Charlotte.

____Day 1: After a 10 day break; I'm back to work with all the snow gone. The hottest March days ever recorded in South-east Manitoba; since records began. A hot load too, 1650 miles to be delivered within three days. Only enough time to dump all my stuff back in the truck before 11 hours driving down to Portage, near Madison, Wisconsin.
____Day 2: A body lying on the Interstate 39 and my first reaction is to look for the motorbike. But it's in a road-works area and is a highway worker. No ambulance or police are yet in attendance; it looks fatal, as everyone is standing well back in a state of shock. Illinois has a 14 year prison sentence for drivers who hit highway workers. I'm in a sombre mood for the rest of the day as I head to London in Kentucky; thinking of two families that have had their lives ruined by the incident.

Long and low Peterbilt 359 with rear window in sleeper.

____Day 3: For me, in real-life, the spectre of death rarely rears it's head and never before on consecutive days. But, just outside of Knoxville, there is an SUV hard up against the concrete wall of the Interstate median. The driver is slumped sideways and motionless: "heart-attack" is the general consensus on the CB. Again, the emergency services have yet to arrive and would-be rescuers find themselves locked out of the vehicle by the automatic central locking system. I bet modern car designers never considered "Death at the Wheel" when they invented that little gadget. Onto Charlotte, North Carolina, for the delivery of the flour; again reflecting on events as I drive Interstate 40 through the Pigeon River valley. Budding leaves and the blossom of Spring in the Smoky Mountains that form the border between Tennessee and the Carolinas.

Unloading loose potatoes from a box van.

____Day 4: It's called "Touch Screen" for a reason; otherwise it would be known as "Thump me until I shatter Screen." Flying Eagle #31 did 5,500 kilometres in the hands of another driver whilst I was away. But the guy badly mis-judged his tender touch of the GPS screen; disabling the sat-nav, the radio and a host of other electronic devices. Most annoying when I come to plot my course to the reload, in Ochlocknee, Georgia. I have come to rely on the GPS to give me an arrival time and the distance to the customer. The four hundred mile dead-head seems to take forever as I cross South Carolina  to the South-west corner of Georgia. Kitty-litter loaded and homeward bound, but only to the top-side of Atlanta before the day's driving hours run out.

Loading cat-litter at a dusty plant in southern Georgia.

____Day 5: A day of heavy thunder showers, as the warm Spring weather piles the clouds high into the sky; but it saves on screenwash as the first bugs of the year appear. The average kilometre count for the trip goes up over a thousand as a full 11 hours at the wheel clocks up over 1100km. But at Wayland, Iowa, I am still more than one day away from home.

Dredging for sand on the Ohio River.

____Day 6: It must be tempting for a family man to put in a big day and get home to their loved-ones and not have to spend another night in the truck, just a couple of hours from home. But, with the border crossing from the US into Canada, it can be risky to break the 11 hour driving rule. Having no reason to get back, I set my sights on Fargo and the Northstar Truck Wash; which is a good move as nobody else is sad enough to want their truck washed at eight o'clock on a Saturday evening. Straight in and out in 20 minutes.
____Day 7: Sub-zero temperatures back in Canada, but the roads are bare and dry. It's nice to get the rig back to the yard looking clean and tidy. All parked-up and finished by 10.30, Sunday morning.
____Overall Distance: 6313 km.

Trailer-load of mature trees going somewhere for re-planting.

Annie Oakley Memorial Highway.

____Day 1: Heavy snow on the Friday still hadn't been cleared by the time I gingerly crept out of the yard and pointed the truck towards the border on Saturday morning. With just 9000 lbs of steel cabinets to help give me traction, it was tricky road conditions all the way to Fargo, North Dakota. Snow flurries in Minnesota and Wisconsin accompanied me to Black River Falls as I headed east on Interstate 94; for a change.

Heading West on Highway 23 towards Morris, Manitoba.

