A Day of Biking and Geocaching

OK, so I have now where to go today. I'm sitting here in Davenport, IA along I-80 at the Flying J truck stop. Can't deliver my load until Monday morning, so I can either sit here in the truck all day or get the bike down and explore the area.

I choose to explore the area of course and get some Geocaches. I woke up around 7:00 AM, looked up some caches in the area, plotted a course, and wrote them all down. At first I wasn't going to eat until afterwards, but then I decided that I was charting a pretty good loop and may be a while before returning. So I went into the Flying J for breakfast. NOT the buffet this time, but 3 eggs over easy, bacon, hash browns, and wheat toast. While eating I programed the GPS with the caches.

By 10:00, I have the bike down and getting ready to go. It started out as a cool morning, so I wore jeans, hiking boots, and a thick t-shirt. But it didn't take long before it warmed up. By the time I was finished, it was close to 90 degrees and I was hot!

After it was all said and done, I made a 26.7 mile loop from north Davenport up to Eldridge and back. I found 20 Geocache hides, DNF'd on 4, met another cacher at one of them, and drank 2 Gatoraids.

The first thing I did upon returning to the truck was to get a shower! I needed it by then. After that I started my laundry and got something to eat for dinner. After everything was all done and put away, I spent the rest of the evening on the phone with my lovely wife.

Now it's time for bed. Got an early morning delivery which you'll here about tomorrow. Until then; see ya on the road...

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.

You Can Drive Forever and Never Leave Texas

Well I got the knock on my truck door about 2:30AM this morning. The warehouse where I was sleeping told me to back up to the dock and they'll get me unloaded. It didn't take long. I got up, got dressed, backed in, they unloaded, I parked back where I was, I sent in an empty message, and went back to bed. All that in about 30 minutes.

I woke up again on my own around 7:00AM. Got up again and drove a block down the street to a Jack-in-the-Box which had a few truck parking spots. Begrudgingly, I decided to eat breakfast there too. A sausage, egg, and cheese croissant which had almost ZERO flavor. But their sweet tea wasn't bad.

After I finished eating, another Con-Way driver pulled in too. He was unloading back at the warehouse when I left. We chatted for a bit and then I returned to my truck to wait for my next load assignment.

Finally about 11:00 AM they sent me my next load information. Yippee! I thought I was going to end up with another low mileage week, but they gave me a nice long run to finish out the week not too bad. After writing the info down in my book, I program my mapping software in my laptop. A few minutes later and heading east on I-10 towards Baytown, TX to pick up a load at the WalMart DC.

I couldn't leave Texas without BBQ, so I stopped at my favorite Jerry Mikeska's BBQ at exit #698 in Columbus, TX. One of these days I'll remember to take my camera inside for some pics to post here. It's got a really cool interior decor!

Anyway, back on the road. I get to Baytown around 5:00PM, hook up to the preloaded trailer and head back north. A quick stop for fuel at the Pilot there in Baytown, then west on I-10 back towards Houston. Once I reach the outer loop around Houston (the Sam Houston Parkway), I take it northbound. Looping around, I hop onto US59 north all the way to Nacogdoches, TX where I pickup US259 north. I continue on until I spotted a small truck stop in Henderson, TX about 10:30 PM. That's where I'm at now and that's where I'll be spending the night.

Cause I'm tired! Good night and see ya tomorrow.

A New Road For Me To Travel On

Hello again. Today was an early day. I was up and going at 5AM and headed east on I-20 out of Shreveport, LA to Simsboro, LA about 72 miles away. There I picked up a load of empty glass jars that looked to be about 10-12 oz size. Because they were empty, I was expecting a lite load. However once I received my paperwork and saw the 44,000 lbs, it hit me that they were glass! And glass is heavy!

Anyway, they finished loading me around 8AM so I head back down I-20, only now I'm going westbound. I stopped at the first truck stop, a Love's 20 miles down for the CAT Scales. I was 30,000 on the drives and 33,000 on the tandems; with the tandems about half-way back. Then again back at the Petro in Shreveport where I stopped for breakfast.

Before leaving there I checked on line at Geocaching.com, and sure enough there was a cache hidden there about 400' from where I parked the truck. So of course I had to find it and sign the log before I left.

After that, I continued west on I-20 and crossed over into Texas. I decided to take a new route down to San Antonio today since I don't have to deliver until tomorrow. It's a more direct route, but could be slower since I'm heavy and will be passing through some small towns with 35mph speed limits. So instead of taking I-20 west to I-35 south, I decided to turn south in Longview, TX on US259 a little ways until I pickup US79 southbound. Although US79 goes more southwest than south.

