Trips 35 and 36 - Warsaw, Dillon, Greenwood, Daleville

Monday, March 27, 2006

Dispatch had me lined up to take a truck from Forest, VA to Warsaw, NC with, as usual, no info on what would happen once I got to Warsaw. A quick Google on Warsaw showed that it was a small town with not much to expect with public transportation. So I left knowing dispatch would run into trouble trying to figure out how to get me out of there. But they don't ever worry about that until you are almost there.

I picked up the truck at Forestry Equipment about 7:45 AM. They've really tightened up their security on what it takes to pick up a truck since they lost one about a month ago. The truck was a new IHC 4300, 6-sp, no radio or A/C (the usual for Forestry Equipment). It was a nice looking truck, though, already decked out with the decals for Lewis Tree Service - an employee owned company. Even had the American flag on each side. I felt very patriotic as I headed out to Warsaw.

The trip to Warsaw was relatively uneventful. About the time I was by-passing Raleigh, NC, the phone rang and it was dispatch asking if I'd be willing to pick up a truck in Aberdeen, NC ( where, last fall, I picked up a junker that had to be left for repair), take it to Ashville, NC, where I'd pick one up for Tallahasee, FL. I said OK as long as they would bring me straight back from Tallahassee. I needed to be home Wednesday evening. I asked how they were getting me from Warsaw to Aberdeen, but as I already knew, they didn't have a clue. Said they'd get back with me as I approached Warsaw.

Dispatch had failed to provide directions to the drop-off, but I had done a Mapquest and had a good idea of where it was. Turned out it was very rural, with lots of farms. Mapquest had placed the address about a mile on down the road from where it actually turned out to be. I stopped at a farm house to ask directions, but couldn't raise anyone even though the dog was guarding the porch and the clothes were on the line. So I decided to turn around and see if I had already passed it. This time I did find the location, which was a house sitting in the middle of a hayfield.

Turned out the area manager for Lewis Tree had his home and office there, and he was very helpful in attending to my travel needs. Dispatch still couldn't figure out where I needed to go to pick up a rental car. After about 30 minutes of discussion, it was discovered that Lewis Tree actually needed the truck in Dillon, SC, so we worked out a deal that if I drove it on down there, about 100 miles more, their foreman would drive me to Sumter, SC where I could pick up a company chase car. During that time, dispatch had also developed a backup plan to have me pick up a truck in Greenwood, SC, about 90 miles west of Columbus and have me bring it back to Daleville, VA, near my home. They didn't like the idea of sending me straight back from Tallahassee. So all agreed to this plan and I took the truck on to Dillon.

I delivered the truck to a dusty parking lot and met the foreman. He was a young fellow, totally hassled with all the work he had to get done and not enough time to drive me the 75 miles to Sumter, but that was the deal and he did. We dodged the cars and trucks on I-95 doing between 80 and 90 MPH, and arrived at Sumter in less than an hour, where I picked up the well used chase car and drove to Lexington, SC, about 90 miles, for the night. Had trouble, there, finding lodging, but finally discovered a Comfort Inn for $49, which I was quite pleased with.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Dispatch had not provided directions, or even truck identification info, for the truck I was to pick up at the Public Works offices at Greenwood, SC. I headed out from my hotel using the scenic way up rt. 378 about 7:15 AM. I almost had my first accident in driveaway work when I pulled out in front of a pickup truck making a right hand turn from the center lane in a traffic circle in Saluda, SC. Got lots of yelling, questioning my heritage, and I was on my way on to Greenwood. With pure blind luck, I drove right to the Public Works office and found what I figured was the truck staged in the employee parking lot. Dispatch still didn't have truck ID info, so I went in and found someone who agreed it was the truck to be picked up, but couldn't verify where it was supposed to go. So I went ahead and pre-tripped it, and hooked up the trusty chase car. The truck was an IHC 4300, with automatic, no radio. It was during the hook-up of the chase car that I made a mistake that didn't cause me a problem, but will for the next guy driving the car (more on that as the story develops).

