I'm baaaaaack!!!!!!!!

Overnighting in Limon CO at Flying J (IHOP for breakfast!) then 129 mi hop to Loveland CO (up 25) for drop. Then I have to write up the 5th wheel release, hoping I don't have to wait too long for another load. Was gonna do it in transit but the pickup took so long I just came straight through to keep my cushion (weather is quite capricious this time of year).

I'm probably going to deliver and bobtail to a shop then go back for an empty after for the inevitable beverage load out. Figure they'll send me back to Kansas City again. Or Pontoon. Whatever. I don't care if they don't get me out west, as long as I can clock the miles.

Since I got that phone call nobody's been screwing around with me every time my dispatcher leaves her desk. This is kind of nice.

 

IHOP for breakfast. Chicken fajita omelet with avocado, salsa, and sour cream. With pancakes on the side.

Gonna be a good day, Tater.

 

Today is the winter solstice, the shortest and darkest day of the year. From here on out we are on our way out of winter. There will be colder days ahead, but the sun will rise a little earlier and set a little later every day, as the renewal of spring approaches. It is an inevitability that is mirrored in life, as our darkest seasons are by nature transitory. The fiercest storms will press us but not crush us if we remember this. Sometimes we can do no more than burrow into whatever shelter we can find and curse the storm and maybe seek a different road, and for some this is a proper choice. Whatever one chooses, it is vital to remember that the most vicious storms pass eventually. This is a truth that is all too easy to forget when suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. With the passing of solstice comes a renewed hope that we are, although persecuted, never abandoned and bereft.

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!

 

Sticky fifth wheel release, fixed. Clutch switch starting to go out, but they can't work on that here so putting it off since it isn't urgent yet. Gonna finish laundry and head to a truck stop to spend the night. (Too late for a decent load today)

 

Got about 1200 mi to do by Christmas Eve.

 

Winter decided to bust me upside the head tonight--snow, ice, and high gusty winds over I 70 West of Denver. Two hour trip took almost four hours. Now I'm spending the night at Costco in Gypsum CO for 0800 delivery and forecast is calling for 6-10 inches of snow overnight. That's gonna make it real hairy getting out of here with an empty.