12/25/07

In my quest for fame and notoriety, I think I've finally arrived. I got a note from my fleet manager yesterday mentioning that he heard about my blog. I had to chuckle as I tried to remember the last time he pissed me off and I wrote about it. I'm pretty sure it's been a little while though, so I think we're okay there.

People always talk about that show with the ice road truckers. I've never seen it, but today I got to live it for a while. Not so bad. For the first hundred miles, I don't believe my tires ever touched asphalt. I-80 was pretty lousy, but the state and U.S. highways were far worse. It might have been a problem, but as it turns out there was nobody on the road today. The bad part about the slick roads is always the speeding up and slowing down. With nobody in front of me, I could just let it roll and stay off the brakes so it wasn't that terrible. It wasn't any fun, but it wasn't terrible. My truck was doing it's best Spy Hunter smokescreen impersonation with the blowing snow, so I have no idea if anyone was behind me for a couple of hours, but there was nobody in front of me.

After I got through Lander, I saw the first signs of road maintenance since leaving I-80 in Rock Springs. The roads were a little wet and a little snowy, but not too bad. Then past Riverton it was perfect. Clear blue skies, clean dry pavement, and not a soul on the highway. Sweet.

I got another reminder today of one of my favorite things about this job. Yesterday there was the Provo Canyon situation, which may or may not have been legal. Today there were two spots that were just beautiful. First was the stretch of WY-28 winding through the mountains near South Pass City. That would have been a little better if I weren't worried about sliding off a cliff, but I got a chance to sneak a peek here and there. Then, north of Shoshoni, US-20 wound it's way through a huge canyon. I don't know what it's called, but it's every bit as picturesque as Glenwood Canyon in Colorado and a much easier drive. That was on the clean roads too, so I was able to enjoy it a little more.

For perspective, I'm a city boy. My idea of "getting away from it all" involves hopping a plane to New York and disappearing among the crowd for a week or so. I'm not what you would call a nature lover. Sometimes though, the view is pretty spectacular. I could always work in an office and drive out to Wyoming for leisure, but seriously, no. It's cool to have a job that puts me in those places every now and then.

The topper came a little further along the way. I might be the only one left who thinks that Beavis and Butthead are hilarious, but I almost lost it when I rolled through Meeteetse...

The next stretch after that was actually the slickest part of the trip, but I had such a dumbass grin on my face that I didn't pay much attention. For about ten miles, we're talking full-on hockey rink up and down hills and around curves.

Then upon rolling into Powell, I was reminded that I'm retarded. By the measure of every standardized test I've ever taken, my IQ is in the exceptional range. Personally, I have my doubts. I didn't realize until I got here that I had no idea where I was going. I never got directions from my employer, only an address. I meant to check Streets & Trips to get an idea before I left this morning, but I never did. So I found a parking lot and stopped to take a look. Then I passed the place and had to drive a couple of miles to find a turnaround spot. I sent in directions, but I have no idea who is working today or if they'll actually put the directions in the CFI computer. Oh well, at least I did my part. Now I get to hang out on the street until morning and then see what tomorrow holds.

Merry Christmas everyone.