December 2011

Merry Christmas from Dodge City, AL. That's right, I said Alabama. Just one of the many things John learns from Driving all over the country. Me, I could care less! What's the big deal about a town called Dodge City, in Alabama? In fact, I haven't even seen a Dodge yet, and we've been here two days already!

Anyway, since we last checked in, John and I were in Bakersfield, CA waiting to load a load of engine stands going to the Air National Guard in Chicopee, MA. It was a light load and an easy to load and strap. these are few and far between, so we had an easy, uneventful trip home. Well, after we spent two days at the Peterbilt dealership, that is. John was working on the truck Sunday, when he noticed some oil on a couple of air lines coming from the air compressor. Now even John knows that air lines should not have oil in or on them. Upon further inspection, John found out that the compressor, that he replaced a month ago had a blown head gasket, and was leaking oil and air. This is a problem, since the compressor is basically a small engine, which, in turn is connected to the main engine of the truck. If the compressors head gasket got worse, it could ruin the compressor and possibly send internal parts into the main engine. We went to the Peterbilt dealership after we loaded on Monday, and they had to ship a compressor from Las Vegas overnight.

Fortunately, the compressor was covered by warranty, but, since John had i t installed at Terry's shop, the labor wasn't covered. The ironic thing is that Peterbilt's policy is that John won't get his money until Peterbilt gets their money from the manufacturer. So, John is out 700 dollars, until Peterbilt decides to re-reimburse him the 400.00 for the compressor. Meanwhile, we are still waiting for an answer on the brand new tire from a couple of months ago.

Anyway, once we were up and running, we had a good trip across country.

Some friends invited me to their company Christmas party, not far from where we delivered. I asked if I could bring John, and they reluctantly agreed. They are brothers who have a small trucking company. We have spent many Saturday afternoons laughing, washing trucks and having a good time. That is where John leaves his trailer when we go to the Beagle Bash.

Anyway, we went to the party, I had a couple of friends to play with named Roxy and Peanut. John knew all the drivers and some of the family members there, so he seemed to have a good time. At least he didn't stand in a corner all night long, I found the easy marks at the party that would fall for my sad, dark eyes, and got my fair share of food. I even tried for some beer, but struck out with that. After a while I found a nice quiet place to catch a nap.
It was a really nice weekend, and I think John really appreciated Bob and Richard thinking of him, well, me, and inviting me, us, to join them.

The following Monday, we delivered our load and the next three days we reloaded 4 partials going down south. John decided to stay out over Christmas, so he could get a couple tractors back up to New England. One tractor, he has been trying to get for over a month. He figured that if we went home for Christmas, it might be a while before we could get down to Georgia, between the slow economy and his lack of motivation, once we got home. So here we are in Dodge city, AL enjoying a rainy Christmas day.

For me, it doesn't matter where I am, because I am thankful for all the people at B.O.N.E.S. that have made my life a better life and for all the other people and beagles that have been given a better life because of their dedication.

Thank you, and Happy holidays!

Hudson, the semi-beagle

December 2011

Greetings from Bakersfield, Ca.

Before I get started, I'll let you know that I'm including a picture that will tell you the answer to last months question. I'm sure you have either, been able to answer the question, or have not been able to sleep for not knowing. Sorry about that.

Well anyway, since my last update, John and I had a trip out to the midwest. We had some barn doors going to Pennsylvania, and a machine that had to go out to Minnesota. After we delivered the machine, we headed to Iowa, where we loaded a skid steer loader. After we got it loaded we headed south on hi way 71 to our next pickup. about 10 miles later, there was a loud bang and the truck started pounding and shaking like it was falling apart. John got the truck pulled over and came to a stop, only to find out that the front tire had a blowout! Luckily, we had just come into a town, so there was a shoulder where John had room enough to pull over. Just a few hundred yards back, the road was a country two lane road with no shoulder. He was also able to find a tire company in town that was able to come out and replace the tire. The problem was that the tire that exploded was brand new. John had both front tires replaced before we left on this trip. He's still waiting to see what is going to be done about this. It was pretty exciting, to say the least.

