Change in plans

WE made it to Denver with plenty of time to spare on this run. Got in about 3am local and had a 6am deadline. On the way to Denver we got a pre-plan to go to Silverthorne, Co for our next pick up. This is on the west side of the Eisenhower tunnel, and Vail pass. UGH! We called Colorado DOT for the road report and found out that chains were being required for all commercial vehicles in that area. I notified our nite fleet manager of the status, told him I was not comfortable with taking an empty trailer up there just yet,,,I'm still a rookie and wet behind the ears,,,,and maybe a little chicken too! :) But I did tell him we would check status later around 8 or so and see if it was any better. AWWW, some sleep!
Got up and checked with DOT again, and still was requiring chains on the west side coming back east bound. We mite be able to get over there, getting out would be another story. Still not comfortable with the idea, so I got ahold of the normal day fleet manager. "no problem, if you're not comfortable we'll do something else". They really have been good to us. If I had another year or two of experience at this, I mite have gone ahead, but hell, we have only been out here 3 months, and I think I know my limits, nothing to prove.
We were told there was a relay this afternoon and to meet them at the Pilot truckstop in Denver (about 8mi from the Con-Way facility we were at). So we mosied over to the truck stop, did a load of laundry, got a nap, had lunch, and the other team showed up for the swap. A relay is one driver or team bringing a load in that they can not complete for some reason, and another driver or team gets it and keeps running. This team had run out of hours available to drive in their 8 day period (70hrs max). We are getting tight on hours as well, but have enough to get the job done.
Now, I have to tell you, Kim thinks CFI needs a lesson on geography. As I previously told you, we notified them we needed to get home to Salt Lake City, and since they had us headed to Denver, it seemed like a good time to get that done.
We are now headed to Pennsylvania! Hmmm,,not exactly the direction we had in mind, but oh well. Our fleet manager did say he would get us back after this, and had mentioned a run from Pennsylvania to California to get us back in the area, then home.
We'll just keep on truckin, and should be home around Thurs next week,,,,we think. We are looking forward to seeing family and friends again for the first time since we left at the end of Oct. We are also going to park the truck at the school that trained us, Sage Tech, and plan on visiting with the crew there, and giving their students a look at the "real world". They are good people there! :)
Till next time, keep it safe out there, and by the way, thanks Janice for your nice comment! :)