Move along... break's over!
I'm back on the road. Actually I came back out on this past Wednesday. I was reluctant to get back into Trucky that morning, as I'd enjoyed myself thoroughly while I was at home taking some R &R and therefore spoiled myself. I always end up doing that when I take more than two days off!
But, once I'd settled back into the routine, I was happily plodding along the highways doing my dandy deeds as dispatched. I picked up a load out of Parkersburg, WV and headed to the Philly area to deliver. I spent the first night in Maryland. And after delivering my load, spent the second night at a drop yard in PA waiting for a relay that would take me to New Hampshire. I can't seem to get it into my dispatchers head that I loathe the north east. I've tried reverse psychology but it's apparently not working. He must be immune.
I woke up Friday morning, the first day of Spring, and found about an inch or more of snow covering the ground and my truck. Nice. But luckily it was already melting off in the 40 degree temperatures. I searched the lot, found that during the night my relay had arrived, and hooked up to it and got a move on. The trip to NH was pretty uneventful. I made it to the delivery point the same day, made the drop, found an empty and headed to my favorite NH truck stop.
There I enjoyed a hot shower, a delicious meal and a friendly chat with a couple of the folks that work there. I've made friends with a few of them so it's always pleasant to catch up. Then I settled in for a nice night of quiet sleeping. Much unlike the last time I stayed there when I kept getting woke up by the sound of snow mobiles racing through the parking lot.
The next morning I headed north into Maine to fetch my next load, which is taking me to the central area of NJ close to the PA border. I've been to the NJ facility before with a load out of the same facility in ME, so at least it's familiar territory. I know the drill and know that it won't be too much hassle.
Not near as much hassle as last time I was there... which was the windy day where Mother Nature broke my nylon bungee cord and gave me fits trying to get my faulty trailer door to stay open long enough for me to dock to be unloaded.
I am praying for calm winds tomorrow! haha
Nothing much else exciting going on really. I did spent last night at the Pilot on I-84 in MA, exit 1. I had never been there before, and figured it would be a nice place to stop. I was excited to see a large building touting a Roy Rogers restaurant... as I was famished and looking for a nice hot meal. But much to my chagrin, the facility had been closed, quite obviously, for some time and I was left to fend for myself.
Quite sad really to see such a lovely facility sitting there going to waste. And of course, with Pilot in charge of the property, it will likely be demolished and rebuilt to the standard box form of any average Pilot station. Pilots are great for one thing and really one thing only... the coffee. If it weren't for the fact that our company also also requires us to primarily use Pilot's for fueling and thus we earn free shower credits, I'd probably never step foot in a Pilot unless it were an emergency.
I hate to say that, but I feel the same way about a lot of the Loves' too. I just kinda figure that a truck stop should have certain amenities that those two particular chains just don't generally provide. There are some exceptions, of course, but those are few and far between.
Of course, when it's late and you're looking for a parking place, any place will do. And so, I usually find myself searching the lots of mom and pop truck stops and then crossing the street or going to the next exit down to a Pilot or Love's Truck Stop. If I have my choice, I'll take a Pilot over a Loves, just because in the morning I know I'm gonna get a great cup of coffee.
How sad is that? That I find myself planning parking stops based on something so simple as coffee. If I can't park at a Pilot, I park close to one... even if it's a thirty minute drive down the road, I know I can stop pretty soon after starting my day so I can grab a cup of their dark roast.
Pathetic!
But that's the life of a trucker I suppose... trucks need fuel and so do the drivers. I wonder how many gallons of coffee are brewed every day just in truck stops alone?! I imagine that number is staggering.
About like this evening I had went into the truck stop I am staying at tonight and heard shower numbers being called over the intercom. I'd showered when I'd arrived here at about 10:30 am and I was shower customer number 36. When I was in there a little while ago, they were announcing which shower customer number 155 would be using. That's a lot of dirty towels and thus squeaky clean truckers, don't ya think?!
.....by the way I need to update the readers who have sent inquiry about my "big change" or whatever you want to call it. It's not happening. Not at the moment anyway. What I was hoping for was not in the stars and while it was disappointing at first, I'm over it. I've accepted the fact that my life was not meant to take that new direction just now and have moved on.
I am getting excited about my current status though, seems that miles might be picking up for me and that is as good as it gets right now. As long as I get to keep moving and don't spend too much time sitting around I'll be happy. Plus, I think people will start buying stuff again soon... at least seasonal items like lawn furniture and tank tops and grills and flip-flops. So if anything, I'll at least be supplying goods to Wal-Martians across the country. *sigh*
But, once I'd settled back into the routine, I was happily plodding along the highways doing my dandy deeds as dispatched. I picked up a load out of Parkersburg, WV and headed to the Philly area to deliver. I spent the first night in Maryland. And after delivering my load, spent the second night at a drop yard in PA waiting for a relay that would take me to New Hampshire. I can't seem to get it into my dispatchers head that I loathe the north east. I've tried reverse psychology but it's apparently not working. He must be immune.
