On my own again now (for a little while anyway). I ran a load from La Porte, TX and this was bound for Clarksville, AR. As I was going past Nacogdoches I picked up Bonnie and she came for a ride with me, as I couldn't get home for July 4th. We had lots of time to spare on the load so did some sight seeing along the way.
Saturday 4th July 2015
We spent the evening of the 4th watching fireworks from the truck stop in Russellville, AR and waited to drop my load the next morning in Clarksville, AR.
Sunday 5th July 2015
After unloading at WalMart, I decided to wait at a nearby truck stop, when I got a call to go to North Little Rock and move some trailers in a yard, it was about 90 miles away and by lunch time I was finished there.
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| Inside a nearby WalMart was this imaginative display |
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| Outside the store a small waterfall..... |
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| Inside a bigger waterfall..... |
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| And large fish to |
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| Some of the sauces and meat rubs |
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| More oddly named products |
Monday 6th July 2015
The next load I got was from Fort Smith, AR and was bound for Laredo. I picked up the load around 11am and headed south. On the way I dropped Bonnie off at home and also returned the relief truck to its driver, in Houston on the 7th.
Tuesday 7th July 2015
My next job was to recover a truck in San Antonio, at a workshop. I grabbed a lift with the other driver and when I arrived around 10pm was told the truck could not be released as the bill hadn't been paid. After many phone calls I was put in a local hotel for the night and got the truck the next morning.
Wednesday 8th July 2015
I finally got in the truck around 930am and headed back to the hotel to collect my things before heading down to Laredo for my next load.
I arrived at Laredo and waited and at 4.45pm was given a load to pick up at 5pm, needless to say I was late and on arrival was told to go get a trailer washout, which I did. When I returned the shipper was closed and not open until 11am the next morning. I decided to go to the nearby truck stop for the night.
Thursday 9th July 2015
The load from the day before was allocated to another truck and I was given a load from Laredo to Wilsonville, OR, which routed via Salt Lake to drop off the trade truck from San Antonio. This was an uneventful trip and the delivery was made on Wednesday 15th July.
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| A large mural at Pecos, TX |
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| A visit to a local truck stop in Moriarty, NM on route 66 |
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| Someone has troubles ..... |
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| One of the many gorges heading through Utah |
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| Nesting at a rest area in Oregon |
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| The Columbus River between Oregon and Washington |
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| The grand entrance to downtown Troutdale, OR |
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| Troutdale, OR |
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| Troutdale, OR |
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| Art work in Troutdale, OR |
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| The old Union Pacific water tower in Troutdale, OR |
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| Choo-Chho mural in Troutdale, OR |
Thursday 16th July 2015
My next load was from Woodland in Washington state and was bound for Marengo, IN. After spending another night in the Troutdale TA truck stop I received my load of cherries and set off East.
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| Nothing but blue skies in Oregon |
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| Heading up Cabbage Pass in Oregon |
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| Sunset over La Grande in Oregon |
Monday 20th July 2015
I arrived close to my drop 2 days early and so got to drop my trailer in the South Holland yard (for someone else to deliver). I then got teamed with another driver called Brian and headed to my next recovery truck in Dallas. We picked up a load in Rochelle. IL which was bound for North Platte, NE. This was again running early so halfway we swapped loads once again for one heading to Laredo.
Tuesday 22nd July 2015
I got to the truck center in Dallas at around 11pm and was not surprised to find it closed, so booked in to a local hotel and caught a cab to the truck the next morning.
Wednesday 23th July 2015
Finally got in to the truck 59871 and set off for my pick up in Fort Worth at the Dannon factory, bound for Salt Lake City.
Saturday 26th July 2015
I arrived at the shipper early afternoon and after unloading headed to the Salt Lake yard to prepare for the Train the Trainer class on Monday.
Monday 28th July 2015
Today bought a new challenge, I attended the 2 day Train the Trainer course at Salt Lake, and spent Monday and Tuesday wading through books and multiple choice quizzes. It was conducted by a great trainer called Mac and day 1 was quite serious, but day 2 became more light-hearted.
Tuesday 29th July 2015
It was reckoning day and the scores were totted up, I was most surprised to find I had the highest grade point average of the class and received a Top Gun patch which is worn with pride on my back pack. So now I am a trainer ......
Wednesday 30th July 2015
Next it was time to get some home time, so I left Salt Lake and picked up in Springville, UT bound for Arkansas. An uneventful trip that saw me arrive in Jonesville, AR on the 2nd August
