Oh' man it has been a couple crazy weeks.
Let's see, where to start?
Well...who is going to drive this big yellow truck?
Aaaaaahhhh, I don't see any takers in time to make it to Denver or Memphis,,,,,ssooooooooooooooooo
I guess that leaves me.
It's not like I don't enjoy driving, it just happened to be the legal issue of not having a Class A CDL and my time was rather consumed with all the Federal BS complying with becoming an International Commercial Carrier....
I just want to haul some rodeo gear...
I need to show you proof of what?
So we do the mad dash, try to study for the CLD test (ya right)...fail a couple times...race around and get in with Dr Moran in Indianola so I could get cleared for a Medical Card (required to leave the state)and finally give in and call my new friend in Fort Dodge at Scott's One Day CDL....
...oh' buddy he is a life saver.
Took a day and half off and ran up to Fort Dodge, passed the written tests(3) and then completed the driving portion the next day....literally just in time to pack up and take the truck out to Denver last week to go to the WESA Markets.
Let's just say we put my driving skills to the test...however everyone lived and no dents and we returned home in one piece.
Then last Thursday (I must have been excited to go) I woke up waaaaaaaaayy too early at 4 am. Packed everything up and we all jumped in the truck around 7pm to head out to Memphis, TN for the NABA finals.
I am clearly not as young as I once mentally thought...and Mt Dew has limited effect after you have 24...it can only do soooo much. We arrived in Memphis around 10:30am Friday morning and unloaded everything....hung out all day/night.
Met some great new friends.
Packed up Sunday morning (note to self: be sure to check your King Pin before pulling out from under your trailer ~ regardless how tired you are. Special thanks to Jerry Grady & Billy Roe for freezing their butts off with us to fix my fiasco). Back on the road by noon headed home.
Some where near no where Missouri we noticed my Voltage gauge was dropping fast....crap what next.
Well, do we stop or keep going?
Keep going....
Sooooooo....just south of the Sikeston, MO Exit we broke down with a fried alternator.
What are the odd's of getting road side service with an alternator on a Sunday evening?
Amazingly pretty darn good. Placed a call to Keller Truck Stop and they hooked me up with the owner of the Truck Wash at the Flying J who also owned a mobile repair business and he came to the rescue.
Andrew Hart (Intern working for us from Simpson College) hit it off in conversation with the guy (sorry I didn't catch his name....I'll get it because we owe him big time) and his daughter is a Pro Barrel Racer and they owed a Western Store (C-K) as well as a bunch of horses.
Sooo...one bad turns into something great...some new friends in Sikeston. Ya gotta love it!
Made it home safe and insane around 2am Monday. so for those of you wondering where we were....well, there ya have it. Spending some quality windshield time with friends.
My heart goes out to all the truckers that do it full time from Border to Border....takes a lot of patience!
See ya down the road....
Spur' It UP!
PS: Did I mention we saw some great bull rides? Check it out....
You had a few problems, but you made it back! Now if the truck would unload itself everything would be great. By the way nice video.
Posted by: leah | January 25, 2008 at 03:13 PM
My Daddy, being a MT Dew connoisseur, would like to know what size you were drinking, cause apparently he thinks he can beat you.
And your thinking you were younger than you are, you TOTALLY can't compete with Dad. He thought he could LEAD our big bull to load him on our trailer to take him up to the stud. YEAH RIGHT!!! What a GREAT way to get a big ole sweet-tempered bull really really REALLY mad! We finally did get him loaded. Dad's comment, "twenty years ago I could have loaded him that way no problem"... but fifty nine and broken shouldered, yeah, or not so much.
Posted by: paintsmh | January 24, 2008 at 08:35 PM
Certainly sounds like a fun...or at least interesting... experience. Hope you guys come to NY someday!
Posted by: paintsmh | January 24, 2008 at 07:38 PM