Some Time to Relax

DATELINE: VAN BUREN, AR, 9:45 p.m. CST

Miles Today: 221

Finally, a short work day. I was up early once more to shower, shave, and have some breakfast before setting out towards my delivery. Since I had a little extra time, for breakfast I walked to the McDonald's down the road for something hot, instead of my usual Pop Tarts in the truck. Surprisingly, this McD's had bacon and sausage bagel sandwiches, but not my favorite, the steak, egg, and cheese bagel. Bummer. So I settled for a sausage, egg, & cheese McGriddle instead.

Back in the truck, I got rolling by 6:15 a.m. Including yet another fuel stop, this one at the Flying J in Joplin, MO, the drive to my delivery near Bentonville, AR took about 2-1/2 hours. The process of checking in--at the gate then at the Receiving Office--then backing to my assigned dock door took about 30 minutes, then I had to wait 'til the unloading was done. That took about 1-1/2 hours, then it was back on the road for me. I hit the highway to find a parking space at a truck stop to await my next assignment.

Now this was along a less populated, less busy highway, so the truck stops were smaller as well as fewer and farther between. I first pulled into a Pilot, but the last open space in its small lot was being filled as I pulled in (coincidentally by another USA driver who had been at the same delivery site and left just as I did--I had followed him all the way down to the Pilot). So 'twas back to the highway to the next truck stop another 15-ish miles down the road. This time there was plenty of parking at the next facility, a non-name-brand truck stop. I waited there for over an hour before my assignment came in. (While waiting I had time to grab some lunch from another Sonic drive-in just down the road. Lucky day.) Being the weekend, especially Sunday, pickups are hard to come by, so it was no surprise that I was to drive down to our Van Buren, AR terminal to pick up a load that had been dropped there.

It was an hour's drive from that truck stop to the terminal, and once at the terminal I quickly found my assigned trailer, parked my empty, and hooked up to the new one. The new load doesn't deliver until noon tomorrow (Monday), and it will set a new record for me: shortest distance from pickup to delivery. I have to take this load all the way to Fort Smith, a whopping 5 miles away. (At least that's the mileage I'll get paid for; I'll try to remember to get an actual odometer reading when I get there.) So I've had the whole afternoon and evening free.

I've watched some NFL action in the drivers' lounge (big screen TVs and big, leather recliners--luxury!), played some online poker, and even did some laundry. What I haven't done is eat much since I got here, and now all of a sudden I'm feeling hungry. So I'll finish up and go take care of that.

But first I want to mention that the latter part of my drive today, between Joplin, MO and Van Buren, AR along US-71 and I-540 is another of my favorite stretches of road in the country. It's along rolling hills (small mountains, even) with lots of scenic views. It was even better today with bright, sunny skies and the leaves changing color on the trees. I highly recommend you find an occasion to take a trip through that area for the sheer beauty of the terrain.

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by this corner of the web and following my trucking experiences. Let me hear from you via the comments feature of this blog, and keep on truckin'.

By the way, just askin' (I don't know what made me think of this observation, but here it is anyway, even though it would be much more effective verbally than written)...If a fault is a crack in the ground, I guess we know what asphalt is, eh? ;-)