THE REAL BANANA BOAT

After a well deserved night's sleep, Craig did the honors of driving into the San Diego area to stage for the new load on Monday morning. With Craig driving, this would give Charles a chance to reset his driving hours. Besides, he only had about 300 miles to drive, until they came to Live Oak Springs, where they stopped for the day at one of the Casinos there. This set them up nicely for a 60 mile drive Monday into San Diego.

With Charles not have a TWIC (transportation worker identification card), Craig had him get out of the truck prior to entering the Port of San Diego. With assurances that he would call him after he was loaded, Charles set out on foot to explore San Diego. It just goes to show you how resourceful you can get if you want to. Charles ended up finding a 24 hour fitness, did some working out, then found a book store to buy some books, was going to see a movie, but nothing sounded good, so found himself a comfy spot and started reading one of his books. Good thing, because it took Craig well over 6 hours before he was finally loaded at the docks. Here is finally a true picture of the Dole banana boat. Craig had to be extremely stealth, as it is forbidden to take any photos while at the Port, so you only get a partial viewing of it on the other side of the truck in the dock next to Craig. It was nice to at least see what the boat looked liked, and to know that, yes in deed, the bananas come right from the boat onto the trailer, and fresh to your local grocery store.

Since it took so long for the actual loading of the bananas, Charles got the pleasure of driving after they were loaded. They made it to their first fuel stop in Lebec, CA late last night, where they finally shut down to get some sleep. If they continue to keep this load, they will be stopping at the company yard in French Camp for fueling, laundry, and showers, before continuing north and making it either to Weed or Medford, OR for their stop tonight.