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.

Not Much Happening Today

Woke up around 6:00 AM this morning parked at the consignee. I was the only truck there to get unloaded. They came in and unloaded the trailer around 8:00. Afterwards I swept it out because they left a mess.

I checked to see where I was on the board to help determine how long it might be to receive my next load assignment. Well I was #5 so it was probably going to be a while. Therefore I decided to drive the 5 miles down to the Flying J.

Got to the Flying J around 9:30 and went inside to get a shave and shower. By then I moved up to #4 on the board.

I had been here before and knew there weren't any close Geocaches, but I looked it up anyway. Yep, same as before. The nearest cache was 1.5 miles away. I was probably going to be here for several hours so I decided to take a walk. Plus I was starting to get hungry.

Started walking down towards the cache around 11:15. Found it with ease and headed back. All the restaurants were fast food, so I once again settled for the McDonald's. They got the Monopoly Game going so it's hard to pass up. Plus the sweet tea too!

After the 3 mile round trip walk and lunch I got back to the truck about 1:30. At 2PM, they finally assigned me a load. It didn't pickup until 5PM just across the river in Kansas. So I mapped it all out and then just hung out in the truck.

I left the Flying J at 4:30 and arrived in Shawnee, KS at 5:00. By 6:00, I'm back on the road to I-70 eastbound. This loads going all the way to Pompano Beach, FL. AND it doesn't deliver until Tuesday morning, so I'll get to spend at least one night at home!

I drove as far as Wright City, MO tonight just 228 miles. But it's 9:30 here which 10:30 for my body clock and I'm gettin tired.

So like I said, not much happening today. See you back again tomorrow.

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.

Going to Iowa

Woke up this morning in Kansas City, KS to a cool clear 62 degrees. So much for global warming. It felt great! If this is global warming, let's keep it going.

Received my next load assignment around 8:00 AM. The pick up location was just across the river in Kansas City, MO at one of our drop yards. The destination is in Dubuque, IA about 398 miles away and doesn't have to be there until 10:00 AM on tomorrow. So I got plenty of time.

Looked up some geocaches along the route and then headed out to the drop yard about 10:30. Hooked up to the loaded trailer and was on the road northbound by 11:00. I drove straight through Missouri. Stopped at 2 different rest areas along I-35 in Iowa to grab the hidden geocaches there. Finally about 3:00 PM, I stopped at a Pilot truck stop in Des Moines, IA for a shower and a bite to eat. Since I had not eaten breakfast or lunch yet, the buffet looked pretty darn good! I think I ate enough for today and tomorrow!

I hit the road again about 4:30 PM and stopped at the next rest area along I-80 eastbound. I picked up the 2 geocaches that were hidden there and met another cacher along with his 2 sons. They were heading back to Michigan. We talked for a few minutes and then kept going.

Two more rest stops and two more caches. I reached my location in Dubuque, IA about 7:00 PM. The place was closed but they doo have plenty of overnight parking available so this is where I'm at. Looked up another cache about a half mile away, but by the time I walked down there it was just a little too dark to find it. If I have time in the morning, I just might give it another try.

Anyway, that's it for now. Sorry no photos today. See you again tomorrow. Hopefully headed in a direction towards Florida. I'd like to get home this weekend.