June 11-15, 2021

Friday, June 11, 2021

We arrived at 6 AM in case they were ready for us to load early. Wisconsin has a summer curfew that requires oversize loads to be off the road by 3 PM on Friday, and noon on Saturday and Sunday, so we were hoping to get both trucks loaded in time to travel across the WI line into IA before 3, because we could drive until sunset in Iowa. That would mean leaving by the site with both trucks by 11 or so.

Then the other driver went inside and got the news. They were waiting for a truckload of pipe to arrive, ans would need at least an hour to prep and install some of it on our generators, so would not be loading the first truck until at least 9 AM. Another 2 hours of waiting! It was almost 10 when they cleared a path for us to finally steer in off the street, pull past the door, and back in to load. It was extremely tight, and once we got in the door, there was not enough width for our 16′ wide trailer to fit. So we had to pull ahead several times and jockey it back and forth until we could get it positioned correctly.

Hey, check out this cool little robot making steel panels. I asked the guy if they had named him yet, and he said no. I told him “Hey, even my drone has a name! You guys need to give him one!”

We finally got it loaded. These are both 2,250 KW generators inside enclosures. They are about 30,000 lbs lighter than the 3,000 KW ones we carry most often. Instead of Cummins engines, these are made by Rolls Royce.

Once we had all the chains on, I steered him back out and onto the street, and the other truck pulled in to load. We made final measurements and adjusted the shims while the other truck got loaded..

I also inspected the roof of the piece with my drone so we would know if there was existing damage, or anything sticking up that wires might catch on before we started.

It went a lot faster for that second truck because we had cleared the way, so we were both ready to leave by 1 PM. But we definitely did not have enough time to get out of Wisconsin by 3 PM curfew! So we chose a restaurant parking lot about 60 miles away. and called ahead to be sure we could fit both trucks there. They said yes, so off we went. We were the first truck, with a HP car I had never worked with before. We got right on the highway, and she missed the very first exit! We took the exit, slowly drove under the traffic lights she was not there to check, pulled off on the side of the road, let the other truck pass us, and waited for her to take the next exit, turn around, and come back to re-join us. That is a major problem, and could have been a huge issue. These super loads have a lot at stake, and mistakes like that could be very costly! In most cases, it will be overlooked if it is the only issue. And it was, today.

It was only about 60 miles to that restaurant, so we made it there and parked just before 3. We all went inside for a late lunch together, except for that HP car because she has a large dog with her, and wanted to get right to a hotel.

Everyone else went to a hotel, but because it was only 89, and going down to 68 tonight, both drivers and I decided to camp out with the trucks. We spent the afternoon talking as we watched all the traffic go by.

Because the forecast predicted periods of heavy rain, my driver loaned me his creeper, and I made a “roof” over my generator to keep it dry.

It was wonderful to have the AC working, and sleep in my own bed again!!

Saturday, June 12, 2021

It was a very quiet, comfortable, and restful night, and, it never rained I got up at 5, packed everything up, while everyone arrived on time from their hotels.  I discovered that my generator is leaking oil. I will have to fix that before I use it again.

We pulled both trucks out at about 6:15, and we continued on as the second truck. We were very well aware that we needed to be out of WI by noon curfew today, which we should do in a couple of hours.  As long as we do that, we can drive until sunset in Iowa, and hopefully make it almost all the way to Omaha. If so, we can stay right there until Monday, allowing both drivers to take their mandatory 34 hours off before driving in to unload. We are told one will unload Monday, and the other on Tuesday.

Apparently our HP car didn’t top off with fuel before we left, so our truck had to pull off and stop in order to allow her to fill up after just 200 miles. That set us back a bit, and then we got a flat on one of the trailer tires. We were able to pull off into a rest area, and my driver and I jacked the axel up, pulled the outer tire off, then the inner tire, put the spare on, and the outer tire, and aired them both to the correct pressure in about an hour. All in 93°! Itwaa brutal! We were soaked to the bone, so went into the restroom to wash up before we drove on.

During the rest of the day, our HP missed telling us about several vehicles on the shoulder, which nearly cost us an accident as I quickly scrambled to capture the left lane by cutting off a passing vehicle in time for him to move over before impact. That is unacceptable! Her car also needed to fill up again before we got to our destination, so we had to stop a third time during our 550 mile trip. We think it was really because of the dog. The other truck had no problems, but we barely made it to our destination before my driver’s 10 hour time clock expired as a result. Because of all this, I knew this was her last day with us! She knew it, too, so just handed me the portable radio my driver lent her, packed up and left. She might be fine with regular loads, but super loads are just above her experience level.

