July 13-19, 2021

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Once again, we were told we would be loading at 7, so we met at the truck at about 6 to get things ready. We pulled over near the crane, and the first thing to note is that the crane is already set up. I saw them come in at the end of the day yesterday to do that. Plus, there are 3 riggers this time instead of 1. Things are looking good! By 7:38 we were way ahead of last week!

Things went very smoothly, and they set the genset down much faster, more efficiently, more level, and more professionally than last week. We chained everything down, our HP guy (same one as last week) was early, and I steered us out of yard before 10 AM. It was a nice and easy ride, being mostly highway with just one detour around construction. My driver often calls me on the phone instead of the radio when he wants to discuss certain decisions with me, so he called to discuss the idea of stopping at the rest area just north of Des Moines instead of trying to get closer. That way we would have full rest area facilities, and both of us could go get fuel in order to finish the trip tomorrow and even drive back a day before needing to stop again, and still have time to get back, have supper, and get to sleep in our vehicles at a reasonable hour.  Sounded good to me!

So we stopped at the rest area across the highway from where we stopped on our way back last week.

The HP guy left for a hotel, and we went to get fuel, came back, and I parked closer to his truck in order to leave an extra parking space open for another truck.

It also allowed me to place my generator under one of the trailer beams to shelter it from the rain we were expecting.

Yeah, I got pretty close. . . .

. . .but I like the protection, too!

I warmed up some of my IP meal with green beans for supper,

and went to bed early – just after 8 PM!

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

It was a very quiet and peaceful night, with almost no rain at all – so no leaks! Instead of leaving right at daybreak, we waited until 9, when they were scheduled to unload the tank to be sure it was on time, and in acceptable condition this time. If we are going to have to wait 5 hours, we’d rather do that here with facilities, instead of in the mud at the job site!

You can see that the trucks filled in a little around us during the night.

I laid down on my cough and got caught up on some more blogging. We got the word at 9:30 that everything was good, so we pulled out.

I did not have the ability to take any pictures at the site this time, because they were ready for us when we pulled up. We did the standard 7 point turn into the site, and this time turned left to the next intersection where we drove by, and then backed down that road to the crane.  I with I could have had my drone (Dukie) in the air to video that turn, though. They thought their 30′ wide roads were huge – and they are – for cars, but we warned them, and I had to back over the curb, and at least 15 ‘ into the dirt in order to make it around that turn. Then, they had equipment strewn all down the side of the road, so those outside trailer rails were floating over the curb on the passenger side. We got up to the crane, took the chains off, and then stood around as the crew did their thing. The HP guy walked up to me while I was taking one of the chains off, and said quietly in my ear. “Dave, all that steering you did today was awesome. Awesome job!” I thanked him. I think I’m getting the hang of it now.

It takes a while to get everything done in such a tight space, and the sun was hot (it always is!!) and it was humid and in the high 80’s so I began to get weak, light headed, and felt sick. Eddie realized it, so told me to come sit in his truck in the AC since my van was still back at the entrance. That, and three cups of water revived me within about 40 minutes. While doing this kind of work outside in the sun, I’d be happy if the temp never got over 55! At least it was windy today!

We were unloaded, pulled ahead, and shrunk back down to 12 feet wide. Then Eddie and I met with the Project Manager and Crane Supervisor so we could walk around and look at some locations where larger equipment will be trucked in and unloaded – in smaller areas! We all wanted to know what prep needs to be done to get our trucks in and be able to unload.

We left the site at about 2, and headed north. We made it around Des Moines early, so headed for the MN line, and crossed over before we stopped at Albert Lea MN. I decided to get a hotel so I could take a cold shower tonight and a hot one in the morning. Plus, I wasn’t sure what these clouds were going to bring overnight!

We pulled in to the closed weigh station because it was so late, and we could see there was no room for us at the truck stop. It was about 6:40 when we parked, and I shot this next picture as we passed back by to go to the hotel.

I was exhausted, and can hardly wait for winter!! Eddie and I decided to drive the 10 miles to Applebees so we could both get a steak dinner! They serve a really nice Ribeye there, and it didn’t disappoint. We were back at the hotel before 10, and I took my shower, and was in bed by 10:30. Alarm set for 4 AM.

Thursday, July 15, 2021

It was a good, but short night, and the rain passed us by, but there was a storm event not far away. Not a tornado or hurricane, but something significant I was told. We were on the road by 7 so we would hit the Minneapolis curfew area after 9, and were back at the yard before 10:30 AM. We pulled the truck and trailer off to the side when we arrived. Over the next few days, the 25′ section will be taken out and replaced with our regular 15′ section, making us just 154′ long again. That will make all the tight stuff not so tight!!

