July 20 – 30, 2021

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Our goal was to prep and leave mid-morning. That has always been the goal, but I have done more than a dozen of these, and it has never happened. Something always delays us, so we have always left after 1 PM. It is a 6 hour drive, which leaves us stretching the trailer in the dark.

But this time it worked! Both drivers and trucks were ready, and the other steerman arrived on time at 9, so we pulled out right away. It was a comfortable drive to the site, where we arrived at about 3:30. We had both trailers stretched out, and were told that the first one should be ready to pull in and load at 5:30 AM. I booked the night at the county campground on the nearby lake, had supper with the team, and drove out for the night.

Wednesday, July 21, 2021

I was up at 3:30, packed up, took a shower on my way out, picked up Eddie before 5, stopped at the gas station to top off, and arrived at the site by 5:05. Both drivers and steermen were there and ready by 5:30, but we still didn’t know who was to load first. In order for the paperwork to match, the other truck loaded first. We helped them, and then they helped us.

First we lay out three bottom tarps, then the piece is loaded

Then we pull all those bottom tarps up tight and secure them. Next, we cover it all with layers of thick felt to protect the top tarps from the sharp corners.

Once we have 2 to 3 layers of felt over everything, we can lay the huge tarp that covers the generator. We add to that the small tarps to cover the DEF tank in the back, and the air compressor in front.  All the tarps are secured with literally hundreds of bungee cords.

Lastly, we cut through those bottom tarps on the sides exactly where the securement lugs are, and tie them down with chains.  We are then ready to pull outside.

All that takes at least 6-7 hours with four of us working steadily with no breaks. We finished our trailer at supper time. A solid 14 hour day, where my watch says I walked almost 12,000 steps. I think that’s over 5 miles. Long before noon we realized that there was no way we were going to travel anywhere today, so told our High Poles to just get a room and meet us in the morning. This created a scheduling problem, as the office had forgotten how involved loading would be. So now we needed to make the 5 day trip in just 4 days! We were all soaked, tired, and filthy from the day, so all went right to their rooms for showers.

I booked the campsite again, so took a shower on my way in.

I got the same site, made a cheese pizza, and went to bed at 9:00 PM after setting my alarm for 3 AM.

Thursday, July 22, 2021

It was another early getaway from the campground, and I met the others at the hotel. Eddie rode with me as I topped off again, and he went inside for some snacks.  We all arrived at the site, did our pre-trip checks, the High Poles set their poles up, and we were ready to pull out just after 5 AM.

We were the lead truck as we had several turns to manually steer, and at least 5 RR tracks to tower for, driving all back roads through small towns until the last 30 miles of the day. My watch says I walked 3,700 steps just getting out to turn the pony motor on and off for towering, and also for steering the turns. We surprised ourselves and made it 468 miles to park in a rest area in Avoca IA.

After we all did our post-trip checks, and left to go to the Motel 6, we saw three wind blades pull in behind us! We were so glad we got there first, because had they beat us, we would not have had room to get in. They are long, but skinny, so can fit in around us. I shot this picture as we passed back by going to the hotel.

We had supper together, and I was up to my room just after 9, set my alarm for 4 AM, and went to bed.

Friday, July 23, 2021

We were all at the trucks by 5:15 and left at about 6. We were able to squeeze out around the wind blades and other trucks that were parked there, and had highway just until we got around Omaha to Council Bluffs.

Then we were back on the small roads again. Once again, we had several RR tracks to raise for. In addition, we also have to raise up just for humps in the road that you would never notice in a car. That includes intersections, which are difficult, because when we raise up, we could possibly hit the traffic lights.

Once again, we made excellent time, considering the route we had. We drove 436 miles to Great Bend Kansas, after driving through the rest of IA, through NE, OK, and into Kansas. Because of our tight schedule, the office is helping us get the most out of each day. So today they called the Peterbuilt dealer in this town to asked if we could park our trucks in their huge lot, which we did.

We checked into a hotel, had supper, and I went right to bed as soon as I walked in my hotel room at 9:30.

Saturday, July 24, 2021

I was up at 4:30, took 10 minutes to eat some sausage and eggs at the hotel, and stopped for fuel as Eddie went in for his usual snacks. I think the hotels have found a way to survive the government lockdowns. They are happy not to serve breakfast any more, saying they have no choice, which saves them some money. Some just serve the carbs and sugar, and some serve none at all, which is the same to me! But then they greatly increased their prices! In many cases, we are paying double what we paid at the same hotel just a year ago! So it was rare to find that this one still serves breakfast.

The push was on! We need to make it well into Texas before the day ends today, because the HP and Steerman for the other truck both need to go get their NM certification renewed before they can enter the state. That can only be done at a NM Port of Entry when the right officer is on duty, The office is calling ahead to find out if that can be done tomorrow morning. With it being a Sunday, we don’t know if they can do it at the Port about an hour from where we can park on our route and wait, or if they will have to drive a 4 hour round trip to get it done. Neither the driver’s duty clock, or sunset will wait for them as they go do that, and we HAVE to be onsite by sunset Sunday so they will unload us on schedule Monday morning. Well, we drove 460 miles, and made it just outside of Amarillo! That was excellent, and kept us on schedule!

Meanwhile, Annalou felt that after her visit with her family in Arkansas, and stopping to see Peggi and Norm Pinola in Burmingham, she should check on the RV before visiting my Dad and Sara in Florida. She drove back to the RV yesterday, and all was well, so left this morning for Florida, arriving there at suppertime. She finds that my Dad is not feeling well, is not eating or drinking much at all.

