Time Well Spent in Tennessee

We drove all the way from Portland, OR to the eastern side of Nebraska with all that winter weather nipping at our heals the whole way. We escaped all the interesting driving conditions except in Nebraska where we were in freezing fog and rain. By the time we exited the state we had about a half inch of ice covering the truck.

But from there it was clear sailing to Georgia where our trip was ending, and by the time we got to Chattanooga, TN and stopped to visit my parents for a few hours, it was sunny and 74 degrees, and I was wishing I had packed a short sleeve shirt instead of leaving all my warm weather clothes at home.

We just stopped for a few hours to visit and have lunch together and wash a blanket because Ella had an accident in bed on Saturday night. Convenient timing though, if she had to have an accident!

After lunch, when we got back to Mom and Dad's the first thing I wanted to do was go to the chicken house. Remember Mom's bantam's that I showed you in July?

Well recently the two hens got together and hatched up a plan. Deciding that if two heads were better than one, probably two butts were as well, they sat together on about two dozen eggs. And Friday Mom and Dad discovered that they had 11 new bantams.



Sadly, 3 of the new babies didn't make it, but there are still 8 of the little fuzz balls running around with two very happy and protective mothers to watch over them.

While I went to see the chickens I left the girls on the back porch so they wouldn't disturb the guys who were watching TV inside. I thought the girls would appreciate the outside time, but I discovered that instead they were very disgusted with me for leaving them.

And so to make it up to them, Mom and I moved to the front porch to relax and visit...

...while the girls discovered the joy of running in a yard full of autumn leaves.

The picture speaks for itself. They LOVED it! Even Paris did some running in the leaves, sticking to the paved sidewalk or course. You know how she has a thing for concrete and asphalt. The princess doesn't like prickly grass.

Ella and Carlie Jean were in heaven. They never get enough of running, and when its in soft dirt, mud, or (their new discovery) piles of leaves, its even more delightful!

 They also discovered that its great fun to zoom as fast as you can up and down the front porch steps.

And so it went for quite a while. Down the steps, a fast circle of the yard, and then back up the steps to see who could reach "base" first.

Usually Ella was in the lead, but only because Carlie Jean likes to be the chaser. She always has preferred that.

(Oh how I wish that picture had come out clearer!)

Mom's dog, Toby, had to watch from inside. I felt really sorry for him. But Toby likes to get free and not come back till he's decided its time...which can take hours from what I've heard.



By this time, Paris had decided that even at 74 degrees, it was a bit too chilly for a princess to go running around, so she happily retired to her favorite perch to enjoy being outside from her lofty throne where its a bit warmer and she has a blanket made of her ladies hair.



Ella got distracted by the leaves on the porch. Apparently they were edible and quite tasty. And Carlie Jean kept trying to distract her from her new snack and tempt her into the chase.

It usually worked with a little persuasion.

"Mom, can me move here?!?"

Paris tried to hint that she was thinking of possibly going back inside. And in the mean time, Toby was doing a little more than hinting that he'd like to come out!

I knew that as soon as I let Paris in, she'd realize that she really would have preferred to stay out. So I just held her and let her watch the fun from my lap. And Mom gave in to Toby and went and got his leash so he could join us.

And enjoy the great out doors....at least what he could from within the confines of his leash.

After a while it got cooler and started getting dark, so we went inside and visited from the comfort of the living room sofas while we waited for the blanket to finish drying. Malcolm and Dad joined us after finishing a little project they had gotten started, and Malcolm and Toby re-kindled their budding friendship that began last Christmas. They like to "smile" at each other.



Back to Work, Back with a Bang

Monday morning we returned to work after a couple weeks out of the truck. We packed a little bit of everything into this last "break." While filled with fun and lots of visiting, there wasn't much of a "break" involved.

We started off with a couple days at home to get things packed, and get the truck turned into the shop for a clutch adjustment and a few other repairs. Then we headed to the ranch where we helped out with getting the calves shipped and then having the cows preg. checked.  In all we were there 3 days, plus a few hours. Lots of fun, lots of visiting, a little asthma and allergy issues, but that was the only bummer.

