STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 21647: Sleepy in Santa Nella

October 18, 2006 on 8:03 pm | In On The Road |

I’m weeks behind on this thing, so now it’s time to make it current.
My load in Ft. Collins was finally ready at 2300 on the 3rd. I hooked to it and left about 2330. I drove to our terminal in Denver and went to bed. JEEEEZE what a long, boring day.
On the 4th, I left Denver at 1045. I drove a total of 11.5 hours and 721 miles (including the half hour carry-over from the drive to Denver last night), stopping in Joseph City, AZ, about 75 miles from Flagstaff, for the night. I took a “doggie break” along the way about 1530, stopping at a rest area in New Mexico on I-40 at mm-375. I also stopped at our terminal in Albuquerque for a short break and fuel about 1900.
On the 5th I left Joseph City at 0930 and drove to the consignee in Flagstaff. I was unloaded in about an hour and drove to the Shipper. Yesterday I recieved and accepted a load from Flagstaff to Ontario, CA. I did the drop/hook pick-up and left Flagstaff about1300. I drove to Lake Havasu City, AZ. I had lunch and walked the MMM, then drove to Hesparia, CA where I stopped for the night. I took a short day today after yesterday’s “marathon”. I only drove 475 miles.
On the 6th I left Hesparia at 0700 and drove to the consignee in Ontario. Enroute, I recieved and accepted a load from Industry, CA to North Las Vegas, NV. I did the drop/hook delivery then went to breakfast at Farmer Boys because it was less than a mile away. Not bad for “fast food”. I then drove to the shipper in Industry. What a fiasco. All was well until I got to my exit off of CA-60. Traffic was backed up nerarly 1/2 a mile. Little did I know at the time, but I was fortunate. Things actually got worse before they got better. It took 1/2 an hour to make my way onto the exit ramp. Once there, it took another 15-minutes to get to the intersection. Here, I was able to see the problem, a _______ing train was switching cars on the tracks about 1/4 mile from the exit. To compound the problem, there was construction in the same area and traffic was being funneled from 3 lanes down to 1 lane. I had to somehow cross all the cross traffic and maneuver into the left turn lane, 1/8 of a mile before the RRX. I sat through 6 consecutive light changes at this point where absolutely no traffic moved. After that the intersection miraculously cleared momentarily, and I made my move. There was a surprisingly low number of “horn honks” and single digit “waves” as I proceeded into the turn lane. Fortunately, I was able to get all the way into the lane in one movement and didn’t block the other traffic. I finally made it to the shipper about 1130. I did the drop/hook and then drove to our terminal in Fontana for a quick break and fuel. The trip to Fontana went considerably smoother. The traffic jam was still in progress as I ’sailed’ by. At 1300, I left Fontana and drove directly to the consignee in North Las Vegas, did the drop/hook delivery then drove to the WWW to begin my much earned time off.
I spent much of the 7th, 8th and 9th running errands,working in my storage shed, and working on my music files. Nothing other than that was of much interest.
On the 10th, I recieved a good load. It picked up in North Las Vegas (the same customer that I delivered to on the 6th) and delivered in Elwood (greater Chicago), IL. With a major winter storm forcast for the mountains of Colorado and Wyoming, I opted to drive the extra 125 miles and take the southern route (I-40 to US-54 to US-50 to I-35 to I-70 to I-55). At 1100, with the load picked up, I left NLV and drove to Albuquerque with stops in Kingman and Winslow, AZ. It was a little over 600 miles.
On the 11th, I left Albuquerque at 0930. The Balloon Fiesta was in full swing while I was there this time. It is really an impressive sight to see all the Balloons aloft simultaneously. I managed to take these pictures from our terminal before I left. They aren’t the best, but I was about 5 miles away and had to use full zoom to get these. I used my Video camera because it has a better “zoom” and pulled these “stills” off of the video . My little Olympus just couldn’t do justice to the event.



