Still headed home

So we headed east on hwy 50. I knew I’d have a mountain or two to climb. I also thought there was a good chance I would run into some snow. What I hadn’t figured on was about to make itself known. There is a little town in Nevada called Austin. It sits on the side of a mountain, literally. I remember going up the main drag through town in a fairly steep climb. It was the middle of the night so I was not sure of the totality of the climb. Leaving town the road narrowed back to two lanes and then a sharp left and a very steep climb came right after. We all know how the mountain roads twist around and change elevation. As I was beginning to wonder if the mountain had a top to it I could see some stars low to the horizon on my right, looking east. I thought maybe that next curve would get me over the top. It would have right then except I heard a grinding noise, followed by a high pitched whine, and closed out with a loud clunking sound, all coming from my 15 turn-around transmission. The truck came to a pretty quick stop and I realized that this mountain was no place to be on a Friday night before a big snow storm knowing that every possible place that could help was closed and would not likely be open until Monday.
Like many of us do in a situation like that, I found God again. I am ashamed to say it but I should have been calling on Him all day, every day. So I prayed a good bit worried for my son and my family that would wonder what happened. All day I had no signal to speak of since I left I-80 in the morning. Sitting up there with the snow coming down, at 11pm or so, I picked up a faint signal that came and went on my phone. I decided to start calling around by first using information to get numbers of big truck dealers. Dealers generally have a 24 hr road service that can get you going. Even though I just knew I would not be going, I gave it a try. I actually talked to a couple dealer service people but no one could do anything about me because all the big tow trucks were already out due to the storm and it would be at least morning. I kept praying as an hour passed making calls. Then I manage to get in touch with an outfit that could come get me and a place that would work on the truck too. When I added up the total cost of getting towed and rebuilding the transmission I was looking at a minimum of $9,000. That is nuts! My heart sank deep down. Another hour passed by. I just laid it in God’s lap as best I could. Then I felt He wanted me to try the transmission again. So as I already done many times, I moved the five position stick into each gear and finally the 4th position engaged! Then I thought about the three ranges of low, medium, and high for a total of 15 speeds. So if it works in fourth low, then it might work in mid and high. Scared to take it out of gear once I got it in, I eased off the clutch. Slowly the truck started shaking around having a hard time getting going on the steep incline with a heavy load and a bad gear to start out with, but IT WORKED. OMG I teared up a bit thanking God for this little miracle. With about 2,000 miles to go I figured if He willed me to go in the 5mph gear all the way I would. I topped the mountain and started off the other side crawling along slow as anything. On the way down I passed a couple wrecks on the twisted two lane covered in ice and snow. From there, the snow just got worse for hundreds of miles. Right before I got to the bottom of the mountain I decided to try going to mid range and that worked. As I gained up to about 15mph I decided to go into high and it worked too. I hit the little straight away going 65mph! I was so thankful that this happened. It meant that if I could keep going that I might get back to the land of milk and honey in a couple days! It wasn’t long that I could go so fast. The next mountain to climb was a few miles off and I would repeat getting into low and going back to high at the bottom of the other side many times.
Eventually I got to the town of Ely NV, pronounced e-lee, with snow everywhere and a little truck stop with food and showers. I was extremely tired but didn’t care. We had to get cleaned up and get something to eat first. After that I slept real good for a few hours. All of these things went on throughout the night an my son was almost clueless that there was any trouble. It is amazing how much children believe in their dads and we just take it for granted.
I will start from here in the next post, hopefully in a few days.

