Enjoying North America while earning a living...: August 9, 1991, 2011

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

August 9, 2011

August 9, 1991, 2011

FIRST 5 YEARS:(Friday-Tucumcari, New Mexico)Bill, my son, is riding with me for awhile
I was awake by 5:30 AM MST and left the truckstop heading west on I-40 by 6 AM MST. I was hoping to have Bill be able to see "Hole 'n the Rock" and so I left on today's travel early.

I stopped at our fuel stop in Santa Rosa(New Mexico) for fuel(99 gallons) and munchies for our breakfast: chocolate milk & turkey legs. We were there about a half hour and then moving toward Albuquerque. Went down the long down grade into Albuquerque and then right through it. When we got to I-25, we went north a short distrance(22 miles???) to Hwy 550(it was Hwy 44). As I started up Hwy 550, the up grade was steep enough that I needed to downshift two times. Got up to the more level ground and it was long before I stopped along the highway at San Ysidro(New Mexico) for a break at one of two fast "FOOD" places. We got out but they were still not open--10 AM MST...It looked like they would be opening but we didn't want to wait. We were there about 15 minutes and then through the Navajo Indian Rewservation.

The surrounding scenery was desertly up to Bloomfield(New Mexico). At Bloomfield I thought about stopping but I decided to go to Cortez and have a meal there. At Bloomfield, we started listening to a Navajo radio station--couldn't understand--as we traveled west on Hwy 64. At Shiprock(you can see an old volcanic cone, looking like a sailing ship, on the valley floor) we took Hwy 666--now 491--north into Colorado.

We stopped at the truckstop behind the Colorado truck scales and had a late lunch(we went into the restaurant at 2:15 PM MST). We both had the buffalo burgers(real buffalo meat) and Bill said it tasted like regular hamburger. We went there about an hour before heading on north to Utah.

Before Utah, we went through Dove Creek(Colorado), the self proclaimed pinto bean capital of the world.

Slipped into Utah and weighed at the Utah weigh station with no problem. Got to Monticello and turned north on Hwy 191 where I immediately pulled over and parked so we could get a couple sodas(soft drinks in Canada) at the convenience store I like stopping at. Shortly later we were leaving Monticello and heading into the beautiful mountainous and wonderlands of Utah. We got to "Hole 'n the Rock" and parked at the rest area just past it. The time was 5 PM and the (Hole..) was closed. Went back to the truck whwere we sat outside the truck until the bugs got too bad. I went to bed and Bill sat up and worked on some project he was working on...