STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 21563: Another “Sin City” Scorcher

July 26, 2006 on 2:00 pm | In On The Road |

On Friday, the 21st, I accepted a PrePlan which picked up in Salt Lake City and delivered in Aurora, CO. I drove to the Customer (the same one to which I delivered yesterday).  This particular load was loaded on a refridgerated trailer (reefer).

Swift has a few of these, although their “bread and butter” is still 53 ft. van trailers. After picking up the load, I left Salt Lake at 1330. I drove to Rock springs, WY. I had to stop here to check the temperature in the trailer. It was supposed to be set for 18 degrees, and it was. Along the way, I stopped briefly at a View Area overlooking Echo Reservoir and took these pictures.


The Reservoir has been “down” for the last few years due to the general drought in the West, but it looks like it is recovering nicely now. I left Rock springs at 1715 and drove to Laramie, WY. I took a short break here to walk the MMM. At 2045, I drove to the Consignee in Aurora (Denver), CO. I arrived at 2300, walked the MMM and went to bed.
On the 22nd, I was awakened at 0345 by the Reciever who informed me that they would take me early because the 0400 appointment had cancelled. My appointment was scheduled for 0800. Nice to be unloaded early, but not nice to have my “beauty sleep” interrupted. Lord knows I need all that I can get. After being unloaded, I settled in to wait for a PrePlan. I was famished, so I looked around for a place to eat. The only place around was a Denny’s. Against my better judgement, I had breakfast there. One thing about Denny’s is that no matter where you are, the food will be the same as any other Denny’s. They didn’t disappoint me in this respect at least. I ordered the Meat Lovers Slam, which was 2 eggs (over medium), bacon, sausage, hash browns, and 3 pancakes. I recieved 2 eggs (over hard), pretty good bacon, cold sausage, hash browns, and 3 pancakes. I’m a pretty good cook, and know a lot about food preparation, but it’s a mystery to me how Denny’s can consistantly serve hash browns that are golden brown on the outside and still cold in the middle. I sent the sausage and the hash browns back, and began devouring the rest. They got the sausage and hash browns right on the second try. I managed to eat it all, except for one pancake, which the MMM (whose tastes are far less discriminating than mine) thoroughly enjoyed. The citizens of Colorado are the latest to fall victim to Neo-Facist Nannyism. As of July 1, 2006 smoking is prohibited in restaurants, so this compounded the already unpleasant visit to Denny’s. When I got back to my truck, I had a PrePlan on the QualCom which I accepted. It picked up at our terminal in Denver and delivered ASAP in Flagstaff, AZ. I drove to the terminal, fueled, then walked the MMM. I had to wait about 2 hours for the load to arrive ( it was another “shuttle” load). At 1300, I left Denver and drove to Pinon, CO. I had a pretty good Reuben Sandwich and fries for lunch/dinner. It was served on a nice, mild, marbled rye bread rather than the traditional rye bread. At 1545, I drove to San Felipe Pueblo, NM. It’s an Indian Casino about 25 miles north of Albuquerque on I-25. I took a quick MMM break here, then drove to Milan, NM where I stopped for the night.
I left Milan at 1030 on the 23rd and drove directly to the Consignee in Flagstaff. I did the drop/hook delivery, then drove to the Little America truckstop to wait for a PrePlan


There are 4 “Little America” travel stops in the US: This one, one in downtown Salt Lake City, UT, one in Cheyenne, WY and, one out in the boondocks of Wyoming on I-80 between Fort Bridger and Green River. This one is by far the most aesthetic. Being Sunday, it was a long, disappointing wait. About 1800, I finally recieved and accepted a PrePlan from Bellemont, AZ to Salt Lake City, UT. It didn’t pick up until the next morning, so I settled in. On Monday, the 24th, I left Flagstaff at 0830 and drove the 13 miles to Bellemont arriving at the scheduled time of 0900. I did the drop hook, then left at 1000. I drove to Jacob Lake, AZ, a “lodge type” Inn, gas station and “C” store not too far from the northern rim of the Grand Canyon. I walked the MMM and had lunch. At 1400, I drove to Parowan, UT where I fueled and took another short break. At 1800, I drove to our terminal in Salt Lake City, UT where I stopped for the night.
There was no appointment yet scheduled for this load. The 24th of July is a Mormon holiday which is observed in Utah. It commemorates the day that Brigham Young stood on the Point Of The Mountain and said: “This is the place”.
On the 25th, I traded this load for a “local delivery”, then another PrePlan to Henderson, NV. It picked up at a customer about a mile from the terminal and delivered to a customer in Salt Lake. The load was ready when I arrived. I drove to the consignee, who was waiting for me when I arrived. I positioned the trailer, and 1/2 hour later, I was on the way to pick up the Henderson load. This was a drop/hook customer, so 15 minutes later, I drove back to the terminal to weigh the load and fuel. I had to make a minor adjustment to the tandem axle weight. About 1430, I left Salt Lake and drove to the MMM’s favorite Rest Area on I-15 at mm-88. After their jaunt, I drove to the Flying J truckstop in North Las Vegas where I stopped for the night. This load delivers tomorrow (the 26th) at 1800, so I have some time to kill. After the delivery, i’ll take ‘hometime’ until Friday AM. No surprise, it is forecast to be over 100 degrees for my entire stay.