tomorrow.  

Monday, June 16, 2014

Morning finally arrived and I made the hour and a half trip up to Unionville to deliver the hub. Got there at 7 am.  Didn't get out of there until noon.  After that I drove down to Durrand, Michigan for my next load.  Loaded a Terex Screen Machine that is going to the Port of Baltimore in Maryland.

Making a slight detour on the way and will be stopping at ARI in Shipshawana, IN so I can have some things fixed on the truck's sleeper.  Made my way down to the Petro truck stop in Angola, IN for the night.

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Absolutely gorgeous day today!!  Perfect weather!!  Sunny, dry, and in the low to mid 70s.  Did a lot of "fix it" things on the truck today.  The kind of things that are not critical, but needed to be done.  I have put them off because it was either too hot, too cold, or too wet outside to do them.  But I got them all done!!  

Friday, June 13, 2014

Left this morning and had a nice leisurely drive. Nothing exciting at all.  Stopped for the weekend in Emmett, Michigan at a hole in the wall truck stop.  It is cold up here.  Still need a jacket.