Railsplitter's Crazy "Trucking Daze" thread...

Alright, here are tonight's pics of places and things I never would've seen or done if I hadn't gone truck driving... including 'The White House Saloon' in Raton, NM.



Here's ye olde 'Garden of the Gods' in Colorado...



And the cog railway up nearby Pikes Peak... if you're ever stuck in Colorado Springs for a bit when the weather is nice, be sure to visit both locations, they are worth the time and effort. You'll find the lower terminus of the cog railway in Manitou Springs.




This shot shows some of the bad boy hairpin curves on the dirt road leading up Pikes Peak... those drivers familiar with the Class 8 racing trucks which tackle that road, you'll get a kick out of this shot.





Here's Parker Dam on the Colorado River in Parker, AZ...



Colorado River channels near Parker, AZ...



And a shot of nearby Buckskin Mountain State Park on the same river, a great place to "truck camp" in a 10-ton road tractor...



Got some finger & camera reflection in that last shot, just deal with it and know that it doesn't exist in the original glossy paper photo...

 

More shots of Buckskin Mountain State Park on the Colorado River north of Parker, AZ...





Some shots taken in Missouri, starting with this photo of the Osage River...







This beautiful old wooden furniture was up for grabs at an estate sale & auction in rural Missouri... ya won't find tables like this in Walmart, that's for sure, lol. The small table with the bucks is awesome, while the larger marble-topped tables had carved dogs underneath, the pic doesn't do 'em justice...

 

A shot taken near the confluence of the Osage River & the Missouri River...





Two shots of Cleveland, OH, including the 'Rock & Roll Hall of Fame' and some skyscraper which looked pretty cool...




And some regular everyday trucking shots...

 

On the voyage to South Bass Island on Lake Erie...



I believe the next 5 pics are from Steubenville, OH, self-proclaimed 'City of Murals' which also had some cool stone churches...







Several shots of beautiful Tappan Lake in Ohio, where I also took a swim and got cleaned up after being stuck in the woods for a day or two. It was a gorgeous autumn day when I rounded a curve and saw the lake... I hadn't taken a shower yet, as there were no truck stops back in the woods, so when I saw this lake, I told myself: "THAT'S MY SHOWER RIGHT THERE!" Lol... I pulled into a nice turnout near the dock shown in one pic, scraped my face & washed my hair by the truck, then donned board shorts and walked down to the dock, beach towel in hand. Leapt into the water and swam around for a bit, then exited the lake and dried myself under a nice warm sun. Great stop, lemme tell ya, I was SO refreshed after jumping in the lake... when you're truck driving, sometimes ya just gotta go with the flow and take whatever opportunities come your way, 10-4? I'll always remember Tappan Lake with fondness, I had a good time there...





A shot of goofing off near the summit of Otay Mountain, down by the Mexican border south of San Diego...

 

What else do we have tonight? Hmm, lemme see...



Cool demo home at the entrance to Hueco Tanks Historic State Park in West Texas, not far from El Paso...




And some shots of the trail on Guadalupe Peak, highest point in Texas at 8749' elevation... these Hueco Tanks & Guadalupe Peak shots were taken on the same paid tourist excursion, I'll throw in a link to the story behind 'em, lol.





Here's that link, that weekend was one of the best I ever had while trucking, and I established a personal record for burning company fuel, lol...

sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/tales-adventure/2011/feb/26/triple-treat-i-aint-talkin-baskin-robbins/

Here are two shots taken in southern Arizona...




And whatever else we have... looks like some old school equipment, lol.



And yet another rollover wreck...

 

The freightliner century was the best truck I have driven in my short 16 year career. I drove a 1999 and a 2006 both great trucks.

 

Howzabout a sunrise shot on the Mississippi River, just south of Hannibal, Missouri...



And some more everyday trucking pics...





A couple pics of OKC in the springtime...




A really wide oversized load...



Classic graphic on the side of a truck...



River and canal shots...

 

Wildflowers in a rest area west of San Antone...




Some cr@ppy winter weather...




A view of St. Louis from the top of the Gateway Arch...



