November 3 – 10, 2021

Wednesday, November 3, 2021

It was great! Just like clockwork!

We were up and off early, drove 219 miles in to Batavia, and parked on the side of that road at the dead end before noon. We stretched it out to 15’6″ in no time, and then waited for 5:30. Just the way we like it. We would much rather arrive early and wait, than be in a hurry to arrive on time!

With so much time on my hands, I drove to town to do some grocery shopping. I went to Sam’s Club to get the basics. Before I left, I ordered a Five Berry Sundie in memory of my wonderful friend, Ron Brandes. It was his favorite, partly I think because it is the best value around at about less that $2. Ron passed away suddenly just as I was getting into this business. He would be so happy to see the progress I have made. This is the most I have ever made, the most enjoyable job I have ever had, and I feel the most appreciated by those I work with. Ron always believed I would find that, but I had a lot of doubts. I wish he could be here to hear my stories! I really miss him, and will always remember the wonderful times we spent together as families.

At about 5 we took the truck over and I backed it up beside their plant. Meanwhile, the other truck arrived just after we pulled out of the parking spot. They stretched out their trailer as we went over and parked.

Eddie rode with me as we all went to the hotel that gives everyone from our company a significant discount. Tomorrow we load and leave, and that second truck will load after we leave. They will catch up to us within a day or so, and we will travel together.

Thursday, November 4, 2021

Once again, it went like clockwork! They were ready for us to pull across the street at about daylight. They pulled the crane up to the front, and I backed him under the crane, with about 5″ of clearance on each side. They set the generator on as our HP gal arrived, we chained it down as our trooper arrived, and we all left late morning.

There was only about 25 miles to travel in OH before we hit the KY state line. For those 25 miles we had to have that one trooper, because we crossed 2 bridges on the highway that we had to cross by ourselves. The permit tells us the bridge number, the road it is on, and the mile marker. The trooper is required so that I don’t get ignored and run over as I try to hold the traffic back myself on two lanes and a shoulder. Right away, we found that the mile markers were way off. We were to cross the two bridges at mile marker 38 and 39. However, the mile markers were in the 70’s. So, we didn’t know where the bridges were located, what roads or RR they crossed, and the bridge numbers are not on the bridges. So the biggest help the trooper gave us was to drive up next to me in the left lane, roll his window down, and tell me which ones they were.

Once we crossed into Kentucky, the trooper dropped off, and we were on our own. We made it right back to the Horse Cave rest area, and stayed in the same hotel we were in the night before last.

This was one of the more difficult days for me. Today was Annalou’s birthday. She is the best friend I have ever had, the mother of my children, and every day I have lived with her has been a wonderful day – no matter the circumstances. Yes, I called and texted her several times, but wanted so much to just do something special with her! I have lost count, but I think it has been almost 3 months since I have seen her, and am looking forward to seeing her sometime soon. I miss my entire family, too!

Friday, November 5, 2021

The other truck wound up catching up to us last night. We got parked well before dusk, but they arrived at dark, and all checked into the same hotel as us.

We knew that both Tennessee and Arkansas we going to be tough routes, and that was confirmed today once we left KY! Small roads, tight turns, steep hills, almost no highway, lots of red lights, RR tracks to tower for, and lots of traffic. Everyone in a hurry, with no sympathy for us at all.

We made it 315 miles to Whiteville TN, and parked in a tiny truck stop there.

You can see that both had to disconnect in order to even fit. Everyone drove more than 20 miles to a hotel, except for me and the two drivers. You can see my van on the right, parked beside one of the trucks. The three of us drove 2 miles to a tiny restaurant for a simple supper, and slept in our vehicles.

Saturday, November 6, 2021

Wow! These are the boonies! And we got the really small roads! With lots of turns and twists, and hills! We left at daybreak. In fact, that little truck stop wasn’t even open all night. They had closed at 9 last night, and I saw online that they opened at 5 AM. However, when we all went over to use the restroom at about 5:15, we found the hand written sign on the door saying that due to staffing problems, they didn’t open til 7. LOL For truckers, that might as well be noon! Ha Ha That’s like the hotel that I stayed in a few nights ago and the guy told me when I checked in that breakfast was from 7-10. Ha Ha I said, “No, not lunch, breakfast!” I bet the vast majority of their guests have checked out before 7, so it saves them money.

I took the two drivers in my van to a gas station a few miles down the road that opened at a reasonable hour! We were back and ready to roll by 6, and left shortly after that, pulling out on the skinny and winding road. We traveled into Arkansas, crossing the line at 9 AM on I-40.

We crossed the bridge that was shut down for repairs for the last year or so, and started our crazy route across the state. It was highway from Memphis to Little Rock – but then the fun began! Take a look at it.