____Day 2: A very noisy fridge motor, parked inches from my sleeper window, woke me up at three o'clock in the morning. I got up, got dressed and got out to ask the driver to move. If I had known that he had two pitbull terriers in the cab, I wouldn't have bothered. You cannot reason with that sort of moron. But I did have the satisfaction of seeing the dogs go berserk in the cab, everytime I knocked on his door. Which I did at regular intervals until the police arrived and asked me to stop annoying the animals. But I had the last laugh when the cops told him to move; after I said he threatened to set the dogs on me. I spent the whole day driving to Solon, Ohio, thinking about the encounter and what sort of driver calls the police for back-up when he has two pitbulls.
____Day 3: Heavy lake-effect snow on Sunday evening had prompted me to park overnight at the customers premises and avoid the chaotic morning rush hour. Unloaded and away by nine o'clock; heading to nearby Tallmadge for the first pick-up of an LTL [Less than Truck Load]. A second-hand John Deere tractor, from London, was next; followed by two fork-lifts from Fort Recovery. All was going well until I found a puncture in a trailer tyre. When is this run of tyre problems going to end?
____Day 4: The Travelcentre of America at Eaton couldn't repair the tyre so I had to buy a part-used replacement; before doing the fourth pick-up at Greenville and heading north on Highway 127 for the fifth at South Bend, Indiana. Driving on the Annie Oakley Memorial Highway through the hunting territory of a young fatherless girl who fed her family with game brought down by her skillful shooting. A once in a lifetime chance to visit the grave of my mother's biggest hero. To pay my respects to the champion marks-woman, the adopted daughter of Chief Sitting Bull and the star of the World-wide touring: Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

Annie Oakley Gravesite, just South of the Village of North Star in Ohio.

____Day 5: Getting to the Petro Truckstop at Portage gave me a good chance of getting the load back to the yard. 1100 kilometres is a long day at the wheel but I knew that it would be longer because of the second-hand JD tractor. All exported, used vehicles with an internal combustion engine have to be presented to both US and Canadian Customs for inspection. The serial number is then checked against a database of stolen equipment; my green-machine had been bought on E-Bay but, thankfully, checked out OK.
____Overall Distance: 4251 km.

Something Special, fine old Areodyne out in all weathers.

Glider Kits : Resources Versus Emissions.

____ The "Glider Kit" is a small niche market in the North American transport industry that supplies new trucks without an engine, a transmission and sometimes, drive axles. The latest additions to the Flying Eagle fleet are two such beasts; Freightliner Coronados from Fitzgerald Glider Kits of Crossville, Tennessee. New trucks but with reconditioned 1998 Detroit Diesel 12.7 litre engines and rebuilt Eaton 13-speed gearboxes.

____ The big advantage of such vehicles is that they do not need to comply with the high-tech and complicated emission regulations that burden all new trucks. Exhaust-gas- regeneration and Diesel-exhaust- fluid-treatment, the technically flawed solutions to curbing exhaust pollution, are not required. The trucks have the reliable, economical Series 60 engine from Detroit, producing a very adequate 500 horse-power.

____Everything on the engine is either new or rebuilt, starter, alternator, compresser, fuel pump, ecm, etc. Environmentalists might say that the trucks are driving through a loop-hole to avoid costly breakdowns with no concern to the pollution they cause.  However, recycling of an old engine is saving the planet from the pollution given out at a steel-making plant.
____There are two sides to every story when it comes to enviromental matters. At $115,000 each, you get a lot of truck for your money and there are two Welsh blokes driving around with big smiles on their faces. The Coronado is the luxury, top of the range truck from Freightliner and comes with two beds in the "Condo" sleeper. Check-out the Fitzgerald Glider Kit website for more information.

Up In Smoke.