After the tire was replaced, we were back on our way. Our next stop was Roulette, PA, where we had a car to load that was headed back to Maine. The car didn't run, and John was told that the owner would help him get it on. Famous last words. John called and got directions to the residence and as soon as he turned off the main road there was a sign that said load limit 20 tons. Well, we are close to that with just our empty weight! We've been in this situation before, and, as any seasoned professional knows, just ignore the sign. Well, the next road had a sign saying 10 ton limit. We were both getting a little nervous at this time. We could see the house, so we were almost there! That's when we came upon the bridge that said 10 ton limit as well. By this time, John was mumbling under his breath. He set the brakes and got out and started walking toward the bridge. By this time a couple of men were walking toward the truck. they started talking and pretty soon John was back. Log trucks used these roads and bridges all the time, so over the bridge we went.

John got his ramps set up and was able to use the skid steer to pull the car up the ramps, on to the trailer. I have to admit, the second try, they looked like they knew what they were doing. That's right, I said the second time. The first time wasn't so pretty. They had a strap on the car and hooked a chain to the strap and in turn hooked it to the skid steer. John gave the neighbor, who was helping, a chock block, just in case something happens. Things were going well and the car was half way up the ramps when the strap broke. Well, the car started rolling backwards,the neighbor threw the chock block under the car and missed the tires, and the car was rolling right for the guardrail. Luckily, it stopped before hitting the guardrail. They pushed the car back into position and hooked a chain instead of a strap. At this time, they noticed that the strap had put a hole in the radiator, so antifreeze was leaking and running everywhere. The second time went like a charm, and it was fun to see the three of them so excited and proud of themselves.

Our last pick up was in New York, where we had a mini excavator to pick up. It was in a tight residential neighborhood. John had arranged to meet the owner at his house after he got home from work. He was delayed in traffic, so by the time he got home, it was dark! On top of that, it had started to rain. By the time John had everything loaded, chained and put away, he looked pretty cold and wet. I actually felt sorry for him. He had trouble getting turned around in the narrow streets, but after about 45 minutes we were headed out! At least nothing went wrong.

The next morning, we unloaded the skid steer at a dealer in Massachusetts, where they came out with a forklift and unloaded it off the front of the trailer, saving John a lot of work. Next came the car. We delivered it t a body shop that was going to restore it for the new owner. They knew what they were getting into, so when we showed up, they had a meeting of the minds, and decided to set up the ramps and roll it off into a field beside the parking lot. The owner had shown up about the time the ramps were set up, so he was volunteered to get in the car and go for a "ride" Since the car didn't run, it didn't have brakes and the steering was really hard. He looked a little nervous, but they assured him he was working with professionals. Unfortunately, John had already told him about the mishap loading the car. They gave the car one last heave-ho, and off it went, bouncing and bucking all the way to the field, just like they had planned. Again, there was cheering and clapping, like they just sent someone to the moon.

The next morning, we were in Machias, Maine delivering the excavator. That came off without a hitch, and we were finally on our way home, ready for our next adventure.

Hudson, the semi-beagle

November 2011

Good morning from home. We have been home getting caught up on repairs on the truck. Our last trip took us out to Spokane, Washington, where John had a pick up truck that he had to pick up for his nephew and take it to Denver, where he has started college. We also had an old MG sports car on the Oregon coast to pick up that had to go back to Marlboro, MA.

Way back when, we were delivering a Humvee up in Limestone, ME. On the way up, John was looking for loads to get us out to Spokane, and found two Humvees loading right out of the same place we were delivering to! The only problem was that they were going to Phoenix, AZ, which isn't exactly on the way to Washington. Being as slow as it is for for finding freight, John decided to book the load. A bonus was that there was room for something else to go with the Humvees.

John found a bulldozer blade in Massachusetts that was going to Texas, so we loaded that and off we went.

