Longest time out on the road

keep it up man. keeps getting beter the more u add. animal got lucky as hell. but he will get his soon enough. be safe out there and see you down the road somewhere man.

 

After an after dinner nap to allow the afternoon traffic to die down, we continued west.
Tex split off at Beaumont on Highway 60 and I stayed on Interstate 10 toward Los Angeles.
Finding the warehouse was easy enough and it seemed to be a decent of enough area to bed down.
I got up just before seven the following morning to find the employees arriving for work.
I was greeted by the foreman as I approached the dock, bills in hand.
As he studied the manifest, he began slowly shaking his head.
Oh no, what now? I'm thinking.
"I hope these aren't what I think they are" he tells me. "Could you please open up a trailer door for me? I need to be sure."
I swung open a door and he continued to shake his head in disbelief.
"Look, if it's about me being late..." I began, but he cut me off.
"Late?" he said. "Driver, we don't need these boxes for three more months, when we bring in the first garlic harvest in Gilroy.
Which is where they should have been shipped anyway. Not your fault buddy. I suppose we need to go in and call the broker.
Coffee will be ready in a minute. You and the young lady come on in."
He showed us the restroom and the breakroom and told us to make ourselves at home.
He returned about ten minutes later and asked me to come into his office. He had Luanne on the phone and she wished to speak to me.
"Morning. How are things in the Lone Star State?" I said in greeting.
"Good to hear your voice Rick. Listen, sweetie, I'm sorry about this, but I think I got it worked out for you."
"Nothing for you to be sorry about, Luanne. I already figured that fella in New Jersey wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer." I told her, drawing a snicker from the man behind the desk.
"That's what Bondo always told me" she said. "But anyway, here's the deal. He wants you to take the load on up to the warehouse in Watsonville.
I got you $450. Not to bad for 300 miles, considering it's already on your trailer.
Just make sure he signs your bills that you delivered to the original consignee.
Now listen carefully. Hide those bills somewhere. I know you don't have intrastate authority for California.
Pedro is going to make you a set of bills showing you taking this load from his warehouse in Yuma AZ to Watsonville."
I noticed she said "I got you $450", not us, like Bondo always did. I didn't ask, but found out later she didn't even deduct a broker's fee. My kind of lady.
"Oh, something else" she continued. "Got you a load of almonds in Visalia. Loads at 1500 tomorrow.
Even if you don't get the boxes off until tomorrow, you can still make it. Going to Harlem, Georgia.
That's near Augusta. Gets you pretty close to home. Decent money too.
I got one for Tex also, if he wants it. Pretty sure he will. He seems pretty anxious to get back through Longview."
"Yeah, I can't say as I blame him. And what happened to you getting out of the business anyway?" I asked her.
"Nothing better to do, I reckon. I've heard you guys talking about trucking getting in your blood.
Maybe it's done got in mine."
"I'm glad Luanne. I would miss you." There was an awkard pause as I wondered why I blurted that out.
"I'd miss you too" she answered, saving me from saying something else stupid."Call me from Watsonville and I will have that pickup number for you."
"Sure thing, Luanne. And tell Tex I had better see his butt in Visalia."

 

great work man. keep it up. i am in GA myself right now going thruogh the demobilization process. should be in NC within the next week or so. see u out there somewhere man.

 

Animal put his last forty dollars in the fuel tank at the Union 76 in Ontario.
He had to turn some product now. Not only for fuel, but he needed to eat too.
He wasn't so stupid as not to realize he was getting weak and on the verge of dehydration.
He was definitely going to have to step on this stuff. He would be lucky to break even with what was left.
He wasn't exactly worried about repeat business. He never planned on seeing anybody again once the deal was done.

He had a good night in terms of sales. Lot of guys bored stiff from sitting in the truckstop all weekend.
What really helped was the working girl he gave some free samples to, for she was sending customers his way.
The first few guys got the uncut stuff and he gradually started unloading the weaker powder as the night wore on.
Animal was experienced enough at cheating people to know when to hold 'em and when to fold up the tent and go home.
He sent the girl to find the next customer, even though he was finished for the night.
As soon as she was out of sight, he started easing away, lights off.

Walking between two trucks, Candy was startled when a trucker wearing jeans and a tank top grabbed her by her ponytail.
"Where the hell you think your going missy? No where til I get my #### money back, that's where" he growled.
"I don't know what you're talking about mister" she whined.
"Don't play dumb with me. You know exactly what I'm talking about.
That junk you brought me was worthless. I know baby laxative when I see it" he said.
"I was just delivering, I swear! I thought it was good" she said.
"Yeah, I imagine what he gave you was good, but I ain't built like you."
He finally let go of her hair, but grasped her arm loosely, not trusting her not to run.
"Tell you what we are going to do. We're going to pay that boy a visit. Is he packing? And don't lie to me" he asked.
"I really don't know. I swear I don't" Candy answered.
"Find out soon enough I reckon" he said, pulling up his shirt to reveal a .38 stuck in his waistband."Kinda hope he is."

Candy led the agitated trucker to the next row, where she had just came from.
Nothing there but an empty parking space.

 

Uh oh Animal is getting in deep now, keep it coming Mustang.

 

3months for me and i loved every second of it.

 

About 3 months. They kept me up North the whole time, of course, bouncing between Chicago and NJ and all points around OH, PA, IN, IL. Hell, when I finally got back to Luziana. I almost had a midwestern accent!

 

uh oh! animal is in trouble. better think of something. AND QUICK!!

 

Mustang,

Another good one here. I can see Ricky and Tex getting into all sorts of stuff down the road.

Again, appreciate you sharing and I'll be tuning into this saga as well.

 

I don't think I have ever been as ready for a load to come off my trailer as I was when those boxes came off.
Longest load I ever pulled, before or since. Twelve days. It would be amusing if it weren't for the loss of Bondo and the woes of Darlene.
Like many folks, Darlene grew up with a vision of California as nothing but glitz and glamour. All Hollywood.
This trip had shattered that illusion, but in a pleasant way.
She was in awe of the scenery up US101 from Los Angeles up through Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo and on up through Salinas to our destination in Watsonville.
Darlene had been to Myrtle Beach SC many times, but was pleased to be able to tell her friends she had now seen the Pacific Ocean.
I pulled into the rest area near Santa Barbara to check an air line on the trailer that had been worrying me lately.
Crawling back out from under the trailer to get a wrench from my tool box, I saw Darlene walking across the beach.
As chilly as it was, I was amused to see her take off her shoes and roll up her pants legs. Just had to stick her toes in the water.
I was touched seeing her like that, so fragile and childlike. I still had feelings for her. But I still wasn't sure exactly what those feelings were.
I enjoyed playing the role of tour guide and we kept our conversation light.
I told her we would drop back south on Highway 99 down through Fresno. Not as scenic, but one of the most fertile valleys for farming in the world.

Only about three hours over to Visalia, so I figured a motel was in order with my pick up scheduled for the following afternoon.
I found a decent place with truck parking right off the main highway.
I was able to park the truck so it was clearly visible from the road, so hopefully Tex would see it, and join us .