____Day 1: "I don't do drugs; so why are they wasting my time by sending me for a pee-test?" Is my and most other drivers reaction when ordered to take a random drugs test. The US government insists that all Canadian cross-border carriers carry out tests on their drivers and it's something that all companies insist that their drivers sign-up to. I signed the paper, so at midday on Friday; I have to grab a coffee and go hacking off into Winnipeg to give a urine sample. Annoying because I had been in the city all morning; waiting for my trailer to be loaded with material destined for Mexico. Eventually away from the yard at two o'clock and down to Vermillion for the night.

Stretched Studio-Sleeper on Long Wheelbase Kenworth.

____Day 2: Eagle Pass, Texas, on Monday morning is the aim and to vary the route, this week, I run Highway 75 through the state of Kansas. Not as good as the nearby and parallel 169 but with a good TA at Beto Junction. A truckstop in the middle of no-where but worth stopping because of the first-rate service. In rural areas, staff tend to stay longer at the same job because of limited choice; but experienced staff do a better job and this shows at Beto Junction. Highway 75 through Tulsa and south to Stringtown's Choctaw Nation Casino with their big parking lot.

Fixins and Texas Trash ?????     No idea.  Next time I'll ask.

____Day 3: It's great to drive new roads; but using the same roads every week also has advantages. You can memorize details of places that might be worth stopping at. Such as the Up In Smoke BBQ, just south of Hillsboro on Interstate 35. Bar-B-Que restaurants are the Texas equivalent to the British Fish and Chip Shop; food for the common man, and like the Chippie, if it's a good'un there will be a queue but it will be worth the wait. Up In Smoke is cafeteria style, tray-self-service with paper plates and plastic knifes and forks, but the food is good and portions are generous. A Sunday lunch of ribs, potato salad and coleslaw set me up for the long haul across to the Mexican border at Eagle Pass.

Typical Cross-Border Mexican Shunter.

____Day 4: Backed onto an unloading bay overnight; it was 10 o'clock before they started transshipping my stuff onto a nearby Mexican trailer. Dropping a half-full mug of coffee prompted some much needed cab cleaning. But mostly I sat in the warm sunshine, watching two enormous Mexican flags billowing in the breeze and listening to the drone of old Mexican trucks as they came across the Rio Grande. There were no reload instructions ready for me when I was finally empty at two o'clock; but eventually came the order to run to Denton.

A Marmon.

____Day 5: Denton, Texas, birthplace of #31 at the vast Peterbilt Assembly Plant; but I'm loading at a nearby industrial park so only get to look over the fence. Replacement teeth for digger buckets; heavy little pallet-boxes that I am very grateful to have loaded when gale-force winds and lashing rain buffet the rig as I head through Kansas in the evening.

Legendary Kansas Thunderstorm.

____Day 6: From Salina across country to Murdock, Nebraska, and another collection of organic pet food destined for Alberta. Organic food for pets; although I suppose all pets are organic. Finally, to fill the trailer, six pallets of roller-shutters from nearby Omaha. Then just as it's getting dark, southbound trucks on Interstate 29 are coming along covered in snow. From Sioux Falls, the road is hard-packed snow and ice; the winter-storm has passed but driving is not easy. By Watertown, I have had enough for the day and the lure of a Michelob Ultra is too hard to resist.

Early Morning Scene at Stone's Truckstop, Watertown, SD.

____Day 7: Breakfast-time is busy at Stone's truckstop, a full parking lot holds many oversize loads that were forced off the interstate at 4 o'clock the previous afternoon during white-out conditions. Wind-turbine blades heading south, farm and construction equipment Canada-bound; all with permits that forbid travel in adverse weather conditions. They are still sitting it out when I decide to leave; it's still tricky with not much sign of tarmac. But I'm going home and even slow and steady will get my there tonight.
____Overall Distance: 5768 km.

Old White plugged-in at Murdock, Nebraska.

Houston : Whitney and the City.