From the ranch, we headed to Tennessee. This was the first trip we've taken down there in a personal vehicle since moving to Montana nearly 4 years ago! Up to this point we've always just gotten a load of something going down there, and then taken our time off once we delivered. Its quite a different experience traveling that many miles (about 1700) in a pickup, primarily that you can't stretch out and sleep good. We still managed to do it without stopping though. It took 27 hours. Could have been a little shorter except we drove 65mph in order to conserve some fuel and some money too. We stayed down there about three days and then turned around and came home. We went to visit, but there was also a purpose other than pure pleasure. It was time for my first car to come home to Montana.

This is my 1991 Mustang GT. Daddy bought it for me in 1994 when I was 16. It had 6000 miles on it. I love me little red car! My dad has been storing it in his garage for the past 7 years, but it was time to get it out of his way. Now I guess it will sit in my father-in-law's garage for the next 7 years. But maybe I can get it out once in a while and take it for a spin.

And since we had the trailer and had gone all that way, Malcolm brought a new toy home too. Dad was wanting to sell his 1971 CJ Jeep, and Malcolm thought it would be fun for bumping around the ranch in.

We got to the ranch Monday evening and woke up to a good old fashioned Montana winter morning on Tuesday. How's that for a "welcome home!" By Tuesday evening it still hadn't really cleared up, so we just struck out for home and hoped for the best. The gravel road was really messy.

Thirty miles later when we hit pavement it got better.

Baker was messy and it was getting dark. I guess the good thing about the messy weather was that it kept the deer off the road and they tend to be kind of bad from Baker to Miles City. And then half way to Miles City it cleared up and the roads were dry the rest of the way home.

We spent Wednesday at home, but Thursday we ran a quick over-night load from Great Falls to Fort Collins, CO as a favor to the broker. Friday afternoon in eastern Wyoming was beautiful!

A couple more days at home, and then we hit the road full time again Monday morning. Though some states start in September, the majority of states require us to carry snow chains November 1 - April 1. So Sunday evening Malcolm packed the truck up, and threw in the snow chains to take along with us.

Good thing we remembered them because this morning they had the chain law up for crossing "Cabbage" east of Pendlton, OR. Beautiful snow.....

...not so beautiful roads!

Malcolm pulled off in a rest area to chain up a ways before the actual chain up area. When we got there, we were glad we'd stopped early! There were dozens of trucks parked out in the road getting their chains on, barely leaving room to squeeze around them.

"Cabbage" is a long 6 mile grade that has some steep places, but the main thing about the grade is that its a bit curvy, so if you get going too fast, you'll miss the curve.

This is the first time we've crossed it in really bad weather, and it was pretty nasty looking on top. But about half way down it cleared up and was just wet.

And at the bottom there wasn't anything but a few puddles and a lot of disgruntled truck drivers who were wet and tired and cold and mad that they'd had to put on chains for a short 3 mile stretch.

This was the earliers we've ever chained up I think, and the most we've ever chained up in one winter was 3 times. I hope, very much, that today was not a peek at what is coming this year.



Got to the bottom, and on down towards the Columbia River it turned into a gorgeous day. It was like another world!

And then a few miles further on, it started looking like this again...

It got more and more rainy the closer to Portland we got. I feel like mother nature has kind of thrown a little bit of everything at us today! By the time I got to Vancouver it was just misty, and then as we pulled into Woodland, WA, where we are now, a rainbow came out and now the sun is struggling to burn off the clouds.

We reload in Portland in the morning and then make a short run back over towards Pendleton and the mountain. And then we have to cross over empty. We're hoping the weather improves a lot between now and tomorrow evening when that is supposed to take place. Climbing an icy hill with an empty trailer...well its not a good scenario. Chances are it would be hard to get to the top. And I know that makes little sense. Seems like if you were loaded heavy, you'd have a hard time climbing on icy roads, but reality is the heavier we are, the more traction we have. Light weights are a night mare on icy roads.

Looks like we'll be driving to Wyoming empty ALL the way from Washington, to get a load of potash going to North Carolina! Looking forward to the trip! But right now I'm looking forward to a shower, a good hot meal, and a long night in a parked truck, as soon as we get unloaded. And we're backing in now.



