A Cold Sunny Morning Followed By Snow

Welcome back everyone and thanks for stopping by. I woke up at 3am this morning and just couldn't get back to sleep. I think eating those 5 or 6 chocolate covered cherries about an hour before bed had me waking up early.

The outside temp gauge on the truck said it was 18 degrees. But it was nice and warm on the inside. The heater was on low, but I was buried underneath a sheet, a comforter, AND a sleeping bag!

At 4 am I decided to try reading, but that didn't help. I just wasn't tired anymore after only 4 1/2 hours of sleep.

Finally at 5am, I gave up and got out of bed. I caught my logbook up from the weekend and started today's log. Then I bundled up and went outside to sweep the trailer out. I'm not sure how good I did, holding a small flashlight in one hand while using the push broom too. But it passed when I got to the shipper.

Then around 6am, I headed over to the north side of town to QVC to pick up my load. After dropping my empty trailer, I checked in with the shipping office to get my paperwork. There was another driver there walking up into the office as well. He had been sleeping there overnight and told me his alternator belt broke during the night. Therefore his truck died and he hadn't any heat. I sure he was feeling a bit cold!

Anyway, hooked up to my loaded trailer and drove back over to the truck stop. Parked the truck and then hopped into the rental car. Drove it downtown to IHOP for some breakfast while waiting for Enterprise to open at 8am. By 8:15, Enterprise had given me a ride back to the truck and I'm set to go.

From Suffolk, I drove west on US460 to I-95 north towards Washington DC. I take the western beltway around DC to I-270 west into Maryland. Then I-70 westbound into Pennsylvania. I had a gotten a few snow flurries off and on in Maryland, but by Pennsylvania it was steady but lite.

I merged onto I-76 west going around Pittsburgh and into Ohio where I jumped onto I-80 westbound. By now the snow was getting heavier. I-80 through Ohio is their toll road and they actually have truckers lounges in their service plazas with showers, laundry, and TV. I think the only ones in the country with them and that's where I wanted to park for the night.

Well with the snow coming down, I was focused on the driving and missed the first service plaza. The second one though, I was watching out for. It was located on the turnpike just south of Cleveland in Broadview Heights. The snow was still coming down and it was getting dark. Two reasons why I didn't want to be driving anymore.

So after parking the truck, I grabbed my stuff and went in for a shower. It was nice to finally get one. That small truck stop back in Suffolk was so little, it didn't have any showers. Good thing it's cold out and I wasn't sweating much!

Anyway, so that's where I'm at now. I'll see how much snow comes down overnight and maybe I'll get some pictures in the morning for ya.

See ya down the road.

Geocaching in Suffolk, VA Day #2

Well I'm still here in Suffolk, VA. When I woke up this morning it was 21 degrees out and that doesn't include the wind chill. I believe that put it down into single digits!

But I did venture out eventually. Around 8am, I went next door for breakfast at the Red Robin Restaurant. Afterwards, I grabbed the GPS'r, camera, and hopped into the rental.

Today I managed to find 22 Geocaches and drove 47 miles around town. That's about all there was to my day. Here's some photos for you to enjoy.

Tomorrow, I finally pick up my load at QVC and head towards Chicago where I will probably run into some snow. Not looking forward to that!

Until then, see ya down the highway...

For my son Adam who loves trains.
This is the old train depot.

Some interesting trees at the cemetery.

Geocaching In Suffolk, VA Day #1

Brrrr!! It's cold out there!! Hello everyone. Didn't do much work today. I woke up this morning in Pleasant Hill, NC about 6AM and was assigned a load around 8AM. After mapping out my route, I hit the road.

Just across the Virginia state line to US58 eastbound all the way into Suffolk, VA. I parked the truck at the Hess truck stop along US13 on the south side of town.

That's it! That was my work day. Done by 11AM. I don't pick up my load until Monday morning.

So, I called Enterprise Rent-A-Car and they came and picked me up. I rented a Chevy HHR for the weekend to go sight seeing and Geocaching. Hey if I gotta sit here all weekend I might as well enjoy it!

Too bad it's so cold out. The high for the day was 32 degrees, but with a strong wind it felt more like 20!

