STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 22582: Gilroy Gathering

Since leaving Vegas on the 6th, Swift has been keeping me busy. No sitting around so far on this outing. I like it better this way. I’m easily bored, and an idle mind can be a dangerous thing.

Now, the chronicle.

Wednesday, May 6th:  I received a PrePlan which picked up in Henderson, NV and delivered in Buena Park, CA. The first order of business was to drive back to the drop yard in North Las Vegas and pick up an empty trailer. After so doing, I drove to the shipper in Henderson, arriving at 1230. The load took about ½ an hour. I then drove back to the WWW for lunch, and to kill a little time. My delivery appointment wasn’t until 2330. Had I left as soon as I was loaded, I would have arrived in the LA Megalopolis right at the peak of ‘rush hour’. I left Vegas at 1700 and drove to Hesparia, CA. I took a quick MMM break here, then drove to the consignee in Buena Park. As it was, I arrived 1½ hours early for the appointment, and had to wait to be unloaded. The unload, again, took about ½ an hour. I then parked on the street outside the customer for the night.

Thursday: Bright and early (about 0900), I received a PrePlan. It was a trailer shuttle trip to our terminal in Lathrop, CA. I drove to our terminal in Mira Loma, dropped my empty trailer and picked up the set of doubles to be shuttled to Lathrop. I haven’t pulled a set of doubles in about 5 years. This was one of many sets being shuttled. A customer in Lathrop bought many of Swift’s old “pups” and dollies. Anyway, after I finished in Mira Loma, I drove to Buttonwillow, CA where I had lunch/dinner and walked the MMM. I then drove from there to Lathrop. Along the way, I received a PrePlan which picked up at the Lathrop terminal and delivered in Springfield, OR. After I dropped the set of “pups” and hooked to my next load, I went to bed.

Friday:  I left Lathrop at 0745 and drove to Corning, CA. I had lunch here, then drove to Phoenix, OR. I took another short break here, then drove to the customer in Springfield. I spent the night outside their facility. While I was en route, I received a PrePlan which picked up in Toledo, OR and delivered in Gilroy, CA. As soon as I saw the destination, I called brother Don and arranged to meet in Gilroy for dinner on Sunday. He lives about 50 miles away.

Saturday:  I did the drop/hook delivery, then drove to Coburg, OR for some fuel. I then drove to Toledo. The only problem with this drive is that the most direct route (US-20) is restricted for trucks, so I had to drive an extra 40 miles through Salem, OR then west to US-101, then down US-101 south, which is full of tourists this time of year, especially on week-ends. It took forever to get there. Once there, it took 4 hours to be loaded. I didn’t get out of there until 1800. I drove to Canyonville, OR and called it a day.

Sunday, May 10th (Mother’s Day):  I left Canyonville at 0830. I drove to Redding, CA where I took a short break. After leaving Redding, I drove to Willows, Ca where I put on some fuel and walked the MMM. I left there about 1530 and drove to Gilroy, arriving at 1900. I contacted brother Don who had been in the area since about noon shopping. We went to the Longhouse Restaurant for dinner.

I had Breaded Veal with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables. I also had Greek Lemon Soup. Desert was Rainbow Sherbet. Their bread was also excellent. Don had Veal Scallopini, and Dawn and Lou split a Garlic Steak. It was all very good. After dinner, we went to Barnes and Noble to browse for a while. About 1030, they dropped me off at my truck. I had a PrePlan waiting for me. After I unload tomorrow, I drive to Fresno and pick up a load going to Sumner, WA.

