roadtrip chris arbon: One Hundred And Fifty Years Old.

5038 Kilometres - 7 Days

____ Just a few months ago, I was heading South, hoping to get the warm rays of the sun on my back as I escaped from a frozen Manitoba. Now at the end of June, I am dreading the triple digit Fahrenheit temperatures of Texas. My tactic for avoiding a sweltering truck-cab, is to run late into the night; having a a/c chilled cab ready for bed in slightly cooler conditions. There is the problem of finding somewhere to park at that time. Most of the big chain truckstops would be full but having a regular route, I have found the places where a late-comer can usually find a spot.

____ I am leaving the yard at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, so it's a good job that my first night's stop at Watertown is one such truckstop. Iola, Kansas, the second night-out is also a good bet for a spot at any-time. Third night-out is at Lucky J's, just up the road from the Madisonville mushroom farm. Peat-moss delivered and my chances of completing an idle-free trip go down the pan when the office has me reloading at Pasadena on Friday; 13.00 hours. Twenty-seven hours of waiting with the engine running at the Houston Flying J. I refuse to suffer any discomfort while at work; the mercury is reading over 100 degree, too hot and humid to go walkabout. I stay in the sleeper and let the a/c do it's stuff.

____ Eventually loaded and out into the Friday afternoon getaway; swollen by the up-coming Fourth of July Holiday.Slow going on Interstate 45; but at least the Dallas rush-hour has subsided by the time I go through. Into Oklahoma, just before night-fall and just before the driving hours run out. Into the dust bowl parking of the Chocktaw Travel Plaza at Calera, just before a thunderstorm dampens things down, takes the heat out of the air and let's me get a good night's rest.

____ Saturday is July 1st, the 150th Canada Day, and I would have been back home enjoying beer and fireworks if the office had got it's act together. Instead, it is a full day's driving to Sioux City; followed by another long day back to the yard. Interstate 29 with the cruise control clicked up to 109kph; trusting the trailer tyres will hold out with a full load of plastic granules and another red-hot day warming them up. Into to a strong headwind and the fuel consumption sky-rockets but after all that wasted time, someone has to pay for my bad mood.