We made our delivery in Texas and we stopped at Four Corners monument where we saw the only spot in the country where four states touch each other. I'm not going to say what states they are, you,ll have to find out for yourself. We then made our delivery in Arizona, and John was able to find four partial loads in Arizona, Idaho, and Utah, that were going up to Washington. On our way to Utah, we headed north Out of Boise, ID on US 55. We were able to enjoy a spectacular sunset that evening out our left window. At the same time, we watched the moon rise over the mountains out our right window. I thought John was going to kill us both, by trying to take pictures of all of this. We survived and he was able to get a few shots for posterity.

The next morning, we made our last pick up in Utah and headed for Spokane, where we had two deliveries. after that, we headed to Seattle, emptied out, and headed down into Oregon, where we loaded the MG, The couple had the car since the 60's and they didn't use it much any more, so they were giving it to their daughter back in Massachusetts. they were sad to see it go, but were happy it was staying in the family. Next, we went to Seattle and loaded a couple of crates going to Billerica, MA, From Seattle, we headed back to Spokane where we loaded the pick up truck.
We delivered the truck to Arthur, had a quick visit and went out to dinner with him and his aunt, and the next morning, we loaded some machinery nearby, that John had found, that was going to Billerica, MA along with the crates. This is one of those rare trips where things seem to fall together. the freight seemed to all come together, the dimensions were all accurate, and it all fit! This is when trucking is fun! Then there are the "other" trips. I'll save that for another time.

We made it across the country, made our deliveries on Friday, and headed for the world famous Beagle bash! I was riding John pretty hard the previous couple weeks, to make sure he remembered the bash, and made it back in time. As usual, it was a lot of fun to see old friends and meet new ones. The weather was great, and everything went well. There were no fights and even the Humans behaved themselves! I tried a few of the activities, like catching popcorn, and begging. I did ok with the popcorn, but I'm used to carrots! I would have won if we used carrots. I didn't do very well with the begging. From my first trip with John, it didn't take long for me to realize that begging would get me nowhere, so I have lost all my skill in that department.

After the bash, we headed up to Stowe, Vermont, where we had a chair lift to move from the ski area in Stowe, to a Ski area in Connecticut. There were six loads which took about two and a half weeks to move. It would take all day to load, and then it was a five hour trip down to Mohawk Mountain. It would take a couple hours to unload, and then back up to Stowe. It was a nice change of pace. the weather was beautiful for the most part, and we were able to enjoy the fall colors. It was a nice change to see the same people at both ends and get to know them. The people at Mohawk Mountain were great, they even had a dog that I got to hang out with a few times!

The town of Stowe was usually crowded and there was one intersection in town that was a challenge every trip. John would have to take up the whole road, swing wide, and maneuver around the cars at the intersection. One day, there was a whole tour-bus load of people on the corner that were watching us. After we made the turn, the audience gave us a standing ovation! I don't think John has come back down from that experience! I guess he deserves a little credit every once in a while, It's good that I can share the limelight. I know that he'll do something stupid soon, and I'll be in the spotlight again.

That wraps things up for now.

Hudson, the semi-Beagle.

September, 2011

Hi everyone, just checking in since the last time. We just got back from a trip out to the west coast. The plan was to get out to Phoenix, where there was a fire truck that had to be taken to Trenton, ME. John already had a car lined up to load in Naples, ME that was going to Breckenridge, CO. So, all John had to do was fill out the trailer. Not as simple as it sounds. Things have been really slow in the northeast for quite some time. John loaded the car on Wednesday, and Friday he had found a couple partials to fill out the trailer. One in Albany, NY, and one in Harrisburg, PA. Well, Friday afternoon, John was told the Albany load had been canceled. So, we went down to PA and loaded the partial on Monday morning. That afternoon, he had booked a load for Wednesday, in Michigan, headed to Denver. It was a few hundred miles out of route to get it, but the rate was good, and it went to Denver, right in line with Breckenridge.

We made our two deliveries in Colorado, on Friday, and had a nice ride across Colorado over the weekend for our final delivery in Phoenix, that following Monday. We got to Wolf Creek Pass, on Friday night and had a beautiful sunrise breakfast Saturday morning. Those times make all the hardships almost worth it.

