October 21 – 29, 2021

Thursday, October 21, 2021

Just as we planned, I met Eddie at his truck there in the yard at about 7 AM.

As we went into the shop, I noticed this shipping container that they have cut up.

They will connect it to a companion trailer, weld it together, and have a storage building outside. Pretty cool idea, and made ne think once again it that might be the way for me to build our tiny house..  .

We did some odds and ends, and were ready ahead of schedule, so left by about 8:30. That is the earliest I have ever left the yard for Wisconsin! Usually we get stalled for some reason and leave just before or after lunch. Of course, with the days getting so short, we need to leave earlier, because it is a 6 hour trip, and we need to be off the road by sunset. Then, we need to stretch out the trailer, which takes twice as long in the dark.

It’s nice to see the leaves changing color up here!

So we pulled in to the loading site mid afternoon, and stretched the trailer out in no time!. It was a 368 mile trip. Two of our trucks loaded today,, and will be leaving at sunrise tomorrow. But we are on our own this time, with no companion truck. That means Eddie and I will have to load alone tomorrow. That is usually a 5 hour job with 4 to 6 men. I’m not looking forward to loading with just the two of us!

We went inside to look and see if they would be ready for us to load right at 5 AM. We were told it would not be at 5, but were not sure exactly when. These generators are so huge, that the wiring fascinates me. Those are some huge wires!

I decided to stay at the hotel after having supper with Eddie and the driver of our top enclosure at the local restaurant.

Friday, October 22, 2021

Since he had driven his Bobtail to the hotel last night, Eddie told me to sleep in a little, and he would go over to the site at 6 and see when we might load. He called me at 8:30, and said to come on over. So I was checked out, and arrived there by 9. I backed him right in to load.

It was an all day event! Fortunately, our guy that was hauling our top enclosure was very willing to help us, and the plant lent us a guy to help us lay out the bottom tarps. But it ook us all day, and we were exhausted by the time we were finally finished! I bet I climbed on and off that trailer 150 times!

Eddie drove with me in my van to the restaurant, and on to the hotel.

Saturday, October 23, 2021

Our HP met us at the truck before the sun was up, so we could drive out as soon as the sun came up. We did, and were on our way by about 7 AM. It was much different as a single truck. There is a lot less talk on the radio, and a lot less traffic to deal with. When we have two or three trucks, someone has to hold the traffic a lot longer as we all navigate intersections and round-abouts.

We drove almost 450 miles, stopping just once for Pilot Car fuel, and a rest stop. Our HP gal in front can travel just about 400 miles before she needs fuel. I can usually drive 500 or 600 miles, depending on whether I have to put my top sign up or not. So we usually drive about 6 hours before our first stop for fuel/bathrooms, and then finish the 10 – 11 hour driving day from that point.

We parked in an abandoned lot off of a small road that services only a hotel in Atlantic IA. Eddie went to get fuel.

I dropped Eddie at that hotel after supper at a Mexican restaurant in town, and I parked next to the truck and slept in my van. It rained all night.

Sunday, October 24, 2021

I got up, had breakfast in my van, and drove over to the hotel to pick Eddie up because it was still raining. Once he got to the truck, started it up, and put his bag inside, we drove to the truck stop so he cold fill his thermos with coffee.

We pulled out before dawn, and were off and running as the sun came up. We drove about 450 miles to Great Bend, KS with one fuel/rest stop, and arrived just as the sun was setting. We have parked in this Peterbuilt lot several times before.

The HP left to go check in, but Eddie had to go fuel up, so we disconnected the trailer, and off he went. Meanwhile, I filled the pony motor with what was left in the gas can, tightened bungee straps, checked the chains and straps, took that last picture, and called Annalou before he came back. Oh, speaking of that. . . I don’t tell you every time we communicate, and don’t want you to think it’s only when I mention it here! LOL Trust me, we talk several times a day.

It was 8:30 when I brought Eddie to the hotel, and we grabbed fast food on the way. I seldom eat fast food any more, but was very hungry after a long day, and my alarm will be going off in about 9 hours. We checked into our rooms, and I went right to bed, so I’d get a little over 8 hours of sleep.

Monday, October 25, 2021

We left the hotel at about 6 AM, and got the truck started and warming up before our HP arrived. We pulled out right as the sun was starting to appear, and were on our way! We finished our run through Kansas, and our short trip through Oklahoma, and were in Texas by early afternoon.

It is cotton season, and I did not realize how much of it was grown in Texas. I got this quick shot of a small combine harvesting as we drove by,

and this picture of a truck loaded with bales of cotton,

and this picture of a field about to be harvested.

We pushed hard, trying to meet our deadline to unload, drove 526 miles to the very small town of Matador, TX, getting there at sunset.

We parked the truck in a gravel lot next to a gas station, and the HP and Eddie walked across the street to get rooms at the little hotel. I had called ahead, and found that there was a small RV Park down the street, so drove less than 2 miles, parked, plugged in, and left my $20 in the envelope I put in the payment slot. It was well after dark, and this town was closed down! There were no restaurants open, and no fast food places either. I don’t know what the others did, but I made a sausage pizza, and went to bed.

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

We need to get to the site today, so they can unload us tomorrow. We have not heard from the site, but the office tells us that they think the schedule has not changed.

So I left the campground in the dark, and we pullled out again just as the sun was coming up. I shot this picture just as it popped up behind us and reflected off the truck.

