HOME!

Yes, I got home yesterday late afternoon.  And all I wanted to get done on a weekday did not happen so I will just relax with what I did accomplish today and enjoy the weekend. We won't know if the truck will be road ready until tomorrow evening......so enjoy your weekend!

Good Wednesday morning from the same truck stop as yesterday and the day before!

I had a good evening considering I never left my truck.  The girls at the truck stop let me have some movies to watch from my truck so I set up my entertainment center and watch “Red’” and part of “Faster”.   A couple of cold ones later, I was sleeping like a baby.

I was ready to hit the road at 6 AM but that load that I was to take north last night, still hasn’t arrived so I had a hot breakfast and will finish watching “Faster”. 

Well, I was just shy of finishing the movie when I got my load so I was on the road at 8 AM.  I am to take this load to Canada, after my three days off of course.  On route, I finally connected with lil sister, Lorene, in Jerome, Idaho.  We had a late lunch and got up caught up somewhat as my life for the past 6 months is online!  And of course, our time was too short but there could be another time depending on how soon other opportunities knock on my door.   Baby sister, Angela, will have to be on my list the next time I drive through Idaho!

Per Lorene, another “in the street” interview must be done, she even offered herself ;)

Good Tuesday afternoon from the edge of Salt Lake!

!  Here I sit, again, waiting on my second shag today from a salt company on the Great Salt Lake.  They produce everything from table salt to salt licks.  Today, if my calculations are correct, I will make a whole $66 dollars!  Now we can throw in a can of beans with the fried spam and $1 movie rental J

My first shag was not due for pickup until 10 AM but I was up and ready to run at 6 AM so I had the load back to the drop yard before it was due for pick up!  Now this second shag, they wanted me to pick up tonight at 9 PM, which means that they expected me to take a 10 hour break and drive graveyard.  NOPE!  I contacted the client and headed straight to the plant to be put on a waiting list.  My pick up moved from 9 PM to 3 PM with plenty of time to return to the yard before my hours are up.  They did have a pre-assigned load at 2 AM to take to Blaine, Washington, so hopefully it will be waiting for me when I wake up.

And Idaho must go through a ton of salt as 80% of the trucks here are from there!  Just spoke with one of the drivers and he delivers salt to the mine in Clayton, Idaho!  I lived there at a very young age, good memories of that town, the people and grandmother’s sourdough pancakes!

The end of a long day of doing NOTHING……

Love you too Mom!  I called Mom while waiting on that afternoon shag and told her that I had updated the blog and she had only read my last post of me whining (from the night before).  Well folks, she got more whining to go along with new pictures.  She does enjoy those pictures!

I sat for 9 hours waiting on that second shag and had enough time when I got that load back to the yard to park at a nearby truck stop.  I think I have only 5 hours tomorrow before I have to call it a day so I might be stuck in Utah when I should be on my way home.  After a day like today and with winter only a few months away, getting a local driving job in Seattle is quickly becoming a priority.  The last time I worked for $4 an hour, I was working fast food as a teenager and that was many, many years ago.   At this rate, that retirement cottage is going to be someone’s shed!  Better than a box under the freeway!

I will be dreaming of my sister, Lorene, this evening as I fall asleep as all I smell at the moment is livestock.  Not sure from where but I know they are here somewhere!  Gonja might find them when we go for our last evening walk, his 5^th walk for today and a good brushing too.  No internet, no entertainment, I need to get a book! 

Oh, while waiting for that load at the shipper, another company truck was there as well and not once did they leave their rig! But I am glad I did as on the same block as the shipper was Sweet Candy and I arrived at the company just in time for a tour of the candy factory!  They make everything from jelly beans to taffy (their main product) and it was quite amazing to see how everything was made.   Check out their website Sweet Candy as they have been around for quite some time.  I bought my favorites, chocolate raspberry sticks; a bag of taffy and a bag of burnt peanuts (haven’t had those in ages).  It was one great plus on a very boring day!

Off for our walk……..later!

If you wake up breathing, you better wake up smiling!

A whole whooping $4 an hour today.....YEEHAW!

Yuppers, you read that right, $4 an hour today in the great city of Salt Lake!  I woke at 4 AM and was on the road for the shag I told you about earlier.  You know, I really hate driving in the dark, especially in a big truck because I just can't see out far enough to feel safe. And it would have been nice to see the mountain I was driving down into Salt Lake.  Anyway, my first shag was quick and painless while this one is not ready for pick up until 3 PM to be taken 9 miles back to the drop yard and by that time, I will have only one hour left on my clock.......10 hours and $40, let's celebrate with fried spam and a $1 movie!

Pictures for today  :)

Lucky not to be hung from the highest tree in Evanston, Wyoming!

It has been a very trying past couple of days with little hours to make a decent paycheck and to top it all off, I missed a gear climbing a steep grade that went from two lanes into one and crawled up the remaining ½ mile at 15 miles per hour when it should have been 30.  The line of trucks behind me had to gear down as well and I could hear every single cussword with each down shift.  How embarrassing!  I pulled into my truck stop for the evening and parked into a spot, engine first, so I could hide myself.  Gads, just the other day, I saw another driver who did the same thing and now I know how stupid he felt!

I woke up this morning in Greeley, CO and was ready to hit the road at 4:45 AM.  Two hours later (I fell back asleep) I asked about my load.  I was informed that I would pick up a split at 8 PM!  I am like…….dude, I will be out of hours and they are like, dude, take a 10 hour break and I am like…….I JUST DID!  Can you imagine, waking up that early to be told to enjoy two hours, sleep for another eight so you can drive all night?  I straight told them that I don’t do splits and I don’t drive graveyard.  And guess what, I got a load!   I couldn’t deliver on time because they did not give it to me early enough but I will drop it in the morning and lucky me, I get a 9 mile shag…………can someone just kick me and get it over with!

And, I will be cancelling surgery on my thumb as the cyst seems to be draining……it appears it will be something I will have to deal with as I get OLD.

I can tell you one thing; the drive on I-70 from Utah into Colorado is awesome!  Another good weekend adventure for seeing nature’s beauty!

See you all in the cab at 4:45 AM!

And James, let me know when the new  truck arrives!  ;)