A Peaceful Autumn Gone Wild

I was thinking this morning, as I was planning out this blog post, "Why is it that hurricanes get named, but we don't get names for these wild ride winter storms?" Think about it. When we say "Hugo" or "Andrew" pretty much everyone knows what the person is referring to. So when I'm an old lady sitting at the cafe with my friends enjoying coffee, why shouldn't I get to refer to "Blizzard Bob" or "Wind Storm Winny?" Its kind of not fair!

In my opinion, winter came roaring in like a lion this year. Does anyone have a different opinion? Monday we were enjoying the beauty of a Tennessee autumn day...



...and 24 hours later I"m shaking in my boots from the cold and wind and trying to stay dry while its snowing and getting icy!

We weren't blind to the storm. I don't think anyone got to be ignorant about this last one. I'd been keeping an eye on the weather for a couple days, especially since we knew we were headed to the Fargo area after we finished in Tennessee. After loading up in Columbia, TN we took a last look at the big picture, and made some routing decisions. The shortest route would have taken us up through Illinois, Wisconsin, and across Minnesota, but that area of the map looked really ugly. So we took a little longer route, across Missouri and up through western Iowa and eastern S Dakota and N Dakota. It avoided almost all of the rain and tornadoes, etc, but we couldn't dodge the wind. Monday night between Sioux Falls and Fargo, I passed at least 4 trucks that had blown over, and there were a few times I wondered if we might be the 5th. It was sure blowing out there, and the snow that got added into the mix in northern South Dakota gave us a little warm up on our upcoming months of winter driving!

Tuesday morning it was still blowing pretty good, and still snowing lightly. We delivered just across the line, southeast of Fargo in Comstock, MN.

And it was WET! We didn't have a very good morning unloading at the farm. We were hauling something called "TN Brown," basically some kind of mineral dirt, and that sort of thing at a farm is usually wind rowed out in a field. But like I said it was soggy, and the product was wet and didnt' want to come off the trailer. Usually to unload this way, Malcolm walks next to the trailer and hammers on the hoppers while I slowly pull forward. The situation yesterday called for some creativity, and some worrying about our equipment in the process.

Malcolm stood by the trailer and hammered, while the two farmer's sons were inside the trailer shoveling and breaking the dirt up (as seen from the driver side mirror)... 

...while I pretended to pull forward when Malcolm indicated to do so. But the truck was so heavy and the mud so thick, I had to have some help, so...

the farmer had his big John Deere tied onto the front of the truck and pulled us along.

Fortunately it all went smoothly, the dirt unloaded, and the truck and trailer didnt' get torn up. And the farmer was generous enough to let us wash out the trailer at his shop. So though it got off to a rather unpleasant start, it ended all right.

We reloaded near the SD/ND line and after a quick lunch in the local cafe, Malcolm decided he'd drive north to the interstate before going to bed. Normally he'd have just let me do this, but the wind was still blasting out of the west, and trying to go north with the wind hitting you from the west can be an adventure. It can turn a truck into a really big kite if your not careful! 

He was steering straight in the above picture, and we were going straight, even though the steering wheel looks like we were making a left turn. You pretty much had to hold it in that position to go straight north.

Finally got to I-94 and it was still blustery. The only advantage of getting to the interstate is that we would be driving into the wind instead of having it hit us from the side. Less of a fight to drive, but it still wreaks havoc on the fuel mileage. While we were in the wind, I was getting about 3.92 miles per gallon. (we normally get around 6 which is considered good)

And then just past Jamestown, ND, there was more snow on the ground and the wind was blowing the snow across the roads. It alternated between slushy roads and mostly dry roads all the way to Bismarck.

And then west of Bismarck it turned to a solid sheet of ice almost all the way to Dickinson. Needless to say it took a little longer than normal to get across the great state to North Dakota. It amuses me that in these states that see serious winter weather every year, the drivers still need one or two good storms to refresh their memory on how to drive on snow and ice. It was a little slow going for a while.

Just east of Dickinson, though, I crested a hill and the road turned dry, the sun came out and then promptly set, leaving us with a beautiful sunset. It was kind of like the rainbow at the end of the storm.