I managed to take the scenic downtown route through Greenwood as I tried to find rt. 72, which would take me to I-26. Narrow streets, and plenty of traffic, but I got through it OK. It also provided a slow warm-up time for the truck, which by the time I exited Greenwood was displaying the proverbial check engine light intermittently. I drove for 100 or so miles, making sure all gauges looked good, etc. I had checked all the fluids during pre-trip, so felt they should still be OK. I finally decided to call dispatch, just to let them know what was going on, knowing they would tell me to call the company tech guy who would tell me to keep on driving but keep an eye on the gauges and fluid levels, which he did, and I did. I stopped around Charlotte to verify the fluid levels, get some lunch, then drove it on home. Coming up Fancy Gap Mt., which is about an 8 mile climb, the heat gauge started creaping up to over 200, which I've found to be unusual for these IHC 4300's, but as soon as I crossed the top, it came back down and I kept driving. Made it to Daleville about 4:00 PM.

It was during the unhooking of the chase car that I looked in and noticed the emergency brake was still pulled up - I HAD FORGOTTEN to release it before pulling off in Greenwood. I hated that because I'm so cautious when hooking up the chase car to try to make sure everything is right, not in gear, all that stuff. But, somehow, I managed to leave it engaged and it was now gone. Don't know if I blew any smoke, nothing else seemed damaged. It still had brakes, but no emergency brake. I felt dumb, but did screw up my courage to let dispatch know. They were more anxious to make sure I faxed in my paperwork, and take the car back over to Daleville for someone to pick it up the next morning, than they were concerned about the emergency brake.

So, another two trips completed, got back early this week, which suits me fine. Dispatch did call to see if I could do a one day trip from Forest to Shelby, NC, which I could have done, but they found the truck wasn't going to be ready in time to work for me. Looks like I'm off the rest of the week, except my wife did line me up for bus duty at her school tomorrow, but I can handle that.

Bus (Pee) Duty

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

In order to get bus duty and driveaway duty better organized this spring, I've tried to line them up on alternating weeks. So this week is bus duty week driving various sports teams each afternoon Weds. through Fri. Got a call bright and early, at 7:30 am, from the Transportation Office saying today is my lucky day - I get to go in for a random drug test. Not a problem for me other than the aggravation. This time I go in and get handled by a right attractive young lady, who stands outside the stall (also, we happen to be in the women's restroom) while I pee in the cup, etc. Then, after I was about half way to pick up the bus, I get a call from the office saying the tester screwed up and accidentally shredded my forms while shedding other documents and I'd have to go back in to fill out the forms again.

Didn't have time to go back in today, so will do it tomorrow. I went on to the high school where I was to pick up one of their rather old and decrepit buses and transport their track team to a competition. I wasn't expecting too many riders, but it turned out I had more than a bus load. They had to put some in one of the coach's vehicle. The track meet lasted for ever, and they had to finally stop at dark before all the competitions were over. Then, the coaches decided they'd all go out and eat, which wasn't all that bad for me since bus drivers usually get a free meal at whatever restaurant they go to, but it would mean getting home late.

So, just a short blurb about bus duty and peeing in cups.

Trips 33 and 34 - Altamonte Springs, FL and Kent, OH

Thursday, March 16, 2006

My wife would be attending a middle school conference in Norfolk on Thursday though Saturday of this week, so I decided that I'd go ahead and let dispatch know I was available if they needed me; even though I hadn't fully recovered from the 2200 mile trip to Arizona last week. But since she would be away, and I'd be committed to several days of bus duty next week, I decided to become available. Dispatch didn't have any trouble lining me up with a nice trip from nearby Altec in Daleville to Altamonte Springs, FL - a trip of a little over 700 miles. So Thursday morning, bright and early, I headed to Daleville.

