Denver

I left Boise early in the morning and wanted to try and get over into Wyoming as close to Denver as possible with the 9 1/2 hours I had to drive for the day. I got as far as Wamsutter, WY which is 70 miles east of Rock Springs. That left me a 5 hour drive on into Denver. Was going to try to take a 34 hour break when I got there since I did not deliver until 7pm Monday night. Didn't quite work out so I will work the week with the hours I have.

Pictures posted are from Idaho to Denver. Came over I-80 to Cheyenne and turned south on I-25. It is only 9 miles from I-80 to the Colorado state line, and when I crossed the line I looked to my left and saw several Elk standing along the hillside beside me grazing. Tried to snap the picture but could not get a focus on it fast enough. Got one but hard to see them.

Coming down I-25 to Denver runs parallel with the mountain range on my right. West of Ft. Collins is the Rocky Mountain National Park. To my south and east are rolling prairies of farm and grass lands. I reached Denver and got my fuel and a parking place where I wait for my delivery appointment tonight.

East To Denver

Drove into Portland, OR this morning to pick up my load. We had 2 other company trucks at the shipper when I arrived. The first one had just backed into the dock. I was in the shipping office when I heard a loud bang. I looked out and the trailer they were loading had broken in half. It must have had a cracked rail in the frame. They had loaded about half the load in and it snapped and the fork lift slid over to the right wall of the trailer. It was a fairly new trailer too. Glad it wasn't mine. That poor driver was going to have a long day with them trying to figure out how to get that stuff out of there.

I left and took a few pictures of Portland. The bridge is the I-5 bridge through town. Then the Columbia River Gorge headed east. When I got out to Pendleton, OR again and headed up Cabbage Hill I have several shots coming to the Hill. Up on top there is a rest area at Deadman's Pass. Part of the Oregon Trail. Got its name back in 1840s when a teamster was found dead from an Indian attack at that spot. There were also wagon ruts still in the woods, so I walked up into the woods to find them. The pics show the washout area where the wagons came through. You can tell by the areas being lower in that spot and wagon width. Interesting anyway. Also in the pictures are a few of Mt. Hood which is just east of Portland. On a clear day like today, you can see the peak from atop Cabbage Hill which is 150 miles away. Off to its north you can see Mt. St. Helens in Washington. Couple of years ago I came out this way in January and you could see both peaks from atop Cabbage shining bright and covered in snow.

I made it to Boise, ID for the night and will probably stop in Ogden, UT tomorrow afternoon. Then Denver Sunday morning. I don't deliver until 7pm Monday afternoon.

Oregon

After unloading Wednesday morning in Nampa, ID they gave me a load to pick up from a driver at a Flying J truck stop about 9 miles away. He was either out of hours or trying to get home, not sure which. The load was going to Albany, OR just south of Salem on I-5. This was the first time I had been in the Salem/Portland, OR area since around 1996. It was still there.

I took close to 65+ pictures on the 8 hour drive. It is a very pretty drive which goes across I-84 from Ontario, OR to Portland. This follows the original Oregon Trail and also the Lewis and Clark expedition through the Columbia River Gorge. This is a beautiful drive. They have built special upstream troughs at the dams on the river for the salmon to swim up stream during spawning.

In Portland I turned south on I-5 to near Salem where I spent the night. I didn't unload until 2pm Thursday. After finally getting unloaded after 3 1/2 hours, they next gave me a load to pick up in Portland for Friday morning that delivers in Denver on Monday afternoon. After that dispatch is supposed to route me directly to the home terminal in Wilmer, TX for my annual physical.

The pictures posted are not the best. The sun was bright which left a glare on the windshield which really showed up all the bugs I couldn't seem to get rid of for very long. That happens a lot when going through farm country.

Idaho and first snow

Left out of Amarillo with 69 degrees at 3am Sunday morning. Headed up US-287 into Colorado and hit the cold front around Lamar, CO. Got into some rain and temperature dropped into the low 40s and rain and 30 mph winds. When I got on up to Fort Collins, CO I started up over the mountains to Laramie, WY. When I topped over into Wyoming the snow started and the temp was down to 32 degrees.

I got in to Laramie and stopped to get fuel. I had to call fleet manager to adjust my fuel solution. They had me only getting 62 gallons in Laramie and I still had 700 miles to go. Computer doesn't recognize the combination of heavy load, 30mph head winds and mountains. I was only getting 4.7 mpg and normal is 6 or better. They let me fill up. I stopped for the night in Sinclair, WY which got me the other side of Elk Mountain and into dry roads.

I drove on up to Nampa, ID today. The starting temp this morning was 22 deg, by the time I got to the Boise area it was up in the low 80s. I deliver here in Nampa in the morning and go again. The pictures are from the last 3 weeks and will add some caps to them later.