Sunday, July 25, 2021

After about a 6 hour night, we were off again at daybreak. Our hopes were still alive, as the office notified us that the NM officer at the closest Port would be available to certify our two cars just before noon today. Once again, the push was on!

At one point, we had to make an incredible hairpin left turn off a ramp. There was guardrail on the left side of the ramp, and posts on the right side at the asphalt/gravel line. We had to turn onto a two lane road with no shoulders, with guardrail on both sides. Not possible, even if I steer him.  See, every time we make a left turn, whether we auto or manually steer, the driver runs off into the grass on the right before the turn, and off into the grass on the outside of the turn, so that the trailer will self steer far enough, or so that I can steer it also in the grass before the turn, and hope to make it around. On this one, the only place where there was any room was on the right before the turn. My driver was already at the stop sign, but the other steerman and I took a look at the situation, and knew we had only one hope of making this one, since we could not lift the load high enough to ride over the guardrail. As I got ready to steer, he pulled the posts out that were put there to keep trucks from parking there overnight. After he pulled the first three, I was able to steer my dolly way out onto the gravel shoulder to let the inside clear that guardrail. Whew! That was a close one. Within a half mile, we had a right and left turn to steer, that had me steering for about half a mile between turns in order to save time as traffic built up.

Well, we made it to the New Mexico line at about 11:30, which gave our two cars enough time to get to the Port for certification just after noon. We just puled off on the side of the road and waited there. They were both back by 1 PM, and we pulled right out, and entered NM.

I have done this route enough times, and am familiar with it. It seems to be all up hill to Albuquerque, and then levels off as we turn south toward Los Lunas. When we approached the opposing figures, I had several trucks passing, so just got a quick shot off in between them.

We arrived on site in the middle of the afternoon, parked the trucks on site in front of our two housing tops on their trailers, and checked in to the local hotel. That’s excellent when you consider that we waited several hours for the Pilot Cars to go get certified.

I was the last to try and book a room, so once again, found there were no more rooms, and stayed at another one down the street.

I called Annalou, and she is concerned about my Dad, He was not feeling well, so did not go to church this morning. For us Jehle’s, that means he is not feeling well at all! Believe me, if church had been available to me this morning, I’d have been there, too!

Monday, July 26, 2021

We were up early, and I was the first one there at the site.

I began to remove bungie cords from the tarps, and the others showed up within 10 minutes. Soon we were in full swing pulling tarps and felt off both trailers. The drivers of the trucks pulling the housing tops also joined in to help us. Just about the time we got the tarps and felt off, folded them all, put them into piles, and bundled all the bungies, they came and told us they were ready for us to pull under the crane. We were to unload second, but would pull in together. I steered him past the next guard shack with about 10″ to spare on each side, around a tight corner, and down the site roads near the crane at the new building.

You can see that second crane lifting the first load in the picture below,

Once they finished with theirs, we pulled up to that spot, and they unloaded us.

As we pulled away, I took this shot of just one of several solar farms they have built there as alternate power supplies.

We pulled back out to the lot where we were this morning, after steering one of the turns to avoid a curb and light pole. There we shrank the trailers back down to 12′ wide as the the housing tops were unloaded. When they returned, we all worked together to load their empty flatbed trucks with the tarps, felt, and bungies. We all pulled out together, but the two empty legal size trucks left us in the dust! We made it 141 miles to Santa Rosa NM, where we parked in a truck stop for the night.

Actually, we will be here two nights because after the last week we had, both drivers are now required to take 34 continuous hours off without moving.  I checked in to a hotel there with the both drivers and the other steerman, and we had supper together across the street.

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

I was up in time to make breakfast and have my van at the shop across the street by 9 AM for my scheduled oil change.  I bring my own oil and filter with me, because I use what I consider the best oil on the market, in order to get the most I can out of my van.  I order the oil and filter from Albuquerque and it gets shipped free in 2 days, wherever I want it. It’s now time for me to order my next box and have it shipped somewhere so that I will have it in a few weeks when I have traveled another 10,000 miles. I got caught up on invoices, receipts, and made a few calls today.

Wednesday, July 28, 2021

We were off just after sunrise to make hay while the sun was shining!! It was a simple and easy day, being shrunk to just 12′ wide and empty. We stopped just once for fuel and restrooms along the side of the road.

And made it 519 miles through the wind farms

to Great Bend KS and parked in the Peterbuilt yard again. I went to the hotel with the crew, as it was almost 100° again!

We all had supper together, and went right to bed.

Thursday, July 29, 2021

Another early morning, trying to get as close as we can to the shop so we can get in early tomorrow.

We are two of 6 trucks scheduled to arrive back at the shop tomorrow, and want to get there and be first in line to have the trailer serviced, so we will be ready for the next trip on time. I will probably go back out with another driver, because Eddie is not scheduled to leave for his next load until a week from today.

We made it to Clear Lake, IA just before the MN line, after 554 miles!

Friday, July 30, 2021

We knew we had about half a day of driving, so left early enough so we would arrive back at the shop first, before noon.

You can see in that picture the haze from the Canada fires. You can even smell the smoke because it is so thick. It was also a bit rainy, but we were back to the shop as planned, after 183 miles. We parked the truck, and I steered it back where we could disassemble it for it’s scheduled maintenance. We loosened it at the front neck, and pulled the trailer apart into two pieces, and he disconnected his truck.

I went in to the office after washing my van in the wash bay, and found that I will be sitting here until Wednesday when I will leave to load in WI and take that to NM, then go to SD to load and take that to OH.