SE Missouri to St Louis to Kansas City - 396 Miles

Kinda tired, so this will be short.

Unloaded this morning in Scott City, MO down in the southeast corner. I quickly received my next load. So I mapped it out and headed north on I-55 into St Louis, crossing the river over into Illinois. Just a few miles later I pulled into the Pilot at East St Louis, IL. There I was receiving my next load as a relay from another driver.

While I waited, I ate at the Taco Bell and fueled up the truck.

At 1:00 PM, the other driver showed up and we swapped trailers. Jumping on I-70, I rolled on westbound non-stop to Kansas City, MO and our drop yard.

My next load picks up at 3:00 tomorrow morning at the Con-Way Freight depot across the river in Kansas City, KS. So that's where I sit now. I got an early morning wake up call so goodnight everyone.

A Long Drive From Oklahoma to Illinois - 710 Miles

This will be short because I'm fairly tired. Started out this morning at 6:30 AM in Calumet, OK, just west of Oklahoma City. I drove for 1 1/2 hours and stopped in Stroud, OK for breakfast at McDonald's.

After eating, I continued east on I-44 into Missouri and stopped again at 2 PM for fuel and a Subway sub. I relaxed for about an hour, taking my time eating.

Then back on the road, merging onto I-70 in St Louis, then north on I-57. I arrived in Pesotum, IL at a rest area around 7:45 Central Time. I'm about 19 miles from my final destination where I deliver tomorrow morning at 7 AM.

That's about it for me today. Not much excitement today. Just a long drive.

Good night for now and see ya back again tomorrow.

A Shortened Trip - Truck In Shop Again

I guess it was just meant to be. Trying to avoid stopping at the home office in Joplin, MO, but ended up there anyway.

Started out this morning in Rockford, IL at A&B Freight. They never did come and wake me up when the load was ready around midnight. That was fine with me because I couldn't start driving until 3:30 AM anyway when my break was over. I did wake up at 2AM, so I went inside to check on it. They just finished loading the trailer, so I got my paperwork, hooked up, and get ready to go.

Oh by the way. The temperature was a frigid -4 degrees. Don't know what the wind chill was. Where's global warming? The whole global warming thing is a scam and just another tool for the government to control it's citizens. But that's an issue for another blog.

Anyway, got underway at 3:30 and headed south on I-39. Drove all the way down to Bloomington, IL where I stopped at a T/A for breakfast. All you can eat french toast! Yum!

Now I had been contemplating stopping by our home office in Joplin, MO to get the truck washed. It was really filthy and almost white due to the snow and road salts. But I didn't want to take a chance of going through the inspection lane and having them find something wrong. That would put the truck in the shop and I'd probably have to give up the load losing the remaining 180 miles.

Well continuing on down the road, I had a rock fly up from another truck and put a chip in the windshield. A little later I noticed another crack about 4-5 inches coming down from the top of the right side of the windshield. That will definitely put me in the shop and lose the load. Hmmm. Do I stop or keep going.

Well now I'm in Missouri heading west in I-44. I was leaning towards skipping the stop in Joplin and continue on. About 100 miles from Joplin and now the truck starts making the same engine noise that happened a few days before Christmas. Now I have to stop. Arghh!

So I call my dispatcher and tell her the situation. The load was considered Hot Freight and HAD to be delivered in Oklahoma the next morning. She basically tells me to inform the local dispatcher upon arrival. So I did and sure enough he had taken me off the load. The inspection lane did find some issues with the trailer as well, but they were able to get the trailer into the shop quicker and re-assigned to another truck.

As for me, I get to hang out here in Joplin, MO and wait for the shop to fix my truck. Hopefully it won't take long.

See ya tomorrow.

Snow Snow Snow!! - Today's Drive 450 Miles

Snow Snow Snow!! Woke up this morning in Broadview Heights, OH just south of Cleveland about 6 am. The snowfall ended shortly after I went to bed last night. That's what I assume anyway because there was only a thin layer on the truck this morning.

Quickly got up, dressed, and ready to go all to find that I was blocked in by other trucks. Hmmm. So I checked and answered some email and checked out my Facebook updates. After about 20 minutes, one of the trucks not directly in front but next to it pulled away. Fortunately there was just enough room for me to maneuver through and drive out.

About 30 minutes after heading out, the snow started falling and falling and falling! For most of the day it was snow. The roads weren't to bad though. They had them plowed and salted pretty good. It wasn't until about the last 75-100 miles before it cleared up.

At 10 AM, I stopped in Fremont, IN for fuel at the Pilot Travel Center. Food there consisted of Wendy's and I wasn't too interested in breakfast there. As I was about to pull out of the parking lot, everything started looking familiar. I had been here before. Right across the street was the Red Arrow restaurant. I've had lunch there before and it was pretty good.