Some shots of tornado damage from the twister that hit Midwest City in OKC on May 3, 1999. My best friend was riding along with me on a 6000-mile triangle from CA-PA-GA-CA, and we were actually in OKC on the morning of that day. After touring the Crystal Bridge Tropical Rainforest Conservatory, we left town to head up I-44 on our way to Pennsylvania... the twister struck after we split, and when we stopped at my brother's home in Waynesville, MO, I was shocked to hear that OKC had been hammered, 10-4? At first, I didn't believe my brother when he told us about the twister, but we went inside and watched the reports on TV, and we thanked our lucky stars that we weren't caught up in that bad news. These shots were taken almost 2 weeks after the event, when I passed through OKC again on my next trip to Pennsylvania... I walked the ground in Midwest City and took these somber photos of the destruction. One pic shows plumbing fixtures salvaged from the buildings which were demolished by the twister.

 

Okay, one last short round for tonight, then it's time to make dinner, lol... I've been drinking cold beer while posting these shots, but it's time for some grub. Here are the last of the pics for tonight, hope y'all enjoyed the whirlwind tour... I have more shots to post, but those will be thrown down later. Some of 'em are pretty wild, I'm just trying to keep some semblance of chronological order here in the pics. Meh, no worries, it's all truck driving, and I never would've seen some of those cool places if I hadn't been driving OTR, aye?



Here's my best friend "T-Bone" whose family owned & operated the first & oldest surf shop in Coronado for over three decades... he was the one riding as a passenger when that twister hammered OKC. Here he is standing in front of the Jefferson Memorial in D.C., I saw that flatbed parked there and told Tommy to stand by the fence for a photo, lol. The sky cleared shortly thereafter, and we did the Mall tour, leaving my tractor parked in a line of stationary buses near the Mall. We also went paddle-boating on the Tidal Basin once the sun was out, that was a classic voyage because we burned a big ol' fatty while drifting in the center of the Basin, lol. Good times back in the day (Spring, 1999), and my friend STILL talks about that crazy 6000-mile trip, 10-4?



Looks like the Grand Canyon here, you drivers can park by the Grand Canyon Railway Depot in Williams, AZ, and ride the rails up to the South Rim of the canyon... a great way to visit the place without worrying about access and parking hassles, lol.



Here's another wintry shot of the high country in Colorado...



Another shot taken on Otay Mountain, which rises some 3500' above the Mexican border between San Diego and Tijuana, lol... those peaks down south look like islands jutting up above the coastal cloud layer.



Here's that posted notice again, I put it in another thread but it really belongs here, if only to EDUMACATE drivers just beginning their OTR careers, lol...



And last but not least (for tonight, anyway), here's a classic trailer graphic that I saw while I was waiting to get my truck washed in Thousand Palms... a blonde bombshell used to run that truck wash, so I'd stop there on occasion. Some hand ahead of me had this graphic on his trailer, so I climbed out to snap a photo of it... the driver saw me and walked back, and we wound up laughing about the graphic, it's pretty funny if you look closely at the clothing patches and worn-out shoes, lol. Y'all be good, I'm outta here for now, time to make dinner and mack... CHEERS!!!

 

Okay, got all my household chores done and watered the trees & plants outside, so it's BEER-THIRTY and time to post a few trucking pics in this thread, which is a work in progress. Might have to take a shot of tequila in a bit, I have a nice big bottle of that blue agave juice on my bar right now, lol... lime & salt to go with it. Now, let's see what we have in this latest set of pics... ah, just the ticket, here's a shot taken on I-40 near Gallup, NM, we have a 75 m.p.h. speed limit, oncoming truck traffic and high-voltage power lines along the frontage road. Now, I'm no MASTER BALLOONIST, but I reckon I could probably find a better place to land, 10-4?



How about some open road shots?






Whoever painted that zipper must have been high on crack... or maybe he had one too many shots of tequila on lunch break.



Big ol' KW "Dark Shadow"---decked out in chrome and chicken lights. I like the little chrome skulls plastered all over this rig...



Harvest time on the beach in Coronado... time to make fresh-squeezed Valencia orange juice, lol.



This ol' Freightshaker had a nice nautical graphic on the sleeper, a 3-masted schooner worth a second look, don'tcha know?



Bath, Maine---City of Ships. Not bad, and I'm a lifelong small craft sailor, so I notice stuff like this, lol.



Back in a moment with some winter pics & icy roads... but first, I gotta grab another cold beer, that first one went down pretty fast, lol.