Manteca,CA

As luck would have it, we were unloaded and go our next work assignment just in time to hit rush hour traffic. Our next load picked up today at noon and we delivered last night. We are picking up in Manteca,CA which is right next to Modesto where we were yesterday. Instead of fighting traffic, I decided to come back the way I went yesterday on the little CA highways. Only two lanes, one each direction, but it went completely around the San Francisco/San Jose area on the top side. Even though it was about 20 miles further, we made much better time than if we had attempted to go through that metro mess.

Once again, J got the day off. We got up at the hotel yesterday and I headed out at 0715 to make our first appt so I had until 2115 before my 14 was up for the day. When we got unloaded in Santa Rosa I still had 3 hours left and figured J may as well get another day off since all I had to do was get us back over to around Modesto and then park for the night. Off we go on the back roads. We were getting hungry, and I was getting tired, so we figured we would park at the Flying J at CA 12 & I-5 which is at mm 485 on I-5. We get there and there is NOWHERE to park. The place is packed and trucks scurrying around like ants waiting for anyone to pull out so they can all make a run for that empty spot. I decide to keep going to where I had originally planned which is the Flying J or Love's that are on CA 99 in Ripon, which would put us about 6 miles from our pickup today. I am getting really tired at this point, but I only have about 40 miles to go. We get there and once again, the Flying J is packed. I had made a circle through the lot and was on the back row headed to the front to try the Love's when J looked up and saw a spot I could nose into. No one had seen it yes as the driver had just pulled out. It was at the other end of the row I was on and when J pointed it out to me, I looked like Mario Andretti hauling ass down that aisle in 7th gear. That was Momma's spot and I wasn't gonna let anyone take it from me! Thank goodness no one saw it and there wasn't anyone else on that row! I got parked and did my log book and realized it was 2110. Thank goodness we found that spot because I was 5 minutes away from running out of hours! But J did get TWO full days off, so I am glad that things worked out that way for him. He could have driven some, but we will be off this weekend, so it isn't like I am going to run out of hours.

Our FM called us last night when we were still up in Santa Rosa to find out for sure when we needed to be in Santa Rosa,NM. It didn't look like he could find us a short run somewhere else and then be able to get us there on time. So he found us a run going to Arlington,TX and we are going to meet up with another team, most likely in Santa Rosa,NM and they are going to repower it and finish delivering it. The only bad thing is that we will be in on Wednesday and we don't need to be there until Friday. But we just roll with the flow. We will break even or just be a little in the hole by going in early, but it isn't a big deal. Since we basically have no expenses and we live in the truck, it is ok for us to have a few easy weeks here and there. We don't have to worry about house payments and such. All we have is our Suburban payment, insurance, and cell phones. We don't even have a credit card, by choice, so we pay cash when we want something or of course use our Visa check card, which is just like a check.

I am really excited for this weekend though! Finally going to get open water certified so Misty and I can go diving while we are on our cruise. And since her husband is certifying us, we get to see him. He is a white boy from South Africa, and I could just listen to him talk all day long! :) So we can enjoy their company and some beers and just relax this weekend.