The remaining 5 of us left and checked into a hotel in the area, went out for Mexican food, and then to the local car racing track for the evening!

Sunday, June 13, 2021

I was torn today, because I wanted to go to church with my cousin Ken and Ellen in Omaha, but my driver wanted to go to the Omaha Zoo and Aquarium. We know that one truck needs to drive in to the site late in the day tomorrow and unload at 4 PM. The other needs to wait and drive in after 9 AM Tuesday. If we knew we were the second truck, we’d just go to the Zoo tomorrow as it will be less crowded, but since we still don’t know, and have no idea when or if we will ever get this window of opportunity, we decided to go today.

We stopped to have breakfast, and then stopped to check on the trucks since we were driving right by that rest area.

Along the drive to Omaha, my phone began to start beeping with text messages, so I told my driver it was because it was my birthday. As a result, he insisted on buying the tickets and said I shouldn’t have to spend any more money today! LOL  The Zoo was very crowded, and it was very hot. Extremely hot and sunny. 94° in fact! We took the gondola ride first,

And then we walked over 10,000 steps around the zoo, and remarked that the animals were smarter than us, because almost every one was hiding in the shade somewhere.

Or in the water

But we did get to see some indoors as well.

Look at this poor girraf!

He was trying so desperately to lean over the edge of that wall, and across the mulch, to reach something green to eat! I yelled out at him, “Hey, buddy, according to the evolution scientists, you just need to keep reaching like that, and in a few million years your neck will grow long enough to get your next meal!” Several people laughed.

Oh, and my driver suggested that he get a picture of me in my new drone upgrade!

Of course, my favorites will always be the penguins! They had ab enclosed spot with snow where we could watch them, where it was cooler for us as well. Check out this little performer! He’d swim really fast, pop up through the hole in the rock, and try to land standing up. But it was so slippery that he could not keep his balance! LOL

We cut our visit short at 2 PM because of the extreme heat, and headed back toward the hotel, where he asked me to stop at a DQ for ice creams. He hàd sent a text in the morning, and told the rest of our team it was ny birthday, so they took me to a restaurant and bought my supper, where we all had prime rib dinners and strawberry pie because they knew that was my favorite!

I really missed my family today, especially Annalou, but the day was as good as it could have been otherwise! Well, I would have liked it about 30 degrees cooler!

Monday, June 14, 2021

Today we find out who gets unloaded first. So calls were made to the crane company at about 6 AM. It is 9:09 now, and we have not heard back yet. Whichever truck it is, that crew needs to check out of this hotel by 11, and the rest need to pay for another night. But they can not leave until 2 PM, because they need to escort it through the city and to the site 4 PM. Not before that, because the crane crew will not be ready for them, and there is no place for them to park and wait. They can not arrive on site after 4, because curfew forces them off the road. So we all packed up our stuff, and got ready to jump and run!

At 10:30 we got the call. They want the other truck first. None of us were very happy with the motel we were in, so we all checked out, went and had brunch together, then all drove to the rest area. They got ready to leave by 12:30, and we all waited until for them to pull out.

Then my driver pulled up into his spot so no one will park in front of is and prevent us from pulling out when we need to in the morning. I brought my driver back to the same area, but we checked in to a different hotel, and had supper there in their restaurant.

Tuesday. June 15, 2021

We checked out of the hotel at 7:30 and drove to the rest area where the truck was parked. We did our pre trip checks as the truck warmed up, and drove out at 8:30, reaching the Omaha city limits just as the curfew lifted at 9. We arrived at the site by 9:30 to find that our truck that left yesterday was just pulling under the crane now to get unloaded!

Once they got unloaded, and backed out, we were able to steer in and under the crane. This is a really challenging site because they are starting to make the final concrete roads. Not only are they small, but the corners are too tight, and they have poured curbs that we can not drive over because in most places there is no dirt pushed up behind them, so we would crack them and drop off. I enjoy the challenge, but it takes time.

Once they unloaded us, we had to back out the windy road, around the corner, and off into a vacant area where we could shrink the trailer. We pulled out at about 12:30, and were on our way to do a site survey in Des Moines before going back to the yard in Minnesota. Our next load will be a vessel that is over 60′ long. These generators are only about 50′, so we need to add 10′ of length to the trailer well before we can drive to Kansas to load it. We will be taking that vessel to somewhere in Florida.