We're in Great Falls, MT this morning waiting to unload, and while its still chilly (35 degrees) its a beautiful and calm morning. When we're done here we'll reload next door and head to Billings.

So this is where I come to the goodbye. We're going home for a week or more. Time for some official time off to do what we need to do, instead of what the truck needs us to do. Got some plans for relaxing, playing, and working at home. There's even going to be some traveling, but not our usual kind so it ought to feel like a break even though we'll be on the road some. I don't intend to blog, so I'll catch up with every one's goings on when I get back. Here's hoping winter's wrath gentles down for a few weeks. I'd like to be outside a little while we're off.

So Typical and SO WRONG

While the information in the following article doesn't surprise me at all, its still makes me very angry.
Unless Smucker's comes back with a reasonable explanation (and it will be hard for them to do) I'll not be buying any more of their products. They were totally out of line and over the edge when they did this!

Its a short article so please take the time to read it. And like I said, keep in mind this is very typical behavior of a warehouses treatment of drivers. Many won't let driver's in to use the bathroom or anything, but this was just ....  really words can't describe how mad I am right now.

http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2010/Oct10/112510/102610-02.htm

Sunday Stills: Fall Folliage

Most people know Montana as "Big Sky Country." What many may not know is that prior to having this nickname, Montana was known as "the Treasure State." It received this nickname around the turn of the 20th century "because of its status as the country's foremost producer of metallic treasure." (Montana Official State Travel Site)

There were other state nicknames mixed in over the years, but Big Sky Country and the Treasure State must be the most popular because they are the only two I've ever heard used.

And what, you ask, does this have to do with Sunday Stills or Fall Folliage? Well I'll tell you.

Montana's reserves of precious metal may not be what they were in their heyday, but in the fall the Treasure State produces showers of shining glimmering gold.

The Crazy Mountain Range near Big Timber, MT

cottonwood trees along the Yellowstone River

 a Golden Eagle with golden cottonwoods in the background and golden grasses below



Weights and Consequences

I was going to post a picture of the Rocky Mountains covered in snow, but I can't get blogger to load pictures. It says my "cookies" is disabled and even though I've gone in and enabled it, as the instructions said to do, I still can't load pictures.

Until the issue is resolved, I'll just go with the other intent of this post, which was to answer a question that farmgirl_dk asked in her comment on yesterday's post.

"...what would have happened if the DOT scale had shown you to be overweight? Fines and fees? A citation? Would you guys actually be responsible, since the farmer didn't have a scale? I don't blame you for being nervous!"

The answer is yes, we'd still be held responsible if we were over weight, even though the farmer didn't have a scale to weigh the load on. Its our load and we're responsible for staying within the law, regardless. Once we sign the bills, its our baby.

The consequences would have been a fine of some sort, and possible a citation also. I can't say for sure how much. We've never been fined for weight. We were caught one time in North Dakota in a random roadside inspection. But he didn't fine us. He just sold us a $10 overweight permit. Talk about a slap on the wrist. 

Each axle has a legal limit. Generally the trailer and drive axles have a limit of 34,000lbs, while the steers have a weight limit of 12,000lbs. The whole truck has a limit of 80,000lbs. (this is general...if you have more axles you can weigh more, or you can permit for a little more in some states but that gets complicated to explain)

On occasion you can be within your 80,000lb limit, but maybe there is more on one of the axles than there should be, and in that case, the DOT can require the driver to go shovel the load over onto another axle until your legal. We've never had to do this. In the case of refer and dry van trailers, they are capable of moving their axles further back on the trailer or forward as needed to redistribute the weight. But a hopper trailers axles are fixed in place so we're not able to do that.
Also, if you are relatively close to where you loaded, they can make you go back and fix it by taking some product off. We've never had to do that either.

These weights and consequences are standard for all types of trucking, generally.

Malcolm believes, and I can believe it based on our lack of DOT harassments, that they tend to be lenient on hoppers and also cow haulers, depending on the state, but most western states seem to be really lenient. Our product isn't in pre-weighed boxes on pallets that can be strategically placed in the trailer so that the weights are just so. Its just dumped in and many times its near guess work as to exactly where the weights are falling. There seems to be about a 500lb grace given to us, because we usually are overloaded by about that, and they've never bothered us. But when we're more than 500 lbs over and know about it, we get a little nervous because we're not sure how far we can push the limit without something being said about it. Hopefully we never find out.