____Day 1: The usual Friday afternoon visit to the peat-moss mine at Elma; then south, over the border, to Stone's Truckstop at Watertown, South Dakota. On the last leg of the journey, a silver Pontiac Trans-Am comes cruising alongside. Interior light blazing; with the driver stroking the inner-thigh of her red-satin clad right leg. I look away in disgust; glancing at the speedometer where the trip-counter is showing 666.6 km. The little devil !
____Day 2: Breakfast is accompanied with television pictures of Whitney Houston's funeral from her hometown of Newark, New Jersey. The City of Houston, Texas, is my destination for a Monday morning delivery in the western suburb of Richmond. But I don't get far without this year's run of tyre problems continuing with a puncture. It's only a four minute drive from the fuel-stop at Sioux Falls' Flying'J to the service centre at the nearby Pilot; but it's four hours later when I can have it fixed. Continuing to Cherryvale in Kansas and a mid-night finish.

Smart Service Centre but very slow.

____Day 3: A full day's driving, through Tulsa, through Dallas, down to the customer's premises. Dry roads, warm weather, light traffic but an uncomfortable ride.  The same load in the same direction with the same truck as every week; so it must be the trailer. A Wabash instead of the normal Great Dane and a different suspension set-up. A single shock-absorber on each axle might save weight and save money but gives a very choppy ride and a pain in the back for the driver.

Single-shocker set -up on Wabash trailer.

____Day 4: President's Day national holiday, but the plant nursery work-force are in at 8 o'clock and I'm up at the West Houston Flying'J for breakfast before nine. However, a lot of companies are  not working and reloads are hard to find. Then just before noon, I get instructions for a load of plastic granules; going to Winnipeg from Orange, the last town on Interstate 10 before the Louisiana/Texas state border. Loaded before four, then north on US Highways 96, 59 and 71. Winding roads up into Arkansas and a night at Mena.

The popular Peterbilt 379 custom look with deep windshield visor.

____Day 5: The warm weather of the southern States continues until the evening; 1000 kilometres to the north. A night at Vermillion's Caribou Coffee Fuel Stop at Mile-marker 26 on Interstate 29. Truck #31 on Interstate 29; but it could have been Truck #31 on Interstate 31 if the coin-toss had gone the other way. Even -numbered Interstates run West to East; numbers rising from South to North. Odd-numbered Interstates run from South to North with the road numbers counting-up as one heads eastwards. During the construction of 29, it was still undecided if it was going to be 29 or 31.

Most Iowa farms have old trucks working as grain-haulers.

____Day 6: The homeward run is broken up by the  collection of some tractor parts from Grand Forks, North Dakota. Which nearly slips my mind; just like I forgot to put Grand Forks on the map. At only 75 miles south of the border, it delays my arrival back at the yard; when I have to wait two hours for the customs papers to be filed. Back in Manitoba, eight inches of snow have fallen; the biggest covering of the Winter.
____Overall Distance: 5560 km.

Big-sleeper Coronado has radio ham aerial on left-side mirror-arm.

US Highway 75, seamless join onto Interstate 45, southbound through Dallas.

Spot the Snowy Owl?

Springs : Walnut and Siloam.

____Day 1: While I was on my log-hours reset; # 31 went to Regina to rescue a trailer from under a broken-down unit and came back smelling like a dirty ashtray. Sad that some truck-driving smokers have no consideration for non-smoking truck-drivers. A run out to the peat-moss mine at Elma to start the trip. Then through the border at Pembina; finishing the day at the Dakota Magic Casino on the North/South Dakota's border. I come out with $25 more than when I went in; winnings that can finance the purchase of some No Smoking stickers.

Overnight indoor parking for Flying Eagles during the Winter.

____Day 2: Texas is the destination [again] and with 400 miles already done; two days hard slog will now be three days of easy driving. Highway 81, all the way from Watertown until Interstate 135, leading on to Interstate 35 at Wichita, Kansas, and a night at the Belle Plaine service area. Resisting the temptation of the newly opened Kansas Star, an enormous casino complex right by the interstate.

