9-8-2006 Junction City, KS to Columbia MD – Baltimore, MD to Tompkinsville, KY – Louisville, KY to McPherson, KS
3:45 PM – Out the door headed for MD. Little bit of rain. The Mrs. Is worried about one of the stray kittens she has been caring for. Doubt it will make it many more days. Stop into the Flying J for coffee, ice and cash as usual. Maybe I’ll make Kingdom City, MO tonight.
9-9-06 Nobody by the scale last night, so parking was easy. Water still draining into the truck from the A/C system, so hope it doesn’t flood this trip. Have to write that up when I get in. It’s one long pull to Keyser’s Ridge, MD from here. Almost exactly a day’s drive – 710 miles.
Little weather crossing IL and IN, but an uneventful trip today. Highlight was Rev. Dr. James Forbes on Air America Radio interviewing Noam Chomsky about his new book “Failed States”.
9-10-06 Spent the night near Friendsville, MD just west of Keyser’s Ridge. Shut the truck off all night since it was cool and the next morning my coolant level was low enough to set off the alarm, which will engage the automatic shut-down in 1 minute. I started out of the rest area and the truck died before I got out. I restarted it and continued on and it died again. I re-re-started it and got heading up the hill enough to get the coolant sloshing around and heating up and expanding to cover the sensor.
On my way finally, I’ll have to add some water when I get to Columbia, MD.
Passing under Green Lantern Rd. I see that it is the Eastern Continental Divide. Not much of a mountain compared to the Rockies. Little bit of fog at the higher elevations. Hope the sun starts burning it off soon.
Climbing up Braddock Mtn. I see the elevation sign is 985 feet. Funny that this is a mountain and it’s still 500 feet lower in elevation than the McPherson airport back home.
Unload and head to the New Transit Truckstop in Millersville, MD. Get hit up for money twice, once by a rather nice looking 30-something woman about 4 PM and some guy at 2 AM. I wasn’t quite as nice to the dude at 2 AM; he got told to get lost in no uncertain terms. Neither gets a handout, as both are most likely scam-artists.
9-11-06 I sleep fitfully after that; I usually get up that early, so it’s hard to go back to sleep. A bit later I shuffle in for coffee and breakfast. I reload at the Baltimore Marine Terminal with Russian plywood for KY. Waiting to be loaded I see the M.V. Pepino D’Amato, an American flagged freighter being loaded with coal by a massive conveyor system. There are mountains of coal here, hopper cars loaded to the brim and huge equipment to move it around.
On the way out I pass through Ft. Meade, the HQ of the NSA. It’s a rather creepy-looking place, rather like a second-rate community college, except for the MP’s with their German shepherd attack dogs patrolling the grounds.
Passing through West Virginia, it has really opened up and poured. Need to find a place to stop.
9-12-06 Spent the night near Nitro, WV. Gee…I wonder how that town got it’s name here in the middle of coal country? Stop for fuel at Cannonsdale, KY. Continue on to Lexington and turn south to the Louis B. Nunn Cumberland Parkway. I get to Tompkinsville, KY on the narrowest road I’ve seen in a while. At Edmonton, KY I see a sign saying it was the hometown of the Kentucky Headhunters, a great alt-country band. Unload and head for Louisville and try to make it before they close. I get there with 15 minutes to spare, exactly when I said I’d be there. It was a close estimate; closer than I like. Reload in Louisville for McPherson and grab a quick nap before heading out; it’s been a long day. Take off and drive right by the motel my folks are staying at for the big Southern-gospel music convention in Louisville. Weird that we’re all here at the same time. No time to meet up as they are already at the convention center and I want to get on the road for home.
9-13-06 Stay near Grayville, IL. Less than 10 hours home from here. Uneventful run to Galva for the night to unload next morning in McPherson.
9-14-06 Unload in McPherson and head for Salina. Fuel up and head to the yard. Unload the truck of my personal gear, load up the Cavalier and head for the house. About a 3000 mile week…
It’s good to be home.