John had been looking for something to go with the fire truck, and had been watching a Humvee that had been posted the previous week. Every day, the rate had gone up. The load disappeared on Thursday, so John decided to start looking for other options. On Friday, the load was back, at a thousand dollars higher than it had first started out at, on Monday. Well, even John is smart enough to book the load before it goes away a second time.

We made our final delivery in Phoenix, on Monday and headed to San Diego, where the humvee was located. After we loaded the humvee, we headed back to get the fire truck. We happened to be in the southwest during the hottest time of the summer. The temps. were in the 115 degree range. On the way back from San Diego, it was 119. It was so hot that I had to walk in the shade. It took me a couple times to figure this out. John would put me down in the shade where it didn't have as many good smells as other places. As soon as I got in the sun, I Wouldn't be able to stand it, so John would scoop me up and put me back in the shade. After a couple tries, I figured it out. I'm glad the AC worked in the truck! It couldn't keeps things inside cold, but it was bearable in the truck.

Anyway, Wednesday morning, John loaded the fire truck, and after getting it all chained down, they even offered to let him use their shower. I don't know who was happier, him or me. He can get pretty stinky.

We had a good trip home and when we got to Trenton, the whole fire department was there to greet us. There were cameras flashing and video cameras going, and I even got some attention. After all, I am a beagle. John set up his ramps, blocks, and planks, and with all the people watching, unloaded the fire truck without scraping, bumping or scratching anything! He looked like a professional!. The first thing they did with their new toy was to turn on all the lights and sirens not just once, but every single fireman got in and took his/her turn. Just like a bunch of kids. It was actually fun to watch.

After that, we headed up to Limestone, ME where the humvee was going in for a complete overhaul and a facility that rebuilds military equipment.

That about covers it all for now.
Hudson, the semi-beagle

August, 2011

Hi everyone, checking in from our last trip to the west coast. John had two partial loads here in Maine going out to California and Oregon. The first thing we loaded was a tractor up in Lincolnville, ME. It was going from a farm on Islesboro, to a farm in Medford, OR, that was owned by the same person. since it was on an island, we met the ferry, and loaded it in the parking lot. We went up the night before so we would have room enough to get the truck in and turned around in the parking lot. Good thing we did, it was a tiny parking lot! Next, we went down to Westbrook, where we loaded a power transformer at a paper mill that was going to California. Once John had that loaded and tarped, we headed down to Kittery where we stopped and had lunch with John's mom. We went to a restaurant on the water, and THEY went inside to have what I imagine was a wonderful meal. I stayed in the car and barked my head off as usual. For once my barking payed off, because I finally got some attention. A man came by and started looking at me. he had blue clothes on, and was wearing a funny looking hat. He also had on some kind of badge. He arrived just as John and his mom came out from the restaurant. From what I can tell, since I don't understand the english language very well, was that someone saw me in the car, and called the police. It seems that the officer wasn't too concerned, since it was a cool day, the car was in the shade and most importantly, I still had "all sorts of energy". It seems that the good Samaritan was being a little over cautious in this case. After one more pick up in Massachusetts, we were off on another cross country adventure.

It was an uneventful trip across and we made our deliveries without any problems. We were able to enjoy a long weekend in the Bay area, visiting all the relatives out there. John found some loads going back to Michigan, since he had a load of pipe in Michigan that had to go to a ski area in Massachusetts.

While we were waiting to pick up one of the loads at a pier on the Oregon coast, a cruise ship came into port right in front of us. We were parked at the end of the pier, waiting to load some ship cranes, and here comes this cruise ship. It was HUGE! It docked at the end of the pier next to the one we were at. We even got to see a harbor seal playing around in the currents.


After we were loaded and headed east,John kept trying to get in touch with the ski area to confirm the load of pipe. He had no luck, and by the time he made all of his deliveries in Michigan he still hadn't been able to get an answer, so he booked another load that didn't load for two days. That meant we could visit his brother and family for a few days.

