Saturday, April 11, 2020

Started a half hour before sunrise.  Weather was partly cloudy.  No snow.  The wind steadily increased as the morning progressed.  Another heavy headwind with gusts up to 40 MPH.  LOTS of prong horned elk out today.  Must have seen at least a hundred along the way.  They were everywhere.  Stopped for the rest of the weekend at the TA truck stop in Fort Bridger, Wyoming.  Would have kept going but there is no place to stop in Utah along my permit route.  The snow is coming down from the north.  Expected later this afternoon and evening lasting until tomorrow morning.   Will be heaviest in the eastern 2/3 of Wyoming.  Not supposed to get much here.  Hope they are right. 

Friday, April 10, 2020

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  Weather couldn't be any better!!   It is so nice not having a lot of traffic on the roads.  Coming into Omaha, Nebraska visitors are greeted with this...

I always enjoy seeing the old steam engine and the new diesel electric locomotive sitting up there as I pass by.  Farther on down I-80, a lot farther, I went under the Archway.  It is closed right now because of this COVID-19 virus stupidity. 

Continued on into Wyoming and stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Burns, WY.  That is just east of Cheyenne.  The restaurant here is closed but the Taco Bell and Burger King are open.  Look at how they are "serving" their customers...

I've seen some stupid stuff before, but this is the dumbest so far.  Media driven hysteria.  So stupid!!!

Anyway, I ordered 4 chicken soft tacos from Taco Bell.  She was going to charge me $19 !!!  I told her that she was out of her mind and cancelled my order.  Had crappy Burger King instead.  The weather in Wyoming is supposed to deteriorate tomorrow.  Supposed to get snow.  They say up to 7 inches in some places.  I'll leave here a half hour before sunrise and hope I can beat it.  

Thursday, April 9, 2020

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  Spent the first half of the day on back roads.  Very heavy head wind toady.  Also went through about a half dozen short patches of snowfall.  There was no accumulation, too warm for that.  Stopped for the night at the Love's truck stop in Newton, Iowa. Same place I stayed a week or so ago.  The one at the Iowa Speedway.  Still incredibly windy.  This truck is really rockin' !!!!

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Had to wait for my Ohio permit to come in.  It finally arrived at about 9:45.  Didn't get anywhere near as far as I wanted to today.  Stopped for the night at the Flying J truck stop in New Haven, Indiana.  Hopefully I can get a lot more miles tomorrow.

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Couldn't leave as early as I would have liked to because of the Harrisburg curfew.  I timed it so that I entered the curfew area right at 9 am.  Here is what I have on my trailer that I am taking out to West Jordan, Utah.

I have no idea what it is or what it does.  Drove to a truck stop in Hubbard, Ohio for the night.  Stopped a little early for several reasons.  But one of them was my back still hurts and wanted to get off it.  I'm sure it will be better tomorrow.

Monday, April 6, 2020

Left at 7 am and drove in to Norfolk.  Picked up my Pilot Escort car at the Norfolk city limits.  Drove to the Port and delivered the Machine.  Only one aircraft carrier in Port today. 

I zoomed in for you.  Sorry the picture isn't better.

Next load is up in Carlisle, PA.  It is a skid already on a trailer waiting for me to go get it.  Drove up to Carlisle, dropped my trailer in the yard and got the new trailer.  Secured the load to the trailer. Then moved most of my stuff from my trailer to the new one.  Ready to go in the morning.  Went to Wal Mart and got my Rx refilled, then a late dinner and shower.  I'm exhausted and my back really hurts tonight. Glad to be in bed to give it a rest.

Saturday, April 4, 2020

Very short day today.  Only went about 120 miles to the TA truck stop in Ashland, Virginia.  Will be here until Monday morning.

Friday, April 3, 2020

Nothing interesting today.  Left early this morning and drove to the Petro truck stop in Raphine, Virginia for the night.

Thursday, April 2, 2020

All that stuff I posted yesterday about the super secret load was nothing but an April Fools Day joke.  Did I get you???  

Here is the real scoop...

This morning I drove to Lafayette, Indiana and loaded a Caterpillar C175 Genset that is going to the Port in Norfolk, Virginia.  Not very exciting, is it?

Drove to the Pilot truck stop in Mount Sterling, Kentucky for the night.  Tracker will be back on soon.  

