Having been born and raised in California for all but going on a year now, I have had my experiences with earthquakes. No..... I'm not old enough to have been in the big 1906 quake in San Francisco, thank you very much, but during the Loma Prieta quake in '89, I was driving on the freeway to go shopping in Livermore when it hit. At first I thought I had a flat tire and pulled off to the side of the road to check, as others did behind me. Finding no flat, I continued onto the mall, after all, I had shopping to do.
It wasn't until later that evening, when I came home and turned on the TV, that I saw the path of destruction that the quake had left in San Francisco once again. All those years working in San Jose, in a building built on springs, the quakes we would feel while at work, were a nice rolling motion, nothing like what we felt last night while watching TV in the comfort of our truck.
Now granted, if you look on most tractor/trailer rigs, you will see the wording "air equipped ride", meaning that there are air bags for the suspension. Those air bags, no doubt, helped to soften the jolt of the 5.0 magnitude earthquake with the epicenter being no more than 5 miles from where we were parked. We actually heard it coming seconds before the big jolt hit. At first, before our minds could wrap around the fact that it was indeed an earthquake, we both thought it was just one of us being a tad bit over aggressive in changing positions on our beds. But being true ex-Californians, we quickly returned to watching TV and surfing the web on our laptops as if nothing had happened.
On a happy note, about 3pm yesterday we received our next dispatch, as many of the trucks that were there with us must have. When we awoke this morning, there was only 1 truck left sitting when there had been 10 just the night before. As I type this, we have driven down to San Diego, picked up some bananas, scaled, and are now headed back to the yard to fuel up before making our final drive into French Camp early tomorrow morning. That is where my Mom will pick us up for a day of R&R before trying to head up to the Pacific Northwest, where Interstate 5 and 90 have been closed due to flooding and mudslides. But enough about that, we'll have to deal with that soon enough.......it's time to relax!
3 comments:
Earthquake? I didn't hear about it at all. But then, I guess you don't hear about our tornadoes here in the Heart of America.
I like those beautiful photos you posted on Wednesday. I'll never forget Lake Shasta. My favorite I-5 scene. Mt. Shasta, too.
Love the blog. Growing up in a trucking family and knowing many people who have spent their lives moving freight across the country I must say that your blog is right on.
About the earthquake. I, too, remember Loma Prieta. Only thing is I was in the basement working while you enjoyed a day away from that hole.
Keep up the good work and if you get a chance check out a way of life you might be interested in if/when you and Craig leave the profession you are now in.
Jim !!! How great to hear from you. WOW....has it been a long time eh???? I hope life has been treating you well all these years.
Funny, when I can finally start drawing my deferred retirement in just under four years now, we will be very much interested in another adventure. Craig is always thinging of something new and different to do!
Please keep in touch, and if you are still in contact with any of the others we worked with, please tell them "Hi" from me. I don't miss the work, but I do miss the people.
Take care!
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