Columbus OH to Miami FL, Home Then Off to Vegas Baby

Well, it happened again. After meeting with Cherilyn Eagar we called dispatch and we were given a load to Los Angeles, CA that was to leave at about 2300. We knew we would have to get some sleep so we got our chores done, had supper and got ready for bed. Just about the time we were crawling into bed, dispatch called and said the load was meant for another truck and that he would have to take it from us and give it to the other team. No problem, what is right is right. If the load was promised to someone else, then they should get the load. We hung the phone up and after being told that we would be there until the next evening, this was at about 1730 eastern time, we decided we'd watch a bit of television and drift off to sleep. I ended up watching television until about 2330 that night, I mean, we weren't going anywhere anyway, right? NOT!

The phone rang at about 0115 and dispatch had a load in Denver that desperately needed to move to Columbus OH as soon as possible. Another case of poor planning on their part creating and emergency on our part. I nearly turned the load down but with freight the way it is, we needed to run while things are still moving. We had to grab an empty trailer and head to Denver Co where there would be a loaded trailer waiting when we arrived. I jumped up, got myself ready to go, headed for the fuel Island at the truck stop where we were parked and proceeded to ready the truck for another trip. Oil Checked, brakes and hoses, coolant, tires, etc., I fueled the truck, took my flags off the back and put them away, and we took off for the terminal in SLC about 5 miles down the road, to grab an empty trailer and make our way to Denver CO.

We left SLC about 0200 and arrived in Denver, uneventfully, at about 1030 am on Tuesday morning, the 3rd of November. Our load was ready, as promised, and we switched the empty trailer for the loaded one. One of the guys at the terminal in Denver was reading the side of the truck when I came out from the office and we talked a minute or two, he is a vet and really liked what we are doing, he signed the truck, let me get a picture, shook hands, and we were off to Columbus OH. We actually got pretty darned lucky, we had a tail wind all the way to about St Louis Mo. That is pretty unusual for me, I am almost always going the opposite way of the wind, and that burns a heck of a lot more fuel than having a tail wind. Anyway, We stopped in Pontoon Beach Il for fuel at about 0100 on the 4th and then moved on to Columbus OH.

We were asked, before we ever got to Columbus, about pulling a load to Medley FL that was to leave at about 1100 am on the 4th and deliver at 1600 on the 5th in Medley. this load was to go to a customer rather than to our terminal in Miami. I always hesitate going to FL, unless we are going home for time off, because the freight is scarce coming out of there, especially as for south as Miami. Tina and I discussed it though and decided we had better keep moving.

We arrived in Columbus at about 0745 am on the 4th and had a little time so we took a short jaunt over to the local greasy spoon for some breakfast. After breakfast we went back to the terminal and hooked another empty trailer, fuel the truck again, and went to our customer for the pickup going to Medley(Miami) FL. The guard at the guard shack of our customer liked the truck so I had him sign it and took his picture, gave him some pamphlets and a pocket constitution and we headed into the complex to get our load.

While we were dropping the empty trailer, a mobile trailer repair service truck cam e and parked beside our truck and was reading. He got out of his truck and took some pictures and we talked a little. He hadn't heard of the 9/12 Project so I gave him some information, a Glenn Beck book and a pocket constitution. I also asked if he cared to sign the truck and without hesitation he grabbed my pen and started signing while I took his picture. I had to go to the office to get paperwork for our load and when I came back out he was still reading the material I had passed to him. We hooked our loaded trailer, performed a pre-trip inspection and headed south.

We headed down hwy 33 from Columbus to I-77S at Ravenswood WV and then to I-26E to I-95S and on to Miami. Naturally, road construction in Jacksonville FL, I guess they'll never finish the I-10/I-95 interchange. We were detoured off I-95 twice but that was okay, other than the slight inconvenience, we had plenty of time to get to Miami. We made it as far as about 40 miles or so south of Fort Pierce, FL and we seen that if we kept going that we would just be fighting traffic going into town so we stopped at a rest area and took about a 4 1/2 hour nap. We both just hate traffic if there is a way of avoiding it and not be late.

Tina got up at about 1030 or so and made her way the rest of the way to our delivery. the receiver doesn't start accepting deliveries until about 1400 and we got there about 1200. good deal, time for another nap. Ya know, before I reached the dark age of 40 something, I never took a nap. I just thought that that was something old people done to waste time. Guess what, I now nap every chance I get. You just never know when the next dose of shut eye will come so you have to meet every opportunity head on. We got up at about 1500, I checked to see when we would be unloaded and they told me to wait in the truck, they'd come and get me. Now I remember why I quit pulling for individual customers and went to work for someone that 90% of their loads are drop and hook. Oh well, back to the truck and just like clockwork, 15 minutes before they had to start paying detention time, they knocked on the door and asked me to back into a different dock than I was in. I complied and they proceeded to unload the trailer.

We hadn't heard from dispatch yet so I called them and they only had 5 loads out of there and they had 15 trucks. I made a deal with the dispatcher that if he would pay us to run empty to Orlando, we would go to the house for the day, Friday, and he could find us something out on Friday night or Saturday morning. He jumped at the chance of having 1 less truck to worry about and checked his Friday night schedule and offered us loads to Los Angeles CA, Columbus OH, or Las Vegas NV. I said Vegas Baby, give us Vegas. I love it when a plan comes together. This turn of events, our going home now and not having to wait till December for our planned time to go home, actually turned out later to be an indisputable case of Divine Intervention.

We were finally unloaded at about 1830 and headed for the house. We got home at about 2330 and started carrying things in from the truck, laundry, computer, etc., I went down to my father's house to pickup our mail and when I returned, Tina was outside shutting off the water to the house. She said that we had a water leak inside and the carpet was wet. When we went back inside, The floating floor in the dining room gave new meaning to the term "floating floor". I had to turn the water back on to find the leak and found that it was behind the drywall in the wall between the bathroom and 1 of the bedrooms. knocked a hole in the wall and found a small pinhole in one of the copper lines going into the bathroom. I shut the water off, repaired the leak, turned the water back on, showered and went to bed. Now, the only reason I told you about the water leak was to show you how great God is, truly. We were not due home until December 19th. Our house would have floated to the nearby Withlacoochee River if we had waited that long. While we did have severe damage, the damage was limited drastically by our unplanned trip into Florida and consequently to the house. Believe what you will, I just praise God for his guidance and direction.

We are now in Louisiana, headed for Las Vegas. We left the house last night at about 2000 and went to Orlando, laid down for a nap and our load was ready at 0400 this morning. We left there at about 0430, headed up the turnpike to I-75 north. We stopped in Reddick Florida for fuel and headed north again to Lake City where we accessed I-10w. We took I-10w to Mobile Al and got on US98n to Hattiesburg MS. In Hattiesburg we got on 49n and went to Jackson MS. We went west on I-20 in Jackson and will continue, after a stop in Greenwood LA(Shreveport) for fuel again, to Exit 499 in Texas. We will meander up 80,635, I-35, and 380 to US 287. We will run 287 from Decatur TX to Amarillo TX and get on I-40w. We will stop for fuel again in Albuquerque NM and then continue on to Kingman AZ. In Kingaman, we will go north for a few miles on 93. Trucks aren't allowed over Hover Dam anymore so we will have to turn west on 68 and run that through Laughlin to 95n back to 93 and then 93 on into Vegas.

We should be in Vegas tomorrow evening about 2100 or so and will likely be there until Monday night or Tuesday morning. The way freight has been though, all bets are off. I'm taking a nap when we get there.

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ADW