I've never traveled down US79 before, so this was all new to me. It's good to see something new every once in a while. It was a pretty nice drive, not too bad through the small towns. (not too many stop lights) I saw a few restaurants that looked like they may have been good to eat at, but I wasn't hungry at the time. I continued US79 all the way to I-35, just north of Austin. Also, just in time for rush hour in Austin!

By now I'm hungry but wouldn't you know it that I can't spot any BBQ with truck parking available! So finally, just before I arrive in San Antonio, I pull into a Pilot Travel Center with a McDonald's. It may not be BBQ, but at least I get my sweet tea!

After eating I finally arrive at the receiver, Bay Valley Foods, around 7:15 PM. They have parking available here, so here is where I'm sleeping tonight. They said the third shift may be able to unload me tonight, so we'll see. If not I'll just have to wait until morning.

That's "A Truckers' Day" for me anyways. Thanks for dropping by. I'll see ya tomorrow.

Where'd You Learn to Load a Trailer?

Hello all! Woke up this morning around 7:30 and walked down to Hardee's for breakfast again. I'm still sitting at the Pilot truck stop in Atlanta on the southeast side of the loop.

My appointment time to pick up my load this morning was at 11:00, but sometimes they're ready early. So I drive over at 9:00 AM and the trailer is loaded and they were getting my paperwork together. It was a Con-Way Freight load consisting of misc smaller loads all put together on one trailer headed to Shreveport, LA to the Con-Way Freight location there. Con-Way Freight handles what's called LTL (lessthan-truck-load). You may have seen the smaller Con-Way trailers running single or doubles. I drive for Con-Way Truckload which handles full 53' trailer orders.

Anyway, so I get my paperwork and review the items. There's like a dozen different orders on here with the total weight of 41,000 lbs. I look at the last order loaded; 7 pallets with a combined weight of 20,000 lbs. I knew right then that this wasn't going to be legal!

I hook up to the trailer and take it around the building to their scales. (all C-W Freight terminals have scales on sight) The weight on the drive axles = 26,400 lbs. The weight on the tandem (trailer) axles = 35,800 lbs!! That's 1400 lbs overweight and about a $160 fine! And the axles are already slid all the way to the back! So I had to haul the trailer back around to the dock where they had to either re-load the trailer putting the heavier pallets in the middle or remove some off the tail end. They elected to just remove one of those 7 pallets off the back. DARN! That's what I'd figure they'd do because it's easier and quicker. But it also means that I have to drive with the tandems ALL the way to the rear. Which means EXTRA-WIDE turns! Oh well.

But first, I drive a couple miles in the opposite direction back to that Pilot to get a more accurate CAT scale weight. The Con-Way scales don't get calibrated as often and are not always correct. Plus going to the Pilot's CAT scales will give me a printed copy in case I get stuck at a weigh station.

So, now I'm off around the I-285 loop over to I-20 westbound. My first stop was in Flowood, MS for fuel. Back on I-20 westbound, I arrived in Shreveport, LA at 9:30 PM. I dropped the trailer at the Con-Way Freight there and hooked up to an empty. It's a mess inside and needs to be swept out, but I'm too hungry to do it tonight. A mile back to the I-20 exit where there was a Petro truck stop. Petro's restaurant is called the Iron Skillet because the use small iron skillets instead of plates. I order up a bacon cheese burger, fries, and a sweet tea.

Now it's time for bed. We're headed to San Antonio tomorrow, so I hope you can return to join me. Till then, see ya on the road...

Another Boring Day Spent Going Nowhere

Well I awoke this morning around 6:30 AM in the parking lot of the consignee in Norcross, GA. It wasn't until just after 7:00 that I noticed some activity inside the warehouse, so I went inside to check in. There seemed to be only 2 people there and they were towards the back of the warehouse. I looked for and found the restrooms and then just hung around by the front and waited for one of them to come up. After about 15 minutes, someone came up and said they don't actually start until 8:00, but that I can go ahead and back into the dock. I did and by about 8:30 I was unloaded and sent in my empty message.

Figuring it might be a while before I received my next load assignment, I drove down to the southeast Atlanta loop of I-285 to the Pilot truck stop. There I finally got a shower and then walked a block down the street to have breakfast at Hardee's. A sausage-egg-cheese biscuit, a biscuit & gravy, and a large sweet tea.

It was about another hour after that before I received my next load assignment. I pick up from the shipper a couple miles down the road here in Atlanta and I'm taking it to Shreveport, LA. The bad thing is that I don't pick up the load until Tuesday morning. So another day of sitting around. If I would have known ahead of time that this was going to be my load assignment, I would have went for a bike ride BEFORE taking a shower! Therefore, I just stayed in the truck all day.

Oh well... another boring day going nowhere. And of course going nowhere means not getting paid either.

See ya tomorrow.