If you’re not a “morning person” you’ll miss out. They start going up just after sunrise and are usually done, except for a few stragglers, by about 1000. Someday I hope to attend the entire event. I drove to Emporia, KS (666 miles) with breaks in Tucumcari, NM where I transitioned to the 2-lane roads, and Liberal, KS.
On the 12th, I drove from Emporia to Wilmington, IL. I stopped in Warrenton, MO for fuel and lunch and at a rest area on I-55N in Illinois at mm102. I drove just over 601 miles. Wilmington is only about 5 miles from the consignee. It was a “dump” of a truckstop. Muddy and no grass for the MMM, but hey, “beggars can’t be choosers”.
On the 13th, I left Wilmington at 1000 and drove the 5 odd miles to the consignee in Elwood. I did the drop/hook and settled in to wait for a load. After an hour or so, I accepted a load from Muscatine, IA to Albuquerque, NM. It had 4 stops in Albuquerque. At 1245, I left Elwood and drove the 170 miles to Muscatine. The load wasn’t scheduled to pick-up until 2130, and they were pretty much running on schedule, so I settled in for the wait. The load was finally ready at 2230, but by this time my 14-hour window was about to ’slam shut”, so I just hooked to the trailer and went to bed. While I was waiting, I took a little detour into town for something to eat. I finally settled for a burger and fries at a local drive-in called Culvers. I survived, but wasn’t impressed. After that, I went to a Fleet and Farm, which is like a Walmart for farmers. I bought a hood for my winter coveralls which I didn’t buy for some reason 2 years ago when I bought the rest of the set. I also bought a pair of insulated, water-proof, boots, and 2 pair of winter socks. A pair of insulated rubberized gloves and a balaclava (ski mask) completed the ensemble. Now when, AND IF, I decide to accept a load into the sub-arctic climes of the northwest, i’ll be at least reasonably warm while i’m installing my chains. Now all I need to do is buy the chains. LATER, after I get my new truck.
I spent the 14th and 15th driving to Albuquerque. I stopped in Newton, KS on the 14th. On the 15th, I made it to Albuquerque and spent the night on the street outside my first drop.
On the 16th, I made all 4 deliveries on-time or ahead of time. I accepted a PrePlan which picked up at our terminal in Albuquerque and delivered in Hayward, CA. I only have 12.75 hours available over the next 2 days, so i’m going to have to stop short (probably in Barstow) and wait until the “wee hours” of the 18th to leave and drive into Hayward. At 1300, I left Albuquerque and drove to Kingman, AZ where , after a too big dinner, I decided to stop for the night. I stopped along the way in Winslow, AZ for a quick MMM break. I used up 8.25 of my 12.75 available hours, so i’ll have 4.5 hours available, just enough to drive to Barstow tomorrow.
Today, the 18th, I left Barstow at 0200 (GEEEEEEZE) and drove to Bakersfield (i’m getting too old for this S__T). (Yesterday, the 17th, as planned, I arrived in Barstow about noon). I did a quick walk, as much for me as the MMM, then drove to Santa Nella. I took another short break here. At 0845, I left Santa Nella and began the final leg of my odyssey to Hayward. Along the way, my delivery destination was changed to San Leandro. No big deal. I arrived at 1030 (1/2 an hour early). I did the drop/hook delivery and the paperwork. I recieved a PrePlan which picked up in Fremont and delivers in San Diego. I started the day with only 10.75 hours available, but that will be enough to get me to Fremont, make my pick-up and get out of the ‘rat-race’ before I stop for the day. At 1215 I drove to Fremont and did the drop/hook. At 1400, I left and drove back to Santa Nella via Ca-101 and CA-152. I ran out of hours here having used all of my available 10.75. The first thing I did (after walking the MMM) was go to Pea Soup Andersons for soup and the politically incorrect, but OH SO YUMMY veal chops. I have until 2000 tomorrow to get to San Diego, so i’ll get to ’sleep in’.