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July 14, 2011

On the Texas Coast

Tuesday morning we delivered another load of pearlite, this time at La Porte, TX. La Port is just a little east Houston.

Our reload was in Freeport, TX, about 75 miles south of La Porte. We took highway 146 south almost all the way to Galveston. I'd like to see Galveston one day. There were quite a few stoplights, but it provided glimpses of the gulf here and there and some pretty waterfront scenes.


 By the time we turned off 146, I was ready for a beach trip, even though I'm generally not a beach person! Overall it was a pretty developed and industrial, but once we were on FM2004 it was more open, not to mention flat.

We stopped on the shoulder of the road to close the tarp on our trailer because there were rain showers ahead, and while Malcolm was taking care of that, I watched the scenery, and the random pedestrian taking a stroll down the side road.
We did run through a few little showers, but nothing significant.


 It was dry and hot in Freeport and we sat there on the port for more than 7 hours waiting our turn to load. Not a very pleasant way to spend the day. Eventually we were loaded though and around 8:00 that evening we were headed back through Houston making our way to a little town called Mineola, 300 miles from Freeport.
We delivered in Mineola Wednesday morning, a load of rice hulls to Cargill. And then reloaded 50 miles north in Mount Pleasant.

We pulled out of there around noon yesterday, suffered through Dallas traffic and heat, (The truck said it was 108, but I'm not sure its exactly accurate) and kept trucking on through the night.

This morning shortly after sunrise, I drove through Tuscan, AZ and down the road a ways passed by Picacho Peak. I thought it was just a neat looking rock, but it turns out to have some history, including being near the sight of the westernmost American Civil War battle! I had no idea there was fighting as far west as Arizona!


As I finish this post, we are parked in Yuma, AZ which is near the California line. We pulled off to get a Subway sandwich, before finishing the last 60 miles. We'll deliver in El Centro, CA this afternoon and then head north. We have a 560 miles empty bounce to reload in Oakland, CA in the morning.

6 comments:

Louise said...

Port loading and unloading are a real pain in the next. Up here, if the company we used to deliver freight to the Port of New York got stuck in one of those all day things, we got charged a ton extra. I sympathized, though, because that's a long, often very hot or very cold, boring wait.

Angie said...

I am jealous! You were in my neck of the woods (I grew up in Houston - Kingwood). Your temperature was probably right in Dallas unless you think it was too low - HA.

Gosh, I hate driving through Dallas with no rush hour traffic I can only imagine how it was with rush hour traffic. It stinks!

Safe travels. You need to let me know when you are coming to Kentucky!

TexWisGirl said...

yeah, dallas traffic really stinks. as does our current heat wave. today should be our 14th day of 100+ temps. i think the hottest we've had was 105 so far in this stretch, but on the pavement in traffic, i'm guessing 108 was pretty accurate!

thanks for joining my blog! i'm going to be a reader here too!

Michaele said...

I am trying to picture a truck load of rice hulls. No idea. I love the gulf shots. Looks like a dream.

Jim F Loos said...

You should spend a few days in Galveston. It’s neat town. No signs of the storm Ike from a few years back. You have to go to Moody Gardens. That town has a lot of history and some great seafood. I have never had a bad day in Galveston.

Wander Woman said...

I just went through that area of Texas last week! That roller coaster looks like the Kemah Boardwalk. Have spent alot of time around Clear Lake, Kemah and Galveston as I have friends in that area. I love travelling on the road---so much to see! Hope you get to visit Galveston some day-it is a neat place!

Jen