STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 21507: Jessup Gibberish

On Friday, the 26th, I left Lake Havasu City at about 0930 to begin my long trek eastward. There are any number of routes I can take. Swift has me routed over some US and State highways through New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. This is probably the shortest route, but not the most practical. It takes up valuable time driving through all the small towns along the route, and time is of the essense on this trip. The delivery time is at 0500 (0700 local) on Tuesday, the 30th. I have already informed my DM that this is in jeopardy. I will have a “short” day on Monday because I’ll run out of hours (70 hour rule). On Tuesday, I will pick-up 8.5 hours at midnight. I will have to drive the rest of the way to Washington D.C. After that, I should be able to get the load there by mid morning, but not by 0700.
At any rate, the route I chose basically follows old Route 66 (I-15, I-40, I-44) into St. Louis, MO. There i’ll take I-64 east to Charleston, WV. In Charleston, I connect with I-79 north. At Morgantown, I take I-68 east, which turns into I-70 east. At the junction of I-270, I take I-270 south to I-495 east on into Washington, D.C. This route, according to Microsoft Streets and Trips is 2640 miles. That’s 31 miles farther than the 2609 paid miles, but the route is far more practical.
I stopped in Winslow, AZ for lunch and a quick MMM break. At 1430, I drove to Albuquerque, NM. I was going to fuel here, but fuel is cheaper in Oklahoma City, and I have enough to get there, so I didn’t bother. At 1930, I drove to San Jon, NM where I stopped for the night. I drove 692 miles today in 11 hours. That’s about as far as I can ‘legally log’ in one day.
On Saturday I left San Jon at 0830 and drove to Amarillo. I had brunch here. At 1100, I departed Amarillo and drove to Oklahoma City, OK. I fueled and gave the MMM a quick stroll. At 1545, I left and drove to Joplin, MO. I took a short break here, then drove to Richland, MO where I called it a day. I had another good day driving 676 miles in 11 hours. I’m a bit over 1/2 way to my destination. Not bad considering the horrendous start to this trip on Thursday.
On Sunday, I left Richland at 0800. I drove to Mt. Vernon, IL, via St. Louis, MO where I took this ‘drive-by’ snapshot of the world famous Arch while passing through.

If you absolutely, positively have to be in Illinois, Mt. Vernon is not a bad place to stop. At one exit, there is a TA truckstop, a nice ‘local’ truckstop called Huck’s, which has a real nice restaurant, and a ‘Wally World’. In addition there is a Lowes home center, and a couple of “chain” restaurants. I parked in Huck’s, walked the MMM, then went to Wally World for some necessities. At 1300, I drove to Waddy, KY. After a nice Dinner Buffet, I became lethargic, so I decided to stop here for the night. When I started the day, I had only 15 hours available for the next 2 days, so even if I did drive a full 11 hours today, i’d still have a short day tomorrow. There is a nice field behind the truckstop. Plenty of room for an untethered MMM romp (or two). I only drove 490 miles today in 7.5 hours.
On Memorial Day, before leaving, I “memorialized” the MMM’s 6th B’day with a little party. At 0800, I left and drove to Winfield, WV. Here, I took a nice long break for brunch and a shower. At noon, I drove to Grantsville, MD, where I had to stop for the day due to the 70-hour rule. I only had 7 hours available to drive today and I used 6.75 of them. I could have used the remaining 15-minutes, but there was nowhere else to stop in the immediate vacinity that would meet my minimun requirements for Hygene. This was a pretty pitiful excuse for a truckstop, but at least i’ll have running water in the AM to perform my quotidian ‘toilette’. I made up for the lost time on this trip by limiting my daily ‘down-time’ the the minimum 10 hours. I’m still about 165 miles away from Washington, D.C. I’ll have to get an early start in the AM. I can leave about 0230 and still make the 0500 appointment on time, if traffic cooperates that is. I drove 407 miles in 6.75 hours.
On the 30th, I left at the above mentioned 0230 and began my drive. I have 8.5 hours available today, but only 5.5 for tomorrow, and 8 for the day after. Consequently, after I make the delivery, i’m going to drive to the closest truckstop (Jessup, MD) and take 34-hours off to re-start my 70-hour clock. Everything was going smoothly until I made the transition onto I-270. At this point, I ran into the morning rush hour. Oh well, I gave it the ‘good ole college try’. I made it to the consignee at 0615 (1.25 hours late). It was of no consequence as this turned out to be a drop/hook delivery. However, there was nothing onto which to hook. This is actually a blessing in disguise, at least for the immediate future. The truckstop in Jessup is crowded and cramped. It is also under construction. Arriving ‘bob-tail’ will greatly enhance my chances of securing a parking place. The bad thing is that i’ll need to find an empty on Thursday when i’m once again ready to roll.

