SUNDAY DRIVING

We were up and rolling by 5am Sunday morning. Traffic was light, the temperatures were cool, and from where we looked at it, it was a great day for driving. Probably not so much for this driver though. They had the Interstate closed down to only one lane, as it looked as if they had been dealing with the aftermath of this accident for the better part of the early morning hours. Best we could tell, it looked like the driver may have fallen asleep and ran off and up the side of the hill, which flipped the rig on it's side. We did a short break in Canyonville, OR where we treated ourselves to a 99 cent 44oz fountain drink, then hit the road again. As with Shasta Lake, the people were out and about in the waterways of Portland as we drove through. We had a fuel stop at the Jubitz Truck Stop, and after fueling was rewarded with a certificate for a free steak dinner there anytime within the next 30 days. I definitely see a return visit there for that! Traffic was the usual stop and go getting to the bridge in Portland and crossing the Columbia River into Washington State. Then, just like magic, as soon as you cross, all signs of any type of backup disappears. Being in the one State where Craig can actually drive faster than 55mph, we took advantage of that extra 5mph, as we were at our limit with the fastest speed the truck can go at 60mph. All the trucks in the fleet have speed governors on them, we have never minded them, mainly because we always go the speed limit. We pulled into Gee Cee's Truck Stop in Toledo, WA around 4pm, as we didn't want to take the chance that the drop yard would be full in Pacific, WA. That left us 85 miles to go this morning when we woke up at the awful hour of 2:30am for a departure time of 3am. Sometimes those early morning wake ups are not much fun, but we were docked and being unloaded by 5am in Puyallup. As soon as we went empty, we were given the assignment to dead head to the Fred Meyer DC in Chehalis, WA about 65 miles away.These type of loads we drop the trailer at the distribution center, and then return later in the day to pick up a loaded trailer. From doing the math, it looks like we will probably have to utilize the split sleeper berth option, and do an 8 hour break and then hook up to the loaded trailer and drive into Spokane for the delivery. At least that's what it looks like on paper. Right now we're going to take a nap!