The truck was the typical Altec boom truck, automatic, radio, and A/C (needed in FL). Altec had more than 20 trucks lined up and this one was the next to last one I checked. But since it wasn't snowing this time, it was a lot easier to find just by driving along the row of trucks.

The trip to FL was relatively uneventful. The scales on I-81, when you first pull on from Daleville, are always open, but these boom trucks seem to make it through OK. Lot's of scales once you reach I-95, but no problems at any of these. I make note of this since, on the last trip to AZ, I was pulled in for the "light" driver inspection.

Made it to St. Mary, GA, on exit 3 off I-95, just before you get to FL, so I made good time on Thursday. My Days Inn was right behind a fairly good Mexican restaurant, so I dropped over there for a big meal to go. Really hadn't eaten much during the trip on Thursday.

Since I was over 500 miles towards Altamonte Springs, I figured I'd have time to visit a friend in Jacksonville as I passed through, so I called him and lined up breakfast at the Hardee's just off I-295.

Friday, March 17, 2006

Since I was to meet for breakfast at around 7:30 AM, I was up and out early. Made it to Jacksonville after passing through several weigh and inspections stations (there are a lot as you first enter FL). My friend arrived within 5 minutes after I found a parking spot at the Hardee's.

We had met with our families several years ago in Las Vegas. We sat and talked at one of the hotels while our wives and daughters shopped. Turned out we had a lot in common. Had taken many similar family out west vacations, and turned out we were both on the way to the north rim of the grand canyon, where we ran in to each other again. We've maintained contact since then, comparing trip notes, and most recently, retirement plans. I haven't yet convinced him that driveaway is the best way to handle retirement. And this blog certainly hasn't helped.

After a nice breakfast, I headed on to Altamonte Springs, a little less than 200 miles away. I arrived there around noon. Stopped at a nearby Comfort Inn to receive a fax from dispatch, who had the next adventure lined up.

Usually, after 2 days I'm ready to start heading back towards home, so I was hoping that since it was Friday, they wouldn't want to mess with setting up another trip and would just send me home. But they are good, and asked if I'd be interested in flying to Akron, OH, taxiing to Kent and picking up a truck bound for NC. I had told them I wanted to be home by Saturday afternoon, and this would be a 600 mile trip which would mean I wouldn't make it home before Sunday (my minister may be reading this one, so I'm going to state that my reason was so I wouldn't miss church 2 Sundays in a row). Dispatch had several iterations of how to handle this one, including picking up a company chase car in Bluefield, but it finally boiled down later in the day to my picking the truck up and staging it at the local TA Truckstop in Troutville, VA. So I agreed to take the trip.

This trip would involve taking a $60 taxi ride to Orlando airport, flying USAir, via Philadelphia, to Akron, another $57 taxi to Kent, and heading out. Orlando, which I assume is typical, was a total zoo, but I had time to spare and made it through security with considerable time before my flight. The flight in Philadelphia was late, which gave me the opportunity to meet a young insurance executive who showed up late for the scheduled departure time, and obviously had spent too much time in the bar. We struck up a conversation and he told of arriving for a 4:00 pm flight (it was currently around 9:00 PM), missing it, and deciding to start his St. Patrick's Day partying early. So he was happy, except for being stuck in the airport.

We finally did get out of Philadelphia and arrived Akron about 10:30 PM. The airport is right small, so I wasn't sure how I would get ground transportation, find a hotel, etc. But they did still have a guy at the ground transportation desk, and he advised that Akron didn't have cab services and I should take a taxi to a local hotel, stay the night, then take a local taxi to Kent, rather than to go on to Kent then. I guess that was the best advice, but it lead to an $18 cab ride to the local Motel 6 below the airport, then a $57 cab ride the next morning to Kent.

