STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 22146: Casper Communique

Happy “Leap Day” everybody!!!!

Well, it looks as though Spring is nigh upon us. Sitting here in Casper, WY, i’ve made a few observations. The signs of Spring here in Wyoming are not the obvious ones we all think about, ie: birds singing, grass getting greener, buds forming on thr trees, etc, etc. They are much more subtle than that. The fact that on the last day of February it is 55 degrees at noon is a definite sign of Spring. The fact that the roads are no longer a solid sheet of ice is another sign that Spring is on the way. The fact that one is not wading ‘calf deep’ in snow and sludge is yet another sign. All this adds up to better days ahead. There will still be some snow and nasty driving conditions for another month or so, but the snow will melt of in about a day or so rather than lingering for months.

As I mentioned earlier, i’m in Casper, WY, taking my 10 hour break. To bring you up to date, I drove back to Corinne on the 27th. I encountered no adverse driving conditions or weather, except for a little wind over Elk Mountain, which didn’t amount to much. Yesterday, I took this load to Casper. I like to deliver to this store because there is a Perkins Family Restaurant in the same shopping center. They are a chain of restaurants similar to Marie Calendar’s. A refreshing change from truck stop fare. This morning, I had Double Bacon Eggs Benedict with Hash Browns and a Bran Muffin.

When I return to Corinne today, I will have only 1 1/2 hours remaining on my 70 hours for the week. As a result, i’ll be taking a day off tomorrow. My next load will be to Las Vegas. I plan to go car shopping. My poor Jeep has served me well, but it needs a transmission, and a new head gasket. I’m not going to put any more $$$$ into it. Better to buy something more reliable. My preference is to buy something built in this millenium, but if I find a late 90’s model in good condition, I may buy it. This time I have up to $4500.00 cash to spend. I have no particular make, model or color in mind, but a van or SUV is what I will be looking at closest. I would also like to stay with white due to the Vegas heat in the summer, but it is not a requirement. The only requirement I have is regarding accessories: What ever I buy must have power windows, which the Jeep doesn’t have. It makes it so much easier to appease the MMM’s desire to stick their heads out the windows. Keyless entry would also be nice. 

Life Day 22144: Awaiting Departure from Aurora

While i’m finishing up my mandatory 10 hours off here in Aurora, Co I may as well do a quick update on this BLOG.

After I did my 34 hour re-start on the 22nd/23rd, my next load was yet another load to the Las Vegas area with a San Bernardino, CA backhaul. That’s 3 in a row. I’m not complaining, it keeps me out of the nasty weather up north, but it does affect my fuel mileage. The loads coming out of San Burdue are 45,000 lbs. Doing 3 in a row took my average fuel mileage for the month from about 7.5 mpg down to about 7.1 mpg. I asked for them because I needed the miles. Taking that 5 days off in Bakersfield earlier this month put me behind. These runs are 1400+ miles, and when I get back to Corinne on the 3rd day, usually I have enough hours remaining to do a short run (250 to 400 miles), or a couple of local runs to augment my “bottom line” before I take my 10 hour break and get my next load. When I returned on the 25th, I did just that. I had enough hours remaining to do a short run to Burley and Jerome, ID.

Yesterday, I took this load here to Aurora. When I leave here about 1300, i’ll head back to Corinne. Hopefully, the quotidian winds through Wyoming will have subsided a little bit. Last night they were pretty bad (55+ mph). Fortunately I was loaded with about 35,000 lbs, so it wasn’t bad. Going back empty is another story. I’ve covered the effects of wind on an empty trailer before so I won’t go into it again. Wish me luck!!!

Life Day 22139: Perched in Perry, UT

When I returned to Corinne last night from Ephraim about 2130, I put my truck into the shop for a PM service. I could have done it last week when I had my tires done, but it would have been about 4000 miles early, so I decided to wait. I knew that I would be taking time off now anyway. I’m out of hours for the week, and am taking my 34 hours off here for a change. When the truck was finished about 0030, I walked the MMM and went to bed.

This morning, I woke up about 0730. I was going to ‘bobtail’ out to the Golden Spike Monument (in all my time in Utah, I’ve never visited it), but it was snowing, so I diddled around until about 0900, then went to breakfast at a little local restaurant called the Golden Spike instead. They make their own sausage patties, and they are good. Very similar to the sausage at Newell’s truck stop in Newton, KS.  Next, I drove to Brigham City and did some laundry. Then a trip to the Walmart in Perry for a few snacks. I finished the excursion at the Flying J in Perry, UT. I got a good WiFi connection, so I’m able to do these posts. I took a break about 2000 and went to a Chinese restaurant in Brigham City called Hunan Village. It was adequate, but nothing to write home about. I liked their Egg Drop Soup. Later, I’ll drive back to the terminal in Corinne, and be available for another load at 0800 in the morning.

