Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Favorite Locations to Drive
Howdy all!! I thought I would tell you a little bit about some of the places I have been and some places I really enjoy going.
I spent a considerable amount of the winter time driving in Texas. That was great because I did not have to deal with all the snow and ice that so many other drivers had to deal with. I made it up north one time when it did snow. The rest of the time, like at Christmas time, I was up in Iowa, but the roads were dry. I remember one day in Iowa, though, where I thought I was going to freeze solid. It was one December evening and I was fueling up the truck getting it ready for the next day. It was not terribly cold, temperature wise. But, the wind was blowing and it felt so cold. I was really glad to get the fueling finished and get back into the truck. The truck I was driving has what is called a bunk heater. It sits under the bunk and when turned on blows out nice hot air. It is not necessary to have the truck running to use the bunk heater and the heater does not use up much battery power. So, I used it quite a bit while up in the north.
Like I said, I spent a lot of my winter time in Texas and when down in Laredo I could wear shorts. I really liked that. The problem in the winter time is that you have to have both winter and summer type clothing along with you. That takes up more room in the truck. I put up an expandable closet hanger over my bunk so I could hang my coats and pants up, which gave me more room for the other clothes, like shorts and long johns.
Since I have been driving I have had 3 dispatchers. The first one was pretty good as far as I was concerned. But, she was having medical problems so she ended up leaving the company. The next dispatcher was really good and kept me running. I liked her. She seemed to like keeping me in on the east coast. I spent a lot of December on the east coast from North Carolina up to Mass. She then was assigned to be the dispatcher for dedicated routes only. So, I was assigned to another dispatcher. I REALLY like him. He is the one who has kept me in the south and he tries to get me lots of miles. He gave me a load in January sending me out to California. Spent about a week there going up and down I-5. I did not go south of LA or north of Sacramento. Had to take a load into LA. I thought that would be difficult, but it was easy. Going through the BIG towns is not so difficult anymore. I also delivered a load to American City, near San Francisco. It is in wine country. I picked up a load in Richmond, CA, closer to San Francisco than American City, and took that load to a place called Vernal, Utah. Vernal is in the middle of no where and I was there over Super Bowl weekend. I was not able to get the game on TV or radio. So listened to commentators on ESPN to find out what was going on in the game. That worked out OK. There was snow all over the place, but the roads were fine, so I had no problems. The most difficult part was getting out of the truck and having to walk on the icy parking lot. I took my time so I would not bust my tail.
I sat in Vernal for 3 days and then was assigned a load going from Brigham City, Utah to Eagle Pass, Texas. That was a fun trip because I stayed almost totally on U.S. highways going through Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. I went down U.S. 6 and U.S. 91 through Utah. Got on U.S. 491 in Colorado. Then got on U.S. 285 through New Mexico and Texas. Eagle Pass is down on the U.S. Mexico border. Anyway, the drive is spectacular because of all the beautiful country to see. I went by Wilson Rock in Utah and went through Chimney Valley in Colorado and New Mexico. I spent one night in Roswell, NM. Some of the citizens there have these little green men dolls sitting outside their houses. I kind of laugh at that. Nope, did not see any UFO's. Of course, I was trying to sleep during the night. I will have some pictures for you of some of the sites.
During the fall time I was sent to make a delivery close to Houston, TX. After that delivery I was sent down to Galveston. It was still a big mess from the hurricane that had hit it. Not a lot of power restored and a lot of people still going to get food and supplies from FEMA. I went down to a warehouse area that stored cotton. There were buildings and buildings full of cotton. The cotton had gotten wet from the hurricane and so hundreds of trucks were sent down to take the cotton out there. There was no way to know how heavy the cotton weighed because it was wet. The workers loaded the trailers all the way to the back and off I went taking the load to Laredo. I hooked up with another Conway driver and we talked to each other on the CB radio for over 500 miles. That was fun. We went down U.S. 59 and were never questioned about how heavy the load was. We never stopped to scale it. It felt heavy. We decided if we were stopped we would let them know we were involved with hurricane relief. Rules are set aside when we are involved in relief efforts. Anyway, all that cotton that was taken to Laredo eventually made it down to Mexico. I think that if you see a clothing item and it says made in Mexico it is possible that wet cotton was used to make it. Of course, I would think they dried the cotton out before using it. I hope so. There was a lot of mold in the wet stuff.
The only states I have not driven in yet are Maine (don't care if I ever go there), Vermont, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. In January I opted out from driving in Canada. I have been there once and it was not bad. But, I have heard horror stories from other drivers about the U.S. customs tearing trucks apart when U.S. drivers come back in from Canada. I don't need that sort of thing.
I am on the list for getting a truck. Do not know when or where I will get one. I am in no hurry. Hopefully they will wait until my puppy gets her stitches out so I do not have to leave her here. She sure is a pretty girl. I brought her home yesterday and she has settled in real nicely. Going to be a great companion. I think she will help me a lot to adjust to life without Rich.
This is a picture of Vernal, Utah
This is Wilson Rock near the Utah/Colorado border on U.S. 91. I have only seen this in the movies until now.
This is one of the Chimney Rocks in Chimney Valley in Colorado.
There are not many places to park in the San Francisco area. After I finished making my delivery to American City I hustled out of there to a rest area I had remembered seeing when going to American City. Here is a picture of the rest area I parked at, along with a whole like of other trucks who parked there, also.