Saturday, March 18, 2006

The cab was promp and picked me up (and bathed me) about 7:15 AM. I say bathed me because as soon as I slid into the back seat I was immediately immersed in liquid from the top of my belt in the back to the middle of my thighs. Not knowing what liquid this was, but with much time to imagine the rest of the day as I sat in whatever it was, I jumped up quickly and asked the cabbie if I could move to the front. He was OK with that, but was pretty ticked at the guy who had his cab the night before. He said they had been quite busy hauling revelers around who had been celebrating St. Patricks Day. For some reason, until this trip, I hadn't been tuned in to how this holiday is so incredibly popular as an excuse to party hard. Anyway, I stayed wet the rest of the day, and had plenty of time to imagine what I had sat in. A quick shower when I finally got home never felt so good.

The cab delivered me to Davey Tree in Kent, OH. Didn't see Kent State University while there. The truck had been placed outside their gate the evening before in anticipation of my picking it up during the night. Turned out it was a nice, new chipper truck. I had intentionally waited until morning to pick the truck up, not knowing if it might be used, because I don't like pre-tripping by flashlight in the middle of the night. I'd picked up one dog too many by not being able to see what shape the truck is in in the dark.

This truck was a new IHC 7300 4WD, 6-sp, radio, and A/C. Was all ready to go and ran great the whole 400 miles to Troutville, where I staged it for delivery by another driver somewhere in NC. Since it was 4WD, it had a good bounce to it, especially on I-77 in WV, but not nearly as bad as the chassis I've delivered before.

Had time for my wife to snap a picture of me with one of my favorite rides before heading to Altec to pick up my personal truck and head home.

Seems a 3 day trip is about right for me. I'm ready to be home by then, and no used trucks made this one much better. But always good to be home it seems.

The Great American Southwest

I'm going to start this one, but it may take a while to finish it, so to all of my many blog fans (and you know who you are), keep coming back, reading, and post some comments (by clicking on the comments link at the bottom).

Ever since I got the idea of doing driveaway work, I've wanted to drive to the desert. So when I was talking with dispatch last Thursday about a trip this week, they happened to mention they needed to move a truck from Pottstown, PA to Show Low, AZ. I said, "Show Who? Where's that?" About all they could tell me was it was in AZ. A quick MapQuest check showed it to be about 50 miles below Holbrook, AZ, a place I had visited adjacent to the Petrified Forest, so I figured it was REALLY in the middle of nowhere. They weren't offering me the trip, since they figured I wouldn't do one that long, and they already were lining me up to take one from Forest, VA to somewhere in GA (getting boring). So when my wife got home, I mentioned the AZ trip, not seriously considering it. But she gave a positive reaction, and some encouragement (what was she thinking?) and I called dispatch and told them I'd take it if it was still available. They said it was and to call back the next morning, Friday, to get the details.

Friday, March 3, 2006

I called in at 8:30 AM, and of course, they were still "working" on the details. Not to bore you with the details, but it was 11:30 AM before they finally got things worked out. They initially were going to send me to NC with a truck and pick up another to Pottstown which bothered me a bit because I'd be starting out on a 2200 mile trip going in the opposite direction. They finally boiled it down to me taking something that had been dropped off at the Troutville TA Truckstop. All they could tell me was it was an FL60 (didn't know what that was at the time) and it was going to Pottstown to the same place I'd be picking up the other truck for Show Low. In my excitement about heading out west, I wasn't paying close attention to what it might be that I would be driving. Plus, trying to get any detailed info out of dispatch about what you are to pick up, other than a VIN number, is just impossible. I'm assuming that is done on purpose to keep you in the game.

So, about noon I headed to Troutville to pick up whatever an FL60 was. Turned out it was a used Freightliner FL60 boom truck, automatic. Well used, but most stuff worked on it except the dash gauges kept trying to fall off the dash into my lap and the heater did not work - and it was in the 20's and 30's that day. Keep in mind, this is a very glamorous job :-).

The truck drove well and made it OK through the weigh station at Winchester, one that I've found there is a 100% chance will be open. No open stations in WV, MD, or PA. Made it to Pottstown around 7:00 pm where I bedded down at the downtown Days Inn for the night. I had planned to spend the night in Morgantown, PA, about 25 miles away, but the hotel there was full - a surprising finding. Drove on to Pottstown and bedded down for the night at the downtown Days Inn.

