Mendota,CA

This last week sure has been hecktic! After spending the night in Dania Beach,FL we got up and drove back down to Miami to Prime Floral for our first stop to pick a bunch of boxes of flowers. From there we headed down to Pierson,FL where we dropped those off. There are several trucks that come from Miami each day to Pierson. Once all the trucks are unloaded, they separate all the flowers into the different orders and reload them on the trucks to be sent out to actually make the deliveries. Around midnight Thursday night, we were loaded and on the way. We had a total of 3200 miles to cover and 12 different stops with our last being in San Jose,CA.

Early Saturday morning, around 0100 we made it to Oklahoma City,OK where we had our first two drops. Our largest drop was here with 658 pieces. Floral loads are all on the floor. Not on pallets. They are are also stacked floor to ceiling. The average size of a box, in inches, is about 8x12x36. Of course the sizes vary depending on the grower that packages them. But what this means for us is a lot of work when you have to hand unload every piece.

By o430 we were done in Oklahoma City and heading to Wichita,KS for our next two stops. J got a small nap while I was driving up there but then I woke him up to help me once I got there. The reason that I have to wake him up to help me unload all has to do with my height. Being 5'2", if I stand up really straight, I can't reach the boxes that are stacked on the top. The unloading isn't hard, other than repetitive and monotonous, I just simply am not tall enough to get the boxes that are stacked on the top. It was a long morning. We dealt with road construction in both Oklahoma City and in Wichita that had the exit blocked that we needed to take. So we spent a few extra minutes at each place trying to find an alternate route that was wide enough for us to get our truck down. After J only getting a small nap between Oklahoma City and Wichita, by around 1000 hours on Saturday morning, J was headed back to bed and I was headed towards Utah where our next stops were at.

I managed to drive until around 1530 when I called it a day. We grabbed a shower and a quick bite to eat and J took over driving from there. I hit the sack knowing that we were going to have to be up and at it once again when we got to Salt Lake City,UT. J got us to Evanston,WY where we switched. He hit the sack for about two hours until I got us to our first stop in Salt Lake City. We had four deliveries to make there. Finally got them unloaded, grabbed some lunch and J hit the sack again while I took off for Sparks,NV where we had our next two that night. I made it to Battle Mountain,NV around 1630 and we switched there. When we went in to use the restroom, I plopped $20 into a $1 slot machine. I won $42 so we had a quick lunch and headed out again.

We were both really exhausted at this point. I never even knew that J made it to our first stop in Sparks and unloaded it by himself. I didn't wake up until we were at the second stop but he said it was a small piece count and for me to go back to sleep that he had it. He is so awesome! He got those done and headed in towards our last two stops in the San Jose area. He stopped at the 49er Truck Stop in Sacramento where we switched and I drove the last 100 miles to our next to the last stop. The roads suck there and he woke up about 10 miles before I got there. Just a quick power nap is all he really had. We managed to finally get the last two deliveries made and we couldn't have been happier.

About 30 minutes after I sent our depart message, we got our next work assignment. We were to pick up in Mendota,CA and deliver in Dallas,TX. This was to be our load heading home for our cruise. We needed a trailer washout, so I headed to Santa Nella,CA where they have one at the TA. When I was done, we still didn't have an appointment time for our pick up. I sent a message in telling our FM to let me know when they had one and that we would head the last 50 miles at that point. After being completely exhausted from the pace of the floral load, I was going to stay parked so J could get some good quality uninterrupted sleep. Around 1700 we finally got an apointment time so J woke up and we went in for some dinner and a shower. From there we headed out to make our pick up.

We found the place quite easily and pulled in. J went to go check in and it took forever. Finally he got back to the truck and said that they would call when they had a dock for us. A little after midnight, they called saying they were out of product and that they would load us in the morning. Now it is morning, I have checked in and am still sitting here waiting for them to call us so that we can get a dock. I guess I am getting a little impatient because I know that this is the load that is taking us home. I am ready to get onboard that cruise ship and do NOTHING for a week. Well, nothing except swim with the dolphins in Cozumel and consume fruity mixed drinks in cups with umbrellas!