By the time I looked up all the Geocaches in town and programmed the GPS'r, it was 2:30 pm. I did the outskirts first, seeing the rural areas. I drove 49 miles and found 13 caches. Took lots of pictures too! Then it got dark and I came back to the truck.

Tomorrow I plan to cache more in town and visit the historical sites. For now, here's the photos. Enjoy!

Grabbing a cache on the guardrail on my left.
That's rental waiting to go winding around the curves!



Remnants of an old mill that used to be there.





Another guardrail cache on the bridge.

From New Jersey to North Carolina - 548 Miles

Chickens and Chickens everywhere, but not an egg to count! What am I talking about? Just wait and see...

Now back to this morning. Woke up along the Jersey Pike at a service plaza. My 10 hour break wasn't complete until 8AM, so I went inside to see what there was to eat. I guess because I was in the mood for bacon and eggs, the Cinnabon cinnamon roll just wasn't all that great. I don't know.

Anyway, I drove south non-stop through Baltimore, and then I hit the breaks in Washington DC. On the east side of the I-495 Beltway, they had lanes blocked due to snow removal. Southbound wasn't too bad, maybe 5 miles or so long. But I felt bad for the northbound side. I'd say it was a good 25-30 miles of stop and go traffic. Yikes! But I got through that and a couple of other short traffic jambs down through Virginia.

I arrived in Lewiston, NC at the Perdue Farms chicken processing center around 4PM. Once I got there, I discovered what I was hauling. No not chickens, but those yellow Styrofoam trays that the packaged chicken comes in.

As for the chickens, there were about 12-15 semi-trailers with 100's of trays each full of chickens sitting there waiting to be processed. I'd have to say there were about 5,000-10,000 chickens on each trailer! Hot wings anyone? By the time I thought to take a picture, it was already too dark.

So I'm there for 2 HOURS and they finally get me unloaded. At 6PM, I hit the road. US258 west to US64 west to I-440 around Raleigh to I-40 westbound. At 8:30 PM, I finally pulled into a Pilot truck stop near the town of Hawfields to park for the night and grab a bite to eat.

I'm on my way to Charlotte, NC. My next load takes me home to Florida. However it isn't scheduled to ship until 11:00 AM on 12/24. I'm hoping they'll be able to load me early on tomorrow. There's still a chance I may get home for a family gathering on Christmas Eve. It's cutting it way to close!

Thanks for stopping by. Find out tomorrow night if I'm still sitting in Charlotte or on my way home.

Rain Rain Go Away!

It's been raining almost the entire day today. I started out this morning at the T/A in Harrisburg, PA. After getting up and in between showers, I decided to go inside and have breakfast there. The buffet wasn't too bad, so that's what I choose.

I still had a few hours yet and the rain has gone yet again. There were two Geocaches in the parking lot so I thought I'd go for them. Couldn't find the first one, but found the second one. On the way back to the truck I noticed a Perkins Restaurant across the street. Arrgggg! I suffered through the T/A restaurant when I could have had better. Oh well.

Got back to the truck and drove 17 miles over to New Cumberland, PA where I'm to pickup at noon. There's a tiny truck stop for me to wait at. It's still just 10:45 AM, so I again look up some caches there. Turns out there were 3 just within 1/4 mile and again a break between showers. So I went for a walk and found all three. YEA!

Finally at 11:45, I drive over to the shipper to get my load and checked in a few minutes later. It still wasn't ready yet, but by 1:00 PM I was loaded and rolling. I-76 west to US15 southbound.

US15 was a new route for me and when I crossed over from Pennsylvania into Maryland there was a welcome center there. The rain had let up again, so I pulled in to look up Geocaches. I was in luck, there were two.

The first was a micro just 400' from where I parked. Just as I found it, the rains came back! I stood under the tree for a minute and then walked about 100' to the nearest picnic table with a roof. OK, so now I'm wet. I then decide to just go for the other one since I'm already wet. I walked to the back of the rest area and found the 2nd cache. Then back to the truck. NOW I'M SOAKED!! So I dry off and change into some dry clothes and once again get rolling.

