SUPERSIZE ME

No, I am not talking about Craig and I, but our truck and the assignment we were given on Wednesday morning. We did not have to drive far, just to Arlington, Washington, to Meridian Yachts. We were to pick up a boat mold that they use to make the fiberglass hulls for their boats, or should I say yachts. This particular plant in Arlington is no longer going to bother themselves with the small yachts anymore; they will only manufacture the big ones. I might add that I saw quite a few I would not have minded somehow leaving with. However, we left with only the hull mold, which was destined, to their plant in Roseburg, Oregon.




Now this particular assignment was interesting in that it was an oversized load as you probably figured from the earlier picture. That means there are numerous permits and restrictions you have to be aware of. The first one is the use of pilot cars. We were given the phone number of the contact person and made arrangements to meet. The second restriction is the times in which you can drive on the freeway with oversized loads. Each state has different times for different freeways, so after conferring with the reference book and confirming with the pilot car driver we determined we would be able to leave at 6pm Wednesday night.




The restriction was that we needed a pilot car to get us onto the freeway only and then off the freeway at our final destination. This is a job we might consider getting into later on. The driver even alluded to the fact that it was very lucrative. Almost like driving a big rig as they too go cross-country piloting oversized loads. The driver had just come back from a trip to Georgia. Using his services for all of about 10 minutes, as we were only a couple of miles from the Interstate, we were safely on the freeway, and he was happily on his way to the bank.

Going south on Interstate 5 we passed right through Seattle and it was amazing. It so reminds me of San Francisco. The Space Needle and downtown right along the water made us consider buying a boat and living in a marina in the coming years.



Mt. Rainier was also making an appearance for us, although at over 14,000 feet high, it would be hard not for it to be seen. The difficulty in seeing it is from the picture I tried to take. This was one time I should have gotten the good camera out to take pictures.




We could only drive until sunset, so after about 150 miles we were able to pull over into a truck stop in Toledo, Washington. Up early for a shower and a hot breakfast, we could not leave again due to the time constrictions until 8am. Safely back onto the freeway we were headed towards Roseburg crossing the Washington border into Oregon over the Columbia River.



Craig did not enjoy driving this massive mold through the busy Portland traffic and construction. You would be surprised, or maybe not, how people drive around big rigs. They swerve in front of and drive up along the right side where they are hard to see and it is even harder to stop on a dime. We are ever alert when driving through congested traffic and needed a break at a roadside rest area.



With the use of the pilot car again upon our arrival at the exit to our final destination, we were unloaded in a record 30 minutes. Thankfully all we had to do was put away some strapping and ratchets and we were ready for our next assignments.