STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 21197: Ogden Obeisance

July 25, 2005 on 5:00 am | In On The Road |

On the 15th, I left Las Vegas at 1600. I drove to Hesparia where I stopped for a half hour for a snack and a MMM walk. This was the last place to stop until I get to Oxnard. I arrived at the 1st Consignee in Oxnard at 2300. After the partial unload, I left for Goleta at 2330. I arrived at 0030 and went to bed. I worked 7.25 hours and drove 332 miles in 6.75 hours.
On the 16th, I arose at 0800 and checked in with the recieving clerk. I was given a door immediately, and after the partial unload here, I drove to the final Consignee in Santa Maria. I arrived ahead of schedule for my 1000 appointment, and was unloaded immediately. I won’t go into the Log Book matriculations I employed to ‘get everything legal’. I’ll just say that after sufficient rest, I contacted the Planner for this region and was offered a load that picks up tomorrow in Bakersfield, CA (where I mis-spent my youth) and delivers in Vancouver, WA (130 miles empty and 860 miles loaded). Santa Maria is not a ‘hot bed’ of industrial activity at any time, and it is especially bad on weekends. I chose this load for a number of reasons. The first was the paid mileage (there weren’t many loads available at all, and this was one of the ‘longer’ ones I was offered). The second reason was the destination (I haven’t been in the Northwest for quite some time). The third reason was the climate (the MMM and I are weary of the heat). The final reason was that my sibling and his wife are currently in Bakersfield holding an “open house” on their rental home there (formerly my parents’ house, but not the one in which I grew up). I called them and arranged to meet them. Along the way (about 10 miles east of Santa Maria on CA-166) I stopped and took these phothgraphs. This little Lake is not identified on the map or by any signs, but I think it is part of Twitchell Reservoir.

I arrived in Bakersfield at about 1900. We went to The Roadhouse for dinner. I had the Pork Shops, Brocolli, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and Potato Cheese Soup. All was delicious. After dinner, we visited for a while, then I went to bed. I worked 5 hours and drove 199 miles in 4 hours.
On the 17th, I met my family at 0800 for Breakfast at Milt’s Coffee Shop. I parked my truck in their lot last night. It is also about 1/2 mile from the house my brother is selling. After breakfast, my brother and I went to Radio Shack to purchase the necessary parafernalia to repair my XM Radio and to install an extra DC power outlet for my truck. In a rare moment of ‘premature afterthought’ we purchased 2 power outlets, one to replace the one obliterated by the MMM due to it’s proximity to their ‘path to freedom’ when they exit the truck, and the second one to be located in an ‘out of the way’ location. We finished at about 1600. I bade them farewell and drove to the Shipper which is “technically” in Bakersfield, but is, in actuality, closer to Buttonwillow. I arrived at 1700. After the drop/hook, I drove the 4 miles to Buttonwillow where I bought 50 gallons of fuel and walked the MMM. At 1800, I left thriving Buttonwillow and drove to our Terminal in Lathrop, CA where I filled up my fuel tanks, and walked the MMM yet again. I departed there at 2230 and drove to Lodi, CA where I stopped for the night. I drove 228 miles in 4.75 hours and worked at total of 5.5 hours.
On the 18th, I departed lovely Lodi at 1015 and drove to Redding, CA. At 1500, I left redding and drove to Medford, OR. Along the way, I stopped briefly at a Rest Area adjacent to the Airport on the north side of Weed, CA to take the following photographs of Mt Shasta at Sunset.

The picture on the right is not of Mt. Shasta, but the mountains to the west.
After taking the pictures, I continued in to Medford. After a brief stop, I continued on to Coburg, OR where I stopped for the night. I drove 491 miles in 9.75 hours and worked a total of 10 hours for the day.
On the 19th, I awoke at 0730. After a pleasant MMM jaunt, I showered and had breakfast. I left at 1100 and drove to Vancouver, WA. After the drop/hook delivery, the Planner promptly offered me a load which picked up in Auburn, WA and delivered ASAP in Woodland, CA (149 miles empty and 719 miles loaded). I heartily accepted and departed for Auburn at 1400. I arrived at 1630, did the drop/hook and was back on the road at 1730. My intention was to stop at the Flying J in Federal Way, WA to walk the MMM. Alas, progress has once again reared its’ ugly head. The truckstop is soon to be yet another Mall. I drove to Napavine (exit 72 on I-5S) and took my break there. Not coincidently, there is a real nice steakhouse there called the Rib Eye. I had dinner and then drove to Coburg, Or where I, again, stopped for the night. Deja Vu. I drove 512 miles in 9.5 hours and worked a total of 10.25 hours.
I left Coburg at 1045 on the 20th and drove to Weed, CA. This time I stopped at a fairly new truckstop there aptly named Travlers’ Stop. It’s on the south side of town. I took these pictures of omni-present Mt. Shasta (after walking the MMM naturally).