Our friend Shane (who went to college in Cara’s class) lives right along the route, so I called him. He had the day off, so met us on the corner as we got off the highway. We turned left, and as we waited for the red light to turn, he rode up beside me and we had a 20 second conversation, and off we went! Here is that on the dash cam.

We made our way through those tiny roads, and realized we would not make it to our proposed destination where there was room for us to park before dark, so about 3 hours before dark we started looking for a place. It has to be directly on our route, big enough to get the two trucks in and out of, not private property, not in anybody’s way, flat enough for us to drive on, and not soft enough for our 250,000 lb trucks to sink in and get stuck. Do you know how hard that is out in the boonies? LOL

But look! Leaves are changing even in Arkansas!

Finally, just as the sun was setting, and we had driven an amazing 450 slow miles in 10 hours, we came upon this BBQ stand that had a rather large dirt lot for parking. We pulled both trucks in and parked, then walked up to the BBQ stand to ask if would be OK. We hoped so, because we knew we had about 10 legal miles left to drive. They said yes, but if they hadn’t we figured we’d tell them we really have no choice, so will stay anyway. If they called the Police, we’d have to tell them the truth. We have not seen a place for 3 hours, and it is no longer legal for us to be on the road. If they want money, just tell us how much, and we’ll pay it. Welcome to Oversize trucking in the boonies!!

By the time we blocked up the trailer, and disconnected the trucks so they could go fuel, it was completely dark.

We drove 22 miles for hotels and truck fuel in De Queen. Eddie and I went for Mexican food next to the hotel.

Sunday, November 7, 2021

We pulled out as the sun was rising, and after making our way around Texarkana, we wound our way into Texas. We were so happy to have finished our 825 miles in AR!

Welcome to Texas, where the coolest bridge designers must live!!!

We drove 460 miles and made it to a familiar truck stop in Merkel TX. I have stayed here overnight several times. Very old one, with very old bathrooms, and big huge holes in their large dirt parking lot. I stayed in my van, Eddie stayed in his truck, and everyone else went for a hotel.

Monday, November 8, 2021

“Today is the biggest challenge oof this trip” Eddie told me as we were getting the trailer off the blocks. There is a right turn on our route that has a deep culvert on both sides, is very narrow, has a guard rail preventing him from taking the tractor deep, so it’s all up the steerman to pull the rabbit out of the hat, and actually make the turn. If he steers it too far left or right, it will go into the deep culvert, and will tip us over for sure. It’s basically a one shot deal, or we will hold up traffic for a very long time! These trucks have made this corner many, many times, but only once has it actually been done in one shot. So far, no one has failed and gotten stuck, needing a crane to lift the back end around the turn. No pressure, though! Whoohoo! I can hardly wait!

I went back to my van and found the turn on Google Earth, and zoomed in close for a look. It was certainly all that Eddie had said it was! And, it looked strangely familiar, but I wasn’t sure.

Once again, we were the first truck, and off we went. Once we approached the turn, I was sure I had been there before. Possibly several times, but I was HP back then, so simply took care of traffic. I don’t believe I have steered it before. We pulled off onto the left shoulder, and got out. Eddie and I went up and walked the corner. He told me exactly where he would be steering his tractor, and suggested where he thought I needed to drive my rear dolly. I made mental calculations, like “once the front axle is here, I need to start my turn. . . . .once the rear set is here, I need to cut hard and head for there. . . ” that kind of thing. “OK, let’s go getter done” I said, and off we went. We had no one but our HP to help with traffic, so she blocked traffic coming from the right, and we had to just wait for an opening from the left. It is a busy intersection, too! Guess what? Yup! We made it in one shot! Woohoo! This is waaaay too much fun to be called work!!

After I pinned it, Eddie drove ahead and parked so I could go back for my van, pull ahead and turn left. Right then the second truck pulled up, so I pulled out and blocked traffic. That put me in a perfect spot for my front camera to film their turn. They did not walk the turn and plan it out. You will see that the steerman does not clear the culvert on his left with enough room to start his turn until after he passes it. That puts his entire dolly at a 45* angle across the intersection. The guard rail prevents him from completing the turn. I have been in that position before, and it is then extremely difficult to correct the situation. Here are your limitations:

Only the rear three axles steer

All three axles steer joined together, so slide the tires as they steer (not at all like your car tires do!)

You can not steer them unless you are moving, or you will blow out the hydralics because of the pressure

The steering goes at only one speed – super slow!

Look at how long the dolly is! You only have about 10 feet to go back and forth to make adjustments

If he drives too fast, you reach the end of theat 10 feet before you really did much

If he drives too slow, the axles will steer even slower, because of the added friction on the tires

Here is that painful turn!

