STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 22345: Quixotic in Quartzsite

September 15, 2008 on 8:47 am | In On The Road |

My stay in Sumner became a “semi-saga” of sorts. I showed up at the customer in Puyallup at 0845. Upon checking with Security I discovered that there were no loads for Swift there. I informed my DM who contacted the CSR. About an hour later, I was directed to a customer in Sumner (where the load was actually supposed to pick up). I drove there and checked in with the shipping clerk. I was immediately assigned a dock and positioned my equipment. Six hours later, I was finally loaded. At one point they were actually removing product from my trailer??? By the time I departed the customer, what with all the delays this morning, I had only 6 hours remaining on my 14 hours for the day. This, naturally, placed me right in the middle of the afternoon ‘rush hour’. I drove to the Pioneer Villa truck stop in Halsey, OR and called it a day. I still had an hour left to drive, but there is no place within an hours drive south of Halsey on I-5 that I would rather have been. I exercised the MMM, then went into the bar for dinner (you can still, but not for much longer, smoke in bars in Oregon). I had the Politically Incorrect, but ever so YUMMY, home made Breaded Veal Cutlets. While I was dining, I watched Hurricane Ike slam into Galveston. The response by the Government seemed much better than the Katrina fiasco 3 years ago.

On Saturday, the 13th, I drove from Halsey to our terminal in Lathrop, stopping twice. The first stop was the Randolf Collier Rest Area, a well kept facility just across the California/Oregon border on I-5 at exit 786, half way between Hilt, CA and Yreka, CA. 

It is immense, with lots of shade and lots of parking.

The Klamath River parallels it to the west.

A great place for a picnic. These birds seem to agree.

My second stop was at our terminal in Willows, CA for a quick fuel stop.

On Sunday, the first order of business was a shower and laundry. I was in “wash or buy” status. I left the terminal about noon, but didn’t get too far. Pea Soup Andersons looms a mere hour away from Lathrop. I naturally had to stop to eat. I dined al fresco on the patio where I could smoke. I had the patio to myself and enjoyed a leisurely, delicious standard Sausage Patty and Eggs breakfast with hot tea of course. My intention was to buy some Pea Soup ‘to go’ and enjoy it later, but I opted for buying a couple of cans of their soup instead. I hope it is as good as the “fresh”. I have a nice Chicken Ceasar Salad that will make an excellent dinner tonight accompanied by a can of Andersons Split Pea Soup. Anyway, from there I drove to Wheeler Ridge, CA. I like to stop here to make sure all my ‘ducks are in a row’ before I cross the infamous truck weigh station there. From Wheeler Ridge, I drove to Coachella, CA for a quick MMM break. I then drove here to Quartzsite, AZ where I ran out of hours for the day.

Today, I’ll finish this trip to Phoenix. I can’t leave here until noon, but I should be at the customer by 1400. By the time I get to Phoenix (isn’t that an old Glen Campbell song), I will only have about 3 hours remaining to work today, so I don’t expect to do much after I deliver the load.