My fears were confirmed about loading in LA on a Friday. We're finishing up here in San Bernadino, CA and are loading down near Long Beach. Initially our appointment was to load tomorrow afternoon at 2:00, but when I called for directions, I asked if it was possible to get it done earlier. He said if we can be there by 3:00 this afternoon he'll load us today.
This means that we'll have the ultimate pleasure of competing with what must be the entire population of Los Angelas as they exit the city for their weekend get aways. Its a nightmare. However, the alternative is trying to find somewhere to park and spend the next 24 hours in a crowded, dirty, and not always so safe city (no offense to you Californians, but I've heard a lot of stories of truck drivers getting shot and stabbed while they parked in odd spots waiting for their appointments and I don't relish the idea).

We can't deliver in Nashville till Monday night, but at least if we can get out of LA tonight, we can get some sleep and then have a not so strenuous 2000 mile drive to my home state, and then hopefully dinner with my sister as a reward for doing battle with the Californian's and their mad dash for escape from the city.

Sunflowers in Sacramento

We loaded sunflower seed on Monday. We were just northwest of Sacramento. In fact, standing in the sunflower field, I watched combines on one side of our truck...

(did you notice all the neighborhood homes in the distance)

...and on the other side of the truck, I had a nice view of Sacramento's sky line.



We delivered the seeds in Fargo, ND yesterday morning. They were for human consumption and the factory where we delivered them gave us a whole arm load of little packets of their honey roasted seeds. They are "free sample" type packets. They are also YUMMY and made a perfect snack for me last night as I was driving.

The east side of North Dakota is quite a bit different from the western side. There are more trees, more water, and quite honestly, it looks a lot like Minnesota, which makes sense considering that's the next state just a few miles east.

We reloaded about 100 miles west of Fargo in Tappen, ND. It looks more like the North Dakota we picture in our minds.

We loaded on a farm, which I always enjoy doing. The only problem with doing this, is that generally Farmer John doesn't have a scale at his farm, and usually there isn't one nearby either, as was the case yesterday morning. In this type situation we load using the air gauges in our truck. There is one for the steer, drive, and trailer axles. But its not a sure thing. Just gives us a good idea of where we are at on weight.

Its a little nerve wracking not knowing for sure, especially when your husband tells you he thinks we're about 1000 pounds over gross, and then goes to bed. And so off I went down the two lanes of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska, making my way to Colorado. There was only one scale to worry about, a little one just north of Pierre, SD. And wouldn't you know, as I crested the hill, the only truck for miles of course, the sign said open. Moments like this always make me nervous and I usually send up a quick prayer for them to please leave me alone.

I'm not sure how God feels about me praying for Him to help me break the law. I imagine he doesn't honor those requests. But maybe he gave me a break this time. As I was pulling my front tires onto the scale, the DOT officer walked out of the scale house, waved for me to go on, got in his van, and drove away. I passed him a few miles down the road where he had pulled off to turn the scale sign to closed. Thank you God and SD DOT! I appreciate it.

Other than that it was an uneventful run. We delivered this morning in Platteville, CO and are now loading beef meal in Fort Morgan, CO. Back to the smelly stuff.

We'll be in SanBernadino, CA tomorrow morning and I'm hoping the reload isn't going to be anywhere near LA. But I have a sinking feeling it will be, and I'm not excited about going there, especially on a Friday.

There is one very bright point about taking beef meal to California from this location. The shortest route takes us right through the Rocky Mountains on I-70. A gorgeous drive that Malcolm hates, but I love. It goes through Vail, and many other famous points. So I'm looking forward to this afternoon very much. I just have to get through Denver and then the rest of the day should be very pleasant.

I can't remember if I posted this picture yet, so I'm going to put it up as a parting shot. The other day, on a chilly morning, Malcolm got out of the truck to do something. While he was gone, Carlie Jean and Ella realized there was a vacant, pre-warmed seat available in the sunshine, and so they made use of it till Malcolm returned to the truck. Those two are each other's shadows.