Life Day 22577: Sagacious Sentences from Sin City

Hola. Welcome back to my BLOG. I use the Spanish greeting because today is Cinco de Mayo. It has no special significance to me, but I try to keep abreast of current events, so I thought I would at least mention it.
I don’t think that I will do the “chronicle” thing again on this post. I’m in my room at the WWW, and my log book is in my truck, and it’s 97° outside, and I don’t feel like walking out to the parking lot to get it.
To finish with Monday, after I finished my dinner in Blair’s, VA, I drove to Cannonsburg, KY. I stopped there for the night, stopping only once for fuel in Fort Chiswell, VA.
The next day, Tuesday, I drove to Higginsville, MO. Along the way I stopped in Mount Vernon, IL. I had dinner at Huck’s truck stop. They have a good restaurant there, and it’s NOT a chain truck stop. I had the “politically incorrect”, but ever so yummy, Breaded Veal Cutlets with mashed potatoes, corn, and some home made diner rolls. It was all delicious.
I drove to the consignee in Ottawa, KS this morning (Wednesday). When I was finished with the drop/hook delivery, I drove to a nearby small truck stop and waited for my next load. It was raining really hard, and walking the MMM in the mud was no fun at all. About two hours later, I received a PrePlan. It was a dead head trip to Phoenix, AZ (a little over 1100 miles). I left shortly thereafter and drove through most of Kansas, all of the little strip of Oklahoma on US-54, and to Dalhart, TX. I stopped here for the night.
On Thursday morning, I drove to Albuquerque, NM. I fueled, walked the MMM, and had lunch. I then drove to Winslow, AZ. I took another short break here, then drove to the Sunset Point Rest Area about 60 miles north of Phoenix on I-17. I ran out of hours (11 hour rule) and stopped for the night.
Friday morning (May Day), I drove to the terminal in Phoenix. Before I left, I took some pictures of some blooming cactus.



I didn’t have to wait long for a load (actually two loads). The first load was a local delivery. The second load was already waiting for me in the yard after the local delivery. It’s destination was Calgary, Alberta, Canada, but it was scheduled for T-call in Salt Lake City, UT. I dinked around the terminal for a while, having lunch/dinner and taking a shower. After that, I drove to Las Vegas, NV where I called it a day.
Saturday morning, I had breakfast at the new Denny’s in the WWW. They didn’t disappoint me. My eggs were cold, the sausage under cooked, and the hash browns had barely made it to the grill. In other words, a typical Denny’s dining experience. On a brighter note, the “pancake puffs” I ordered were quite good, and they were hot. The person who made these will probably be fired if Denny’s Management ever finds out about it. Removing my tongue from my cheek, I’ll now tell you about the rest of my day. I drove to Salt Lake City, UT and T-called the load. I received a Pre-Plan while I was en route. It was Pre-loaded in the Salt Lake City yard. It was scheduled to deliver in Vernon, CA, but I begged for them to arrange a T-call in Las Vegas so I could take some well deserved time off. They consented. Although I still had about 4 hours remaining to drive, I opted to just spent the night in the terminal and leave in the morning. No sense killing myself on a week-end.
On Sunday, I drove to North Las Vegas and did the T-call. Next on the agenda was to get a PM Service done on my truck. I also replaced my air filter. The truck took 2 gallons of anti-freeze. I hope this doesn’t portend future problems. There is no evidence of a coolant leak, so it must be burning up in the engine. I’ll have to keep an eye on it. After the PM Service, I washed my truck. I was skeptical of doing so because of some nasty clouds approaching from the west, but I did it anyway. The clouds never let loose their moisture, so it was OK. My final task of the day was to drive from North Las Vegas to the WWW.
Monday was errand day. First on the agenda was having the MMM groomed. I had a 1230 appointment. After I dropped them off, I  went shopping at the near by “Wally World”. I bought some summer shirts and a new pair of shoes. I also bought a 6 ft. USB cable extender that I needed for my computer. I tried Denny’s again for dinner. This time it was the service that was lacking. I ordered Chicken Fried Steak from the restaurant. I asked if they would serve it at the bar. They said that wouldn’t be a problem. I evidently was a problem after all. After waiting 45 minutes, I went back to the restaurant to inquire about my meal. It was at the desk. He tried to hand it to me, but I made them re-do the order since it had been sitting so long, and reiterated that they were to serve it at the bar. This time they did, but when I opened the meal (they serve meals at the bar in “to go” boxes), the mashed potatoes and corn were all smooshed together. YUK!!! It was barely edible. Too bad I had paid for the meal with my credit card when I ordered it. I had already added a $2.00 tip. Next time (if there is one) I’ll pay in cash so when the service is lousy the server won’t profit from it. When will I ever learn????? In the evening after it cooled down a bit, I went to check my mail.
Today was a total veg and geek day. I just relaxed with the MMM in the room. In the evening, I drove over to the Orleans Casino to eat at T.G.I. Fridays. It was my first visit to one of these establishments. I had a Rib Eye Steak and mashed potatoes. The food was good, but there wasn’t enough of it. It didn’t come with bread, so I had to pay extra for an order of garlic bread sticks. I was unimpressed. Looks like the search for a new, near by restaurant continues.