Saturday, April 25, 2020

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  Drove to the staging area in Powhattan, Kansas.  It is a small truck stop at the Sac and Fox Casino.  No food here.  Have to go get it.  There are a lot of trucks here already waiting to unload.  3 tower sections, 2 nacelles, and 3 more hubs. Talked to the guy that is responsible for getting us unloaded. He said I might not get unloaded until Thursday. Another reason I hate hubs!!!  Oh well.  The guy that is responsible for unloading us is having a cook out for us here tonight.  That will be nice.  

Friday, April 24, 2020

In Enid, Oklahoma GE has a huge yard with hundreds of wind energy blades, nacelles, and hubs. I was there at 7 am CDT to load.  They had me position next to the crane.  And there I sat.

Just before 11 am CDT they came back and started to load the hub on my trailer.

After it was on my trailer and chained down came the "fun" part, tarping the thing.

When that was done I left with my Oklahoma escort car.  To make a long (a very long) story short we had to stop 12 times to add more bungie cords to keep the damn thing from flapping.  And that still didn't work.  When I got to Kansas my escort car dropped off and I continued on.  Had to stop again on the north side of Wichita because the entire back half of the tarp flung all the bungies off and was flapping like a huge flag.  Re-secured the damn thing again.  Continued on to a truck stop in Newell, Kansas.  My back is so sore tonight it is hard to walk.  Took a long hot shower and that didn't help.  Sleeping on my heating pad again.  Good night.  By the way, this thing is going to a wind farm project in Goff, Kansas.

Thursday, April 23, 2020

As soon as my 10 hours was up I left.  Drove the rest of the way to Enid, Oklahoma.  Stopped for the rest of the day and night at a convenience store with truck parking in Enid.  Load just a few miles from here Friday morning.

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  Had to stop and wait for 2 hours at the Texas / New Mexico state line for my pilot escort car to arrive.  When he arrived we were on our way.  Made it way back off the road in an oil well field outside of Jal, New Mexico.  There were hundreds, if not thousands, of oil wells in there.  It was like the Saudi Arabia of America in there.  Once the crane was set up they unloaded me.

Left there and started off for my next load in Enid, Oklahoma.  Stopped for the night at a convenience store with truck parking in Brownfield, Texas.

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Went back to the Caterpillar dealer this morning and got my trailer.  A Caterpillar Genset going to Jal, New Mexico.

Left at 8:45 CDT to time it so that I arrived at the curfew area at 9 AM when the curfew ended.  Was doing real good until I heard a trailer tire blow out.  For a change I actually heard it this time.  Looked in the mirror and saw the rubber flinging everywhere.  Pulled over to the shoulder and went back and checked it out.  Decided that I could drive to a safe place to stop.  On the shoulder my load was sticking out into the travel lane.  Not safe.  I drove slowly about 4 miles to a place that was wide enough for me to stop safely and also safe for the guy that was coming to fix it.

After what seemed to be an eternity, the guy showed up and changed the tire.

Got back on the road again.  Obviously I didn't get as far as I wanted today.  Stopped at the TA truck stop in Big Spring, Texas for the night.  I'll still deliver tomorrow, just not as early as I wanted to.

Monday, April 20, 2020

This morning I drove to the Caterpillar dealer in Irving, TX to load.  Had to wait for the crane to get there.  It arrived sometime after 1 pm CDT.  After they got all set up they loaded a Caterpillar Genset on my trailer.  By the time they finished, and I got the thing secured in the trailer, it was too late to go anywhere.  Fort Worth has a curfew from 4 to 6 pm.  I dropped my trailer there for the night and bobtailed to the TA truck stop on the south side of Dallas for the night.

Sunday, April 19, 2020

Left early this morning in the misty rain.  Didn't even get out of OKC when I was cut off. 

Oh well, that is normal.  Happens all the time.  But if he had hit me, they would try to blame the truck.  Drove to the TA in Denton, Texas. I load tomorrow afternoon in Irving, TX.

Thursday, April 16, 2020

My next load is Monday afternoon in Irving, Texas but it is with a different trailer.  I swapped my stuff to the next trailer.  Then my truck was due for it's 90 day inspection, so I had that done too.  Now I'll sit back and relax until then.

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

As soon as my 10 hours was up I left.  That was at midnight EDT, 11 PM CDT.  Drove the rest of the way to the Daily terminal in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 457 miles.  Got there before the office staff came in to work.  I'm going to sleep now.  Phone is off again.

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Left as soon as my 10 hours was up.  That was sat 2 AM EDT (midnight local time).   I like driving at that hour.  No traffic!!  Went the rest of the way through Wyoming then into Colorado.  No traffic issues going through Denver.  Then on into Kansas.  Stopped at the Petro in Colby, Kansas for the night.  604 miles today.  I'll be back at it again when my 10 hours are up.  Going to sleep very early.  Phone is off.  Good night.

Monday, April 13, 2020

Had several dustings of snow yesterday and when I left this morning it was snowing.  No accumulation.  Drove into West Jordan, Utah and delivered the thing.  They were all set up and ready for me when I arrived.  Next load is in the OKC area.  I started off that direction.  Here is a photo of the view leaving Salt Lake City.

 Stopped at the Little America truck stop for the night.

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.