Wow! This week went by fast! I think that is because we didn’t go very far due oto the weather.
Wednesday Jan 20,2021
My driver and I were ready to leave by 10 AM, but had to wait for two mud flaps to be installed by the shop crew on the trailer. We waited patiently for several hours, and then decided to do the installation ourselves somewhere out on the road. So we left with the mud flaps laying on the floor in my van. It was 1:30 by then!
This is a brand new trailer, on it’s maiden voyage! Just look at the shiny new paint job, because it won’t look like this very long!!
We arrived at the site in Columbus WI after dark, and parked it. It was only going down to 28*, so I slept in my van at the truck stop down the street.
Jan/21/21 Thursday morning we stretched it out and helped the other truck load, and I backed us in to load just before lunch time.
The process is simple but labor and time consuming. First we take the heavy tarps and lay them out across the empty trailer.
Once that is in place, they load the 50 ton generator/fuel tank base on.
And then tarp the top, which took several hours.
That night, I looked at the weather and saw it was going down no lower than 28° so slept in my van again.
Friday Jan 22/2021 I got a little chilly at about 4:30, and when I got up, it was so windy that the van was rocking slightly, and it was just below 32* inside, so I looked and saw that it was 9°outside! Oopps! My phone had no reception last night when I looked at the weather!! LOL But now I know I can do it, so I reset my new low to 10*. So now that means I can now sleep in my van if the outside temp is between 10° and 70°.
We drove as far as we could, reaching Forest City after about 300 miles. We found that the third drive axle on his tractor had a problem, and needed repair. So we both parked there for the night. We each steered our rigs back into a parking space, and my driver drove back 5 hours to the trucking shop to have it repaired in the morning. I took a hotel, because it was going down to 5°.
Saturday Jan 1/23/2021 I went out to check on our lonely trailer late morning . . .
. . .because the other driver and his crew went on without us. Amazingly, they were able to repair his truck before lunch, and he was back and hooked up by 5:30 PM and by that time, another crew caught up to us. They also had a generator, and is almost 17′ tall, so has two HP cars. One hits a wire, lifts it, while the second one makes sure it is lifted high enough before the truck passes under.
Sunday 1/24/2021 We all left at sunrise, and traveled together most of the morning, with the tall truck in front . .
. . .until they turned off to head toward their destination near Omaha, NE. We continued on into South Dakota, as I once again enjoyed the view in one of my favorite states.
After about 400 miles, we arrived at the border of Nebraska by sunset, parking in a truck stop.
with the other truck. We caught up because though he left yesterday, he got caught in a snow storm after less than 200 miles, and had to stop.
Because of the snowy roads, the truck was a mess! (and so was my van!!) And you know I don’t like that!
Finally the temp was going to be above 10° so I slept in my van there at the truck stop.
Monday 1/25/2021 We met at the trucks at 8 AM
but since there was a big snow storm just 100 miles ahead of us, we decided to stay and wait for them to clean it up, so took the day off. I took a hotel because the low temp was to be about 5° that night. There was a car wash next door that I could fit in, so I washed my van before parking next to the other 3 Pilot Cars.
Tuesday 1/26/2021 Last night it snowed a few inches,
but we met at the trucks to wait until the roads got cleared.
After a long wait for confirmation that the roads had been cleared, we left at about 10:30 and drove the wet and dirty road. . .
After only 130 miles, we were forced to stop because Kansas won’t let us enter until their storm today has ended, and the roads are black. The roads ahead are narrow, and we are afraid we will not fit with oncoming traffic. So we stopped in Broken Arrow Nebraska to wait it out. Look at the pretty designs I made on my clean van!
It is supposed to go down to 4* tonight, so it’s another hotel night. I won’t be surprised if we have to wait all day tomorrow for those roads to be clear and black. We can hardly wait to reach warm New Mexico to deliver this one!
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