Well, I'm going to California, at any rate. Achin' in my heart, not so much. Just irritated again. This is a shot of I70 from the westbound uphill side of Loveland Pass, which y'all recall the last time I had to go over. This time, the road was more snowpacked - Colorado had dropped the chain law not too long before we got there - or we'd still be sitting there waiting for it to open. I've never been to California in a truck before, so this is new. Normally, we head to I40, but apparently New Mexico has some road construction they don't want wide loads traversing. Thus, I70 over to Vegas. Now my truck is filthy - gaaah! I'll guarantee you we won't be coming back this way - empty we can go when chain laws are in effect, but I hate putting the damn things on. So, I40 it's gonna be.
But, I do like Glenwood Canyon for scenery. You'll notice the eastbound traffic runs under the westbound - a lot of the road has to do that in that canyon. The speed limit is fifty mph, and trucks aren't allowed in the left lane at all. So, we're stuck until we get through if we get behind some moron slowpoke. Most of the time, it's not too bad, though.
And, we made it to a truck stop east of Grand Junction - one of the trucks in our little convoy had some minor trouble, so we quit there a bit early to fix it. Dollied our trailers down and drove to Junction for the motel. This Pete was sitting there looking ever so fine. This truck was immaculate (won't stay that way if he keeps going east!), and the chrome, stainless, lights, stacks, and droopy visor were all done very tastefully, if you ask me. I like painted tanks with the straps left in polished aluminum. He's got some classic old school stuff - single headlights, spotlights in his A pillars, the chrome swan for a hood pull, the flattop sleeper, and a few extra clearance lights on the cab. It's a good looking rig with the stainless fuel trailer, and it's new and shiny too.
So, we have no idea where we'll land tomorrow, but we'll be the first to know when it gets here.
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5 comments:
YO! Gonna make it down to the L.A./Long Beach area? We could go grab some lunch if you have time.
It's somewhere north of LA a ways - I don't have the paperwork with me to tell you the name of the town, but it is on I5.
I'm sure we're gonna be all about heading for home after we're done - two of the guys are gonna drop their trailers to pick up some others for a backhaul (one of my friends owns both trucks), so us two company guys will be decking trailers so we can get them home.
What happens when the chain laws are on?
When we're loaded - we're parked. No movement of oversized loads allowed in inclement weather or road conditions. If the roads were that messy in other areas of Colorado, we'd be parked as well. It just depends on how the local constabularies decide to interpret the laws.
Jeffro: Drove that same stretch of road in June with the farm van. Once in Utah there is a stretch about 140 miles with NO services of any kind. nuthing! They warn you and they mean it. Still good scenery in the summer, don't know about the winter. Once you hit the interstate going south in Utah its good road and nice people.
Also I drove the entire length of I-5 about two months ago going from Vancouver to LA, but don't ask me about any of it after the first day because from start to finish I was only gone from Indiana for a total of 3 days!
All The Best,
Frank W. James
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