BOISE STAGE STOP
September 26, 2005 on 11:57 am | In Travelblogue | No CommentsSince early in my driving career, the Boise Stage Stop has been one of my favorite truckstops. Unfortunately, it is in my “forbidden winter no drive zone” so I don’t get to visit too often. When I am in the area, it is a ‘must stop’. It is a “truckers truckstop” and drivers are their first priority.
The exterior is not aesthetic, but it is functional.
The shower rooms are ‘roomy’ and clean. Rooms are not numbered as in most truckstops (ie: shower 1, shower 2, etc), but instead are named after old brands of gasoline (ie: Signal, Richfield, Texaco, etc).
Some even have a bidet and a bathtub.
The decor of the restaurant is early “Americana”. It too is clean. The Kitchen also includes a bakery that bakes all the deserts.
Unfortunately, things seem to be going downhill. They have a new Restaurant Manager and now most of the staff is uni-lingual, and that language is NOT English. All of “my old crew” have moved on. I’ll keep stopping here until things either improve or get so bad that I can’t no longer tolerate it.
Life Day 21260: Stanfield Salutations
September 26, 2005 on 9:43 am | In On The Road | No CommentsI left Albuquerque at 1115 on the 24th. My route today included US-491. This was formerly US-666 until a bunch of “lunatic-fringe, anal retentive, Jesus freaks” petitioned the Federal Government to have it re-designated because of the 666 reference to the Devil. Jeeeeeze, what will THEY go after next. I-69??? I drove to the Ute Mountain Casino in Towaoc, CO. It is basically an Indian Casino w/ a detached Truckstop. Not being a gambler, this has no effect on me, but it is a convenient place to stop for the MMM and to get my Log Book up to date before going through the Colorado State Scale at Cortez about 8 miles north. From there, I drove to our Terminal in West Valley (Salt Lake City), UT. I stopped here for the night. I worked 10.25 hours driving 610 miles in 10 hours.
On the 25th, after fueling, walking the MMM, and a leisurely breakfast at the Sapp Brothers truckstop, I left West Valley at 1100 and drove to Boise, ID. I stopped at the Boise Stage Stop (ref: Boise Stage Stop on this BLOG), one of my favorite truckstops, which is actually about 15 miles south of Boise on I-84. I took a long break here. They have a good restaurant. I had Meatloaf, with Home Fries, Mixed Vegetables, and Peach Pie for desert. It was good. I left the Stage Stop at 1800 and drove to Stanfield, OR where I stopped for the night. Of the 10.5 hours I logged today, 10.25 were expended driving 581 miles.
Life Day 21257: Albuquerque Again
September 23, 2005 on 10:29 pm | In On The Road | No CommentsAfter ‘vegging out’ the rest of yesterday, I ‘vegged out’ some more today, the 21st. The skies were too threatening to work in the storage shed. Lots of thunder and lightening. Although I have a good connection, the WiFi is SLOW today. I don’t know if it’s my computer or the BLOG or the overcast skies, but it’s driving me bonkers. I ran SpyBot and Norton Anti-Virus, but it didn’t help. I ate all my meals (mediocre at best) here @ the Flying J because I didn’t want to drive the 8 miles down to the Wild Wild West to get my car.
On the 22nd, the planner offered me a load which picked up in North Las Vegas, NV and delivered in Dallas, TX (14 miles empty and 1228 miles loaded). I accepted it and drove to the Shipper. I arrived right on time at 1100. They took an hour to load me and then I drove back to the Flying J to fuel, weigh my load, and have lunch. Full of fuel (both for me and my truck), load legal, and MMM exercised, I left NLV at 1430. I drove to Kingman, AZ. I took a 15 minute break there, then drove to the Little America in Flagstaff, AZ. I had dinner here and walked the MMM again. There are many trees here from which they can choose, so it takes a little time for them to ‘do their thing(s)’. I left here at 2030 and drove to Jamestown, NM (I-40 exit 39). It’s not really a town, just an oil refinery and a truckstop, but it has it’s own Post Office. I stopped here for the night as it was almost midnight and I was weary. I worked 9 hours today of which I spent 7.75 hours driving 471 miles.
Today, the 23rd, I left Jamestown at 1000, the earliest time that I could legally drive. Along the way, it dawned on me that this load delivers in Dallas, TX on Monday afternoon. Even if I dawdle, I’ll be there by mid-morning tomorrow. That would leave me idle for 2 full days. Also, Hurricane Rita is scheduled to begin wreaking havoc in the wee hours tomorrow AM. “Experts” are forcasting the possibility of 70 to 80 mph winds and a good possibility of Tornado activity in the Dallas Metroplex as a result. NO THANKS. When I arrived at our Terminal in Albuquerque, I called my DM to ask if I could T-Call the load (in Albuquerque) and pick up something else. If you think that makes me a “chicken” well “cluck you”. She made the arrangements for the T-Call. That changed the loaded miles from 1228 to 596 on this trip. It took them 2 hours to send me a PrePlan. It picks up at the Terminal and delivers on Tuesday in Sumner, WA (0 miles empty and 1422 miles loaded). Originally, the PrePlan indicated that the load picked up in El Paso, TX (263 miles empty). I accepted it despite the 18% deadhead because I didn’t want a repeat of my last visit here. Just before I was ready to depart, I called my DM to dispatch the load so I could get through Secutity. She informed me that the load was being picked up in El Paso by another driver and was to be T-Called at the Terminal here. I re-spotted the empty trailer I had scrounged and went to Dispatch for an ETA on the loads’ arrival. They told me that it would arrive at about 1800. Cool, that reduced my deadhead percentage to 0%. I drove the 3 miles to the Flying J for lunch and some computer time. At 1800, I was messaged via QualCom that the new ETA was 2000. I decided to just stay here for the night since I’m already “settled in” with good WiFi reception, near a ‘grassy knoll’ for the MMM. I’ll pick up the load in the AM. I have plenty of time to make the Tuesday afternoon delivery. I drove 114 miles in 2 hours and worked total 2.5 hours for the day.