They recently moved to a house on a lake, so we spent a couple days lakeside relaxing, watching KC and PJ chasing the geese off the grass several times a day, and boating. I really enjoyed the boating! It was fun to stand on the edge and watch the water go by and see what was swimming below. the only part I didn't like is when everyone jumped in to go swimming. Well, I didn't mind THEM swimming, I didn't like it when they took me with them! After a couple of laps around John, with a "What were you thinking!" look in my eyes, John finally put me back on the boat. If I was meant to be in the water, I would have a dorsal fin!.

After a couple days of R&R, we loaded a load of industrial shelving and delivered that to a new warehouse in Nashua, NH. From there we went home for a few days until our next trip.

That's all for now.

Hudson, the semi-beagle

July 18, 2011

Hi everyone, John and I are sitting in the heat of Illinois, waiting to deliver in Michigan in the morning. I thought this would be a good time to share an adventure we had last month.

John had bought an old truck from a friend of his years and years ago. It sad in the woods in Gardiner ME, until John finally had a place to put it. Up until five years ago, john lived at a place where there was no room to bring a truck home. He then moved to Durham and last fall put in a driveway large enough to be able to bring the whole rig home. Well, now come all the toys. John has a friend who has a small excavator, who seems to be looking for excuses to "play" with it. Well, they came up with a plan and now the old Pete is sitting proudly in Durham.

The first project was to drag it out of the woods. The brakes were frozen, and wouldn't release, so they dragged as far as they they could and planned to return in a few weeks with the next step of the project. A few weeks later, they returned with all sorts of tools and were able to release all the brakes. Now, they were able to pull the truck up on John's trailer for the ride home.

The truck was ready to go to the crusher and John's friend, Ken, wanted to save it and restore it. That never happened, so now John is going to try. as a result, it has been stripped down and doesn't even have an engine or transmission. The 30 mile trip home went well. When they got home, they decided to give it a quick bath, while it was still on the trailer and within reach of a hose. There was a lot of moss, dirt, grime and it needed a bath badly! Even the neighbors helped out with the scrubbing. Then they unloaded the truck and pushed it back into it's new home.

Since there was no way to keep a chain hooked to the truck while it rolled down the ramps, without upsetting the excavator, Steve acted like a mother bird, and pushed John, in the cab over, out of the "nest" to see if he could fly. He did look pretty nervous, but it all went well, and nobody crashed!

We'll see how long this new project takes to be completed. I'll keep you posted.

Hudson, the semi-Beagle

May 17, 2011

Hi everyone, checking in from rainy Durham, ME. After almost a year, we were finally able to get out to the west coast and see stretch our legs. John loaded another snow groomer in Vermont going to Washington state. He also had a pipe cutter to pick up in Massachusetts that was going to California. This thing looked like a huge banana and it was way to high to put on the trailer. It was fun to watch John and the guys at Jiminey Peak ski area scratching their heads trying to figure out how and if they could make it fit. Well, they did it. They were able to tip it over on an angle and between a ton of blocks and a brace welded on the unit, they made it work. I was quite proud of them all. John kept stopping and checking the cutter to make sure it was riding ok. think he was nervous. the next morning, he found another small machine in New York that was going to Utah. Between the three loads, this made for a pretty good trip out.

I had an embarrassing thing happen that I guess I should share. I make fun of John so much that I guess I owe him one. Well, John was having his lunch one day and a little bit dropped on the floor. No matter how much I searched, I couldn't find where it landed. I sniffed and sniffed, but I couldn't find it. Well, I gave up, thinking it must be old age. (listen to me, I'm starting to think like a human) Well, I decided to clean myself up a bit in case we stopped and a pretty beagle was there, you never know. I couldn't help but notice my butt smelled like vanilla. Why would my butt smell like vanilla. Well, after John wiped the yogurt off my nose, I figured out two things, where the yogurt went, and why my butt smelled like vanilla. I blame this week moment on Hanging around John so much. Usually, I'm smarter than this.

