A misconception I had regarding "Seeing the Country"

Exactly, yes.

 

I'm a history nut and usually I'll try to stop and read all the historical markers along the highway. Especially out West where they normally have wide pull offs.

But I've been able to tour the Little Big Horn, gambled in Deadwood, parked at Mt Rushmore, soaked in the hot springs in Thermopolis, been into Times Square and toured the Alamo, all while towing a trailer along.

A little planning and some research and you can actually have a pretty good time out on the road.....

 

There are plenty of ways to see whatever you want to see out there. You just aren't comfortable enough with traveling yet. Walking, biking, rent a car, taxi, bus, bobtail, take the whole truck. Like that one poster said you can look on google earth and find places to park. We used to do it all the time. Had a pickup in Stockton all the time and since they had to pick the product fresh we were constantly waiting. Looked up on google earth and found a parking lot with semi access right on the beach! Hell, we've camped out in the grand canyon, gone skiing, swimming, hiking, fishing you name it! My wife used to keep a one of those truck stop guides and in it she would right all kinds of notes about places to park or walmarts, stuff to do, restaurants. So whenever we were in that area and had time we would do something. We had our dog with us too and she used to keep track of all the vet clinics and pet smarts around the country. (pet smarts easily accessible in a semi) We liked to go to the bookstore too to buy books on cd's or go and read for awhile so she kept track of all the borders and books a million stores.

Hang in there man, you will get in the groove of things and get to see whatever you want. You only live once and now is the perfect opportunity for you to discover whats out there and experience new stuff. Don't be afraid to play the ol' "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" game. At the very least buy yourself a skateboard! There are actually a lot of drivers that keep little mopeds or scooters right on their catwalk. You can zip around anywhere on those little things! (as long as your not in Wyoming in the winter time!)

Here is an easy one for you to try.... I-40, Arizona just east outside flagstaff is the giant meteor crater. Turn your am radio on when you get close and it will give you directions for parking. You can take your truck there and it is only a couple miles of the interstate. When you are done there go to the truckstop up in flagstaff, Little America, park your truck there and walk across the street and 1 block south. There is a sweet log cabin restaurant called "Black Barts". Awesome steaks!!! They also have a huge fireplace in the restaurant and have live entertainment on stage. More of a fancy restaurant then a bar.

I'll give you one more and maybe everyone else can contribute something.

I-70 heading west coming down out of the mountains from Vail heading toward grand junction. There is a truckstop called Gay Johnstons. They have an old school truck stop restaurant there that's decent. You can park at the truck stop and walk across the street and less then 1/4 mile is a state park. There are a couple swimming holes there and you can fish. The river cuts through park too. They have barbeques for cooking so you can cook what you catch and chill out at the park all day.

Don't be afraid to get out there. Maybe some other posters can offer up some easy places for this driver to get to and see.

 

Put a bike on the truck if you can't afford a rental car. I'm stuck in Nogales right now waiting on my trailer to come back over (hopefully in the same condition it left in) and rented a car from Enterprise. $35 a day for decent car with XM radio. Went to Pima Air and Space museum yesterday in Tuscon right of I10. They have a huge lot for truck/RV parking!!! If you like SR-71's, nuclear bombs, Mig's, and ever wanted to visit the aircraft boneyard you see in movies this is your place. Went to see the only Titan II missle silo left today and it has a bonus of a training missile in it. It would be no problem bobtailing here. Pretty awesome. 10 MT of pure annihilation with a simulated launch in the control room!

Your life is what you make of it. When you are a rookie you don't have much control or discretion over extracurricular activities, and unfortunately for you, it is justified based on the history of rookies. Most companies will allow you to take your time off at places other than home. I've met people that take their time off at national parks and go hiking for 2-3 days, go to theme parks, skiing (there's a daily train that will take you from Denver to Winter Park), surfing, etc. I'm at a point in my career where I'm the boss and only a TON of money will keep me from home over a weekend. At the same time, I remember the nervousness of meeting my trainer for the first time as well. There is no reason to not enjoy life because you're a trucker. You just have to learn what works for you, your company and your skill level.

 

I'm one of these 'professional tourists' that started trucking to see the country. I am a widowed, empty-nester that wanted something different than the 4 walls of the office world I was used to. I haven't enjoyed a job more than trucking. I have seen the lower 48 backwards and forwards. The best scenery is off the interstates and through little towns on 2 lane hwys. Love that the best although it slows us down. My fiance and I run team so we don't always have time to stop but we get a lot of ideas about where to come back to for 'home time.'
I've started a list of places to stop that can take a truck and trailer. The laptops come in handy and of course the gps is a helpful tool. Running team and off-setting out 34 hr resets doesn't leave any time to be idle for long so we have to make plans to come back to the areas we want to explore. Would love to find places to rest other than truck stops and rest areas.....away from truckers....and the smell of urinated parking lots....

 

Been otr on my own for a month now and Got a bike last week, great way to get around. Been Exploring nashville today, sweatin like a sob in the process. My dad has an electric bike that goes 20 mph and has a range of 20 miles on one charge which might be a good option as well.

 

Let's see, things I've seen thanks to my OTR time:

Seneca Rocks, West Virginia.
Portsmouth, OH.
Cincinatti's skyline (kinda nice comming north at night.)
Michigan's upper Peninsula
St. Louis Arch.
Miami Beach.
Roanoke, VA.
The Villages, (the retirement place in FL.)
Memphis, TN. (probably SHOULDN'T have walked that one)
The NY Adderondaks
The Blue Ridge Mountains
The Mississippi River.
Paducah! (where my 3rd grade teacher always threatend to send me. Turns out it's rather nice)
Knoxville.
Indy.
The Chesapeke Bay Bridge!
That awesome hill NC/VA, you know I-77 south of Wytheville?
All the towns where NASCAR came from. (Talladega, Martinsville, Winston-Salem, Now I undestand what they say by Carolina Piedmont clay)

I'd leave NYC off my list since I'm from there, but trust me there are ways to get around NY with a truck.

 

I don't suppose there's a way to fit a 1996 Softail on the catwalk is there?

 

Sleeper?

 

you wont walk 5 miles? really? If your on your reset.. why not? Its walking......