January 4 – 9, 2021

First, I wanted to back up and show you a couple of pictures I forgot to post in the last blog. Check out the 13 axle trailers buried in the snow across the street from my hotel room.

And my Alfredo chicken legs in the Instant Pot.

And, my pork loin steak.

And an onion and double cheese pizza

All cooked in my hotel room last weekend.

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

It went like clockwork! We met before 8, checked the trailer over, started the pony motor, and were ready to roll in just a few minutes. Of course, a lot of that is because my driver came in over the last weekend and prepped the trailer. He was not the last one to use this trailer, so needed to know it had everything we need, like wood blocking, a gas can for the pony motor, flags, and no flat tires.

It was a pleasant day, after the 23 below zero on New Years Day! It was way up to 9 above, but pretty windy. We got about 5 miles down the road, and his truck stalled, and would not start. We were able to pull off on a skinny shoulder, and he called for help after checking the fuel filter to see if the diesel jelled in the cold weather.

So I got out, as the law requires, and directed traffic from behind us. I wanted them to slow down and also push over to give us a little room. It took an hour for a guy from the company shop to come out, find the problem, and bleed the air out of the diesel lines. I got a bit chilly in the cold wind, and was soooo glad to get back in my warm van.  I had dressed for a 6 hour drive, not for an hour out in the cold with a wind chill of near zero!

We had no other problems, and had mostly highway because we are empty, which makes us only 12′ wide, 104′ long, and less than 100,000 lbs. We also could make good speed. There was plenty of snow on the grass, but very little on the roads, so we could travel at the speed limit.

But that changed in Wisconsin. There was snow on the roads, so when we got to the small two way roads, we had to be a little more careful.

We pulled up to the plant before dark, expanded the trailer. By then, it was a windy 5* and of course, the trailer was frozen and full of road sand, so it took almost 2 hours for us to get it out to 16 feet wide. In the summer, we have done that in 25 minutes! Then we parked it for the night. We will load at 7 in the morning, and leave before noon. That’s a little later than usual, (normally we load here at 5 AM) but we hope to make up the time. My driver stayed there in his truck for the night, and I went for the local hotel.

Wednesday, January 5, 2022

We were there early, and so was the driver of the other truck that will carry the generator. I steered him in the building, and we loaded out top shell in no time.

So then we went over to the other side of the building to help the other driver load the generator.

We parked both loads outside,

and were told by our office that due to the 30-40 mph winds expected all day, we were not to travel today. We are both so big, and catch so much wind, that with some roads still white, we could slide a bit, and we have little or no room to spare on those small roads because we are both 16′ wide.

My driver also told me that we have a section of I-64 on our route in VA that is a toll road. No big deal, but we are not allowed to travel on it on Saturdays and Sundays, so we will have to stop in Grayson KY for the weekend, and wait. Oh, I thought, that will be nice. I have been to a church there 5-6 times that has a great Pastor, and I’d love to go to church and hear him again. Oh, wait. . . . how far is that from Annalou? Ahhhhh, just 5 hours! I sent Annalou  a text message. . . “If you could drive 5 hours each way to spend the weekend with me, would you do it?” I smiled when I got the response right back “Absolutely!” It’s a date, then!!

I checked back in to the same room I had at the hotel last night. I missed my drone, because I could have taken some cool shots this evening. But after trying everything possible, like re-calibrating the drone to the controller, re-calibrating the control sticks, re-installing the software for the drone and the controller, I took it up in my hotel room, and still can not make it go forward without also gaining altitude, and it will also still not go sideways. I finally found another person reporting my same problem on a forum, and the expert told him just to return it. I don’t look forward to finding a store with my drone in stock, packing it all back up, and asking them to exchange it, but I guess that’s what I need to do.

My driver sent me a text later on, and I took him to a nice restaurant he wanted to try in the next town. They serve huge burgers there!

How does one even eat that thing? Their special was all-you-can-eat chicken wings for just $12, so we both got that. It was snowing as we made our way back in the dark, including some hills that I had a hard time making it up in my rear wheel drive van. But you know me – always anxious to tackle a good challenge!!

Thursday, January 6, 2022

It was worth the wait! The roads had been cleared of last night’s snow, and winds were down to about 10 mph.

