FIRST 5 YEARS:(Sunday-Phoenix, Arizona)
Woke up in the motel room around 6 AM PST(Arizona not on DAY LIGHT Savings Time)
and got ready to leave for San Manuel, Arizona. Still feeling a little effect of all the popcorn I ate yesterday...but it was good!!!
Last night I hooked back up to my trailer; dropped it yesterday so I could drive around the city. Did a vehicle inspection and got my paperwork before I left the motel at 9:15 AM PST.
Instead of taking I-10 back to Tucson and then going to San Manuel, I decided to go down I-17 to I-10 to Hwy 60 east. I followed Hwy 60(saw the modern city desert highway system-yep, I liked what I saw)to Florence Junction where I took Hwy 79 southeast past Florence(Arizona). I got to Hwy 77 and took it northeast to the road for San Manuel. The whole drive to San Manuel from Phoenix was a fantastic trip which I find hard to put in words.
Got to San Manuel, and the parking lot to the company I was picking up from, at 12:15 PM PST. I had taken my time and thoroughly enjoyed the ride. My day's enjoyment continued when "Cowboy", another driver from my company, pulled in shortly after I did. We checked in at the guard gate and found we were parked fine and that the company would start letting us in around 11 PM PST. We were off the main road through town with what looked like the town built up the mountainside to the west of us and the mining for copper done to the east of us. Cowboy had a bar-b-que pit(small round black one) so we went in his tractor, after unhooking his trailer, to the store and bought steaks and potatoes for dinner. We started the bar-b-que going around 4 PM PST and did some cooking. By this time we had other drivers that came in and used the pit. All us drivers sat around and talked trucker things for awhile. By this time(about 6 PM PST) there were 4 trucks from our company; the third had a husband and wife team driving it and the fourth truck driver never socialized with anyone.
We talked about the ways to St. Louis, Missouri from here and decided the safest and fastest was to go back through Tucson(Arizona) and get on I-10 eastbound.
I laid down for a nap at a little before 7 PM PST and got up at 10:45 PM PST. Cowboy was awake when the gates opened and the guard let us in according to the order in which we checked in. I was first and Cowboy was second. We were directed to back up to the two outdoor loading docks and wait, which we did.
As our day ended, we were waiting for our loads...
I kept a day by day journal the first 5 years I was enjoying North America. While earning a living,I kept track of where I went, often what I did, feelings I had and various other details. I am writing this blog day by day as I lived it. The month/day I lived it is the same as the month/day I write about it. The years are obviously different...thus the days title: ie: August 30, 1989, 2009.
About Me
- The Protraveller...
- Starting as a preschooler, I remember my Grandfather bringing me rocks from his trips he took after he retired. Each rock had a story to tell. In the sixth grade, I watched a freeway be built and then wondered where all the trucks would go. I remember in high school looking at the mountains and wanting to travel. I did many jobs BEFORE trucking but I always wondered what driving would by like. I really wanted to see things and drive a big truck. So after almost finishing nursing school, a divorce and three cute little kids, I became a truck driver. While earning a living, I found myself enjoying North America and seeing the land and people. NO ONE ENJOYED TRAVELING MORE THAN ME. There are two things I have enjoyed in this life and they are traveling and writing. I use to call myself "Protourist" but my Mother-in-law and Wife would become upset with me as they know I really love THE "travel" and not THE stopping to see things. I now call myself "protraveller"(I like it with a double "L") and my Mother-in-law and Wife are now happy!!! I love to write and this blog gives me the opportunity to share my past and thoughts with the public.
About this blog's layout...BLOG UPDATED ONCE PER DAY...
I follow my journal daily by writing under the daily title, "FIRST 5 YEARS:" The first five years will strictly follow my 5 year journal. If I find the day I am writing about to be boring, I will either write about thoughts I remember(placed under the title of "SECOND 5 YEARS"), write a trucker tale(placed under "A Trucker's Tale"), give a helpful trucker hint, ask a "student driver" question or do something.....When a location appears after the day of the week after "FIRST 5 YEARS:", it is where I am at the start of that day((IE: FIRST 5 YEARS: (Sunday-Kansas City, Missouri))..... I would encourage those that find themselves enjoying North America to follow me day by day.....REMEMBER: THIS IS A BLOG ABOUT WHAT LIFE IS LIKE FOR A TRUCKER THAT DOES NOT HAVE A DAILY ROUTINE ROUTE(called a "dedicated" route). THERE WILL BE MANY TIMES WHEN THE ROUTING, SCENERY AND DAY'S ACTIVITIES WILL BE SIMILAR(boring???) TO PREVIOUS DAYS; THAT'S TRUCKING! THERE WILL BE DAYS WHEN THE ROUTING, SCENERY AND DAY'S ACTIVITIES WILL BE TOTALLY NEW; THAT'S TRUCKING. Frustrations? I mention the frustrations I had as a driver. I loved my job while earning a living and realized that all jobs have frustrations; truck driving is, and was, no different..... Many pictures on this blog can be left-clicked and made larger.....Questions?...Please E-mail PT at fabalt2000@centurylink.net
Blog Dictionaries...
The Trucking Dictionary...words in this dictionary will many times appear highlighted. If a word isn't highlighted or in the blog dictionary and sounds "different", check it out in this dictionary. Please note: Many times when clicking on these dictionaries anywhere in the blog, the first thing that comes up is an advertisement which I have no control over.
The Blog Dictionary...This dictionary contains words I use that aren't "trucker" words and thus not in the "trucking dictionary". I separate them--the dictionaries--in case someone wants to copy the trucking dictionary for personal use. This dictionary also contains names of people(not real names) that I dealt with many times through my trucking career. Blog word found in this dictionary often will be licked to it.
DAILY UPDATES SHOULD BE UP BY NOON CST...
May 20, 2010
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