Well, here we go with an update while enroute for a change. We have made the first round trip, and are now on round 2 and just passing Cheyenne , Wy, It is MUCH nicer weather-wise than last nite. We had blowing snow, and freezing rain between Laramie and Rawlins. Our windshield wipers turned into very ineffective popcycles!

The first part of the run went well. We gout out early again and got some sleep enroute about Des Moines, getting into Aurora about 1:15pm. Dropped the trailer, got an empty, and headed over to Gary,In. We had received a notice on the Qualcomm to get our fuel filters changed, so we thought we'd take the time in Gary at the Speedco next to the Pilot truck stop. Speedco offers quick lubes, oil changes, filter changes, tire changes for big rigs, kinda like JiffyLube for cars. Got that done, got a shower, and headed back to the yard to settle in for the nite.

When I showed up at the dispatch desk the next morning to get our load, there were 2 loads for Salt Lake City, one hazmat, one not. We were lucky and got the non-hazmat load......for now.
The Gary Conway yard just does not get the loads ready early, so off we went about our scheduled time of 4am.

We decided to take some time enroute and visit the truckstop at Walcott, Ia. It is the worlds largest, and has everything from custom trucks inside, chrome accessories, to dentists, barbers, and chemical for porta-potties! :)

After our little field trip in Walcott, we continued our adventure. About 1pm my cell rang with an ID of CFI. UH OH, now what?? "We need a favor." (With those words, you always know something "good" is coming next!) The other Salt Lake hazmat load was assigned to a hazmat certified driver at Gary, but he had to relay the load in Council Bluffs, Ia. Solo drivers can't keep rolling like we can. Thee 2nd driver has to relay it in Cheyenne, Wy. Well, the 2nd driver picking up in Council Bluffs was not hazmat certified, so we were asked to turn around and go back and swap trailers with him. I had just got thru the mess of Omaha, and was cruising toward Lincoln, Neb. Oh well, turn around we did, and did our duty for the company. :) We still got to Salt Lake about 4:45am, which was only about 30min past our norm, and well within the required 7am.

We were abit tired tho, so we took a 2hr nap, then got our new load, and headed back for Aurora on round 2. It's about time for me to get some time in the bunk to I can take over the command seat about 3am, if Kim can last that long. She did last nite, so I expect she'll do it tonite too. She is real trooper, I can't imagine relying on anyone else.

Keep it safe out there, and waive at those big red racers! :)