Didn’t this make you just want to jump in and help the poor guy out? YES, I could hardly stand it just sitting there watching as traffic built up in all three directions! but there is nothing anyone can do for him! If he gets it stuck, (can no longer move forward or backwards) we have to bring in a crane to lift the back at the pivot point so he can steer all the way while not moving, as you do in your car, and go back and forth until he completes the turn. finally pulled ahead and off the road while I directed traffic at the intersection until it was clear. Then we went on our way. We drove a total of 470 miles to El Paso TX, where we parked just over the line into New Mexico. As we did our walk around the truck, we discovered three flat tires, all on the passenger side on my dolly in the rear. That is because he has had to drive so much of the time on the rumble strips in TN and AR where all thee nails and screws collect. The other driver and steerman helped us plug them all, but it took almost 2 hours.

The two drivers decided to sleep in their trucks there, knowing how close to the boarder we were. To our left were some of the El Paso city lights

They wanted to be sure all the chains and binders and tires were still there in the morning!!

The HP guy for the other truck had to drive to the nearest NM Port of Entry and get his Pilot Car Certified for NM so he could continue with us.

I was going to sleep in my van, but Eddie talked me out of it, because if a group of transients surrounded my van, wanting money, food and water, I’d be a sitting duck. I made no argument, went right to a hotel, and parked right under a lot light in the well lit lot.

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

It was a short night, and when I got up, I found that even though the sink was fine, the shower had no hot water! I know the problem well! I changed dozens of those mixer valves over the years in the apartments I managed. The thing that troubles me is this. How did someone clean my shower in cold water, and why didn’t they report it, and why wasn’t it fixed before it was rented again to me?

When we arrived, we found that two of the tires we plugged last night had again lost some air. They were slow leaks, so we aired them up, and decided to keep an eye on them during the day. The HP guy passed his inspection last night, so we were off before sunrise, and had a good day driving across New Mexico.

At one point, we drive parallel to the Trump Wall. It is easier to see in person, but if you look at the picture, and zoom in, you will see that the dark black line is the top of the wall, and you can see through it below that line.

What amazes me is the resistance of Americans to having a wall across the boarder. Do those people lock their car or house doors? If they are consistent, I’m sure they don’t. In fact, to really be consistent, they should also leave the keys in the car when they leave it unlocked. After all, everyone is entitled to everything, right? I’m surprised the current administration hasn’t torn it down yet. Oh, that’s right, President Biden just built a wall around the house he owns in Rhode Island. So walls DO work apparently!

We made it into Arizona, and stopped in Arizona City for the night. We are within striking distance of the site from here! Just 75 miles away! And, it was just 2 PM. We could easily make it ti the site today, but those two pesky tires are leaking air faster, and we better get them plugged here at the truck stop so we don’t get a complete flat along the way.

Once again the four of us went to work getting them off, but the truck stop said no one could fix them for us until midnight. Midnight? So we went to work on them again together. After several hours, we just decided to use our last spare, and one from the other truck. Then we all checked in to the hotel across the street.

Today they unloaded one of our trucks that left the day before us, and will unload the other at 8 AM tomorrow. We plan to leave here at 7, and arrive at the site by mid morning, and get unloaded right away. Our other truck will leave right behind us, and get unloaded after us. Then we hope to shrink and stay there for the night. Eddie will take his 34 hour reset on Thursday, and we plan to then drive through AZ and NM Friday. We have to get through NM by the end of Friday, because we can not run in that state on Saturday and Sunday, so would have to wait wherever we landed until Monday.

I drove Eddie and the other driver less than a mile to a nice little restaurant where they bought my supper.

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

We checked the tires first thing, and the only one we did not replace was still leaking very slowly. So we aired it up and left on schedule at 7.

When we arrived at the site, they were ready for us right away, but we had been told to go in the wrong entrance. It took a few minutes to straighten that out, because we could not back both trucks out the long road and into the busy 4 lane street to go to the correct entrance. Neither could we make the left turn to go to the crane without taking out the fence post that was set in a concrete piling. We decided to make a right, go down to the next intersection, make a right, have me back him up past the intersection, and make the u-turn that way, which would bring us straight in the gate.

Once we did, we pulled right in under the crane, took the wire skidders off, removed the chains and binders, and they lifted it right off. While we were doing that, the other truck had made the u-turn, and was ready to pull under the crane as we pulled away. We pulled into a spot on our way out the shrink it up. Remember the plan was to stay here for the night, take the 34 hours off, and leave Friday. Well, all that changed when we got the news that a road on our route in AZ had a curfew tomorrow of noon Friday. We’d never make that if we left Friday morning. We can not leave today and get a head start, because the Phoenix curfew has already started. So we need to leave tomorrow, and make it through AZ and NM, and take the 34 off on Friday instead. So that is our new plan.

We left the site a few hours later, checked into a hotel, and had supper at a little diner next to the hotel. We can sleep in tomorrow, because we can not leave the site until Phoenix curfew lifts at 9 AM.