We passed more cotton fields,

with another combine harvesting the cotton.

and entered New Mexico in the early afternoon. Eddie decided it would be faster if we parked in a closed weigh station, left the trailer there, and he Bobtailed to the truck stop for fuel. So that is what we did, and all left for our fuel/rest stop. I shot this picture as we came back.

We passed what I call “The two neighbors” about an hour later,

and then it began to rain.

We arrived at the site at about 4 PM, so made very good time! But the site guy told us the plan was to unload the other two of our trucks tomorrow, but not us. We are to unload Thursday! Oh well, another hurry up and wait scenario! That is the story of our lives out here!

The other two went to get a hotel, but I just could not bring myself to pay $120 a night for the next two nights, so had supper with them, but drove to the truck stop 12 miles away, and slept in my van. It is getting nice and cool at night, so is very comfortable in my van without electric. This is my favorite time of the year for that! FINALLY finished with the intense heat of summer! Tonight it will get down to 43° and that is just perfect!

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

I was up at 4:30, got a shower, had breakfast, and was the first at the site at 6:30 to help the other two trucks unload. The others arrived just a few minutes later, and we began to remove 100’s of bungees off of the two trucks. Both drivers were wise, however, and because it seemed a bit windy, asked us not to remove them all, in case we can not unload today. We went back to our vehicles, because a windy, damp 43° can seem a bit chilly in the desert!

Sure enough, at 8:00 the guy came by and said the crane operator called the day off because he already had wind gusts over 25 mph, and the forcast was for up to 45 mph as the day progressed. So. . . .another day to wait!

I drove to a grocery store, got some things I needed, and drove back to he truck stop where I spent the afternoon in my van

finishing up the last 75% of my Colorado re-certification course – and PASSED with a score of 100%. I made another sausage pizza for supper,

and slept there in my van again. We have hopes of still getting unloaded tomorrow after the other two trucks. If so, we will still be on schedule to load our next one in Batavia OH early next week.

Thursday, October 28, 2021

Once again, I was up at 4:30, got my shower, breakfast, and was the first to arrive at 6:30 at the site. The others were right behind me, and we could see that the wind was much less. It still felt chilly, as it was just 36°. Today we didn’t wait, we dug right in, and removed the rest of the bungees with flashlights, and had the tarps and felt off both trailers, and folded as the sun came up.

They called the first truck in before 9, and as the second one went in, the first was back empty. So we removed the bottom tarps, folded them, and shrunk the trailer up. The truck that carried the enclosure was also empty by then, so we all loaded all the tarps, felt, and structural steel onto his flat bed, and he left.  The big truck waited until that second truck got back empty, and we all did the same for that one. Once we had that all finished,

they all left except for Eddie and I and our enclosure truck. BUT, there was not enough time left to unload us. They needed to move the crane, which takes several hours, so won’t be ready for us until morning.

Eddie and I left at 3 PM. He went back to the hotel, and I found a small public park with shade (because it was now sunny, and about 78*!) and worked on finances in my van until Eddie let me know when he and our enclosure driver were having supper. I met them at the Buffalo Wild Wings, had supper, and went back to the truck stop in the dark.

Friday, October 29, 2021

Let’s try this again! Up at 4:30, shower, breakfast, and to the site by 6:30. This time, Eddie was right behind me. We wasted no time getting the bungees off, and removed the tarps once our enclosure driver arrived to help us. It’s a LOT of work pulling the 3 large tarps off, and 9 large felt “tarps” the same size with just 3 guys! We folded them, and stacked them in a pile. They were ready for us by 8, so we drove over, and got unloaded. I steered him out, made a U-turn, and drove back to our same spot just as our enclosure guy was diving under the crane.

Eddie and I pulled the 3 bottom tarps out (which is a LOT of work for just two guys!) and our 3rd guy helped us fold and stack them when he got finished unloading. The three of us then loaded them all on his flat bed, along with the structural steel, and he left.

We were not far behind, as we just had to shrink the trailer back to 12 feet wide before we could leave. Our HP met us as we pulled out of the site, only she did not need a HP, so was now just our lead car.

On The Road Again!

We made it 275 miles and stopped in the small town of Vega, Texas, where we parked in a small truck stop with a gravel lot.

So think about this for a minute. . . . .

That site in Los Lunas NM just finished their first phase. Six buildings to fill with computers just to store data. Money is no object at these sites! They have three sources of power for the computers and the huge refrigeration systems that cool them, in case the grid goes down. One source is these generators.

Each generator is fully enclosed, produces 3,000 KW, sits on its own 7,000 gallon fuel tank, and costs about $2 Million each, delivered. We just delivered the 105th generator to that site. Can you imagine the billions it cost to build that site? AND, they have already begun the next of 3 more phases there. AND the plan is to have one of these in every state. AND, that is just Facebook. Microsoft and Google have the same thing going on! There HAS to be more going on with this, and even though these companies are big, we are talking about billions and billions in very fast growth! I think the government is involved. After all, the government has a vested interest in knowing everything we purchase, every email we send and receive, everything we like, dislike, comment on, and what upsets us – because they want control over us.

Oh, the site guy told me that building 1 has 10 foot thick walls, and is to be used by the US Department of Defense. So I WAS right. The government IS involved!!

Just think about that for a minute. . . .