Ethanol producing plant in Nebraska at sunset.

____Day 3: The satellite picture option on Google Maps has got to be one of a truck-drivers most useful tools when looking for a delivery or collection address. The delivery address for the plant nursery at Walnut Springs just gives me the number of the "Farm to Market" [FM] road, but with my laptop I can see the poly-tunnels, the packhouse and a trailer parking area. It's getting dark when I turn down a winding, muddy dirt track but I know that in two miles I will find the plant nursery. Either that or a secret dope growing enterprise hidden away from everything except surveillence satellites.

Google map showing just what to aim for.

____Day 4: A quick tip and the bill of lading is signed, so I'm not bothered what they grow. First pick-up is four pallets of toys, from Roanoke, the same as the last trip. Then a two hour wait at the nearby Pilot Truckstop, while the office searches for more freight in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Finally instructions send me to Arkansas for a pick-up in the morning. If there is a truckstop within 20 miles of a collection, I will stay there overnight, but if I don't come across anything; then I park at a shipper's premises. Such as at Siloam Springs.

Cornfield Cadillac aka International Transtar.

____Day 5: Brake-drums loaded and away to Nebraska for the third and final pick-up. Then just north of Kansas City, there is an almighty BANG. A rear axle trailer tyre blows and the tread whip-lashes through the mud-flap; pulling the mud-flap hanger onto the one remaining tyre. It's a narrow shoulder on a busy Interstate but I have to get the angle-iron hanger away from the tyre before anything else. Thank heavens for sliding trailer axles. By strapping the mud-flap hanger to the bumper bar, at the rear of the trailer, I pull the hanger back by reversing the truck; whilst the axles move forward on the trailer. After moving to a safer spot at the next off-ramp; father and son team, Rick and Stephen, come out with a replacement tyre. A two and a half hour delay, but still time to load 9 pallets of organic pet food at a remote mill near Murdock. Healthy nutriution for rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas and rats.

Not the smartest service vehicle in the States : but they were quick.

____Day 6: A Wednesday morning with 550 miles of Interstate 29 to do; north from Sioux Harbor, Iowa. My toe-nails need cutting, but before I can get a sock off; it starts to rain. Freezing rain, the one thing that strikes fear into the heart of every articulated vehicle driver. The twitching of the drive-tyres corresponds to the twitching in the seat of my pants. I back-off the throttle and run a high gear at very low revs, trying to maximise the traction. I'm trying to remember if the next exit has a truckstop; when a wreck on the southbound carriageway causes a bump on the northbound and everything slithers to a halt. Eventually a gritter comes along and everyone is content to follow along behind it. The rain turns to snow; with flurries all the way home.
____Overall Distance: 4686 km.

Freezing rain will always cause carnage.

British Truckers Abroad

____My first memories of British truckers abroad are from the early eighties when a gathering of drivers at the Italian Customs was a weekly occurrence. I soon came to know the regular places where a table of Brits could be found on most nights. The Bake House at Bourg-en-Bresse and the Monkey House on the way up to the Mont Blanc Tunnel; Carisio, on the Autostrada between Milan and Turin.


____Places where a driver could relax amongst friends; knowing that someone was watching his back and would get him back to his cab if he overdid the alcohol. Good food and cheap drink were an important element at all the traditional stops; that and the managements’ acceptance of the often rowdy behaviour.

____To the British truck-drivers on the run to the Middle-East; these watering-holes had a much more significant meaning. They were places where useful information could be obtained from drivers coming in the opposite direction. Road conditions, the weather, the waiting time at the various border crossings, could all be digested during an evening meal in the Eastern Bloc and beyond. Places like the Motorest at Plzen and the Hotel Rokycany in Czechoslovakia. Not many British drivers went past the Windmill at Kecskemet, Hungary or the National Hotel on the outskirts of Belgrade. Most drivers stopped if they saw a GB plated truck, any where.

