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 m
ore 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. Tu
rned 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.
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 m
ore 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. Tu
rned 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.
posted by Harry | 12:28 AM
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