Life Day 22138: Wool, Wool, Wool, Another Road Hazard

The next week after the fiasco in Little America was relatively mundane. I took a ‘maintenance day’ off for my truck on Friday (the 15th). I had a few minor things to ‘tweek’, but the main thing I had done was tires. I had all 8 of my drive tires rotated and had a couple of slow leaks repaired. I feel much safer now. I also had my steer tires replaced. They were down to the DOT minimum allowable tread. I still have a few months on the drive tires.

On Saturday, I did a short local run, then took a load to Las Vegas, with a San Bernardino, CA back-haul. I didn’t spend any time when I passed through Vegas, either way. When arrived back in Corinne on Sunday night, I took a load up to Logan, UT, basically a local run. I also got another load to Vegas/San Berdue. I delivered in Logan at 0500 on Monday, then drove back to Corinne and picked up the Vegas. The trip to Vegas/San Berdue was uneventful. On the 20th, on the way back, I stopped for fuel at the TA in Vegas. It was sprinkling. I left about 1730. About 30 miles north of Vegas, Just past the Moapa Indian Reservation, I saw this nice partial rainbow.

I took the pictures through my windshield as I was driving.
I continued on to Beaver, UT where I stopped for the night.
I was hoping to have some pictures of the lunar eclipse, but it was eclipsed by clouds. I think I might have seen part of it, but it was hard to differentiate between the clouds and the shadow of the Earth. I was driving on wet roads, so I could only glance at it from time to time.

On Friday, I left Beaver at 0800. I had to turn down yet another load to Vegas because I didn’t have enough hours left to make the run. Instead, I accepted a load to Ephraim, UT. I returned to Corinne, did the drop/hook, and left about 1400. On UT-132 between Fountain View and Moroni, I encountered a woolly problem. I took these pictures while slowly rolling. Sorry about the blurriness. I didn’t check the settings on the camera before I took the shots. DRAT!!!

Ewe can understand why I felt a little sheepish while waiting for the “sheepboys” (could their names have been Mutton Jeff??) to clear the obstacle. It only took about 5 minutes. I continued on to Ephraim and made the delivery. I left about 1800 and drove back to Corinne.

Life Day 22131: Little America Layabout (”Weather” I Like it or Not)

The return trip to las Vegas from Bakersfield was uneventful except for the Jeep overheating on both ’steps’ of Baker Hill. It’s really time to put some serious thought into getting a newer, more dependable car. At least the overheating was not caused by coolant leaks. I have no idea what actually caused it, old age I guess.

The first trip I did after returning to Corinne on the 11th was to Cheyenne, WY. I left for Cheyenne about 1800 on the 12th. I drove to Fort Bridger, WY where I had a late dinner. I then drove the rest of the way to Cheyenne in one shot, arriving around 0100 on the 13th. The roads were clear for the whole trip, but I did encounter some strong winds between Rawlins and Laramie (where else). This store doesn’t take early deliveries, so I napped until about 0430 when the receiving docks opened. After being unloaded, I went to bed about 0600. After my 10 hour break, I left Cheyenne about 1600. Again the road was clear, that is until about 40 miles east of Rock Springs. Things ‘went south’ in a hurry. Within 5 miles, I was in a full blown winter storm. I made it to Rock Springs, but couldn’t find a parking place, not even at the Walmart. I continued on to Green River, but there was no place to park there either. I set off to Little America, determined that I was going to stop there no matter what. I did “make” myself a parking place there near the fuel islands. I was parked illegally, but so were a lot of other people. By this time, Wyoming DOT had closed the road ahead of me, so I had to park somewhere. By this time it was 2300.


It was a real mess.

The next day, the 14th, the storm had passed over for the most part. There were a few flurries in the morning, but the sun actually came out in the afternoon. That didn’t help much because the road was still closed. Like I said, it was a real mess. When the road finally did reopen about 2000, I left immediately. I was bored out of my mind. It took 4 hours to make the 170 odd mile trip to Corinne, but I made it. All of the slow going was in Wyoming. Once I crossed the border into Utah, it was like someone hit a switch. The road was completely dry. 2.5 hours to drive the 68 miles in Wyoming, 1.5 hours to drive the 100 miles from the border to Corinne. GEEEEEZE !!! Wyoming needs to buy some SALT.