Goldstrike headed home

When I got back into the part of the world with cell signal I immediately started calling all the agents and brokers I knew that could help me find a load home. I had thrown some feelers out on my way over but there is a problem with getting a load to go when you haven't gotten the one you're carrying off yet. I have been caught in the situation and everyone gets upset. Anyhow, I had no luck up to that point as northern NV is pretty empty and not too much manufacturing is going on so loads are scarce for people not from the area. The locals get all the loads going out though one slips through now and then and a lucky flatbedder heads out. So we get back to the truck stop there in Carlin on I-80 and I feverishly make calls knowing that no load meant we were going to be stuck there all weekend at least. Truck stops typically have what we call load boards. It is a tv monitor with all loads available including for what type of truck, the origin, destination, weight, broker, phone number, and sometimes the pay rate. I spent hours monitoring the monitor like an anxious stock broker. Eventually one popped up for Memphis, TN. A full heavy load to be picked up some 250 miles away. It's a long ways to deadhead (go empty) but it was my only chance so I made the call and set it up. We were going to pick up magnesium oxide. It sounds dangerous but I think it is a main ingredient in Tums or some other ant-acids.
We headed farther west on I-80 to a town called Battle Mountain. There wasn’t much there but it sure did have a monster of a mountain hovering over it. What an impressive sight! My son still talks about it two years later. At Battle Mountain we headed south on NV hwy 305. That highway is a pretty long stretch of nothingness with long views as the ground in front of us mostly sloped downwards and the sky opened for miles to either side before being abruptly shortened by the distant mountains. Along this road were occasional old military vehicles just sitting by the road with various weapon systems on them. I doubt seriously the missiles and guns on the trucks were any count but still an odd sight to see having not entered a military base (that I know of). Somewhere along the way there is this rest stop that consisted of a gravel turn off, a trash can, and a concrete slab style open air building about the size of an average living room. There were two bathrooms inside and no indication of what gender was to use which. So I went in one and Charles went in the other. I saw what looked like a fancy bucket sitting in one corner and nothing more. There was probably enough room in that “restroom” to place 50 buckets just like it in there. I eased over to the plastic structure coming out of the floor and peered down. I figured that this would be one of those environmentally conscious outhouse style jobs except there was no fancy bulletin with scientific explanations of what those freaks are going to do with my deposits. Then it occurred to me that they had no water anywhere close and this is the way it has to be done. At that moment I hear a rather loud voice call out to me, “hey dad, is this the toilet? This is gross! I can see a big pile about 10 feet down.” I chuckled to myself a little bit and yelled into the abyss, “yes son, that is the toilet, try not to plug it up.” He gave a chuckle in return and said, “at least there is some tp.” When we got back in the truck I sure was happy I kept a box of baby wipes with me. I tears me up not to have soap and water in the facilities.
The next turn was onto US highway 50. There was a sign proudly proclaiming it as “The Loneliest Road”. I am sure there is little argument over it. The town of Austin, NV was just to our left but we headed right into nothingness again. Somewhere on that strip of two lane travel was another interesting sight. Here it was in the middle of winter, in the middle of nowhere, in a place where even the stalwart cotton woods refused to grow was a tree covered in a strange foliage right by the road. I slowed down to a crawl and we creped by in disbelief at the big cotton wood tree covered in pairs of shoes. It wasn’t the craziest thing I’d ever seen but it ranked high in the weird category. All this stuff I am telling you about you can read about through various internet resources and you should. So onward to the next turn off a good ways away.
When we got to NV highway 361 that only went left (south), there was a sign welcoming us to “Middlegate Junction”. Okay I thought, so I wonder what we’re going to see. When we made the left, there was this little saloon looking building on the right with a big lot to pull into, so being a couple hours along after the last stop, we pulled in to see if there was any business being done. No cars or even a wisp of sound other that the wind sliding around the dried up thistles. Even though I have been in rodeos and roped a horse or two, I never felt closer to being a cowboy than exactly right then. I imagined the spurs on my boots as I walked up to the wood planked awning. I grabbed the door and it opened with ease, I looked inside and there was a lady standing behind a bar. There was also a couple tables, drink coolers and convenience items on shelves. She welcomed me in so I turned back to Charles who was waiting in the truck and motioned for him to c’mon. It was actually a decent little place. Before long a couple other folks came in that looked like the real deal desert dwellers. She asked if we were hungry as if she could see it in our eyes. In a few minutes we were sitting at one of the creaking tables enjoying bacon cheeseburgers. Those were probably some of the best burgers we’d ever had.
After introducing ourselves to the others we paid the bill and headed to the city of Gabbs where the magnesium oxide mine is. I guess it was nearly an hour, give or take, to the mine. We could see the city 30 or 40 minutes before we got there. I had compared it to being in a plane on approach for a long time. We finally got there and had to climb a steep incline up to the mine which was on the side of a mountain. It took a long time to get loaded because other trucks were there too, but it took even longer to cover the load in a tarp. After running the jakes (engine brakes) all the way down the steep grade we went back up 361 for a long slow rise back up to Middlegate Junction. By the time we got on our way it was pretty late and hours had passed. I needed fuel for the truck and the little Middle Gate Junction store had an old diesel pump just for folks like me. When we got back there were a couple cars there but a bunch of people. The place was sort of hopping. I went in to grab a couple sodas for the road and pay for fuel which was quite high. On my way out I there was a guy and a gal that were drunk and wanted to go with us back east. After getting a short story from them on what they knew about my area I finally got away.
Remember the snow storm that shut Denver down the week before Christmas of 2006? Well I found out it was about to start as I turned back on US Highway 50. I knew for sure that I-80 would be shut down so I had to figure out what to do. Going back south to I-40 was bad for several reasons on top of being several hundred miles out of the way. I called my father who grew up around 50 and asked him if it was a good road. He assured me it was a good road but there would be a couple mountains to climb. It also would cut my miles going east a good number as well as help dodge the storm. Well, even after everything that was about to happen, I still say it was the best choice.