I parked my van, plugged it in, made out my invoice, sent it in, and then went out to help Eddie begin the process of taking the trailer apart. At 2 PM I got a call from the office. “Dave, can you help us out? We have a driver about an hour away who just finished loading, and his load is 12 inches taller than they told him it was. So now he needs a High Pole.” I LOVE the rescue missions! I LOVE flying in to save the day!! LOL

So I picked up my tools, folded my van back to travel mode, unplugged, and was on my way! I got to this driver at 3:30, we discussed the route, I put it into my system, set up my poles, signs, and flags, and off we went by 3:50. He just needed to get to the delivery site and park before sunset, and it was only abut 100 miles away. Several bridges were a tight fit, and he had a 12 foot overhang, so on the last left turn at the lights, I got behind him, and blocked the right lane. No one likes it when I do that, but when he turned, and the back end swung out 15″ into that right lane, I know I saved the side of 2 or 3 vehicles that would have been there. “Thanks for the horn and the finger, people, oh, and you’re welcome for saving your vehicle!!”

I got him to the site and parked by 6.

And in this picture, you can see the overhang.

I was headed back to the yard, when the driver I had agreed to steer for tomorrow called me.. “I don’t need an escort out to the load site, so you can just meet me there in the morning to load at 7” Oh, it is another wind tower, so when the trailer is shrunk up, it doesn’t need escorts. So I stopped for some supper at my favorite hamburger place (Culver’s) on the way, and drove 174 miles to a small gas station in Hendricks MN which was about 4 miles from the load site, and slept there in my van.

Friday, July 15, 2021

I was up at 5 when the gas station opened its doors, used the bathroom, and was on my way to the load site. I was there at 5:50 for the 7 AM load schedule – just the way I like it! I assumed we needed to prep the trailer before we could load. I assumed wrong. No one else showed up until about 7. LOL

There are three pieces to each tower, so there were three of our trucks there, and two cranes. One to pick up each end of the tubes. You can see that the prep for loading needs help from the cranes by looking at this next picture. This trailer is designed to stack up when it’s empty, so he is legal length and width and does not need any Pilot Cars.

The crane needs to lift the sections off so he can stretch it out and load. When loaded, he looks like this.

I was busy helping all three trucks get loaded, so could not tale pictures. As usual, wind projects are always in a farmer’s field. It was a field of beans this time. This entire windmill was delivered to the wrong site a year ago, and has been sitting there in the field in pieces since then. Now the correct location is finally able to squeeze it into their schedule, and take delivery on it. The blades, rotor, and nacelle (generator) have already been moved.

Have you ever wondered what was inside those towers? Well, here it is. . . . .

Just a set of stairs for the maintenance guy to climb up to get to the nacelle!

We were on the road just after 1 PM with all three trucks, and took them just about 75 miles to the correct site. The first truck went right on in at 3 PM to get unloaded, but they didn’t want the other two at the site until they could go right under the crane. So, we had to sit on the off ramp and wait.

And wait. . . .  The second one went in at about 4:30, and they finally called us in at 5:45. Here is a picture of us waiting on the pad as the crane finished setting up to unload us.

We got unloaded, reconfigured, put everything away, and were ready to roll by 7:15. Since my driver no longer needed a Pilot Car, he went with that second driver to a hotel because they were out of legal drive time in their logs. I chose to drive back to the shop, which I knew was over 220 miles away. I stopped at a truck stop and took a shower, and got back at midnight. Deadheading until late, getting up early to load, steer, and unload in the same 13 hour day, and then deadhead 4 hours back is not my cup of tea!! I was exhausted!

Sunday, July 18, 2021

Another Sunday off! Two in a row!! I went back to my Minnesota home church, and found out that their annual church pot-lunch picnic was this afternoon!! I met my friends Denny and Karen there who told me they were bringing more than enough to cover for me, so not to worry about a thing. I went back after church, did some laundry, caught up on some more blogging, and went over to the park.

There were a lot of people there, and

I had a great time, had some great food, enjoyed all the fruit salads, and met some great people!

Monday, July 19, 2021

I had an appointment at 8 AM to have my transmission serviced for regular maintenance in the big city, so left at 7. As it turns out, on my van it takes 6 hours to remove part of the frame to expose the cover of the transmission so the filter can be changed. Oh well, it needs to be done, so what will that cost? But that isn’t the problem. They told me that on these vans, many times the bolts in the frame are destroyed when they are taken off, and Ford has a national backorder on the parts! So very glad they were up front an honest, or I could have had my van (my home!) left in pieces outside their shop for a few weeks or months!! So I will have it done at a dealer when I find one with the parts in stock. I have found Ford dealerships to be the most dishonest, highest priced, and worst service of any mechanics I have dealt with while on the road, so it concerns me to even go to one.

My driver was putting our trailer back together when I arrived back at the shop, but had two helping him, so didn’t need my help. So I spent the rest of the day plugged in doing financial updates like entering receipts and recording deposits, and also spent several hours catching up on these blogs. I also planned out how to best utilize the space that once occupied my AC and heat system before I got the roof system.

I tried something new for supper. I made a pink salmon pizza!! It was very good, too!

Tomorrow we leave for Fall River, WI to load another generator to take out near Albuquerque, New Mexico.