I woke up Friday morning, the first day of Spring, and found about an inch or more of snow covering the ground and my truck. Nice. But luckily it was already melting off in the 40 degree temperatures. I searched the lot, found that during the night my relay had arrived, and hooked up to it and got a move on. The trip to NH was pretty uneventful. I made it to the delivery point the same day, made the drop, found an empty and headed to my favorite NH truck stop.
There I enjoyed a hot shower, a delicious meal and a friendly chat with a couple of the folks that work there. I've made friends with a few of them so it's always pleasant to catch up. Then I settled in for a nice night of quiet sleeping. Much unlike the last time I stayed there when I kept getting woke up by the sound of snow mobiles racing through the parking lot.
The next morning I headed north into Maine to fetch my next load, which is taking me to the central area of NJ close to the PA border. I've been to the NJ facility before with a load out of the same facility in ME, so at least it's familiar territory. I know the drill and know that it won't be too much hassle.
Not near as much hassle as last time I was there... which was the windy day where Mother Nature broke my nylon bungee cord and gave me fits trying to get my faulty trailer door to stay open long enough for me to dock to be unloaded.
I am praying for calm winds tomorrow! haha
Nothing much else exciting going on really. I did spent last night at the Pilot on I-84 in MA, exit 1. I had never been there before, and figured it would be a nice place to stop. I was excited to see a large building touting a Roy Rogers restaurant... as I was famished and looking for a nice hot meal. But much to my chagrin, the facility had been closed, quite obviously, for some time and I was left to fend for myself.
Quite sad really to see such a lovely facility sitting there going to waste. And of course, with Pilot in charge of the property, it will likely be demolished and rebuilt to the standard box form of any average Pilot station. Pilots are great for one thing and really one thing only... the coffee. If it weren't for the fact that our company also also requires us to primarily use Pilot's for fueling and thus we earn free shower credits, I'd probably never step foot in a Pilot unless it were an emergency.
I hate to say that, but I feel the same way about a lot of the Loves' too. I just kinda figure that a truck stop should have certain amenities that those two particular chains just don't generally provide. There are some exceptions, of course, but those are few and far between.
Of course, when it's late and you're looking for a parking place, any place will do. And so, I usually find myself searching the lots of mom and pop truck stops and then crossing the street or going to the next exit down to a Pilot or Love's Truck Stop. If I have my choice, I'll take a Pilot over a Loves, just because in the morning I know I'm gonna get a great cup of coffee.
How sad is that? That I find myself planning parking stops based on something so simple as coffee. If I can't park at a Pilot, I park close to one... even if it's a thirty minute drive down the road, I know I can stop pretty soon after starting my day so I can grab a cup of their dark roast.
Pathetic!
But that's the life of a trucker I suppose... trucks need fuel and so do the drivers. I wonder how many gallons of coffee are brewed every day just in truck stops alone?! I imagine that number is staggering.
About like this evening I had went into the truck stop I am staying at tonight and heard shower numbers being called over the intercom. I'd showered when I'd arrived here at about 10:30 am and I was shower customer number 36. When I was in there a little while ago, they were announcing which shower customer number 155 would be using. That's a lot of dirty towels and thus squeaky clean truckers, don't ya think?!
.....by the way I need to update the readers who have sent inquiry about my "big change" or whatever you want to call it. It's not happening. Not at the moment anyway. What I was hoping for was not in the stars and while it was disappointing at first, I'm over it. I've accepted the fact that my life was not meant to take that new direction just now and have moved on.
I am getting excited about my current status though, seems that miles might be picking up for me and that is as good as it gets right now. As long as I get to keep moving and don't spend too much time sitting around I'll be happy. Plus, I think people will start buying stuff again soon... at least seasonal items like lawn furniture and tank tops and grills and flip-flops. So if anything, I'll at least be supplying goods to Wal-Martians across the country. *sigh*
Comments
I was pretty sad a few years back when Big Douga's (spelling?) outside of St. Louis sold out to Pilot. First thing they did was rip out the restaurant and put in fast food. Too bad. I loved those Big Douga burgers. They also closed down the big parking lot across the street. Don't know if it wasn't included in the sale or what, but that is some soorly-needed parking gone.
I'm with you on the Coffee at Pilot and am glad I'm not the only one to plan my breaks around it!