Homeward Bound

Delivered wheelchair ramps to Colton, CA.
Deadheaded to Lucerne Valley CA to pick up more Safe Carb (drilling mud) from Omya, this time bound for Pacific Alaska Freightways in Fife, WA. Thankfully, we were able to pick the load up a day early.

We took the scenic route over 395. This took us between the Sierra Nevadas and Death Valley. I was glad to be the one driving, as it was beautiful and I would have hated to be trying to sleep with all that beauty outside. 


Scenes from Hwy 395 in California

 


Big Pine, CA






Mono Lake at Sunset - near Lee Vining, CA

Snow capped mountains and meadows with deep snow, houses and lodges with real icicles hanging from the eaves. We passed by the Mammoth Lakes Airfield, and had a 707 touchdown even with us as we cruised along. That was cool. Slow going though. I averaged my speed to the miles I drove, and I only averaged 41 mph. Even though the roads were clear, there was lots of uphill, and downhill you still have to go slow when you have a load on so you don't lose control. We got up over 8000 ft in elevation a couple different times. Sad as it is to have left Buddy, I was glad he wasn't with us then; I know he would have hated that route. It added about four hours onto our travel time going that way, but in my mind it was worth it.

One really weird sight: Someone had struck a coyote, and they propped the carcass on a mound of snow left by the snowplows, so it looked like it was getting ready to cross the highway. Strange.

Looks like we will be deadheading home from Fife, but we are okay with that. Getting done a day early will save a bit on the truck rental, and it will be great to be home.

We Must Be Rainmakers

Ran into a pretty good gully washer of a storm once we got down 'the hill' into the greater LA area. Kinda weird to be driving in weather again after so long in the sun.

Funny, though, this is the third time we've been in the LA area when it has been raining. Could it be that we are bringing some of the good ol' PNW to SoCal? :)

Did We Deadhead 200 Miles for Nothing?

2:38 PM
Deliver concrete forms to United Forming in Austin, Texas
Pick up plastic pipe at Wilson in Houston, bound for Dow Chemical in Pittsburg, CA

3:23 PM
Pipe load fell through - would not load us without a headache rack.
Parked at Shell Station and looked for a replacement load. Spent the night here.

3:44 PM
I think we went for 3-4 days in West Texas without even seeing any law enforcement of any kind, but Houston sure made up for that. If I were to guess, I'd say they averaged 1 law enforcement vehicle for every 2 square miles. Not just state police, constables or sheriffs but also DOT trucks that will go get you if they think they need to inspect you. We saw one inspection station with 5 trucks stopped with their hoods up, and a cop for each truck. One old timer said they are cracking down on the companies who run the crap trucks that are falling apart. I'm glad we are in a 2009 (rental) that looks shiny, pulling a flatbed so they can see what we are hauling.


Houston

Missed the fourth president in the sculpture...

4:15 PM
Well, getting hosed never worked out so well. The pipe load we had planned to take didn't pay all that great, but the loads we got to replace it worked out better. We got a great paying load to LA that doesn't leave until Saturday, and a local load to take tomorrow, so we aren't sitting around. PLUS, the broker who set up the pipe load was able to get us a $200 "Truck Ordered, Not Used" fee, so we actually got paid a buck a mile to get to Houston instead of deadheading for free. Pretty sweet, huh?

Bye Bye Buddy

Delivered cotton to Dallas Warehouse in Richland Hills, TX.
Pick up used concrete forms and scaffolding from job site in Fort Worth, Texas at the Cooks Children's Medical Center, bound for United Forming in Austin, Texas.


Cooks Children's Medical Center, Fort Worth - Under Construction

Met up with Collin's sister Jeannie in Killeen to drop Buddy off. Had dinner with Jeannie, Derrick, Monica and Kyndall.

Monica and Buddy seemed to get along pretty well from the start. She seems very responsible and able to make him mind. Kyndall is a very petite 4 year old who is super active. Buddy is going to have to learn that he doesn't have to dance with her when she does "Just Dance" on the wii. She will have to learn her "mom voice" and learn not to turn her back on him when he gets in her face. I think Buddy will like having the attention of the kids, and more than just the two of us to keep him company.

We are sad to see him go, but know that this is best for all of us.

Snow in Texas

Delivered hay to WesTexas Hay Exchange in Lubbock. The owners, Donna and Bob Bybee are nice folks. We hope to do more business with them.
Picked up cotton bales in Sudan, Texas, bound for Dallas Warehouse (aka Paxton Warehouse) in Richland Hills, Texas.

We went from 70 degrees in Phoenix to freezing temps and snow in Lubbock. Lucky for us the snow stopped overnight, and it was clear if cold for the unload and reload. We were also able to get the tarps off before the wind picked up. Last time we delivered there, we were trying to fold tarps in at least 20 mph gusts of wind. Not fun.

By the time we got to Richland Hills (near Dallas) we were back to warmer weather - though not by too much.

Windy Days

Delivered lumber from Roseburg to City of Industry, CA

Got load of Safe Carb (drilling mud) from OMYA in Lucerne Valley, CA to Bakersfield, CA.

It was windy going up I-15: we saw at least one tipped trailer that was probably left on the side of the road broke down (there was no tractor at the scene). Good thing we didn't have a high, light load on, or an empty reefer.

We were behind a floral delivery truck that we really thought was going to tip over. His van was swaying over so much, it was hard to believe he kept all his wheels on the road. A lot of trucks with vans stopped on the side of the road in an effort to stay upright, but that still seemed dicey, since they were broadside to the wind.

Ball & Chain Tracks - The Map

Here is the map I've been working on to show some of our more interesting trips.
It isn't all of them. A lot of times we retrace the same basic route, and that makes it difficult to be sure I'm adjusting the right line to show a particular trip.
But I think this is pretty good. I recommend viewing as a larger map.
I'll be updating it as we go further and further afield.

View Ball & Chain Tracks in a larger map