US15 south to I-270 east towards Washington DC. I take the I-495 beltway south to I-95 south. A quick stop at the Pilot in Richmond, VA for fuel and continue on.

Another hour later and I stop at the McDonald's for dinner in Skipper, VA. Again another hour later and it's parking time in Kenly, NC at 9PM. Sitting here at another T/A and I'm done for the night.

Off and on rain all day, some flooded sections of highway causing traffic delays, but I still managed to find 6 caches! So not all was bad!

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.

Running On Fumes!

What a long day! Not only was I running on fumes by tonight, but so was the truck earlier today!

It all started back in Shelby, NC where I was parked at the consignee for an 8:00 AM delivery. Well they are a first come first serve unload and it was a good thing I backed into the ONLY dock door yesterday afternoon when I arrived. By 6AM there must have been 8-9 trucks lined up to be unloaded! I knew that because I was awakened at 3AM!

I'm not sure what time the actually started working, but around 3:00 was when I kept hearing things tossed into the nearby dumpster. Then the forklift going around me and across the parking lot. By 4:00 AM, I gave up trying to fall back asleep!

They started unloading my trailer around 6:30. I went ahead and sent in my empty message over the Qualcomm and was surprised to have been assigned a load BEFORE I was actually emptied. I quickly checked and the pickup time was at noon and the shipper was only 60 miles away. That's good, I still had a little while for them to finish!

I mapped out the trip into my laptop while I waited. By 8:00 I was rolling and on my way. While I was planning my route, I checked fuel and it showed I had 1/4 tanks. That should get me at LEAST 200 miles. Now I could have gone east over to Charlotte and fueled up before going to the shipper. That would have taken me the long way and about 20 miles out of route.

Or I could go ahead and pickup the load and continue north on I-77 into Virginia and fueled at out next approved stop there. It was about 180 miles away. Now on full tanks you can go anywhere from 800 to 1200 miles depending upon weight and terrain. So I figured 180 miles on 1/4 tanks no problem right?

Well I start heading north towards the shipper and about halfway there I glance down and notice my fuel now says 1/8! Now if I head back down to Charlotte, I'm making a BIG out of route circle! After the shipper, I get only 100 miles into the run and I am flat on fumes now! So I have to pull into a non-approved fuel stop and pay cash just to get me to our regular fuel stop. Yes, I get reimbursed for it, but the fuel dept REALLY DOESN'T LIKE THAT!

So I stopped in Jonesville, NC and get $40.00 worth of fuel. That's about 16 gallons. Not too bad for a car, but when these trucks usually hold between 180 and 200 gallons of fuel, the cashier tends to look at you funny when you ask for $40! But that's what I put in.

By now it's almost noon too so I eat at the Backyard Burger's that's there too. I think that's the first time eating at one of those. Not too bad actually.

Back on the road for an hour to stop once again for fuel at a Love's Travel Center in Locust Hill, VA.

Now it's north on I-77 for 3 1/2 hours through West Virginia and into Ohio. I stopped at the Ohio Welcome Center in Marietta. There were 2 Geocaches there at opposite ends of the rest area. So by the time I walked to find one and then the other, I walked just over a half mile. Not far but there were some good hills there top climb over too so that made for a nice bit of 30 minute exercise.

Continuing onward up I-77, I arrived in Solon, OH, just east of Cleveland, at 9:00 PM. This time I have a 7 AM appt time so we'll see what time they actually wake me up!

That's it for now. I'm tired and I'm going to bed. See ya tomorrow.

Arriving in Florida Once Again!

Today turned out to be the start of a GREAT weekend! I'm headed home again for the 2nd weekend in a row!! WOW!!

I got my load assignment about 7:00 AM and by 7:30 I left Newport News, VA and headed 80 miles over to Richmond. There I picked up 32,000 lbs of those cup-a-soup packages. About 2 hours to load and then head south on I-95 at 11:30. After about an hour, I stopped for lunch at McDonalds in a little town called Skippers, VA.