Saturday, March 4, 2006

The next morning I was VERY anxious to see what I'd be driving the 2200 miles to AZ, so bright and early I was at the drop off/pick up point at D&D Collision. Do you think that name should have told me something? I was there a good bit before anyone showed up to open the place up, so I cruised the lot to see if I could find my truck, which I knew to be a Ford F750. I came across several, in various states of disrepair, but luckily could not find the one I was to take, all the while my heart sinking wondering how tired can you get nursing a sick F750 for at least 4 days of solid driving.

The guy that I was to pick up from finally showed up a little after 8:00 AM, and he said he had the truck inside the shop and would bring it out - and I anxiously waited to catch the first glimpse. Well, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. It had a utility body, for what I'm not sure, had 46k miles on it, 6-sp, extended cab for napping if needed, and was idling pretty well. BUT NO CRUISE CONTROL! Wow! 2200 miles without cruise control. Poor right foot. Plenty of left over cable, conduit, plastic piping, etc. in the back, but no left over lunches in the front as most of the other used ones I've taken had. I gave it the complete going over that the simple mechanic in me can do, and determined it road worthy. So off to Show Low I headed by about 8:45 AM.

As I pulled out of the parking lot, doors on both sides of the utility body flew open. I thought, that's an early problem solving opportunity for this trip. I figured a little plier work and/or duct tape would be the answer. The pliers did the trick, and the doors were closed for the rest of the trip.

Made it all the way back to Morgantown, PA, about 23 miles, before missing my first turn to get back on I-76, the PA Turnpike, which is more complicated to get on than you might expect. Thinking this is not a good start for this trip, I stopped to get directions back on, just to make sure. When I tried to re-start the truck, the starter gave one of those really loud grinding noises, but did turn over on the second try. I thought that's good. Something to start thinking about early in the trip.

Continued to push on across PA, in to WV, then OH the rest of Saturday. PA is a very long state when you start in Pottstown. No weigh stations open, so no first tests on how well it was going to do. At my first rest stop, got word from my wife that my car that I had left at the truckstop on Friday was missing and must have been towed. Also, had gotten the word the evening before that one of my other cars that my youngest daughter drives had been rammed while parked outside her apartment in Richmond, VA and had considerable damage to both the rear and front. So I was really happy with the car situation, to add to the tenseness I was still feeling while getting to know this truck. My wife later called back to say they had found the car. They'd just been looking in the wrong spot. That helped, but the truck still worried me.

Made it to near Dayton, OH where I bedded at a Super 8 just behind a TGI Fridays. Hmmmm, Saturday night, very tired, wanting to relax, and not having eaten hardly anything. What a great place to solve those problems. So I parked my poney, checked in, and immediately headed to the bar setting at TGI's (I don't like eating out alone, but if the bar is big enough I can put up with it). So had a decent steak with some on tap libations, and actually slept pretty well Saturday night, waking up plenty early to get on the road.

Sunday, March 5, 2006

With such a long way to go, I was anxious to get an early start. Pre-tripped the truck. Everything still holding together. No oil leaks, no evidence of it using oil. The water was even still in it. So I was starting to build up some confidence in this new truck friend of mine that was going to take me safely all the way to AZ. I'd had in the back of my mind that the guy in Pottstown had the truck inside, since it was cold, to make sure it would start. So I was really anxious to crank it up. So, I did....and it started right up. Man! Isn't this great. This ole truck is going to actually do it! Then I noticed no RPM's, no oil gauge, no amps. Uh-Oh, what's going on? All the gauges were dead except the air pressure, which built up nicely. I tapped (pounded) on them, checked connections, even turned it off and checked fuses. Couldn't find anything, so now, it's problem solving time. Do you head on out on Sunday, with no gauges, or do you stay at the hotel knowing you'll never find a mechanic close by? Being a combination of stupid and overly hopeful, I decided to get back up on I-70 and try to find a truck stop. Low and behold, not 3 miles down the road, all the gauges came on, only to fail briefly one more time the next morning. The fan on the heater was also not working, but by the end of Sunday, it too decided to contribute to the party and come back on. So I was really off to AZ now.

