Jessup (Baltimore) to Knoxville

DATELINE: KNOXVILLE, TN, 5:45 p.m. EDT

Miles Today: 530

Today was almost my favorite kind of day on this job: all driving, no deliveries or pickups to make (and eat up my time for driving paid miles), and a full complement of hours available for driving. The only downer was gloomy, intermittently-rainy weather. (Well, except for having to be on the road, away from home, in the first place. That is a bigger downer.)

I got up this morning around 4:30 so I could have time for a shower (first in 3 days) and shave (ditto) before hitting the road good and early. As all you regular readers know, I like to start early so I can finish up early before the truck stops start getting congested. And that strategy worked today, as I pulled into the Flying J here round 4:45 with plenty of open real estate in the lot. I opted against fueling up before parking (this place is on the company's fuel network list) because, although the parking lot was wide open, the fuel islands were pretty backed up with traffic. (I usually stay at the TA across the highway instead of the "J" when I stop in Knoxville because of this place's poorly-designed access route into and out of the lot. When the fuel islands get busy and backed up, the backup is right in the driveway.) I'll fuel up when I get started in the morning (early again).

I decided to stay here tonight, though, because, as a member of FJ's Frequent Fueler program, I get coupons in the mail each month based on my purchases at the chain's outlets. The coupons are good at the FJ's restaurants, and they expire at the the end of the month, so I had $7 in free eats to claim. Didn't want to miss out on that in case I don't come across a Flying J at a convenient time in the next couple of days.

Tomorrow morning I have about a 3-hour drive (maybe 2-1/2 hours) to Nashville to drop this trailer I'm hauling right now. Then I'll have another new assignment, so who knows where I'll be going next? Check back and find out.

Thanks for checking today's update. Let me know what you want to know about this life on the road, and keep on truckin'.