Fun in Central Florida

DATELINE: REDDICK, FL, 7:45 p.m. EDT

Miles Today: 308

My apologies, but I can't think of a clever way to start today's report, or at least any way that'd conform to what you're taught in any creative writing class. Must have a wee bit to do with fatigue. And because of the fatigue, I'm also too tired to sit and wait for a clever opening to come to me. So this is the dreck you get today. I hope it's not too big a step down from the quality of dreck you normally get in these "pages".

I had a REALLY early start to the day, as I had somewheres around 50 miles to go to get to my 3:00 a.m. delivery appointment. Because USA Truck's policy is NOT to reimburse drivers for tolls on the Florida Turnpike, which naturally would have been the fastest and most direct route I could have taken this morning, I had to take "back roads", state and US highways. So I got rolling just after 1:30, expecting about a 90-minute drive into Orlando.

The route was easy to follow, as the roads (FL-44 and US-441) were well marked. But it took almost 2 hours because of some construction zones and lots more stoplights than I had expected along the way. This Orlando area really is spread wide.

Anyway, I reached the customer site at about 3:30 and backed into their dock (well, 1 of 2 they had open). I went inside to hand in the bill of lading, and the guy on the dock asked me to pull back out. Huh? He explained that my truck was a mess. Huh? He pointed inside the trailer, so I peeked in. Indeed, some of the load had shifted and toppled over. I hate when shippers don't secure their loads.

The load was a mix of products, some in boxes, some in pails. Some of the pails, stacked 2 or 3 high, and forward of the boxed goods, had toppled, something I couldn't see from the ground when I opened the trailer doors in preparation for backing in. The dock guy explained that it would take a while to handle my trailer, and he head 2 more trucks coming in at 4:00 (it was now after 3:45). So he'd get them out of the way before dealing with my mess.

All things considered, the delivery went quicker than it could have. The other 2 trucks were in and out in about 30 minutes, then it was my turn. And they had my trailer unloaded within 45 more minutes. Afterwards, I hustled on over to a truck stop I found listed in my Truck Stop Guide, the only one listed in (or even close to) Orlando, and it was only about 3 miles away.

The Guide listed the place under the name "Trucker's Paradise", so it certainly looked promising. So I was expecting a big, huge place with lots of lights and neon palm trees and the like. Instead, I found the place by a plain white, rectangular sign with black block letters reading "TRUCK STOP". That's it. No "Trucker's Paradise" identified anywhere. But it was for sure the right place, as it matched the address given in the Guide.

A paradise it was not. The parking lot was gravel and cratered. And it wasn't very well lighted, either. And the restaurant and store, housed in a cement block building, were closed because of the early hour (the "good" truck stops have them open 24/7). At least their rest rooms were accessible. But hey, any port in a storm or, more appropriate to my case, any parking spot when it's time to wait for a load assignment. And I did find a spot to put my rig for the interim.

I had just enough time to walk over, hit the rest room, walk back (I was at the far corner of the lot from the building), and lie back in my bunk. Just as I got comfy, the assignment came in: pick up a load in Lakeland that's bound for Calumet City, IL. The pickup time was listed as 0700 hours. Since it was after 0600 when I got the message, and the pickup was 55 miles away, AND I'd have to stop at a truck stop en route to pick up some load locks (adjustable bars to spread across the trailer to secure the load in place) which were required for this load, in no way was I going to get there on time. I sent that info in and got rolling. En route I got a reply that I actually had a pickup window, so it was no biggie to be later than 0700.

Stop at a Love's to get the load locks: Check. (Though I had a bit of a wait on hold while calling in to Dispatch to get the purchase authorization code.)

Find the correct exit off of the highway, #38 for FL-33 South: Check.

Find the state route I was to take to the shipper: Not so check.

The directions provided with the assignment told me to take a left onto "State Road 59, aka Combee Rd". (Why do I keep thinking, "I am Combee, dammit!"?) A mile or so down FL-33 I came across the junction of FL-659, N Combee Rd. The shipper's address was on S Combee, so I figured that'd be another intersection farther down. Yada, yada, long story short, I had a nice tour of Lakeland before determining there is no FL-59, and that FL-659 was indeed correct. So I retreated back to that junction and followed that road 'til I came across the shipper.

Loading there went fine, though a little longer than I normally like. But it was only 1-1/4 hours, then I was on my way. And now I'm on my way back north. Well, not right NOW, as I'm parked for the night at a Petro Stopping Place here along I-75, just north of Ocala. My load is due for delivery Monday morning, so I have the weekend to make the drive to Chicagoland. My goal for tomorrow is Nashville, so we'll see how that goes.

My regular readers will recall that, as a sports fan, I like to see the major sporting venues across the country. I've driven past Lambeau field, Texas Stadium, the Cotton Bowl, The Meadowlands, and many others. Today I got to see one of the Hoiliest of Holies. Well, to me as a lifelong southeast Michigander and, therefore, a Tigers fan, it's a shrine. Thanks to the lousy directions I was provided to the shipper in Lakeland, I passed right by Tigertown and Joker Marchant Stadium. Three times even. True, I couldn't get a good look since I was driving, and it's a block off of the main drag, tucked behind a Honda dealership, but I did catch glimpses of it. And its light towers are very prominent. So that was a thrill for me. Now I'll know how to find it when I get the chance to come down for some Spring Training action.

It's now gotten to be time for bed. I snuck in a break while composing this and caught "Ghost Rider" with Nicholas Cage that was showing in the truck stop's theater. Not a great movie, but the special effects are cool. But now it's 10:45 and I want to get up at 4:00 to hit the road. I did grab a nap of a few hours when I got here around 2:00, so I won't be totally sleep-deprived. Thanks for checking in on me, and keep on truckin'.