Drove in to IN still having no weigh stations open. Since it was Sunday, and very light traffic, I decided to take I-70 through the middle of Indianapolis rather than the by-pass. Looks like a nice city, assuming you like cities, which I don't. I did see the Hoosier Dome, now called the RCA Dome. But that was about all the excitement for IN and IL. Except for, in IN, I did hit the biggest interstate bump in the trip. One big enough to send the wheels off the ground and some of the plastic pipe laying around in the back of the truck spinning out behind me on I-70. Luckily, there were no vehicles immediately behind, so I kept on truckin'.

By about 2:00 PM, I was in to MO. It had started raining pretty hard. I had originally considered pulling off to view the gateway arch in St. Louis, which is one of the more impressive sights of the trip, but with the rain, and my being anxious to get on, I just kept driving. Made it to Strafford, MO, just outside of Springfield, for the night.

Monday, March 6, 2006

Again, was anxious to get started (to see what the gauges or other excitement might be at startup). Was glad it was Monday, even if it meant more traffic, since at least I might be able to get assistance if needed. Pre-tripped it, and gave it the ole crank. Started right up. The gauges hesitated for a few seconds then decided to come on, never to have another problem with them for the rest of the trip, but still enough to keep me on edge about them. I assume whatever the problem was with the gauges, it must be heat related. It was warmer in MO than it had been in OH, but not by much.

Today was going to take me in to OK, TX, and maybe NM for the first time in driveway. But before I could get out of MO, I had to go through what I think was my first weigh station. The whole line of trucks was having to go across the scales. No one was getting waived around. I pull on the scale, and sure enough, I got the "get your permits and documents together, pull around back, and come in the station". Oh great. I'm excited about OK/TX and MO wants to check me out. This was going to be the first time they'd done a driver inspection. I had previously had a truck inspection, but had never had to go in to have them go through my documents. So I rapidly brought my log up to date, although I'd only been driving about an hour, and dragged my stuff in.

There was only one agent on duty. I told him this was my first time, gave him as much pleasant small talk as I could come up with, and I said he'd need to guide me through this. Turned out he really relished his instructor role, and he was actually a nice fellow. He kept working with me and explaining things as the big 18 wheelers just piled up outside in the line. He had them pretty well backed up on I-44, but he was still showing me stuff, so it worked for both of us. Anyway, he said I was in good shape and could head on. Have a nice day! You bet I am, I'm heading to TX.

So on to Tulsa (saw Oral Roberts' Tower - wonder if he's begged enough money yet to pay for it - I'm sure God is handling it) and on to Oklahoma City, which was an impressive town from what I saw. On through OK to TX. Saw lots of places along I-40 (a certain comfort there to get back on I-40 that I've traveled on so often in the east) where several acres at a time would be burned from someone launching a cigarette out onto the very dry grass. I must have seen this 20-30 times through OK and TX. Which reminds me, in the middle of all this, my wife had told me about a forest fire that was brewing within a mile of my house back home and they had brought in the helicopters and professionals to fight it. A very big deal that I was missing as I headed west.

On across TX, except I did have to hit a rest stop. And like everything else in TX, it was big. Took this picture of the old truck as we caught a break in TX. Then kept on truckin' to NM.

I drove over 600 miles on Monday and made my NM goal and stopped at the first place I could find - Tucumcari, NM. What a name, and I found it does have a dumb, obviously made up, Indian legend for where the name came from, but I won't tell it here (I know this is getting really long, but isn't it exciting?).

