Swirling Under the Low in Bourbon

Yep, I went to Bourbon. Bourbon, IN that is. And I was caught under the gigantic low pressure system that was sending record amounts of rain all across the mid-west and finally up the east coast. Dispatch had me lined up to leave on Wednesday from Forest, VA to Bourbon, IN. Then rental car to Swanton, OH, which is actually the Toledo Airport. From there, a taxi to Maumee, OH; then on to Wooster, OH. From there, I was supposed to catch a bus to Akron and pick up a truck for Gaithersburg, MD. That part didn't work out exactly.

Trip 46
Wednesday, May 10, 2006

I had to take the girls softball team to Alleghany HS on Tuesday night for a game. That's a fairly long trip in a rather decrepit activity bus. So bright and early Wednesday morning, I headed to Forestry Equipment to pick up the truck for Bourbon, IN. Not sure how it got that name given bourbon is unique to Kentucky.

I arrived Forest about 7:30 AM. I wanted to get an early start so I could make Fort Wayne, IN before quitting, which would put me on schedule to make the other connections that dispatch had lined up. The boom/chipper truck was ready, but the paperwork wasn't. So I had to wait until after 8:00 AM when the office staff came in to complete the paperwork. I was pre-tripped, fueled up, and on the road by about 8:30 AM.

The trip through western VA, WV, and Ohio was relatively uneventful except for it seems to take an eternity to finally get out of WV. There were multiple potential routes I could take to get to Bourbon, IN and I finally settled in on I-64 to I-77, to I-70 past Columbus, OH. It was 5:00 PM when I pulled onto the by-pass around Columbus, when one of the company owners called to see if I would be able to deliver the truck in Bourbon by 8:30 AM the next morning. By that time, I had about decided I wouldn't be able to get there before about 10:00 AM, but I told her I'd give it my best shot. Turned out that I made pretty good time, even with lots of rain, up through western OH on route 33, where I turned north to route 30 and on to Fort Wayne, IN. Drove through some beautiful farm country and just past the Neil Armstrong Astronaut Museum, which I'd really like to visit sometime.

I figured I'd be able to find a room as I pulled on route 30 just off the Fort Wayne by-pass west, but turned out that pretty much immediately threw me back into the country. So I ended up driving until about 9:00 PM before I found an AmeriHost Inns Hotel for the night at Columbia City, IN. I had driven close to 600 miles for the day. The rain continued.

Trip 47
Thursday, May 11, 2006

Was up and at it early and delivered the truck to Dueco on the western side of the little country town (or is it township?) of Bourbon, IN by 8:00 AM. From there, I got a cab to Wausaw, IN, where I got an Avis rental to the Toledo Airport. The cabbie presumably was the owner of the cab service and a package delivery service. He claimed to be a muli-millionaire and could set me up in the courier business any time I want. So I'm still thinking about that, but at the same time trying to figure out why he's driving a cab in beat up clothes since he's a millionaire.

Turned out that things got a little interesting at the Toledo airport. Ground transportation was able to provide a ride, but they said the recent trial for the Priest who was found guilty that day for killing a nun was taking up all the regular cabs. They'd be able to take me to Charlie's Dodge, in Maumee, OH, where I was to pick up the next truck, but the only vehicle they had available was a stretch limousine. The charge would be the same as a cab. So I climbed into the back of the limo and was off to my next truck. Really wished I'd taken time to get a picture of my only limo ride, but I didn't. Interesting that I have to get into driveaway work before getting a limo ride.

Found the utility pickup at Charlie's that I was to take to Wooster, OH and was moving by about 1:00 PM. This was the only Dodge and smallest truck I've driven yet in driveaway, but it was sort of nice not to have to fight the size.

I arrived at Wooster about 4:30 PM. Dispatch had previously told me the next truck from Kent to Gaithersburg had been put on hold and they weren't sure what I'd be doing next. When I called in to let them know I had delivered, they were still working on it. Dispatch wanted to know if I'd be interested in taking a "beautiful" truck from Ashland, OH, which was just 20 miles from Wooster, to Chandler, AZ. I was interested, but that would keep me out past Mother's Day, and that was going to be a no-go. So we finally decided I needed to get a ride back to Ashland and they would have me pick up the truck at Altec and stage it at the Indianapolis Airport on Friday. I found a cab, oddly enough, in Wooster and had him take me to a Super 8 in Ashland.

Trip 48
Friday, May 12, 2006

I lined up a cab to pick me up by 7:15 AM to take me to Altec, which was only a few miles up the road on the edge of Ashland. When I arrived there, I was a bit worried. There were lots of well used trucks sitting around, but after some search, they found a rather large, but fairly new, digger derrick truck for me to take out. It was an IHC 7400 4WD, automatic. It was really low on fuel, fumes actually, and the folks at Altec were kind enough to put several gallons in to get me to the first fuel station. Since this thing was so big, it really used a lot of fuel.

I pre-tripped it in the rain and was on the road by about 9:00 AM. Drove straight to the Indianapolis airport, where I was able to find a parking spot in the back of one of the satellite parking lots. By this time, it was about 3:00 PM. Dispatch was still working on how they would get me home. At the time, they were planning to fly me to BWI, then rental car home. I figured I could drive from Indianapolis in less time than it would take to fly and drive via Baltimore. So I headed home in a rental.

Wasn't sure I'd be able to make it all the way since I'd done a lot of driving and not a lot of sleeping since Wednesday. But I got my juices going and did the 570 miles home in about 9 hours, arriving about 12:30 AM. That was probably the most driving I had done in one day - close to 800 miles. My previous record was 750 miles when I drove straight back from a technology conference in Orlando, home following the 9/11 attacks.

As alway, mom was glad to see me and the daughters were coming in on Saturday for Mother's Day. So all was well in Blue Ridge.