Swing Up to the Great White North

DATELINE: DEXTER, MI, 8:30 p.m. EST

Miles Today: 0
Miles Yesterday: 355

I got a pleasant surprise yesterday (Saturday). Actually, it was a case of good news/bad news. The good news was that I would get to swing by home while hauling a load. The bad news was that the load assignment had relatively few paying miles over 2 days. Here's the story.

Yesterday I woke up in Kentucky, just a bit east of Louisville. After a shower and shave, I headed toward my delivery in Troy, Ohio, just 10 miles north of our Vandalia terminal. I found the site, made the drop-and-hook delivery, then drove to the terminal to fuel up and wait for my next assignment.

It wasn't long after I reached the terminal that my assignment came in: grab a loaded trailer from the terminal's lot. The new load is headed for Shelby Township, MI, with delivery set for 8:00 Monday morning. That's only a 220-mile load, and with almost 2 full days to get there, I had plenty of time to go sit out the wait at my "home" truck stop. So that's where I headed after grabbing the new load. Another benefit of the extra time is that I'll chalk up another 34-hour break, so I'll have a fresh 70 hours to work for the next 8 days.

I arrived in the mid-afternoon, then had some time 'til Mrs. R.T. was free to come by for a visit. Actually, she and R.T. daughter #2 swung by after attending the Saturday evening service at our church, picked me up, and we headed home for a while. Since I'm under a load, I have to spend the night with my truck, so I couldn't sleep at home.

This morning I got to go to church with Mrs. R.T., then have a quick breakfast with her afterwards. Following that, I took the opportunity to find a Christmas tree for the ol' homestead. Then it was back to the truck shortly before 1:00 this afternoon. 'Twas great to spend time with the family in the middle of my tour of duty.

I've spent most of the time since returning to my truck this afternoon doing the online poker thang, playing in 1 multi-table tournament (and making the money to the tune of coming out 57 cents ahead) and 3 6-player sit-n-go tourneys. I took second place in the first one (after being "rivered" out of a win), bombed out early in the second, and finally won the last one. So, all told, I came out a bit ahead. (But I'm still trying to catch up after last Sunday's debacle.)

And that's where things stand right now. I'll need to get up early in the morning to reach my delivery on time. I'm hoping the weather will not quite live up to the dire forecast, and the roads'll be free of ice when I get ready to roll. At least since the snow-and-ice storm was predicted so far ahead, the road crews have been ready for it. Check back tomorrow to see how it all goes.

Thanks for checking in today. Let me know how you're doing, and ask any questions you may have about this life on the road. And keep on truckin'.