I left Weed at 1545 and drove to Woodland, where I did the drop/hook delivery and called it a day. I drove 457 miles in 9.25 hours and worked a total of 9.75 hours.
This morning, the 21st, the MMM roused me at 0600. The Planner for the area sent me a QualCom message asking me to call him. When I did, he offered me a load which picked up in Martell, CA and delivered in Yuma, AZ (66 miles empty and 646 miles loaded) tomorrow AM at 0900. He said that “technically” this should be a ‘team’ load due to the pick-up/delivery time vs the mileage, but he didn’t have one available and asked if I could make the run. I accepted the load then asked the all important question “Where the Hades is Martell, CA”? It’s not in my Rand McNalley. It turns out that it is about 50 miles northeast of Stockton on CA-88. I arrived there at 0915. This was a ‘live’ load, but all went smoothly and I was back on the road by 1000. From there I took CA-99 to Bakersfield. I stopped briefly at the Flying J because time was of the essense. I then had to decide whether to follow the Swift routing and take I-5S through LA to I-405 to I-15 into San Diego them I-8E to Yuma, or take the logical path, CA-58E to CA-14S to CA-138E to I-15S to I-10E to CA-86W to I-8E, thus by-passing all the ubiquitous LA traffic. I naturally opted for the later. I left Bakersfield at 1515 and drove to Palm Springs, CA where I stopped for the night. I drove 539 miles in 10.75 hours and worked 11.5 hours for the day.
On the 22nd, I got an early start. I left Palm Springs at 0530 and drove to Yuma. I arrived right on time at 0900. This was supposed to be a drop/hook Customer, but there were no empty trailers available. The Planner had already offered me a load which picked up in Calexico, CA and delivered in Van Nuys, CA (57 miles empty and 242 miles loaded) later today. Without too much delay, I was told to ‘bob-tail’ to Calexico. I arrived at 1130, picked up the load and departed at 1245. I drove directly to Van Nuys and did the drop/hook delivery at 1745. At This point, I was completely out of hours for the day. Fortunately, this was one of our bigger Customers and they allowed me to spend the night on their property. I had to walk about 1/2 a mile (one way) to get something to eat. After sunset, the temperature did not drop as rapidly as I had hoped, so I was drenched in perspiration by the time I returned to the truck. After my Subway Tuna Sandwich and Chips, I settled in for the night. I worked 10.75 hours and drove 478 miles in 9.75 hours.
On the 23rd, I was up at 0700. The Planner offered me a load to New Jersey which I had to turn down because I didn’t have enough hours to make the run. I only have 7.25 hours available today, 5 hours tomorrow and 5.5 hours the day after that. Finally, they offered me a load which picked up in Fullerton, CA and delivered in Farr West (Ogden), UT (43 miles empty and 713 miles loaded) which I accepted. I arrived in Fullerton at 1215, did the drop/hook, and drove to our Terminal in Fontana for fuel. I left Fontana at 1430 and drove to Las Vegas where I stopped for the night. I worked 6.75 hours and drove 306 miles in 6 hours.
With only 5.5 hours available to work today, the 24th, I left Las Vegas at 0800. I drove to one of the MMM’s favorite Rest Areas in Utah on I-15 at exit 89. It has a fenced in area where they can play off-leash. We spent a ‘productive’ 1/2 hour there, then drove to Nephi, UT where I ran out of hours and thus stopped for the day. I arrived at 1400. With very little else to do in Nephi, I went to bed at about 1530. This way, I can leave at midnight when I can once again ‘legally’ drive and finish this run. I drove 327 miles in 5.25 hours and worked 5.5 hours.
At the stroke of midnight on the 25th, I departed Nephi and drove to Farr West. I arrived at 0215 and did the drop/hook delivery. Yesterday while I was en-route, the Planner had offered me a load which picked up in Ogden, UT and delivered in Green River, WY (7 miles empty and 157 miles loaded). This is about the best that I can expect in my current ‘hours’ situation (I only have 5.5 hours available again today). Having some time to kill before my 0800 pick-up, I went to the Flying J in Ogden and took a nap (I didn’t get a whole lot of “quality” sleep going to bed so early yesterday). I arrived at the Shipper at 0800. This was a ‘live’ load. I was finished loading (including time spent driving to the Pilot Truckstop to weigh my load) at 1030 and drove to Ft. Bridger WY. Along the way, I stopped at Devil’s Slide on I-84 between Ogden, UT and I-80 and took the following photographs.

The River in the foreground is, as near as I can determine, Lost River.
I’ll finish this load tomorrow because I’m about 15 minutes shy of being able to deliver this load “legally” today. I drove 239 miles in 4 hours and worked at total of 5 hours.