It gets a bit crazy after this.

Goldstrike 3

That morning it was a bit cold but livable because the air was so dry. My son Charles and I made our way into the truck stop and met a few locals while grabbing a biscuit and juice. When I asked about the where-abouts of the mine, I was filled with information by a small crowd that worked in the mine. From the truck stop we headed up highway 766 to the Barrick Goldstrike goldmine. The road going up had nice back drops but a few times on the 20 or so mile trip there were really neat formations you drive through or past with all sorts of colors in the rocks. As beautiful as it is here in Tennessee I have to say I could use a little more of that landscape from time to time. After accidentally turning into a sliver mine that looks much the same at the gate we finally got to the turnoff going to the mine. With mountains and cliffs all around the pavement ended and this really wide dirt/mud road appeared. There was lots of ruts, bumps, and ice in the road and there were signs cautioning everyone to the monster Eucs (Euclid) that also used that road. Euc is a term used to describe those giant dump trucks used in mining operations. Euclid was the original maker of such trucks so no matter the make, Cat, Komatsu, Hitachi, Terex, etc they are all referred to as “Eucs”. I suppose it was 15 or so miles of this road around the mountains before we actually got to the mine.

As I got to the gate there were many other trucks sitting around, some coming in and others going. Most times I get very specific direction about what to do or who to talk to before I enter such a place but this time there were none. There was even more mud and ice as this little area was churned up by trucks turning in, out, and around the gate. I tuned the cb to the channel they use and listen for a few moments and trucks arrived. The truckers would call out who they were, the company on the side of the truck, the company that brokered the load, what they were hauling and where it was from. Sometimes they called out more info than that. Then the gate controller would either tell them to wait or lift the gate and off they’d go. I finally decided to give it a shot. After going through my info there was silence. I pulled up to the gate and suddenly the gate went up and off I went. I had no idea exactly where in the mine I was going except that it had to be a maintenance or parts area because I was hauling cone crusher parts. As I drove the road suddenly switched sides. In many big mines all the roads are opposite of our public roads. Someone told me why but I cannot for the life of me remember what he said but it did make sense. As I drove looking for some sign of an appropriate building I kept seeing the white ¾ ton trucks running around with tall poles an orange flags hanging on them. I figured they were just tooling around handling business and had the flags up so the euc drivers wouldn’t run slap over’em. Eventually I found my way around to the edge of the monster mining pit. It must have been 2 miles across and a mile deep. There must have been more pits because big eucs where coming from all directions loaded to the gills with silverish looking stones. To my left was the pit and to my right was a set of building that looked important with a mountain and hauls roads behind it. I did not see an entrance until I got to an intersection. At that time a huge euc pulls up to the stop. I realized that the hood of the big truck I was driving would fit under the bumper of that dump truck. I saw a little blond headed gal poke her head out from the cab 40 or so feet up and she was trying to tell me something. It appeared she was motioning for me to either get the hell out of the way or for me to turn next to her and go into an entrance into that group of buildings. So I turned right and immediately right again into that area. I had to lock the differentials on the truck to actually get through the mud. I got the feeling I was not even supposed to be in that area. As I passed the euc I looked out my window and could only see the bottom of the hub of the front axle where you might check the hub oil level. That was somewhat of a humbling experience. After I got into what turned out to be the was plant area, which also had the maintenance area I was looking for next to it, I saw several people moving around on foot and in pickups. I asked several of them where the crusher parts needed to go but it seemed no one had a clue. I could have hit the building with a rock from there. Anyways I noticed a small sign over a open door and I saw someone go in. I went in and realized I was exactly where I needed to be. There was a manager and another man going over some plan and I spoke up trying to confirm my assertion. The guy acted a little bit busy so I waited. Then all the sudden he whips around in his chair and says, “How did you find me?” I thought for a second and could only jokingly say I followed my nose….I guess…... Then he asked me again and I shrugged my shoulders and explained a bit about my trip inside the mine. Then he said “You aren’t supposed to be here!” uh….what? “You are supposed to have an escort truck bring you in. Did you go into the guard shack out front?” I said “No. I pulled up gave my info and they opened the gate. So in I went and here I am.” He flipped back around in his chair and made a call. The conversation sounded a little bit stressed. The he gets off the phone and tells me to go back to the truck to wait and they would unload me in a minute. So I go un-strap the load and eventually a forklift shows up to move the heavy wooden boxes. While that was happening one of those white pickups pulls up with an important looking guy waving me over. He rolls the window down with a big smile on his face and says “get in the truck”. So going against my judgment I eased around and sat in the passenger seat. He asked me to go over the details of my foray into the mine. He said, “ I have been here for 18 years and never once has our security been compromised. There have been attempts but no one has gotten through and here you just mosey in here like Mr. Magoo and cause a panic.” I said, “Really?” He then said, “Here’s the deal. You were never here. When you get unloaded, you are to follow me out. You will not go back through the gate, you will go around it. When you pass the gate just go and don’t look back. Is that understood?” I said, “You bet man, and I am so sorry about the trouble, I just did what it looked like everyone else was.” I got my paper work signed and off we went. After getting back to the gate he waved me on and I trucked it out of there and never checked up. I got Charles out of the sleeper and related what happened as we made our way back to civilization (phone signal) and I attempted to find a load home. And being a Friday in the middle of nowhere NV, the odds of doing so were really, really not in my favor.