I had nice rooms at cheap hotels during the whole trip, and this Super 8 (I'm seeming to slide now more toward Super 8 from Days Inn) was no different. All had clean rooms with wireless access. The desk clerk advised eating across the street at the steakhouse in the Holiday Inn. I'm not big on hotel food, but did it anyway. Got an OK, but not great, meal and was out for the night. Really pooped after a very long day of driving (and still hadn't taken a nap in the extended cab). I had done over 600 miles for the day.

Tuesday, March 7, 2006

If it's Tuesday, it must be NM, and if all goes well, the day I find out what Show Low is really like. By this time, it's fairly easy to lose days, since I'd been at it since Friday morning to Pottstown. And you can almost lose states also. So I was up early. By this time, I'm in the Mountain Time zone, but I had kept my time on Eastern since I had to log based on the home office, communicate with them on their time, and figured it would keep me getting out early. But it was 4:30 AM Mountain Time and I didn't figure I'd be able to get a cup of coffee at the breakfast bar. It had been closed that early back in MO and I had to head out on empty.

But, for some reason, this motel (Super 8) sets up their breakfast at 4:00 AM, so I got my coffee and sweet something. While having my coffee, ran in to one of the first interesting characters on this trip.

A young lady, about the age of my oldest daughter (keeping it in context so you won't think I was trying to hit on her), came through the front door leading two tiny chihuahua's. I made a few comments about the dogs and that was it. But as I was leaving, she was taking her dogs out to a big Budget 24' IHC 4300 rental truck with car and trailer attached and heading out. Here I was, sweating over what was actually a smaller truck, and she gets her dogs in and heads out like it's no big deal.

So I'm off to AZ today. It took what seemed for ever to get to Albuquerque, where I traveled road for the rest of the way that I had been on before, which provides a certain comfort factor. On through Albuquerque, past the Acoma reservation, past the lava fields (see the adjacent picture - if you click on it, it will enlarge) and on past Gallup. I was really starting to get into territory that I enjoy driving in, and perhaps the goal of this whole trip, the desert. It did seem to take forever, though, to reach AZ.

By this time, I'd had many conversations with dispatch to try to find out whether they knew how I was going to get out of Show Low (I'd heard there was no public transportation) and home. But the previous evening, they had knocked the pins out by telling me they were working on a truck to pick up in Phoenix to go to Lewisville, TX, just outside of Dallas. I was worn out and wanted to get home. I also was running out of hours on my log. I figured I'd have less than 20 hours left for the week by the time I dropped in Show Low, and if I logged anywhere close to legal, I'd be out before I could make the drop. Plus, there is always the internal debate once you're out on whether this is going to be a junker. They'll never let you know whether it's new or used. Sometimes you can figure out for yourself, and I did, later.

I let dispatch know I didn't particularly want to take the next trip, plus let her know about the fax. She couldn't understand how I could be running out since starting last Friday, so wanted me to fax in my log summary sheet. That required another stop to find a fax and the time doing that.

I had decided that I wasn't going to hang the left off I-40 on 77 to go down into Show Low until I knew what plans dispatch had. I stopped at the first rest area in AZ and tried to find out a little more about Show Low. The lady there gave a big list of motels in Show Low and said she was pretty sure they had car rental and bus transportation. So I proceeded on to Holbrook, where I-40 (now my good friend) met rt. 77 (totally unkown to me).

I figured I'd need access to a fax to get travel info from dispatch, hoping they had it, and/or next trip info. So a short search in Holbrook led me to the local Radio Shack. I called dispatch and the pressure pitch stated. I told dispatch to go ahead and fax me the info for the next trip, and while I doubted I was going to take it, I would review it and make a decision. I wanted to be fair to Spirit Miller.

I was anxious to get this over with and get on down to Show Low. By now, it was after 4:00 PM EST and I wanted to get the delivery made, hotel, and travel arrangements for the next day completed. The fax arrived a few minutes later, and after reviewing it, it was easy for me to make the final decision that I would not be taking the truck from Phoenix to Dallas. This is very unusual, but there was a note included in the fax that stated the truck leaked oil and they would pack additional oil for the trip. I knew I wasn't nursing one that was old enough to have to have oil packed for the trip.