Life Day 2191: Birthday Bash

Yesterday, the 29th, I had a little “birthday party” for the MMM. I was at a truck stop in Waddy, Kentucky. There was a nice field in which the MMM could romp.

Since I was at a Flying J truckstop, they had to forego their customary “Happy Meal” and have a corn dog instead. I heard no complaints from them.

Of course, they had ice cream and cake. The only thing available in this catagory was Twinkies and packaged ice cream cones. Poor ‘daddy’ had to eat all the chocolate off of the cones before the MMM could have them. (The suffering I endure for them).

After they finished their ‘treats’, they played in the field again for a while. They expressed their glee in the following manner.

When the ‘party’ was over, they asked: “Dad, this was fun, can we have another Birthday tomorrow”?

A good time was had by all. We’ll do it again next year.

Life Day 21501: Simmering in Santa Fe Springs

For once, I’m not that far behind with the journal.
On Friday the 19th, I interupted my ‘wasting away’ at the WWW to go deliver my load. That took a total of about 3 hours including the travel time. When I was empty, I set my PTA for Sunday AM at 0800. After that I basically ‘geeked’ on the computer. I did go to Outback Steak House for dinner tonight. I chose it because it is close to the WWW, about a mile away near the RIO. I had Pork Chops, a Baked Potato, and a Caesar Salad. Oh yeah, it came with a “thimble full” of cinnamon apples. It was good though.
I finally got out of Vegas on Monday the 22nd. I accepted a load which picked up in Henderson and delivered in San Leandro, CA. There was no freight out of here yesterday. I guess I could have deadheaded to LA or Phoenix, but couldn’t see any point in doing that. When I arrived at the shipper, my load was not ready, even though I arrived at my appointment time. I spotted (parked) my empty trailer in a door for them and settled in to wait. In about 2 hours, my load was ready, and I drove to the TA truckstop for fuel and a few necessities. By this time it was nearing 1600. I drove to Bakersfield, CA and stopped for the night (with a quick stop in Barstow to give the MMM their last opportunity to romp ’sans leash’ for a while). No sense killing myself by driving a full 11 hours. The load can’t deliver until Wednesday AM.
On Tuesday, I left Bakersfield about 1330. I couldn’t possibly leave without first having lunch at Bill Lee’s Bamboo Chopsticks. I had Pork Fried Rice, Pork Chow Mein, Egg Foo Yong, and also a side order of Fried Won Tons. Yummy as usual. I drove to Santa Nella where I ‘hovered’ while waiting for the I-580 traffic to disperse. While hovering, I took the opportunity to visit Pea Soup Anderson’s, another of my favorite eating spots. I had “all you can eat soup (Split Pea, of course). About 1900, I drove to the consignee in San Leandro. I was able to park on the street for the night.
On Wednesday, I delivered my load at 0800. I recieved a pre-plan which picked up in Richmond, CA and delivered in Santa Fe Springs, CA. I was finished with the unload about 1030 and drove to Richmond. When I checked in at the shipping office, I was told that my load had already been shipped, YESTERDAY. I contacted my DM and recieved the correct pick-up number about 1/2 an hour later. I spotted my empty in a door for them and picked up the loaded trailer. I then drove to Coalinga, CA (Harris Ranch). I was fortunate to beat the traffic out of the Bay Area (I was traveling on I-80, I-880, and I-580, usually slow traffic under ideal conditions) without too much delay. I had dinner here. I ordered my usual Chicken Fried Steak. I had Hashbrowns in leiu of the usual Mashed potatoes. It was a good choice. Their “mixed vegetable” du jour turned out to be some nice asparagus and 1/2 an ear of corn. Much better than the usual mundane squash, broccoli, and carrots. I decided to have my desert ‘on the road’ by ordering a peach smoothie to go.
When I got back to my truck, I had a PrePlan on my QualCom. It was a good one, Industry, CA to Washington, D.C. (over 2600 miles). I , of course, accepted it.
After this feast, I drove to the consignee in Santa Fe Springs. I parked on the street in front for the night.
Thursday was a frustrating day. The frustration began almost immediately. It took about 4 hours to be unloaded. I also had 3 huge boxes of damaged product which I had to ‘wrestle’ into my ’sleeper’ because I had to go load. The Claims department told me to turn it in to the terminal in Fontana. I then spent another 4 hours and 75 miles in LA traffic playing “trailer, trailer, where the #&*% is a trailer. I had a 14′ trailer and had to find a 13′ 6″ trailer for the load to Washington D.C. By the time I was able to locate one, it was after 1500. The Shipper for the Washington load closed at 1600 and I was 30 miles away. I called and told them I might be a little late because of traffic and they sid OK. At the time I didn’t know if OK meant; “OK we’ll wait”, or “OK, see you in the morning”. I arrived about 1515, and they were waiting. WHEW!! It took about 1/2 an hour to load. I thanked them profusely, and drove to Fontana for fuel and to turn in the damaged product. By this time it as close to 1900 because of all the traffic. I drove to Barstow for dinner. The traffic was heavy all the way there. Seems like everyone in LA decided to get an early start on Memorial Day weekend. After dinner I drove to Lake Havasu City, AZ where I stopped for the night.