They have had some snow recently here in Wisconsin, and it was a pretty ride down through Madison, into Illinois.

We made it as planned, to Remington KY on almost all small roads, with a little time to spare before sunset. It was a 344 mile day. These days, I go through an entire gallon of washer fluid each day behind the big truck, so when I fill up with fuel, I also fill the fluid tank. I always carry an extra gallon, just in case. When I got to my hotel, I checked, but there was not a Best Buy within a reasonable distance of me, so tonight is not the night to make that exchange. I badly need a car wash for my van, too. But there was not one anywhere close. See, I need one with an extra tall overhead door, or I bend my radio antennas, or worse, will hit the roof with my sign. Sometimes I just go to a truck wash, but there are none of those around here, either.

Since we are still on schedule, I let Annalou know we should be in /Grayson by 4PM tomorrow, but we will wait until I get on thee road, and make sure there are no issues, because there was a big snow storm in that area today, and we need to know it is all cleaned up, because if not, we will have to stop short somewhere.

Friday, January 7, 2022

You can see that if the back end of the trailer is this full of road salt and sand, why I go through so much windshield washer fluid! You should see what my radiator looks like!

I cleaned off his lights in back, so he won’t get a ticket if he has to go through a weigh station today.

I called Annalou once we got on the road, and told her that as of 6 AM, there were a lot of highway closings on our route because of the snow. But it looks as if cleanup is progressing, so we decided for her to come on. In situations like this, we send each other a way to track our progress. So I can glance at my phone in it’s holder, and see her red dot getting closer to my blue dot. We can see each other’s location and speed as well. Our load traveled some small roads today, weaving our way into Kentucky, and then all highway eastward across to Grayson. Annalou called tov  tell me she had just checked in, just as we were getting off the exit to stop and park at the little truck stop there! Great timing!

He filled with fuel, and then I steered the back end as he backed around the corner and into the gravel lot for the weekend.

He does not want to disconnect because there is a lot of snow around, and it is supposed to got up to 40* this weekend. If everything melts, it could get soft, making the landing gear sink into the dirt. If it does, he will not be able to get his tractor back under it to connect on Monday, and we would have to hire a wrecker to come lift it up. So Annalou and I already agreed to meet him back at the truck at 5 so we could take him to a nice BBQ joint.

However, when we got there to the restaurant, there was a paper sign on the door saying it was closed due to the weather! I guess they are not used to 7″ of snow here!! So we went to an Italian restaurant down the street. Annalou has worked with this driver many times, so we all knew each other.

Saturday and Sunday, January 8-9, 2022

Annalou and I had already decided that this would not be one of those site seeing weekends. Most everything is closed due to the recent weather, and we just wanted to visit, look at recent property listings, strategize and plan ahead. So we stayed in all day Saturday. I also made some calls, recorded receipts and invoices, and worked on this blog. We did, however, go back and pick up my driver, and take him to that BBQ restaurant that all three of us were looking forward to last night. Annalou and I actually discovered this restaurant on one of our overnights here several years ago, and now all the drivers look forward to it any time they stop here.

Sunday we went to church together. This was the first time Annalou had been to this one, but the Pastor recognized me. I’m one of those rare birds who arrives at the Sunday Men’s class 20 minutes early, and talks to the Pastor before he starts the class. Annalou is not like me in that regard, and didn’t want to just show up at the Women’s class, so we just came to the regular service. It was a wonderful worship service, a great message about getting spiritually ready for what is coming. We all know that in the End Times, it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better for the Saints! And it all is approaching us soooo fast!

Annalou did laundry for us, and I took my new drone up for another test fight,

because I had made some changes after reading a few posts on the forum. But nothing much had changed. I was able to fly it in a little circle in two of the three modes, but it still isn’t right, so I guess the last resort now is to just find another store, and return this for another new one.

Later, I pre-packed my van as much as I could. She brought me some more of her excellent Keto granola, Keto Broccoli/Cheddar soup, and Keto Cheddar biscuits. Woohoo!!! What a great wife I have!! I am so blessed! We ate all our meals in the room today, and still have plenty of leftovers for me to take with me!

Tomorrow, I need to be at the truck by 6 AM, and Annalou will leave shortly after I do to head back to her home in NC.