Friday, on the way out west, John got a call from a company in Illinois that had a machine that had to go to Springfield, Ma to a trade show. The problem was that it had to deliver on the 12th of may, which only left about ten days to make all three deliveries, find freight going back east, to go with the machine, to fill out the trailer. Well, the following week, things fell together and John was able to make it all work out. It all looked good, at first. The first load was in Astoria, OR. it was a ship crane and lots of marine parts.

While we were waiting to load the crane, a cruise ship came into port. We were at the end of the pier and the cruise ship came across our bow ( I think nautical terms are appropriate here), and docked at the end of the pier next to ours. It was quite impressive.

One of the pieces As John would later find out, had a fitting that was broken, so, about 5 gallons of oil leaked all over the deck of the trailer. every time we parked, we would leave a trail of oil drops that would leak down between the planks of the deck. Three bags of cat litter and a bag of absorbent pads soaked up most of the oil. I was looking for cats the whole trip home. I figured they would use the cat litter whenever we stopped. We loaded a mini excavator in Seattle, and then had a crated machine to pick up in Minnesota. We made it to Elgin, IL on Tuesday to load the machine for the trade show. When we arrived, the crate that went with the machine was 12 feet long instead of 4 feet as John had written in his notes. I think he messed up big time with this potentially new customer. Luckily, they were able to make it all fit. He made a platform on top of all the marine equipment where they put the crate. As usual, it wasn't pretty but it got the job done.

We made the delivery deadline at the trade show and all the rest of the deliveries went well.

John has a busy week of dentist, doctor and tax appointments as well as the usual maintenance on the truck. Friday, we load another snow groomer headed down to Tampa, florida. I never realized they got snow down there.

I'll keep you posted...

Hudson, the semi-Beagle

March 27, 2011

Greetings from Raphine, VA, John and I are returning from a trip to Texas. We got some snow here overnight, I sure am looking forward to warm temps and sunshine! We did find ourselves down in Alabama and Mississippi last month and it sure was nice to get away from winter for a while! It was nice to be able to stick my head out the window again.

Several weeks ago John and I were up in Duluth, Minnesota, where we loaded a couple of control cabs coming back to Maine. The following Monday, John got a call from the manufacturer asking where he was. At the time we were half way across Pennsylvania. They had loaded the wrong cab on our trailer! One cab was correct and was going to Maine, but the other was supposed to go to Louisiana. There were lots of phone calls for the next hour or two while they all tried to come up with a solution. John had a partial load going to Texas, and offered to fill out the trailer and take the cab to Louisiana as well.

That's what we ended up doing. We found two more partials going to San Antonio, and Odessa TX. It sure was nice getting south into some warm temps! I was even able to scratch dirt after doing my business. What a feeling to have dirt under my claws again! One evening, we were parked in a picnic area in west Texas for the night. It was a beautiful night and John had the sleeper door open so we could enjoy the cool breeze. Next thing we know, a bat flew in to see what was happening. After a brief skirmish, John was able to herd the bat back outside. I've been keeping a close eye out for a change in behavior in John, especially fangs! So far so good.

After getting all the deliveries made, we headed for Ft Worth to pick up a conveyor going back to Maine. We lost a day When John found out he had get a Texas registration number in order to be able to obtain a Texas oversize permit. This took most of Thursday and half of Friday, trying to get to the right office or person. Typical bureaucratic red tape! He finally got it all done, got his oversize permit, and we are enjoying a nice, relaxing, legal trip home.

On a side note, I still wonder about humans. Just the other day, I overheard John talking to one of his friends, Norm. They were talking about me and Norm's dog Chew. Of all things, they were talking about our habits of how and where we go. You would think they would have better things to talk about. How about some privacy here. I guess that shows the maturity of those two.

I guess that's all for now, let's hope spring is on it's way!