So I backed up, parked the truck, and walked across the street. I ordered the Big Breakfast; 2 eggs, 2 bacon, 2 sausage, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, and wheat toast. They didn't have sweet tea, so I ordered an orange juice. A VERY GOOD BREAKFAST! I got to mark this down in my book to come back again!

Off again westbound on I-80 for two hours and stopping at a service plaza in Portage, IN for a break and grab a Geocache.

At 2:30 PM, I arrived in Bedford Park, IL, just outside Chicago, where I checked in with the receiver. My appointment time wasn't until tomorrow morning, but they were able to unload me today. YEA!

About 4PM, I had my next load assignment, mapped it out, and ready to go. North on I-294 to I-290 to I-90 westbound. Just before my destination at Rockford, IL, there was another service plaza where I stopped for dinner. I passed by the McDonald's, almost had the Panda Express, then finally decided to go with a Greek salad from the Gyro Cafe. It was pretty good. I also grabbed another Geocache there too.

Now I'm at the shipper. The load will be ready about 12:00-1:00 AM, so they will probably be waking me up in the middle of the night. But all I'm going to do is hook up to it, get my paperwork, then go back to bed. It's 12 degrees here right now and supposed to be down to ZERO before morning. YIKES!

Tomorrow I'll be headed down to Oklahoma. Snow is in the forecast again. That's the way it goes. Thanks for stopping by. See ya down the road.

Kansas City Here I Come!

After a long day yesterday, I slept in a bit today until almost 8AM. Well mostly because it was just too cold and I didn't want to get out of bed! I was trying not to idle the truck all night because I can sleep a little better without the noise and shaking. It was about 38-40 degrees outside and probably 50 something inside the truck. I had a sheet, a comforter, and a sleeping bag over me. It was nice and warm as long as a didn't move over a few inches into a cold spot!

Anyway, I finally got up and out. I decided to sit down inside the T/A's restaurant and have a good hot eggs and bacon breakfast. I had 580 miles to go and didn't want to stop unless I had to.

It was 11:00 by the time I got on the road. I-70 westbound through Indiana and Illinois. I didn't stop until 5:30 PM in New Florence, MO when I grabbed a quick bite to eat at the McDonald's. Stretched my legs a little and relaxed too. Drove for another hour and fueled up at a Pilot in Boonville, MO.

I finally arrived in Kansas City, MO at 9:30, well actually 8:30 local time. I'm parked here at the consignee. This one actually had instructions to open the doors and back into a dock. They'll start unloading when they get here in the morning. Sounds good to me.

Thanks for spending another trucker's day with me. See you again tomorrow.

A Midnight Drive, Sleep, Then Drive Again

These kinda days just wear me out. I don't think I got much of a nap last evening. Maybe a light dozing off and on. I had my alarm set for 10:30 PM and I think I just started going into a deep sleep around 10:15! Figures :(

So I get up and go check in with Sears again and they have my trailer ready. I hook up and go around 11:30 PM. Fortunately from Romeoville, IL to my delivery in Bloomington, IL is about 106 miles! I get to the other Sears warehouse at 1:30 AM. I think it was around 3AM when he finished unloading me, so I pull over to the end of the building out of the way, crawl into bed and crash. I had my next load assignment already, but I didn't have to pick it up until 2PM.

I think I awoke again about 7AM. Drove a couple of miles to a Pilot Travel Center and got a shower. Boy that was much needed and felt good! Then across the street to the T/A for some breakfast. Three eggs over easy, bacon, hash browns, wheat toast, orange juice, and sweet tea.

At 9:45, I'm back in my truck and headed down the highway to St. Elmo, IL. I arrived there at 12:30 PM and by 2:00 I'm loaded and rolling again. My first stop is just a few miles down the road in Effingham. That's the nearest truck stop with a CAT Scale. I have 43,000 of carrot cake and brownie mix and need to make sure I have the trailer balanced out correctly.

Continuing south, I make a stop in Ina, IL to have dinner at a McDonald's. Finally, I come to a stop at 6:15 PM in Paducah, KY. I'm tired. And from here to my delivery in Atlanta is only 398 miles. That should give me plenty of time to get a good nights rest tonight and make my 4PM delivery time. That should also get my body clock back on track again!

That's it for now. See ya tomorrow.

A Walk in the Wetlands

Hello again. Not much happening today. If you remember from yesterday, I had a hard time finding the Caterpiller plant. As it turned out, this morning when I woke up, I drove over there to make my delivery. They sent me back over to the warehouse in which I spent the night to unload. OK, not a problem.

After unloading, I waited for my next load assignment which came after about an hour. A Sears load picking up at midnight 136 miles away with a 4AM delivery. Great that means a night time drive with little sleep. Fortunately it's a short run!