____ Parking on the beach at Kavala was also popular; but the number one overnight halt was the Londra Camp on the western outskirts of Istanbul. Ample safe parking, a chance to grease the truck and get anything fixed; a chance to relax and let off steam before setting out across the Bosporus and the hard work that lay ahead. The TIR parking at the Harem Hotel was another favourite, along with the Teleks Motel at Ankara.

____ British Ex-pats across the world always meet somewhere in every sizeable city. Truck-drivers in Istanbul would frequent the Pudding Shop, located in the heart of the city, but were often out numbered by British, Australian and New Zealand backpackers. When I lived in Augsburg, Germany, it was an Irish Pub called Murphy’s Law and that is typical of many places today. The Lonely Planet and Rough Guide books often give an Ex-pat place where English is the spoken language.

____ For the British truckers of Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada; Frantz Bar, on the outskirts of town, is the meeting place most Friday and Saturday nights. Christmas Eve, 2011, saw more than a dozen drivers enjoying a drink and a chat with a chance to play a game of pool where everyone knew the right rules. A meeting that was set-up with just a short message on Facebook.

____ The two biggest changes to truck-driving that have happened since I started, must be the cell phone and the internet. The days of being out of contact with the office have now gone. The grapevine of verbal information being passed from driver to driver is now done by a Bluetooth Headset. But is it a good thing? Sure, most of the truck-driving Ex-pats in South-east Manitoba are my Facebook friends, but the Internet has also been the cause of a lot of problems between my friends.

____ The Internet also gave us Ex-pat truck-driver forums which was always one sack of vipers that I thought I would never put my hand in. But I have done; with the hope of getting more blog readers and with the well-intentioned desire to answer some questions on life and work in Canada. A big mistake.

____Ex-pat truck-driver forums have got to be the most nasty on the planet. If the pen is mightier than the sword; then the lap-top key-board is mightier than an AK47 in the hands of a trucker. They make me want to go back to the good old days. But hang a minute; I remember the good old days, when you got a bunch of drivers and a lot of drink in a room together. Always, if there was any trouble, it would be the British drivers fighting amongst themselves. Same as it ever was.

____ The Internet is good, it would be really good without the hackers and the viruses; it would be really, really good without the hackers, the viruses and the ex-pat truck-driver forums. With any luck, they will die a slow lingering death; brought on by increased member disillusionment.

Load-Brokers : Love'em or hate'em.

____Day 1: Weather forecasts for the mid-west, plains area of the USA are usually very accurate. So when a Winter-storm warning is given for Nebraska and Western Iowa, I know there is going to be plenty of white stuff. The job needs a full 11 hours driving for two days if the peat-moss is going to be delivered to Rosser, Texas on Monday morning. The best option is to stick to the Interstate Highways, they get snow-plough priority and if they do get blocked; there are a lot more truckstops to rest in. Nine inches of snow falls but I keep going to reach the Sapp Brothers Truckstop at the Iowa / Missouri state border.

The snow had stopped falling by the time I came along.

____Day 2: Clear skies and bare / dry roads as I skirt the western side of Kansas City; taking the US Highway 169 south to Tulsa before Highway 75. A $6.50 section of the Indian Nation Turnpike brings me out at McAlester, Oklahoma, then Highway 69 and some more 75. Through the heart of Dallas, out the other side on Interstate 45, arriving at Rosser to find I am the third Manitoba peat-moss truck in the village.

Old Fire-tender was one of many interesting vehicles in the yard at Rosser.