Hudson, the semi-Beagle

February 6, 2011

Hi everyone, John and I are home for a few days between trips. We have been busy with loads to Ohio and return loads from Michigan. John has been complaining about the cold weather. I don't understand what the big deal is. It doesn't look cold when I watch him loading/unloading from inside the truck. We had some partial loads put together to get us out to Michigan where John had a snow groomer to pick up. We first loaded an army truck in Auburn, ME, that had to go to Chambersburg, PA. We had some horse barn accessories going to Milford, PA and some snow guns going to a ski area in Michigan. We lost half a day while waiting for an ice storm to clear out in Pennsylvania. After that, things went smoothly. We made all our deliveries and headed up to Marquette, Mi, which is up in the U.P. (upper Peninsula) It was a beautiful trip. we traveled along the northern edge of Lake Michigan, and then along the southern shore of Lake Superior until we got to Marquette.

It was 8 below zero the morning we loaded the snow groomer. I felt bad for John and the rest of the guys that had to load the machine. things went well and we were on our way by mid-morning. Cold weather has a way of complicating anything mechanical. Luckily, we had none. The machine, however, ended up to be 4 inches over width. so, here we go again, sneaking home. John had a scare when we were crossing the Mackinac Bridge, later that day. All trucks have to use the right lane at the toll booths. Wouldn't you know it, there was a Commercial vehicle enforcement van right there at the tolls. John watched his mirrors and, sure enough, here he comes. The van comes up along-side us, passes us, and then pulls over. The speed limit for trucks is 20 mph, so the 3 mile trip across the bridge seems to take forever...for John, I'm enjoying the scenery out the window! The Van has pulled out again and is hiding behind a bus that is traveling behind us. John is nervously watching his mirrors, just waiting for the blue lights to come on as soon as we get off the bridge. I can even hear him mumbling excuses, practicing for when he gets pulled over. As soon as we get off the bridge, sure enough, on come the blue lights. But they are for the bus, not for us! We got lucky that time.

The rest of the trip went well. we had another pick up to make just outside Syracuse, NY. We had to pick up a drag, which is towed behind the groomer, to groom snow mobile trails. The drag is 10.5 feet wide and so John had to build a cradle for it so it would lie on an angle on the trailer and be within the legal width. So, after buying some lumber, John proceeded to start building the cradle sunday Morning in sub zero temperatures. We were at a dairy farm, where the drag was located. The farmer, who was leader of the local snow mobile club that sold the drag, showed up around 10 am and got the drag hooked up to his loaded and loaded it onto the cradle. There were some scary noises, and upon closer inspection, some reinforcement of the cradle was required. I guess that's why John is a trucker, and nor an engineer! Tim called in some of his club members and we all went to his shop where they had more lumber and tool do do the job right. It was ugly, but hopefully, it would hold together.

They reloaded toe drag, and no scary noises were heard. John chained and strapped the drag down, and off we went. Millinocket, or bust! John spent a lot of time checking his mirrors. I don't think he was worried about being over width. We made it home that night and the cradle held up well.

The next day, we made it to Millinocket, and delivered the groomer and drag to the 5 Lakes Lodge. John looked relieved to get there and get everything delivered. Upon inspection, the cradle held up well, but things had settled and there were signs of stress. It was a good thing that we didn't have any further to travel.

John had a relaxing ride home. Nobody stopped him for being over width, and the cradle held up!

As I look back, I should have been nervous as well. The cradle was designed by a trucker, and improved by a farmer! Not a good combination.

That's all the excitement for now.

Hudson, the semi-Beagle

January 16, 2011

Happy New year! John and I survived the holidays and starting another year. John doesn't get a tree like most people. I don't know if it's because we are never home or he doesn't trust me. He does however, get into the Christmas spirit by decorating his other truck. I have overheard people at the local store talking with him while he's fueling up, and when he tells them where he lives they recognize it by the "Christmas Cabover".

John Had an oversize load going to Ohio the week of Christmas. We were planning to go to Virginia for Christmas, so this seemed like it would work out fine. We had on some re bar mats for a mine shaft on the Ohio/West Virginia border. We took a two lane hi way south out of Wheeling, WV and then turned west on a narrow road that crossed the river into Ohio. At the light, we met up with two coal trucks that were going to the mine. This road was very narrow and windy, with blind curves everywhere. Our load was twelve feet wide and the lanes weren't much wider than ten feet wide, at best. One of the coal trucks hollered to John that they run channel 14 on the CB radio. Well, John went to 14 and they gave us an unofficial escort to the mill. The road is so narrow that they call out when approaching bad sections. Thanks to these two truckers, we avoided several close calls. Besides that, it was fun!