Out again

Been a while since got a post up. Laptop computer screen started getting lines across it and I had to get it repaired when got home this past week. Couldn't find one from the wholesale warehouses because my Dell laptop was built one month too soon. Following month when the newer screens were built. Go figure. Anyway, got one from Dell and had them over night it so I could get it before I left home on Saturday.

They shipped it on Wednesday for overnight. Not sure I like these tracking sites they give you. They shipped the package out of Houston, which is a tad over 100 miles from my house. That was fine figured would get it next day for sure. Next morning I look at the tracking and the thing was in Memphis, TN at 4am. I'm thinking this ain't going to work. Shreveport, LA at 6:30am, still trying to figure that one out. Didn't go by truck. To Nacogdoches by 8am and then out for delivery, total of 1400 miles or so. Does FedEx really make a profit?

Left out Saturday morning and picked up another load of paper from Inland in Orange, TX going to Boise, ID. Will deliver up there on Wednesday morning. I am in Amarillo, TX tonight. Get some pictures up as soon as get another good signal for broadband. Today ain't cutting it on signal.

Illinois

I delivered the load in Charlotte, NC that I picked up in Red Boiling Springs, TN on Tuesday morning. Had a nice drive through the Smoky Mountain Gorge on I-40 on Labor Day. They tried to give me a load to Connecticut but it had to be picked up in Kingsport, TN by 9am. It was already 430am and it was a 205 mile trip up there from Charlotte. I told them I could not make that with a 61 mph truck. Plus since I needed to be home on Monday, going to the northeast was a bad move 5 days before.

The load they gave me was 20 miles away in Gastonia, NC and it delivered this morning in Manteno, IL. They gave me a load out of Elwood, IL going to Olathe, KS which I deliver Friday morning. That is getting me closer to home and not the opposite direction. Got more pictures to download from the past week and try to get that on this weekend. Should be home by Monday for 4 days.

Labor Day

Hope everyone had a nice and safe Labor Day.

I delivered the load of glass Sunday morning and was given a load of water to pick up in Red Boiling Springs, TN this morning. That is back in the hills north of Cookeville. From where I was at near Richmond, KY, there was no easy way for me to get there. Extremely narrow winding roads down to the place. Plus it was raining off and on. Made it in there ok but once I got that heavy load of water it worked me hard getting out of there and down to I-40. One stretch of road of about 30 miles I couldn't get over 30 to 40 mph. I was taking my half out of the middle, going through the gears like a NASCAR driver on a road course, at 30 mph no less. That's curvy. Glad no one was out on the road yet this morning.

The load is going to a grocery warehouse in Charlotte, NC and I deliver there at 4am in the morning. The trip over was not bad for a Labor Day, traffic not near as heavy as would be the norm on Labor Day in the past. Just tells you how much the economy is hurting every one.

Back to Kentucky

I went over and picked up the load in Ashtabula, OH at 10pm Sunday night. I had two drops on the truck. The first drop was in Dunbar, WV on Tuesday morning. I drove down on the south side of Canton, OH to make sure I wouldn't have morning traffic to deal with Monday morning. I laid down to sleep for about 5 hours and still had enough time on my 14 hours to make it to near Dunbar Monday. Tuesday morning I had a 10 minute drive to my first stop.

I was carrying a load of vinyl siding which is loaded on the floor in the trailer. It takes a while to get it unloaded. I deliver quite a few of these loads and they are normally multi drops. It takes the customers 3 to 5 hours to unload half a truck. The problem with these loads is that they work a few minutes unloading and then have to stop to help customers, then back to the load. They got me unloaded in 4 1/2 hours. I took off to Lexington, KY where I had my last drop on Wednesday morning. It took another 4 hours to unload there. Everything after first 2 hours is detention time and I get paid by the hour, sometimes.

After unloading they gave me a load to pickup in Kingsport, TN, it was 213 miles deadhead to pick it up. I was supposed to be there by 4 pm but informed dispatch it would be at least 5 or 6pm before I could make it with the roads I had to travel through the mountains to get there. It was 530pm when I arrived. I was picking up 6 rolls of paper weighing 7000# per roll. The load delivered to DuBois, PA Thursday as soon as I could get there.

The trip was hard because of the roads through the mountains of West Virginia and Western Pennslyvania. They were new roads to me though. Highlight of the trip was going through Punxsutawney, PA, the home of Punxsutawney Phil. If you remember the movie "Groundhog Day" you will remember the square where the groundhog kept popping out of its hole each day. I passed right by the thing and didn't know it until it was too late to get a picture. Phil wasn't there though. Beautiful town though. It is approximately 20 miles south of I-80 near DuBois, PA.

I made it to DuBois at 230pm and was unloaded in about 15 minutes. They gave me a load to pick up in Meadsville, PA for the next morning that delivers Sunday near Richmond, KY south of Lexington. So back to Kentucky. Kind of expect once unloaded I will be sitting through Labor Day before get another load. Holidays can mess you up on loads if you don't unload at the right time of the weekend.