It was awesome today. I don't have to deliver until Monday morning so I was stopping at every rest stop and puttering around doing little things. Had the window down most of the day with my arm out listening to music. There's not many rest areas in Virginia and the few that do exist say only 2 hour parking. I'm at a Pilot at 213 off of 64 and I'll bet this place fills up quick since there's not much else for a long ways.

I discovered one thing with tarps. You need to put the straps onto the highest D-Rings you can. That stopped my tarp from billowing. The wind is pretty wicked here today. It feels like a bunch of fat people are dancing on the back of my trailer right now!!! lol

I'll finally get my shower today and not have to wash my hair using my Mr. Coffee for hot water. Day 3 without a shower and I feel like....Hummmm...I know....Gerimia Johnson again!!! Ya, that's it.

I'm having too much fun these past few days with the warm weather. I guess back to reality soon.

Steve what about just shaving your head? Seems like it would be pretty maintenance friendly on those days when you cannot shower? Heck....you might even get a couple more mpg?

Steve,

Maybe you have already seen these, if not here is a link to a portable shower you use in-cab, lots of people like them:




http://www.truckshower.com/

pretty cool invention :) , but I personally don't think it would be worth the $$$

Get off the east coast if you want to shower!

The only times I was never able to shower was running into LI or NYC. I would get up and shower before heading in, but I had to wait until I was back in PA or somewhere south to shower.

I think it would be a pain in the a$$ to set-up and take down.

Steve,

Can you post (or pm) the address and the name of the shipper in Norfolk for me? I don't want a truck in there if it's that bad of a neighbourhood.

thanks
jeff

Lamberts Point Dock
Foot of Orapax Rd
Norvolk, VA

I think it's more the roads than the neighborhood. It's about a 5 mile stretch of 3 lane roads in the city that curve from left to right non stop and the lanes are just big enough for your truck. I was beside a straight truck at one point and there was maybe 3" between my mirror and his. The corners are so sharp that the back of the trailer is in the other lane at some points that the cars have to be over to there right in the lane.

There was another driver leaving that I talked to and he said he was glad he was able to make it out. He said something about a $100,000 fine if your on the highway or tunnel after a certain time in the late afternoon????? Not sure what he said but I'm thinking the tunnel or highway is restricted after a certain hour?

Getting out of this place was a no brainer. The highway entrance was right there but coming into the place there is no close exit so you have to go through the city.

Not having a shower in 3 days isn't too bad for me. I rarely sweat and never smell. I have those alcohol baby wipes, electric razor, short short hair that I can wash so I can look clean. In the summer it's a different story and I would feel like crap after tarping or being out in the hot sun all day.

That portable shower looks like a pain to setup. This Pilot I'm at is different than others. The fuel island is a ways away from the office. You have to take a covered walk way to the fuel desk maybe 200 feet away. They have a person who watches the whole place and comes over the PA system for everyone to hear. If your done fueling you better pull up or they yell at you. If you park any place other than a parking spot they yell at you right away over and over again!!!

I'm only about 300 miles from my destination so I'll probably get there today and shut down at a truckstop close by if there is one or park in the Lowes parking lot.

I'm not sure if I want to stay close to this side of the country or not. It seems I could just stick around the East and run back and forth for a few weeks and go home any time I wanted. I'm telling ya, if you want to run non stop for a decent rate, just stay around here and your golden. It's just not me though, I think if someone comes along with a load to Montana, Wyoming or some place like that I'll go. I'll get sucked back into that sinkhole Denver again like always. The to Arizona then Texas then deadhead out to some place else to get home. Like a broken record.

The truck is running real good and no problems. The 5th wheel is nice and tight. I tried rocking back and forth yesterday with 40,000 on the trailer and no play at all. It was pretty bad before I had it rebuilt. I am getting blow by which I'm not a big fan. I don't think there's anything I can do about it other than a rebuild and I think I'm far from needing that. The truck isn't using any oil which it was before but that was fixed. I don't think I posted why. The blow by pipe was broken so I put a piece of heater hose on and routed it nice to the back of the engine. I had a 90 degree corner in there and the condensation built up and caused ice to form and block the pipe. This caused undo pressure in the crankcase and as a result, oil was coming out of the oil pan seals. Lesson learned. The shop noticed this and cut my hose to hang straight.

Well, time for more coffee, do up an invoice for the last delivery, check out the load boards, watch the news..blah blah blah......

Is this Pilot you're talking about in Staunton, Va.? I had a blow out on my trailer there and sat at that pilot while waiting for roadside assistance to show up. Definitely a different set-up they have for sure.