4/7/08

Pretty ho-hum day today. I didn't set an alarm, since I had no desire to hit St. Louis during the morning rush. I figured I would sleep a little later and then head through. Then the damn road service chuckleheads woke me up anyway. Looks like the truck is due for an oil change. Then I tried to fall back asleep for a while. Some asshat came barreling into the truck stop with his jake brakes blasting. Shit. Wide awake at that point.

It was a little after 9am in Missouri by that time, meaning that the rush should be over, so I headed out. There was an accident or something on I-44, leaving me parked for a good twenty minutes. So much for the old trip planning approach. Once I got through there, it was a mellow ride the rest of the way. Nobody else goes 55mph in Illinois. I just set my cruise and kick back in the slow lane. Even the construction on I-55 was no obstacle. Things were rolling along at or above the speed limit during the afternoon rush. I guess it does actually help to be going into town when everyone else is coming out.

Once I hit I-294, something occurred to me. I had no idea where I intended to spend the night. The customer doesn't accept early deliveries and I don't know of any truck stops in Chicago. So I ducked into the first rest stop that I saw. That one was overflowing with trucks, so no chance of stopping there. A little ways up the road, I tried the second one. There was one open spot. Beauty.

From here it should be around thirty miles tomorrow morning. Then I'll put in my request for home time and see what happens from there. I know we have a shipper just inside Wisconsin that sends freight to Canada. If I got that assignment, I could take a run straight to Taylor and go home tomorrow night. I guess that's the ideal scenario, since I am definitely ready for some time off the road. Usually it sucks to get home too quickly, but my interest in driving has flown the coop at this point. I've banked some pretty good cash in the last couple months, so quicker is better. More likely though, I'll get tires from Dekalb or ConWay from Indiana. Now, since I've started guessing, the next load will probably be something that I've never seen before. That seems to be the routine.