3:45 PM – Out the door headed for MD. Little bit of rain. The Mrs. Is worried about one of the stray kittens she has been caring for. Doubt it will make it many more days. Stop into the Flying J for coffee, ice and cash as usual. Maybe I’ll make Kingdom City, MO tonight.
9-9-06 Nobody by the scale last night, so parking was easy. Water still draining into the truck from the A/C system, so hope it doesn’t flood this trip. Have to write that up when I get in. It’s one long pull to Keyser’s Ridge, MD from here. Almost exactly a day’s drive – 710 miles.
Little weather crossing IL and IN, but an uneventful trip today. Highlight was Rev. Dr. James Forbes on Air America Radio interviewing Noam Chomsky about his new book “Failed States”.
9-10-06 Spent the night near Friendsville, MD just west of Keyser’s Ridge. Shut the truck off all night since it was cool and the next morning my coolant level was low enough to set off the alarm, which will engage the automatic shut-down in 1 minute. I started out of the rest area and the truck died before I got out. I restarted it and continued on and it died again. I re-re-started it and got heading up the hill enough to get the coolant sloshing around and heating up and expanding to cover the sensor.
On my way finally, I’ll have to add some water when I get to Columbia, MD.
Passing under Green Lantern Rd. I see that it is the Eastern Continental Divide. Not much of a mountain compared to the Rockies. Little bit of fog at the higher elevations. Hope the sun starts burning it off soon.
Climbing up Braddock Mtn. I see the elevation sign is 985 feet. Funny that this is a mountain and it’s still 500 feet lower in elevation than the McPherson airport back home.
Unload and head to the New Transit Truckstop in Millersville, MD. Get hit up for money twice, once by a rather nice looking 30-something woman about 4 PM and some guy at 2 AM. I wasn’t quite as nice to the dude at 2 AM; he got told to get lost in no uncertain terms. Neither gets a handout, as both are most likely scam-artists.
9-11-06 I sleep fitfully after that; I usually get up that early, so it’s hard to go back to sleep. A bit later I shuffle in for coffee and breakfast. I reload at the Baltimore Marine Terminal with Russian plywood for KY. Waiting to be loaded I see the M.V. Pepino D’Amato, an American flagged freighter being loaded with coal by a massive conveyor system. There are mountains of coal here, hopper cars loaded to the brim and huge equipment to move it around.
On the way out I pass through Ft. Meade, the HQ of the NSA. It’s a rather creepy-looking place, rather like a second-rate community college, except for the MP’s with their German shepherd attack dogs patrolling the grounds.
Passing through West Virginia, it has really opened up and poured. Need to find a place to stop.
9-12-06 Spent the night near Nitro, WV. Gee…I wonder how that town got it’s name here in the middle of coal country? Stop for fuel at Cannonsdale, KY. Continue on to Lexington and turn south to the Louis B. Nunn Cumberland Parkway. I get to Tompkinsville, KY on the narrowest road I’ve seen in a while. At Edmonton, KY I see a sign saying it was the hometown of the Kentucky Headhunters, a great alt-country band. Unload and head for Louisville and try to make it before they close. I get there with 15 minutes to spare, exactly when I said I’d be there. It was a close estimate; closer than I like. Reload in Louisville for McPherson and grab a quick nap before heading out; it’s been a long day. Take off and drive right by the motel my folks are staying at for the big Southern-gospel music convention in Louisville. Weird that we’re all here at the same time. No time to meet up as they are already at the convention center and I want to get on the road for home.
9-13-06 Stay near Grayville, IL. Less than 10 hours home from here. Uneventful run to Galva for the night to unload next morning in McPherson.
9-14-06 Unload in McPherson and head for Salina. Fuel up and head to the yard. Unload the truck of my personal gear, load up the Cavalier and head for the house. About a 3000 mile week…
It’s good to be home.
posted by Barry P. at 8:32 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home