Laramie,WY

Will someone please correct me if I am wrong, but have I not said that I really really really dislike driving across I-80 in Wyoming? I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure I have made that clear! LOL So does it surprise anyone that as I drove across Wyoming today I had to deal with snow, freezing rain and high winds?? This is almost May, right? I am looking at the right calendar, right? I figured I was since I do my log book every day, but this sure doesn't seem like "almost May" weather to me!!

Let me back up some. Friday evening we made our way over to Pittsburgh,CA and picked up our hazmat load. We headed towards Sacramento where we had decided to stay the night since I-80 was closed for construction. We decided it wasn't worth taking the detour with a hazmat load that is corrosive and flammable. So bright and early Saturday morning, I headed out as soon as 0700 rolled around because that is when they were supposed to have the interstate back open.

We had already talked to our FM about getting the appointment changed to Tuesday, so we weren't too stressed about time. We have a friend in Winnemucca,NV that we have been trying to see since we started driving and haven't had the chance to meet up. It never fails that she is at work or we are going through around 0200 in the morning. Luckily this time she was off and in town to compete in a barrel race for an injured police officer. They were having it at the Winnemucca Events Center which is an indoor arena and there is a huge parking lot. We were able to pull right in and park and not have another vehicle for at least 50-60 yards. It was nice. We got to visit with her for a couple of hours and meet her youngest son and her husband. I only wish we could have had more time, but we had to head out because I had to get to bed.

After leaving there, we headed down the road about an hour and stopped and grabbed some dinner and I donated $25 to the slot machines. I was trying to help stimulate the economy there in Battle Mountain,NV! Leaving out of there I headed straight to bed. As it was, I knew I was only going to get about 5-6 hours of sleep.

J got us into our yard in Salt Lake City,UT where he woke me up at 0400. I had a heck of a time waking up but I made it and hit the road about 0500 after fueling up. I didn't make it very far my first try today. I made it up over Parley's Summit and to the rest area just east of where I-80 and I-84 merge. I pulled in and had to take a nap for about an hour. I felt a lot better after that extra hour of sleep.

Ready to hit the road again, I climb in the front seat and notice that it is snowing outside. Uh-oh! Not good! I boogie on out of there and get out of the snow just a few miles down the road. I made it into Wyoming and my phone rings and it is some friends of our. "Hey, was that you we just passed around the 150 mile marked?" I said, "Yep, that was me." Then the reply I get back was, "Hey, you're gonna hit some snow from around Rawlins to Cheyenne and they have the plows out on Sherman." (I guess that is the pass between Cheyenne and Laramie.) "Just freaking great! Thanks for the heads up!" I told her. Sure enough, around Rawlins I run into snow. Thank goodness it was just wet snow and not sticking to the road, but my wipers and the backs of my mirrors were all iced up.

I made it as far as Laramie,WY and said the heck with this and called it a day there. J woke up as I pulled into the parking lot, so it worked out well. We went inside and grabbed some lunch and now we are on our way again. As I type this, I am sitting in the bunk with the curtain closed. I am a horrible passenger, especially in bad weather. I have control issues. LOL Yes, I will admit it! Drives poor J nuts, but he loves me and puts up with me. Anyway, I figured it was better for me to just start out back in the bunk instead of him having to tell me to come back here!

We have decided that once we reach Cheyenne that we are going to cut down to Denver and take I-70 across. We were going to stay on I-80 but decided to go this way. It is only 100 miles further and that will only be about $50 or less in fuel. If we stay on I-80, we will have more than that in tolls crossing Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. And we can still deliver by 0800 on Tuesday morning. Or was it 0900? I don't remember, but either way, we can make it. That is an easy 550 miles each of the next 3 shifts. Joe tonight, me tomorrow morning and Joe tomorrow night. That will only leave me about 100 miles to finish up and get us to destination. Piece of cake.

So I am going to head to bed and hope that the shaking of the truck doesn't keep me awake. We have got to get this thing aligned.......