NO SURPRISE HERE

It was no surprise, that when Craig went empty in Long Beach, CA, after unloading the 45,000 pounds of frozen french fries, he was given a dispatch to go to San Diego to pick up bananas. But, unlike the last few times we were sent down there, instead of going to the Harbor, where we have the routine down to a science, he was instead instructed to go to RWA Trucking which is about a mile from the harbor. We had gone there the very first time we picked up bananas, on Memorial Day, and were not looking forward to ever going back there

RWA Trucking is an open dock area tucked snugly, and I do use that term loosely, within a residential area. All around are signs posted "NO TRUCKS", which of course you ignore, but the real trick is trying to back into the docks with other trucks already there and safely miss the multitude of passenger cars that are parked up and down the street.

Craig called ahead to let them know, as per instructions, that he was scheduled to be there Thursday morning, to which "the guy" says to Craig....."Come on in tonight and stay and we'll load you first thing in the morning". But, before Craig can even begin to start out of the Company yard in Bloomington, CA, he receives a phone call back saying that his load is not on their list of loads and that it is probably at the harbor. Long story short, after numerous phone calls, it was determined that he should wait and drive into San Diego in the morning and by then they should be able to figure out where his load of bananas will be.

Thursday morning, on his way into San Diego, Craig calls and he is told to stage a few miles away and wait for a phone call. Finally, after four hours, he is told to drive into RWA Trucking instead of the harbor. Fearing the worst, Craig drives into the residential area and finds, to his surprise, that there are no trucks there yet and quickly backs into the dock area. It didn't take long before a constant stream of trucks start to roll in, and Craig, always willing to help out, aids the drivers with the difficult task of backing into the docks.

A short 45 minutes later and he is trying to get out of the San Diego area during early commute traffic. With traffic bumper to bumper in the direction he needed to go to scale out, he decides to chance it and start his way back towards the Company yard in Bloomington. He knows that he has one scale and an agricultural check to get through, and as he approaches, he holds his breath as he crosses the scales and gets the green light. Battling the commute traffic, he finally pulled into the yard at 6pm, about 12 hours after he had left that morning.

This morning, Craig decided to leave right after his 10 hour mandatory break was over and try and miss traffic, but traffic would not be his only foe this day. From the fuzzy picture he took, you can see that as soon as he was starting his way back down the Grapevine, he had a huge fog bank to drive into.So as I snuggle in one of our leather chairs, in front of our fireplace, having a hot mocha espresso and eating a couple of gingerbread cookies, he is slowly making his way North towards home. I only hope that the thoughts of the home baked goodies I will be making for him will help him find his way home. I on the other hand, get the pleasure of having that home baked smell fill our home as I wait for him.