____Day 3: It's a distribution centre for peat-moss, run by a small haulage company, who soon have all three of us empty and on our separate ways. My first re-load pick-up is in Grande Prairie, with a telephone number   to call for directions. On the third attempt, I speak to an over-friendly load-broker who says the place is difficult to find because it is on 110th street and not Carrier Parkway as I was told. Also the company name has changed from APD to LQT. Incredibly, I am hearing this from the person who gave out the original information. Later, he phones the office and complains that I was rude; after I objected to being groomed as the next truck-driving boy-friend of some old Texan poofter. I thought about calling him to say that my snipe bar would go so far up his arse that he wouldn't shit-right for a month; but that's probably just what he wanted to hear. With the re-conditioned engines loaded; my next pick was14 pallets of toys from Roanoke, a job I had done before. Then North to Big Cabin for the night, on my way to Lawrence, Ks.

The lake at Big Cabin, with a fine view of some un-used fridge trailers.

____Day 4: I don't always maximize the whole of the possible 11 hours driving-time, sometimes I will finish short at a place I know; for the food, a shower and a quiet night's sleep. Parking by the lake at the Big Cabin Travel Plaza is a favorite. Away at 08.30, to Lawrence for one heavy crate that's going to Edmonton. Then to Fort Calhoun in Nebraska; another pick-up that I have done before. Which is just as well; because, for the second time in 4 pick-ups, I am given the wrong company name and address!

This wind tower did have height-measuring pilot car in front.

____Day 5: The Caribou Coffee Cup Fuel Stop at Vermillion is always a good place to wake up; the skinny Latte is as good as any from Starbucks. Then it's the north-bound Interstate 29, homeward-bound, and a chance to see how much wax can be extracted from two ears, by one bent paper-clip, in 500 miles.
____Overall Distance: 4586 km.

Map of the options : Niverville to Dallas.

Not a ball and chain in sight.

Tub Thumping.

____Day 1: One thousand miles with a load of flax and a thousand ways of doing the job. Different drivers, different ways; same driver, different ways. Changing priorities and at the top of today's list: a new drivers license. The annual trip to the Autopac shop; where the Canadian Government has a nice little earner when everyone comes to pay for another year's permission to drive. So, a midday departure south on Interstate 29 to Vermillion, South Dakota.
____Day 2: North Dakota: 217, South Dakota: 252, Iowa: 161, Missouri: 123. Every one of the 753 mile Interstate 29 will be covered on this trip. From Pembina on the Canadian/US border to the heart of Kansas City where I turn onto Highway 71. Taking the very good four-lane 71 down to Joplin for a night at the Flying'J.

Old style accomodation on US Route 66 in Oklahoma.

____Day 3: A good quick tip at the animal feed plant at Neosho; then a quick phone call to the reload address tells me not to hurry to Tulsa, as the stuff won't be ready till after lunch. An ideal chance to save the $16.50 toll on the Will Rogers Turnpike [Interstate 44] and take the old Route 66 through the towns of Afton, Vinita, Foyil and Claremore. Places that still show the dilapidation of the many prosperous enterprises that folded when the Interstate came pushing through. A traffic-free hundred mile drive in a sunny temperature of 19 degrees C. The load is "Donkey Engines" from the Arrow Engines factory, a place that reminds me of a visit I made to Patricroft; the home of Gardner. The same engineering emphasis; durability, precession and quality. Arrow engines are made to run 24 hours a day and for 60 years! No hi-tech, light-weight, high-powered throw-away rubbish from Arrow. Then after two and a half days of poodling about; it's time to put in a serious six hour stint at the wheel and get to Omaha. Within a days drive of ma home. Ha,ha.

New style accomodation : The Hard Rock Hotel at Tulsa, Ok.

____Day 4: Northbound Interstate 29, all day, cruise control on, arm-rests down and the mind wanders. Trying to think thoughts that remind me of the good times; trying to think thoughts that remind me of the best times. I've been knocked down, but I've got up again. Ain't nothing gonna keep me down. Freezing fog from Fargo through the rest of the trip; back in the yard by nine in the evening.
____Overall Distance: 3456 km.

A common sight on US roads : Will there always be enough wind?