Life Day 2181: Dog Day Afternoon

This month the MMM had shots due. Despite the heat (about 100 degrees), I took them to PetSmart on Thursday the 18th to take advantage of their Shot Clinic (hey folks, it only going to get hotter here, so there’s no sense putting it off). There is no charge for the office visit. I like that part, it saves me over $50.00. They offer one every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday from 2:00 PM until 4:00 PM. Each MMM had 3 shots due this time, plus a replenishment of their Heartworm medicine. I’m glad I finally got their shot schedues in sync. It’s much more convenient. Wolfie needed a follow-up visit for his ear infection as well. They were well behaved for the most part, but Wolfie was his usual “vocal” self. We were in and out of there in a little over an hour, including the “shopping trip” in the store. It took almost as long to drive there and back in all the traffic as it did to get their shots. Wolfie’s ear is just fine now. All in all, it was a pleasant outing. Walter enjoys riding in the car for some reason. Their next group of shots is due in August. Happy, happy, joy, joy. It’ll be even hotter then.
Despite the above mentioned $50.00 savings, this visit cost me about $220.00 including a 20# bag of dog food and “treats”, the selection of which were personally supervised by the MMM. The 6 month supply of heartworm medicine is largly responsible for the rather high total.

Life Day 21497: Wasting away at the WWW

On Tuesday the 16th, rested, relaxed and refreshed after my 34+ hour respite in Albuquerque, I accepted a load which picked up in Belen, NM and delivered in Los Angeles. It was only about an 800 mile trip including the deadhead, but that is because my RDO is at (-1). They are trying to get me home. The weather was perfect while I was there. Yesterday, I took my truck to the TA truckstop for a PM Service. That killed a couple of hours. Then back to the Flying J.
I left Albuquerque at about 1000 and drove the 1/2 hour to Belen, about 30 miles south on I-25. The load was bales of scrap paper so it was heavy (41,000#). The closest scale was back in Abuquerque, so back to the terminal I went to check the weight. The load was legal, so after letting the MMM have 1 final untethered romp, I set off towards the sunset. I took a dinner break in Winslow, AZ, then drove to Lake Havasu City, AZ for another quick break. I finished the day at the John Wilke Rest Area about 40 miles west of Needles (I pronounce it needless).
I left the Rest Area about 1000 the next day and drove to Hesparia. I took a quick break here before going through the “chicken coop” at the bottom of Cajon Pass. I then drove the remaining 70 miles into the bowels LA, arriving at the customer about 1500. It was a re-cycling center. The dock area was cramped and cluttered with debris (I always worry about my poor tires whenever I have to go to places like this). After being unloaded, I had to leave forthwith because there were other trucks waiting. I found a place to park and await a Pre-Plan about a mile away. About 3 hours later, I finally recieved and accepted a load that picked up at our terminal in Fontana and delivered in Las Vegas. I arrived in Fontana at 2000, topped of with fuel (it was only $2.959), picked up the loaded trailer, and walked the MMM. At 2100, I headed to Barstow where I decided to terminate my relationship with this workday.
On Thursday, I drove the 3 hours into Vegas and the WWW. The load only weighed 10,000# so I didn’t even have to drop a gear climbing Baker Hill. I can’t deliver this stupid load until noon tomorrow. It is a ‘firm’ delivery appointment. That throws a monkey wrench into my time off. Oh well, one constructive thing I can do is take the MMM to the Vet for their shots. PetSmart has a “shot clinic” today from 1400 to 1600. At least I arrived here in time to do that today so I won’t have to wait until Sunday.