I called my dispatcher and asked her if she was sitting down - because I wasn't taking the trip. Lot's of huffing and puffing on her part, stuff about how they couldn't make money sending me back, I couldn't make money, etc. Also, to them, it looked like I shouldn't have any log problems. I still haven't figured how, if I logged all my time, I could do it with less that 20 hours remaining, but I told her the log didn't make any difference any longer, I was going home. And, I'd appreciate her normal assistance in setting up my travel, but if she couldn't, I'd handle it myself. So dispatch reluctantly agreed to get me lined up to come home.

I then proceeded on to meet Show Low for the first time. By now, it was 4:30 PM and I still had time to make the drop OK since they were on Mountain time. I expected the drive to be in to the mountains, but it was actually a 50 mile drive across high plateau. I arrived at Show Low shortly after 5:00 PM, and of course, made a wrong turn heading down main street. Rather than do the male macho thing, I went ahead and asked for directions. Also took note of the nearest hotels to my drop, which were beyond a reasonable walk, but not far away. I found the drop off, had a very helpful receptionist who was taking care of her 5 month old, post-tripped the truck, which I was very glad to be rid of even though that leads to one of the more precarious positions of driveaway - no transportation. But the receptionist found a nice fellow who would drop me off at the Thunderbird Motel on his way home.

I've never stayed at a motel named Thunderbird that wasn't pretty much of a dump. But this one was right on main street and within a few blocks of White Mountain Transportion, which was to be my ticket to freedom, Phoenix, and a plane trip to Raleigh, where I'd pick up a rental and get home.

Wednesday, March 8, 2006

I was at White Mountain Transportation early, since the one and only shuttle was to leave at 8:00 AM MST. All they run is one shuttle/day, no actual buses. The shuttle could hold 11 and there was going to be 11, so I was sort of dreading this. But it turned out I hopped the shot gun seat. It turned out to be the most interesting scenery of the trip, and I rode along with several interesting passengers - a sophisticated 76 year old lady, a nice Vietnamese lady, a VP of some tech company, and a driver that, since I was riding shot gun, gave me a nice guided tour of the area. I won't detail the one passenger, with boobs hanging out and questionable profession. The scenery was nice enough that I'd like to go back (no, not because of the boobs). It was a beautiful drive from Show Low down 7000 feet in elevation to Phoenix and the desert, which I really like.

At the airport, I found a business center to do all the faxing that dispatch is anxious to get back. Of course, they had a problem getting the fax to send, so I called my dispatcher. She was much more pleasant, since she was anxious to get the fax. I told her that we would need to talk after I got back and settled down to do some "career counseling" with me to make sure the company's needs and my requirments could mesh. I wasn't happy with all the pressure I'd gotten at the end of the trip yesterday.

Had an uneventful and relatively on-time trip back to Raleigh by way of Dallas. Arrived Raleigh around 11:00 PM, and quickly got my Hertz rental and was back on I-40, of all routes, heading home. Wasn't sure I'd be able to push through the 3 hour drive, but I wanted to get home and made it, after dodging plenty of deer, by about 2:30 AM.

This completed trip #32 for me, and added MO, OK, NM, and AZ to my driveaway states visited. If you visit my States Visited map, by selecting it from my main page, you'll notice that AR now sticks out like a target. I was within a couple of miles of KA when I went from MO into OK. I had a notion to hang a right and touch it, but didn't want to take the time at the time and sort of figured it would be cheating if I wasn't passing through for a reason.

Once again, I was especially happy to get home after a long trip. Now, I need to assess my options with driveaway to make sure the company can put up with my requirements, then I might be ready to head out middle of next week since my wife will be attending a conference. I have a good bit of activity bus duty scheduled through May which will limit some potential driveaway work. That's probably good since I'm on the cusp of burning out.