I woke around 8am and went to check if the load was ready, no came the answer. Any idea when it will be ready? No came the answer. at 4pm they are still not sure when it will be ready ......
Sunday 3rd May 2015
There were some pretty amazing storms today, so that passed some of the 52 hour wait at Cargill.
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| Medium size hail on the wind shield |
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| Scary times .... |
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| Amazing cloud formations |
I finally got my loaded trailer and set off for Laredo, TX at 11pm, only getting as far as the local truck stop as my hours had run out, so I spent the night there (at least there was coffee).
Monday 4th May 2015
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| Traveling through the cotton fields of North Texas I was buzzed by a crop sprayer, working in the field next to the road. He was only about 20 feet above the field when spraying. |
I left Friona around 8am and headed south, reaching the Love's truck stop at Hearne, TX for my night stop. I walked round the truck and found 2 flat tires on the trailer. So decided to get them fixed just before leaving in the morning at the Love's tire shop, (big mistake). I woke at 4am and pulled in to the tire bay, after the guy came over and started work I went for a coffee. On my return he informs me he didn't have the right tool to remove the tire (it's a tire shop!!!), so I ended up getting a mobile fitter to come out and fit the new tires, (at great cost to the company). I was due at my drop in Bryan, TX at 6am, and left the truck stop at 7:40am.
Tuesday 5th May 2015
I finally arrived at Bryan, TX around 8.30am and by 9.15am was unloaded and on my way to Laredo to get rid of this load at the drop yard. Now for some well earned rest in the yard. The next load wasn't too long coming, a trip from Laredo to Hershey, PA with 20 tons of Peanut Butter Cups.
Wednesday 6th May 2015
I left Laredo around 4pm and routed for my first night stop, which happened to be in Nacogdoches so stopped the night at home, much to the delight of my wife. Then at midday on Thursday set off once again heading through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia & Maryland before arriving in Hershey, PA for the drop around midday on Saturday
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| Crossing the mighty Mississippi on the I-10 |
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| Hershey Kisses for street lights in Hershey, PA |
Sunday 10th May 2015
Spent the night and most of Sunday in a truck stop in Middletown, PA and finally set off for a short hop from Mechaniscsburg, PA to Hudson, NY with 21 tons of frozen goat's cheese, arriving early Monday morning.
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| The view from my drop with the Catskill Mountains in the distance |
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| Looks like a happy goat!!! |
Monday 11th May 2015
Next load was from Allentown, PA with 10 tons of frozen desserts bound for Wal-Mart in Olney, IL which was collected at midnight. So off I set East-bound once again.
Wednesday 13th May 2015
I arrived at the Walmart DC around midday and was greeted with another delay in unloading, I eventually left at 5pm and set up camp for the night at a local truck stop, The Red Rooster in Olney, IL (very "local").
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| Olney is home to White Squirrels, but I didn't see any |
After some pot roast and mash I settled down for the night ready for my next pick up 30 miles away in Robinson, IL.
Thursday 14th May 2015
Arrived at my Hershey pick up at 8am and was on the road again by 9am bound for Ogden, UT.
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| I passed through a town called Oblong!! |
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| Crossing in to Missouri over The Missouri River |
All went fairly well until I hit some large storms across the plains of Nebraska.
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| The storm I had just passed through |
I decided to pull in early for the night at North Platte, NE and was glad I did as there were Tornado warnings all around me, I escaped the worst though but was treated to a wonderful light show after dark. I set off again at 6am the next morning.
Friday 15th May 2015
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| An interesting water tower in York, NE |
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| The wide open plains and sky of Nebraska |
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| Another grand water tower this time in Sidney, NE |
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| Strange town name!! |
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| And another!! |
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| The giant bronze head of Lincoln in Laramie, WY. 2 tons and 13 feet tall. |
I stopped in a truck stop in Little America, WY, which had plenty of parking but not very good food. The weather this time was threatening snow and it got down to the low 30's so was a bit chilly to sleep in.
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| Please fasten seat belts as we start our descent!! |
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| A storm coming over the mountains to greet me |
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| One more silly sign |
Saturday 16th May 2015
A 2am departure to my drop in Ogden, UT and with this complete and free candy collected I headed to the yard in Salt Lake City for a 34 hour reset on my hours and to wait for my next trip.
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| The snowy mountains around Sal Lake City |
Monday 18th May 2015
The next trip was to recover a truck in Springfield, MO, I teamed up with another driver and shared a load which was heading from Ogden, UT to Carthage, MO. It was quite an eventful trip for a couple of reasons. Firstly I took over the driving in the mountains near Laramie, WY and no sooner had I got on the road then black ice took over, the trailer tried to jack knife and so I pulled over until the grit truck had passed.
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| The road covered with black ice |
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| In the rest area |
Then cautiously carried on my way.
Wednesday 20th May 2015
Thursday 21st May 2015
The next morning I went off to find an empty trailer at the Kraft factory in Springfield, and then headed to Dodge City, KS for my next load of meat from Cargill.
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| Hands in Prayer in Webb City, MO |
I spent the night in a Flying J in Dodge before getting my load the next morning.
Saturday 23rd May 2015
I arrived at the first of 3 drops early. At the Walmart DC in Cheyenne, WY I was kept waiting 4 hours to unload and so this made me late for the next drop in Corinne, UT. There was an impressive storm on the way.
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| Before .... |
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| During .... |
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| After |
I was kept waiting 8 hours at this Walmart DC, and after a very frustrating day I headed to a stop in Layton, UT for some sleep.
Sunday 24th May 2015
My final drop was at Layton, UT and this was complete by 8pm.
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| Not much room here to back in |
Then I headed for the yard, I knew I would be there for a while as it was Memorial Day on Monday and the office staff didn't work. So I had another 34 hour reset.
Tuesday 26th May 2015
Finally I got a load out of Salt Lake City, I was to drive with another driver to to swap trailers in Denver, CO. It ended up I stayed with the same load and just changed co-drivers ) by coincidence both named Gary). We met just outside Denver and duly changed trailers, and after breakfast set off for Fort Worth, with a load of IV pouches for a medical company.
Thursday 28th May 2015
After being unloaded at 2am we set off to a truck stop before getting our next load to Laredo, TX which was 9000 pounds of salad dressing. We arrived in Laredo yard at 8am on the 29th and rested.
Friday 29th May 2015
At last the time had come for me to go home for some rest. Bonnie drove down towards Laredo and we met in a rest area on the I-35 about 60 miles out of Laredo. I had booked a hotel in San Antonio and so we headed there with haste.
Saturday 30th May 2015
Breakfast at 9am and off to explore the town.
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| The walk outside our hotel |
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| Sheltering from the rain shower |
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| Drying out after lunch |
We were caught by a sales rep in the town and after listening to a 2 hour promotion, were given a $75 gift card, which we bought lunch with. and the carried on exploring.
Sunday 31st May 2015
Woke on Sunday to a much brighter day and set off for The Alamo.
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| The front of The Alamo |
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| The Long Barracks |
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| Inside The Shrine |
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| One of the many canons left here |
After a final walk through the town we headed East towards Houston and our next destination, The Johnson Space Center.
