Abilene Motor Express....A New Place To Call Home

Swing by the Pilot. You'll see at least four more.

 

It was like that last weekend also. I passed through on Friday afternoon, but was only picking up a loaded trailer and heading right back out. That yard can be like a black hole so I never hang around any longer than I have to.

 

I've only been through OR once since going solo. I have been to CA 3 or 4 times though. If you need to get home every 2 or 3 weeks you may well have problems.

 

Today's excitement: Delivering empty guitar cases to Gibson Guitars in downtown Memphis. Like, RIGHT downtown. A block off of Beale.

Loading dock did not have any room whatsoever for maneuvering. Bumping the dock involved blocking both directions of a 5-lane road as I angled my way to the dock. Cab was still blocking one lane even after I got docked.

After they finished, I made my way back onto the street where I blocked the turn lane while I attended to closing the trailer doors. Then moseyed my way down 3rd street to the freeway.

There was road construction on the right side. There was a parked lift truck on the left, unloading stuff. I do not exaggerate when I say that my left side mirror cleared the lift truck by about two inches, while my trailer cleared the construction barrels on the right by the same amount.

I handled it, though. I'm almost at my one-year anniversary here at Abilene. I just took things slow and cool and didn't lose my head. If I'd had this run a year ago, I'd've shat myself.

Soon as I got done with the guitar cases, got a load hauling Mack truck parts to Jacksonville. Should get there tomorrow, but it's not due until Thursday morning at 8:30am. It's a drop, so gonna see if they'll let me drop it early when I get there (if I get there) tomorrow.

 

If it comes down to a choice of the two, those orange construction barrels are soft and squishy and won't leave a mark.

 

If push came to shove, that's how it was gonna work out. But instead I managed to successfully thread the needle.

Currently parked at the Pilot down the road from where I gotta deliver the trailer tomorrow. JohnBoy is 100% correct: This place is total chaos. There's the usual row of parking spaces available with their backs to the CAT scale, and they SEEM alluring -- right up until you notice all the chowderheads parking parallel along the curb across from the spots. Making it a real challenge to actually leave your parking spot.

I'm parked directly across from the fuel isle, so I won't have that problem when it comes time to roll out. But yeah, this is a high-traffic truck stop built to a low-traffic spec.

 

I've been there a few times, luckily I didn't have to stay there very long. The other truckstops in and around Jville are just as bad if not worse.

Did you swing by to see if they would let you drop it early?. Usually very friendly folk in there and they have loads of dock space so there is a good chance they would.

 

Nah. I had originally planned to do so, but after seeing what a mess this parking lot is, I figured my best bet was to get a parking space now while the getting was good.

Wouldn't have really made much difference anyways, because I used up all but 30 minutes of my 11 getting here, so dropping it early wouldn't have gotten me back out on the road today. But it probably would've kept me from getting a parking space here.

 

Are any of you in 1721? I'm parked a few doors down from it at the J in Wytheville.