Back on the road non-stop all the way down to the Florida Welcome Center. That's about as far as I could get before my clocks ran out so I had to park it there. My wife did drive up from Orlando to meet me here. We'll stay here overnight in the truck. Then in the morning I'll drive down into Jacksonville and leave the truck there. I can't deliver the load until Tuesday morning because of the holiday weekend, so I'll ride home with the wife. Then she'll bring me back Monday night.

So that's it for now. I probably won't have another update until either Monday night or Tuesday. Until then, have a GREAT weekend!

A Little Driving, Caching, and a LOT of Traffic

Well today started out pretty good. Woke up to another cool morning of 51 degrees in Sugar Notch, PA. Finally received my next load assignment around 9:00 AM and was off and rolling by 9:30. A short run for today.

I headed south on I-81 to Hagerstown, MD right below the Mason-Dixon Line which separates Maryland and Pennsylvania. There I picked up a pre-loaded trailer of misc items for the Sam's Club store down in Newport News, VA. By 1:00PM I was ready to go, but I still had 8 hours to go only 245 miles. Plenty of time! So I looked up some Geocaches and there were 4 less than a mile away to the north. The first in Maryland, 2 right on the state line, and the other up in Pennsylvania.

So I programmed them into my GPSr and went for a walk. A short 1/4 mile to the first one at a small cemetery there. Found the little nano container quickly on the gated entrance. Then moved on up the hill to the "State Line Park" so aptly named because it lies on the state line. I reached the location of the next cache, but there was a work van parked nearby with the driver taking a lunch break. I was in plain view so I couldn't look too hard. So after a few minutes I decided to just leave that one for another day. In the same park was the 3rd cache, which I found rather quickly. Afterwards I decided to skip the last one and head back.

By 2:30 PM I am on my way down to Virginia. As I approached Washington D.C., traffic slowed to a crawl. Around the I-295 bypass and south on I-95 and still crawling down into Virginia. I think it took about 2 hours to go a mere 40 miles before it started to pickup speed again.

A quick stop for fuel at a Pilot in Peterson's Corner, VA and I'm on my way again.

I arrived in Newport News at 8:15 PM with only 45 minutes to spare and by now I am starving! Fortunately when delivering to a Sam's Club store there are usually good restaurants around from which to choose. I choose to eat at a Golden Corral buffet. They have a wide variety of food and it's quick.

I made it back to the Sam's store at 9:00 PM and the perfect time when the opened their receiving door. So almost a full 12 hour day to go a mere 421 miles. Hopefully tomorrow we'll get a nice long run going out west. That's what I requested anyway. So we'll see.

Until then, I'll see you out on the road...

A Smooth Drive to Pennsylvania

Good day everyone! Woke up this morning after a great nights sleep. The temperature was in the upper 50's in North Carolina, so I went to sleep with the truck off. No need to keep the a/c running which also meant no shaky idling, no rattles, and just quiet!

I awoke around 7AM. Wasn't really hungry this morning, so after a short conversation with my wife on the phone I just browsed the internet for a little while. My required 10 hour break wasn't over until 8:00 so I couldn't actually start driving until 8:15 after a 15 minute pre-trip truck/trailer inspection. Then I drove north on I-77 until Noon when I stopped at a truck stop in Wilda, VA and ate lunch at Arby's.

My next stop was along I-81 northbound at the West Virginia welcome center near Bunker Hill. There I found the two Geocaches which were hidden among the trees along the perimeter.

I then continued on north along I-81. Around 5PM, I stopped at a Pilot in Linglestown, PA. There I grabbed a quick shower. For food that Pilot had a Pizza Hut which had just taken out about a half dozen personal pan pizzas which smelt really good! So I bought a meat lovers pizza and ate it for dinner.

Another hour and a half later, at 7PM, I arrived in Sugar Notch, PA just south of Wilkes-Barre. There I dropped off my trailer loaded with 285 lawnmowers to the Sears distribution center. Just in time for the Fall/Winter mowing season right? Anyway, I dropped the loaded trailer and hooked up to an empty. Across the street was a dirt lot where a few other trucks were also parked. So I joined them also and that's where I now sit waiting for my next assignment. Which I probably won't get until morning but that fine.

Not to bad a day today. Thanks for dropping by.