The trip home is even more of a story so keep checking for it.

Goldstrike! 2

The next morning I awoke my son who had no idea what all happened as he slept. I thought that was pretty amazing that he didn't get so cold and that he felt spry when he woke up. We went in the truck stop and got all cleaned up and a bite to eat and hit the road. As said before, Wyoming is a really neat state to drive through. One of the most surprising little sights the first time I went through Wyoming was the headquarters of Cabello's, the outfitter company, which caught me off guard at how huge it was. It is my understanding that they actually have stores scattered across the country. Laramie was really a neat place to see as well. Seemingly nothing anywhere close and then all the sudden this little town appears in a small valley with a good many trees and houses. Almost looked like a little northeastern town had been cut off the cereal box and pasted into the Wyoming landscape. I think one of my son's most notable memories about Wyoming, 'cause he still talks about it, was all the big trucks blown on their sides by all the wind. The doubles and triples had it particularly bad as the longer the rig the more whip effect happens with wind and sudden movements. By the time we stopped after 400 miles, across the state in Evanston, we were ready for a good meal. We had snacked during the day as it is typical for me not to stop if I can help it. While in Evanston we sat at the front end of the restaurant and enjoyed small talk with locals. One big Morman family came in and settled in for a meal. I kept noticing this 13 or 14 yr old girl making eyes at grown men. As we sat there watching the news and hearing local gossip, the Morman family got ready to leave. I saw that girl turn real quick and run over to a table with a 30 or so yr old man all decked out in cowboy gear and hand him a little piece of paper with her name and number on it. Well, needless to say, that got the gossip machine cranked to a new level but it was something to talk about! lol Still though, it kind of makes you wonder. With several more hours and a couple hundred miles left to cover, we loaded up again and hit the road to finish the day.

There is a big drop from the Wyoming line down into Salt Lake City. I can’t remember how many miles of downhill it is but I know it had to last 20 minutes or more. Listening to the droning sound of the jake brakes billowing times the number of trucks falling of the ridge was deafening at times. For anyone who doesn’t know, those loud Jacobs or other style engine/exhaust brakes, has likely saved your life and you wouldn’t even know it. They truly save time and brakes on a truck which translates into saving other more important things. Once we wound our way through the hard curves and drops of the last 20 or 30 miles we eased into the Salt Lake area. I t was hard to know exactly what town we were in but it is a pretty area. Most notable was the rather large inclines on the surrounding mountains. We stopped at yet another TA (Travel Centers of America) truck stop on the south end of the lake. I think the name of the town is Magna, which is the last stop before the going across the Great Salt Lake Desert and the Bonneville Salt Flats. It was time for fuel so after getting that done we grabbed a few more things and got ready to bolt across the flats for the last leg of the trip to Carlin, NV. I’d have to say that particular area had two very impressive sights to see on the trip. The mountain that begins its ascent right off the TA parking lot was almost straight up and quite tall but right next to it is a man made smoke stack that looked nearly as tall. I am sure it is nowhere near as tall but no doubt it was inexcusably high!

