.........I have driven a very large circle of our great nation over the past seven days. I started with a load out of Marietta, Georgia last Monday morning. I pulled that trailer out to Jenks, Oklahoma. I was then dispatched a load out of McPherson, Kansas going out to Sandy, Utah. Then, I drove up to Blackfoot, Idaho where I got under the load I am currently on, which will deliver sometime Tuesday afternoon just east of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. So far on this trip, I have seen temperatures ranging from near eighty degrees out in Tulsa, down to below zero here in Indiana. I was most surprised by the sixty degree weather in Salt Lake City, which is almost unheard of this time of year.
..........I drove into southern Idaho after dark on Thursday night, so I was unaware of the beauty that surrounded me when I parked my truck at a remote truck stop along I15. When I woke up Friday morning, and pulled back my curtain, I was completely awestruck at the sight of those snow-covered mountains that stood so majestically around me. the sun was starting to rise over a particularly high peak in the east, and I had the pleasure of sitting in the cab of my truck and watching the sunrise while sipping on a cup of bad coffee. It was more beautiful than words can describe. I have been trying to compose a poem to relay the magnificance of what I saw, but nothing I can put to paper seems to do it justice. I will continue to try.
..........After picking up this load in Idaho, I was routed down U.S. Highway 30 for over two hundred miles into Wyoming. As this was my first trip into the southern part of Idaho, I was excited at the prospect of seeing something new. I was a little apprehensive about driving a two lane highway through the Rockies this time of year, but I am now so glad I did. It was some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever witnessed. At one point, I was at nearly eight thousand foot elevation, and the mountain peaks still towered above me. Along the way, I saw two Bald Eagles, and one Golden Eagle. It was an amazing drive.
...........As I write this post, I am sitting in a truckstop in South Bend, Indiana waiting for two-thirty in the morning to arrive so I can start driving again. The DOT regulations state that I can work no more than seventy hours in an eight day period, so after working seventy hours, I am required to take a thirty-four hour break, which resets my seventy hour clock. The problem is, I have seen three inches of new snow fall on top of the already two foot of snow that is here over night. And, this is the small snow storm. The big one, that will bring over a foot of snow, sleet, and ice, will come sometime after midnight. All I can do is sit here and watch the bad weather catch up to me. Oh, well. I guess the DOT wants me well rested before sliding off in a ditch tomorrow.(Hopefully not!) Anyway, I will post again as soon as I get the chance.