Back to Columbus and Now to Salt Lake City

We stopped in Tucumcari for fuel at about 0530 on Wednesday morning. After fueling we moved on towards Phoenix. The snow started flying just East of Albuquerque, NM and just got nastier the closer we got to Flagstaff, AZ. I suppose, considering how bad it was up north, that the weather there really wasn't too bad there. I guess there was actually only about 4 inches of snow, but the ridiculously stupid drivers are just amazing. Big trucks and cars in the ditches, in the medians, on their sides, their tops etc. I just never get used to how crazy the people drive. Anyway, we finally made it to Phoenix at about 1400 EST on Wednesday and dropped the trailer at the terminal. We were both tired but we had, on the way to Phoenix, made contact with a couple of 912 Candidates from the Phoenix area and made plans to meet with them for some pictures with them and their 912/West Valley Tea Party Patriots group from the greater Phoenix area.

After dropping the trailer, we headed to the truck wash and had the guys there clean up the truck while Tina took care of the laundry. The truck was took way, way longer than necessary because the guy in front of us decided that he didn't like the job that they done the first time and made them do it a second time...and then a third time, until the manager of the facility ran him off. They done a great job on our truck, we grabbed a burger and off we went to meet with the 912 candidates.

We ended up meeting with Jim Deakin, Senatorial candidate for Arizona, working to unseat the liberal Republican John McCain, and Hugh Kealer, running for the gubernatorial seat in Arizona. Both of these guys seam to be amazing Patriots and dedicated to the service of their country, state and constituents. We were able to do a short interview with the two of them and as soon as I can figure out how to edit the material, I will get the video posted here and at the 912 candidates site.





We also were able to have them sign the truck, got some pictures of that happening and there again, as soon as I get my other computer back, I will get those pictures posted here.

The 912/Tea Party Patriots meeting started about 2100 EST and the folks started getting there at about 2000 EST or so. The response to the truck was fantastic. There were about 45-50 Patriots at the meeting and they were all very pleased with the truck and very happy to sign it and have there pictures taken for this site,(again to be posted at a later date).

I guess I have never met a more gracious, accommodating, pleasant bunch of folks in my life. Well, other than the 1.2 million or so at the 912DC event last month. I just can't get over how all the people involved in this movement are alike, but yet individuals. This is truly the most organized, disorganization I have ever witnessed. I mean, every body is working towards one goal, using different means to arrive at the final destination. Organized disorganization is the best way I can think of to describe what is happening in this movement. After the meeting we went back to our hiding place in south west Phoenix and went to bed.

Much to our surprise, we were dispatched back to Columbus, OH. The phone rang at about 0400 EST and the dispatcher wanted to know if we would pull a load back to Columbus OH. The load was ready then and needed to go as soon as possible. We got up, fueled the truck, checked everything out and off we went to the terminal to hook to the loaded trailer. After figuring out where the king pin lock key was, and locating the paperwork, I performed a pre-trip inspection and took off towards Columbus OH. I-17 North to I-40 East to Oklahoma City. There we got onto I-44 and ran that to St Louis MO. In St. Louis we got onto I-70 and took that all the way in in to Columbus,OH.

Before we ever got ot Columbus, we were asked if we could pull a load to Salt Lake City UT. We let them know that we could do that but that we needed some time, about 4 hours or so, to ready the truck for the trip. We needed to find an RV Dump so that we could dump the waste tank, and we needed to find somewhere to get the oil changed. We don't normally drain the oil and put new oil in because we have an oil bypass filtration system that allows us to extend our drain intervals. When we had the EGR cooler failure, though, that allowed coolant to get into the crankcase. We performed an oil sample, which we do each time we change the bypass filter, and that sample indicated that there were enough traces of coolant properties in the oil that we should drain the oil, replace the filter and refill with fresh oil.

There are few places that carry enough oil, 11 gallons, of the brand and type that we use, that we can buy it all in one place. I usually do the changes at home so I don't have to worry about finding that much oil while traveling. I knew I could get the oil at Speedco, but they are pretty expensive. $35.00 per gal as opposed to $19.95 at Wal-Mart. The problem, though, is that I can usually only find about 3 gallons at a time at any given Wal-Mart. Anyway, I begrudgingly purchased the oil and moved on thinking I could get our terminal to do the drain and fill. I was surprised to find out that they couldn't do the drain. They have no ability to dispose of the waste oil.

We ran out to the Flying J travel plaza, emptied the waste tank, and then back to the terminal. We went ahead and hooked to the load and took off for Salt Lake City, UT, and had the oil change done in New Paris OH at the Petro Travel Plaza. That is on I-70 at the Indiana/Ohio state line. About 1.5 hours and we were off and running again.

We ran I-70 to Indianapolis In and got on I-74. We took that to Moline Il and got on I-80 all the way to Salt Lake City. The highway, I-80 was closed at North Platte NE until right before we got there. We stopped there at the Flying J for breakfast and to kill about 1 1/2 hours and then we headed off to SLC again. This was a very uneventful trip. I didn't get to write this until we got here though because we had no signal for Internet access. We arrived here in SLC at about 0130 this morning.

We were contacted by dispatch, again, before we got here and asked if we could pull a load to Denver CO. We had to decline that load because Tina is out of driving hours and I am very close. We will be here, in SLC, until Monday night while our DOT clock resets. I plan to make contact with Cherilyn Eagar while we are here. Cherilyn Eagar is running for a U.S. Senate seat in Utah and she is running as a 912 candidate. I hope to be able to meat with her and get some pictures of her signing the 912 Truck. I also hope to get the opportunity to ask her a few questions on video and get that posted as well(after I figure out how to edit the vid that is.).

Anyway, here we sit, relaxing, in sunny SLC. It is about 60 degrees here, far warmer than I had expected, and a very nice day.

Finally, we hope that you can find it in your budget to help with a small purchase or a donation in support of our mission.
We have launched into a couple of apparel stores so that everyone can show their support of the 912 Truck. Click here to show your support, or go to www.printfection.com/912truck. For those of you that would rather have a hat or mug you we have another outlet at cafepress.com/912 Truck. You can also use any of the donate buttons on this page to make a contribution directly to our endeavor to Waking up America.
Thanks for your support.


In God I Trust
Have a Great Day and a Better Tomorrow
ADW