SILVERTON CASINO AND LODGE
September 20, 2005 on 9:47 pm | In Travelblogue | No CommentsBefore I left for Salt Lake City, UT on the 18th, I walked from the TA Truckstop to the Silverton Casino for breakfast at the Sundance Grill. I had Eggs Benedict, Hash Browns, and Hot Tea. After breakfast, I strolled through the Casino with my camera and took some photographs.
Shady Grove: The first point of interest after leaving the un-photogenic Sundance Grill is the Shady Grove Lounge. The Rock & Roll group Hootie and the Blowfish are prominantly featured here for some reason.
The left and center pictures are the outside and inside (respectively) of the 2-lane, 1/2 scale, bowling alley. It is located inside an old “airstream” trailer. The picture on the right is of the pool table w/ Hootie & the Blowfish felt. How the H___ are you supposed to play pool on that. It’s way too “busy”.
There’s something “Fishy” going on around here: The next interesting place that you encounter is the Mermaid Lounge and Azure (the 117,000 gallon aquarium).
The picture on the left is of the Mermaid Lounge. Note the Azure aquarium in the background. The 2 pictures on the right are of customized “choppers” supplied by Orange County Choppers. Nice, if you’re into ‘bikes’. They are situated between the entrance to the Mermaid Lounge and the main viewing area of Azure. .
The above pictures are of the Azure Aquarium. I can’t identify any of the species except the Rays, and the small shark in bottom row left. They are beautiful and interesting just the same. The ‘little orange guy’ in the bottom row (right) kept swimming around the circumference of the tank at eye level. He would appear about every 2 minutes like clockwork. If Municipal Transportation Systems could keep a schedule like him/her, maybe more people would ride “mass transit”.
Wildlife Photography for “Dummies”: After the Azure Aquarium the next point of interest is Outdoor World or Bass Pro Shops. They are a Retail Shop, but they have many interesting displays that depict wildlife in their natural environment.
Top row (l to r): Moose (no squirrel that I could see), Lions, Elk
Bottom row (l to r): Bears, Bear, Bear
After the “tour”, I was running short on time, so I left the Silverton, walked back to the TA and left for SLC.
Life Day 21254: August Autumnal Equinox
September 20, 2005 on 6:49 pm | In On The Road | No CommentsJust to complete the 17th, I left Barstow at about 2000 and drove to Las Vegas. Totals for the day: 7.25 hours worked, 299 miles driven in 6.25 hours.
I left Vegas around Noonish on the 18th. Prior to leaving, I breakfasted at the Sundance Grill in the Silverton Casino. After breakfast, I wandered around with my ever-ready camera and snapped a few snapshots (ref: Silverton Casino and Lodge on this BLOG). I missed the MMM’s ‘favorite’ Rest Area, so I stopped in Beaver, UT, about 15 miles farther north on I-15. There is an open field for them to ‘play’ off-leash here, but it is not as constrained as the Rest Area and they need more supervision. At 1645, I drove on to Salt Lake City, UT. I ate dinner here and then drove to the Consignee in Layton, UT. They have limited parking here, and I was lucky enough to find a place to park.
The 19th was tedious. I awoke about 0630 and took the MMM on their long awaited AM ‘outing’. According to Swift, my appointment was at 0900. I ‘lazed around’ until 0830, then checked in with the Recieving Clerk. Alas, he informed me that my appointment wasn’t until 1100 and that they would not be able to start any earlier. DRAT!! He did give me a door, then told me that I could drop my trailer and go eat, or go shopping, or whatever for a couple of hours, so I did. I went to IHOP for breakfast, then browsed around “Wally World”, successfully resisting the urge to impulse buy. I returned to the Consignee at 1130, re-connected to my trailer, then began the vigil. The Planner offered me a load which picked up in Clearfield, UT and delivered in Mira Loma, CA (4 miles empty and 669 miles loaded). I telephoned my DM and requested to T-Call the load at our drop yard in Henderson, NV and take some R&R. She said that it would be OK, so I accepted the Pre-Plan. At 1330, the unload was complete and I departed for Clearfield. I arrived at 1345. My appointment was not until 1700. I checked in with Shipping anyway, but was, alas, told that I would again have to wait until my appointment time before being loaded. I was told where to park to wait and preceeded there. Boredom, boredom, boredom, boredom. At 1645, the loader came to get me and told me which door to spot my trailer. I had to dis-connect from the trailer after it was spotted and park beside it because there was no room for other traffic to get by if I stayed connected. The loading took an hour and I left Clearfield at 1800. I drove to our Terminal in Salt Lake City, UT and fueled. Only 1 of the 3 fuel islands was open for some reason, so I had to wait in line for about 15 minutes before it was my turn to fuel. After fueling, I drove through the Truck Wash twice then drove to St. George, UT where I stopped for the night. Along the way, I did stop briefly at the MMM’s Rest Area. I worked 8.25 hours driving 335 miles in 5.5 hours.
Today, the 20th, I left St. George at 1015 (the earliest time that I could legally depart). I drove directly to the drop yard in Henderson, dropped the loaded trailer and hooked to an empty. I let the MMM explore for about a 1/2 hour, then drove to the Flying J to begin my leisure time. Obviously, their WiFi is working this time. I set my PTA (Projected Time Available) for the 22nd at 0800. It is truly an august Autumnal Equinox for I am beginning “home time”.
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