We had to figure our way out of the mixed little bunch of roads around the TA but of towards the west we put the hammer down and tried to make land speed records across the empty landscape between SLC and Wendover, NV. One of the very interesting aspects of going across the US is that you can see state-lines almost defined by the landscape. The drop off into Utah and then the rise into Nevada. The ascent begins right as you cross the line. All of Wendover was on an incline. As neat as that was, I felt let down by the fact that I had to explain to my son what sort of human nature requires that busty women had to plastered on all the billboards with glitzy lights all around. By this time I had run out of time and miles in my log books, but it was late Thursday night and with 120 miles and a couple hours of driving, I had to be sure I could get unloaded Friday morning to have a chance at getting back east over the weekend. So I rolled the dice and rolled into Carlin, Nevada at the foothills of the Independence and Tuscarora mountain ranges. There is no flat ground around there so the truck stop parking area sits on a pretty good slant. By morning my son and I were piled up on one side of the sleeper. Between the slant and the constant vibration from the idling truck, we had no chance of waking up the way we went to sleep.

The next post I’ll go on about the funny things that happened as we delivered the load of equipment.

Goldstrike!

If there was ever a way to do a lot of traveling across America and get paid to do it, it's buying a truck and hauling flatbed. I have actually been in the forest industry for 16+ years and from time to time things slow down. There is nothing worse than having a bunch of huge payments and nothing to do. So a couple years ago during a lull I leased my trucks to a small trucking company aptly named Outlaw Trucking and Logistics. It really is a great little company. The plan was to hire OTR drivers and then I could concentrate on getting work for the crew. For anyone who knows the trucking biz, you know how tough it is get a reliable driver in a start up outfit. After a short time I found myself in a truck trying to get things done for Outlaw involving coast to coast and Spanish to French America. So I want to share a story about life on the road when travel becomes an adventure of a lifetime.

In the midst of all the arranging to fit an OTR outfit, I bought this nice but older Freightliner. It was a good deal overall but wow I had no idea that when it started having trouble, that it would be at the worst possible time. I still have the thing. It has a 435 hp Caterpillar engine with a Fuller Road Ranger 15 speed turnaround transmission, a big flat top sleeper, and lots of chrome. A little over week before Christmas '06 I got a call on a run to Carlin, Nevada. It's about 2,100 miles or so and paid great. I picked up a load of rock crushing equipment 15 miles from the house in Pulaski, TN. The destination was actually 22 miles north of Carlin, NV and it turned out to be the Barrick Goldstrike Mine. When I learned this I realized my 9 yr old boy would be excited about going. We loaded up and off we went.

We took US 72 to Memphis and up I-55 to St. Louis. Then I-70 to KC and took the 435 to I-29 to Iowa and hit Nebraska hwy 2 before hitting the I-80 west of Omaha. From there I went through Grande Island across the Platte and up into Cheyenne, WY. My last stop was on Thursday in Carlin, Nevada at a little Pilot Bosselman Truck stop. Along the way my son got to see the big Mississippi, The Pyramid, KC Royals stadium, all sorts of roadside icons and the salt flats, but one of the most memorable was in Western Nebraska. It was almost dusk at the end of the second day of driving when a wind storm erupted and 100+ mph gusts. One gust was so hard it shifted our 80,000lb truck a couple feet and blew the windshield wipers completely off. Then like something out of a science fiction movie then ground appeared to be moving. I suppose folks from south western NE are cool with it but after several trips through the area I never saw this! I have seen tumbleweeds as I lived in So Cal as a kid and had been seeing them all my life in my travels but never like this. For about 15 minutes solid I rarely caught a glimpse the road. All anyone could see was a wild herd of tumbleweeds moving like rain across the highway. I keep going but only because of the side markers and bridges told where the road was. In that part of the world I am not sure there is a curve anyways.

We finally got to Cheyenne, WY. I sorta hate the fact I couldn't spend more time there but every trip through I had a deadline. I like Wyoming a lot from what little I have seen. Well all that wind was the leading edge of a very cold front. We stopped at the TA and parked in the back and the place was full. We got a bite and settled in. Ya ever thought you were in for a good night sleep on a freezing windy night and wake up only to realize you heater quit working? Omg, Freightliners are not known for keeping the wind out. I rushed across the 1/4 mile parking lot to the TA and bought a 2500 watt inverter and a ceramic space heater. There went about 400 bucks I didn't have. After about 30 minutes wiring it up in unbearable cold I got it going. Phew! what a night.

As bad as it got at times I'd do it several times over to have my son with me for the adventure. In a few days I'll finish the trip there.