I spent a considerable amount of the winter time driving in Texas. That was great because I did not have to deal with all the snow and ice that so many other drivers had to deal with. I made it up north one time when it did snow. The rest of the time, like at Christmas time, I was up in Iowa, but the roads were dry. I remember one day in Iowa, though, where I thought I was going to freeze solid. It was one December evening and I was fueling up the truck getting it ready for the next day. It was not terribly cold, temperature wise. But, the wind was blowing and it felt so cold. I was really glad to get the fueling finished and get back into the truck. The truck I was driving has what is called a bunk heater. It sits under the bunk and when turned on blows out nice hot air. It is not necessary to have the truck running to use the bunk heater and the heater does not use up much battery power. So, I used it quite a bit while up in the north.
Like I said, I spent a lot of my winter time in Texas and when down in Laredo I could wear shorts. I really liked that. The problem in the winter time is that you have to have both winter and summer type clothing along with you. That takes up more room in the truck. I put up an expandable closet hanger over my bunk so I could hang my coats and pants up, which gave me more room for the other clothes, like shorts and long johns.
Since I have been driving I have had 3 dispatchers. The first one was pretty good as far as I was concerned. But, she was having medical problems so she ended up leaving the company. The next dispatcher was really good and kept me running. I liked her. She seemed to like keeping me in on the east coast. I spent a lot of December on the east coast from North Carolina up to Mass. She then was assigned to be the dispatcher for dedicated routes only. So, I was assigned to another dispatcher. I REALLY like him. He is the one who has kept me in the south and he tries to get me lots of miles. He gave me a load in January sending me out to California. Spent about a week there going up and down I-5. I did not go south of LA or north of Sacramento. Had to take a load into LA. I thought that would be difficult, but it was easy. Going through the BIG towns is not so difficult anymore. I also delivered a load to American City, near San Francisco. It is in wine country. I picked up a load in Richmond, CA, closer to San Francisco than American City, and took that load to a place called Vernal, Utah. Vernal is in the middle of no where and I was there over Super Bowl weekend. I was not able to get the game on TV or radio. So listened to commentators on ESPN to find out what was going on in the game. That worked out OK. There was snow all over the place, but the roads were fine, so I had no problems. The most difficult part was getting out of the truck and having to walk on the icy parking lot. I took my time so I would not bust my tail.
I sat in Vernal for 3 days and then was assigned a load going from Brigham City, Utah to Eagle Pass, Texas. That was a fun trip because I stayed almost totally on U.S. highways going through Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. I went down U.S. 6 and U.S. 91 through Utah. Got on U.S. 491 in Colorado. Then got on U.S. 285 through New Mexico and Texas. Eagle Pass is down on the U.S. Mexico border. Anyway, the drive is spectacular because of all the beautiful country to see. I went by Wilson Rock in Utah and went through Chimney Valley in Colorado and New Mexico. I spent one night in Roswell, NM. Some of the citizens there have these little green men dolls sitting outside their houses. I kind of laugh at that. Nope, did not see any UFO's. Of course, I was trying to sleep during the night. I will have some pictures for you of some of the sites.
During the fall time I was sent to make a delivery close to Houston, TX. After that delivery I was sent down to Galveston. It was still a big mess from the hurricane that had hit it. Not a lot of power restored and a lot of people still going to get food and supplies from FEMA. I went down to a warehouse area that stored cotton. There were buildings and buildings full of cotton. The cotton had gotten wet from the hurricane and so hundreds of trucks were sent down to take the cotton out there. There was no way to know how heavy the cotton weighed because it was wet. The workers loaded the trailers all the way to the back and off I went taking the load to Laredo. I hooked up with another Conway driver and we talked to each other on the CB radio for over 500 miles. That was fun. We went down U.S. 59 and were never questioned about how heavy the load was. We never stopped to scale it. It felt heavy. We decided if we were stopped we would let them know we were involved with hurricane relief. Rules are set aside when we are involved in relief efforts. Anyway, all that cotton that was taken to Laredo eventually made it down to Mexico. I think that if you see a clothing item and it says made in Mexico it is possible that wet cotton was used to make it. Of course, I would think they dried the cotton out before using it. I hope so. There was a lot of mold in the wet stuff.
The only states I have not driven in yet are Maine (don't care if I ever go there), Vermont, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. In January I opted out from driving in Canada. I have been there once and it was not bad. But, I have heard horror stories from other drivers about the U.S. customs tearing trucks apart when U.S. drivers come back in from Canada. I don't need that sort of thing.
I am on the list for getting a truck. Do not know when or where I will get one. I am in no hurry. Hopefully they will wait until my puppy gets her stitches out so I do not have to leave her here. She sure is a pretty girl. I brought her home yesterday and she has settled in real nicely. Going to be a great companion. I think she will help me a lot to adjust to life without Rich.
This is a picture of Vernal, Utah
This is Wilson Rock near the Utah/Colorado border on U.S. 91. I have only seen this in the movies until now.
This is one of the Chimney Rocks in Chimney Valley in Colorado.
There are not many places to park in the San Francisco area. After I finished making my delivery to American City I hustled out of there to a rest area I had remembered seeing when going to American City. Here is a picture of the rest area I parked at, along with a whole like of other trucks who parked there, also.
# posted by Jill @ 10:59 AM 
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