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Well I finally got a load.  It is very different from anything I have ever done before.  It is over in Indiana, but that's all I can say about it.  It is a super secret load.  Can't say where I am loading or where it is going.  My tracker is turned off and so are all my cameras for this load.  Will have an armed security person in the truck with me.  Will have a ton of highly visible and invisible security for this.  Can't say anything more until it's over.  Will be very interesting!!!  I drove to the TA truck stop in Whitestown, Indiana for the night.  I'll have more details tomorrow.

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Had another trailer light go out.  I tried to fix it but, as usual, I was unable to.  This morning went over to the Daily yard in Bettendorf, IA and had that fixed.  Was out of there before noon and back at Iowa 80 waiting for my next load.  

Sunday, March 29, 2020

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  Still very windy!!!  Drove to the Love's truck stop in Newton, Iowa.  It is right at the Iowa Speedway where NASCAR races.  Got all settled in then sent a text to the phone number that I had for delivery.  Had instructions to contact the guy before delivering.  Had no idea if that phone number was a cell phone that I could text to or if it was a hard phone in an office.  Much to my surprise he replied to my text!!  He even said I could deliver today!  Of course I jumped on that and drove over to Sully, IA, which was only about 30 miles away, and delivered the dozer.  I left there and drove to the world famous Iowa 80 truck stop in Walcott, Iowa for the night. 

Saturday, March 28, 2020

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  Had some rain for a while but it cleared and ended up being sunny and very windy.   Still looks weird looking at all the huge casinos bone dry empty.  Not even one car in any of the parking lots.  Missouri sent me all over the place.  I'm still in Missouri!!!!  

The first diversion was 105 miles to bypass 27 miles of I-29.  The second one was not as bad.  86 miles to go around 34 miles of I-35.  Oh well.  Stopped for the night at a truck stop in Camron, Missouri.  The wind really has this truck rockin' tonight.

Friday, March 27, 2020

Last night I got an email that said my truck was due for A Maintenance.  Using the TA/Petro phone app I scheduled a service appointment at a TA I was going to go past about 2 hours away from where I was.  About a half hour before sunrise I left and drove up to the TA in Hillsboro, Texas.  Got the truck serviced and was back on the road.  Wasn't bad going through Ft. Worth.  This Wuhan virus sure is making the roads a lot better.  Stopped for the night at a  small truck stop in Savanna, Oklahoma.

Thursday, March 26, 2020

As soon as my 10 hours was up I left.  Made such good timing that I decided to stop by and see if my load for tomorrow might be ready today.  So I went to the Caterpillar dealer in Austin and checked in.  It wasn't quite ready but they were not that busy so they got it ready for me.  Then had to wait for the paperwork.  It took 4 1/2 hours but it finally made it's way onto my trailer.  A Caterpillar D6T Dozer that is going to Sully, Iowa.

My Texas permit doesn't start until tomorrow, but I left there anyway.  Drove to the Flying J truck stop in Jarrell, Texas for the night.  

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning and arrived in Doniphan, Nebraska just about opening time.  Unloaded the grader and was out of there by 8:30 AM CDT.  Next load is Friday morning in Austin, Texas.  Started off that way.  Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. As soon as my 10 hours is up I'll be out of here.

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Left a little before sunrise this morning.  No problems with traffic at all.  Drove up to the Petro truck stop in York, Nebraska for the night.

Monday, March 23, 2020

Yesterday afternoon I went back to the Daily terminal and hooked back up to my trailer.  This morning I drove to the Port in LaPorte, TX and loaded a Caterpillar 140 Motor Grader that it going to Doniphan, Nebraska.

Left there and drove to the TA truck stop in Denton, Texas for the night.

Friday, March 20, 2020

Left at sunrise this morning.  Drove in the rain to Longview, Texas and delivered the excavator in thick messy mud!  Next load is in LaPort, Texas Monday morning.  I drove to the Daily terminal in Houston, dropped my trailer there and went over to the TA truck stop in Baytown.   When I showered I had to wash all the mud off my boots in the shower.  That mud was everywhere!!!!   Looks weird to see all the restaurants closed up everywhere.  Some of them are only open for carry out or delivery only.  I ordered Italian from Door Dash and they brought it to me.

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Left at 1 AM EDT.  Very good day on the road.  Traffic was not bad at all.  Drove 615 miles to a small truck stop in Hensley, Arkansas for the night.  Have to wait until sunrise tomorrow morning to get started again.