So about 10:00 AM I leave Lafayette, IN and head over to Romeoville, IL, which is just south west of Chicago. I arrived at the Sears DC at 1:45 PM and drop my empty trailer. They have parking available there so that is where I'll hang out.

Now comes the hard part. I had a great nights sleep last night. But I have to drive after midnight tonight. That means that somehow I have to figure out how to take a nap this evening! Also, the nearest truck stop with a shower is nearly 20 miles away so I can't just hop on my bike and sweat off some energy.

I look up some Geocaches and discover that there is a federal wetlands preserve running along the back of the warehouses here. And that there is a paved trail with 2 geocaches along it. OK, so I go off and find those fairly quick. Now what?

Around 4PM, I bobtail down the street to Popeye's for some chicken. They say poultry makes you drowsy also.

After dinner I decide to go back to the wetlands trail with my camera and walk almost the entire length which is probably about 2 miles round trip. I've posted some of the photos below. It was a pleasant walk. Lot's of different kinds of birds and wildflowers. Took my 300mm lens this time. Wished I had something better to capture the big white egrets (i think?) across the water. The last photo is a tiny little turtle trying to cross the walkway. I almost stepped on the little guy. I put a quarter down next to him for size reference.

Now, it's time for a nap. Tomorrow I'll let you know if it worked. See ya then.

Hurry, Hurry, Hurry!!!

Hello again and thanks for stopping by. Today was a get up and go go go day. I set the alarm for 5AM this morning in Mt Vernon, IL. I had to go 232 miles to Greenfield, IN which is just east of Indianapolis. Then go west for 41 miles over to Plainfield, IN by 2:00 PM to pick up my next load. Now the majority of this driving today is in Illinois (about 150 miles of it) which has a 55 mph speed limit for trucks. I think they're still living in the 70's and a big fan of Jimmy Carter. OH well.

Anyway, so I wake up at 5:00 AM to give me a cushion. I was planning on getting there by noon. By 5:30, I'm pulled up to the fuel island to top off both tanks. They hold 180 gallons and it only took 130 gallons to top them off. I'm glad I don't have to pay for it!

By 5:45 I'm on the road. After a few hours I finally stop for my McD's breakfast and a sweet tea.

I arrived in Greenfield, IN at the Sam's Club distribution center about 10:40. I check in, drop the loaded trailer, pickup an empty (which they left a mess and I had to sweep it out first), then hit the highway. Back through Indianapolis to the other side, I arrive in Plainfield to pick up my next load around 12:15. I drop the now clean empty trailer there and pick a loaded trailer.

This load is a 2-stop load going to Iowa. It's only a 302 mile run to the first stop and it's not due until Monday morning so I have plenty of time now. I at first contemplated hanging out there in Plainfield for a while. There's some geocaches in that area that I've been wanting to find for some time now but have not yet had a good opportunity. Plus there was a classic car show going on at one of the dealers a few blocks away too. But I decided to drive non-stop to Davenport, IA so that I could get there today. By doing this I'll have all day Sunday off which will allow me to reset my 70 hour clock. This will also give me a full day to go geocaching on a long bike ride and do laundry after that.

So driving non-stop, I arrived in Davenport, Iowa at 5:45 and parked at the Flying J truck stop. Here I also went in a got me something to eat too. Now it's bedtime.

Thanks for stopping by.

From Texas to Illinois With a GREAT Lunch

Woke up this morning in a little Texas town called Henderson around 6:30. I still had about an hour to go before my mandatory 10 hour break was over, so as the sun woke up I walked a 1/2 mile down the road to grab a geocache outside a local radio station office.

When I returned I went inside the little truck stop to grab a couple of Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies for breakfast since there weren't any restaurants around. Plus I didn't want to eat too much because I'll be passing through West Memphis today and that meant some good food for lunch!

So, continuing up US259, east on I-20, to US59 north, to I-30 east, to I-40 east. I drove non-stop until 2:30 that afternoon all the way to West Memphis, Arkansas. I pulled into the Con-Way terminal, dropped the trailer, and bobtailed down to the end of the road to Margaritas. In my opinion, Margaritas is probably THE best Mexican restaurant in the country. So far, I've never eaten anything there that I haven't liked. And save room for dessert because their fried cheesecake with vanilla ice cream drizzled with chocolate syrup is OH SO GOOD!

Anyway, after lunch I bobtailed back to the terminal, hooked up to the trailer and off I went. From West Memphis, north on I-55 into Missouri, then to I-57 north crossing the Mississippi River into Illinois. Then I arrive in Mt Vernon, IL at 7:30 PM where I pull into a Pilot truck stop for the night. Today's trip was 659 miles long.

As the sun was setting here, I look online and spotted a geocache just a 1/4 mile away so I walked down to grab it too. I hit the showers upon returning, and now it's time for bed.

Thanks for stopping by and we'll see you again tomorrow.