We made it to the mine and got unloaded and made it out of there without any problems. The next day, we loaded for Northern Virginia. Since this was the day before Christmas eve, we wouldn't be delivering until the Monday after Christmas. We had a nice weekend visiting with John's two sisters and his mother, who was visiting. One of my favorite gifts he got was a mug from his neighbors.

I got to see the four dogs too. The dogs are all getting used to me so it doesn't take nearly as long for the growling and barking to settle down. I can never understand why anyone would want to bark at me. Can't they see that I'm no threat?

After a nice weekend it was back to work. John had some loads in the Cleveland area to get for a new customer. We found a load in Ashland, VA going right to Cleveland, which worked out well. He loaded a couple of huge magnets for a large scrap yard in Albany NY. He also found a fork lift in Cleveland going to Albany as well. This was good, since we had to come home from Albany empty. Again, we were delivering the day before New Years eve, so, there wasn't much freight to be had.

After a quiet new year John loaded another load of re bar mats. This one was going to Cleveland. He has hauled two of these loads in the fall. They are heavy, and if we take I 90 across Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, we don't cross any scales. Well...that doesn't work in 2011. After three years of inactivity, the scales in Ohio were re-opened! John was 1370 lbs overweight. He had to go to the local court house and pay the $190.00 fine and then had to make the load legal. If you will remember, We went through this in California last year. John found a local welding shop that came over with a crane to unload two mats. Unlike the time in California, we couldn't just shift the weight, we had to take it off. The welding shop sent over a small truck and loaded the two mats onto their truck. John had to reorder permits for our truck, as well as the other truck. The next morning, we headed out and had a little convoy to Cleveland. Not the best way to start the new year! Fortunately, the trip home went smoothly.

We are leaving Sunday afternoon with several partial loads heading to Pennsylvania and Michigan. Let's hope this trip goes better.

That's all for now.

Hudson, the semi-Beagle

December 19th, 2010

Greetings from Maine. John and I are home for a few days after spending Thanksgiving in Michigan with his brother and family.

After our trip over Halloween to North Carolina, we loaded a load to Colorado. John had a snow groomer at one of the ski areas that needed to come back east. The load we had was a load of liners going to a mine near Grand Junction, CO. we loaded it in Georgia and by the time we got to Chattanooga, the load had shifted and John had to hire a wrecker to push the rolls back on the trailer. Later that day, the rolls started to shift again. The rolls are made of felt and the bottom ones would flatten out and this would start the next layer leaning. In turn, the top row would start leaning as well. John had to find another wrecker company to reload the front row that was leaning badly. We headed west again, only to watch the last two rows start the process as well. So, one more time, we had to hire someone to push the rolls back onto the trailer. there were so many straps on the load that it would never fall off, but it was leaning over the edge quite a bit.

Along with these problems, the alternator on the truck quit working so we wasted half a day getting that fixed at a truck stop. A simple repair of a three hundred dollar part cost John $650.00! That's what happens when you breakdown on the road.

After four days and $1200.00, We made it to Grand Junction and got that load from Hell off our trailer.

We then loaded the snow groomer in Crested Butte, and then picked up a table saw in Denver and had a nice, uneventful trip home.

John had lined up some loads going out to Wisconsin and had everything lined up to be in Michigan for Thanksgiving. We made all the deliveries in Wisconsin and when it was time to start loading we found that the Wisconsin load had been put on hold. There go the well laid plans of Beagle and man. John and I had a lovely turkey TV dinner in the truck. He rented a car on Friday and we had a road trip to Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. It was a fun weekend seeing all the family. They have two shelties and they even allow me up on some of the furniture!

Sunday we headed back to Green Bay with an additional stop in Chicago. We had John's niece Katie ride along with us. She goes to Northwestern and decided to hitch a ride with us. John thought she wanted to ride along to enjoy his company. In reality, it was better than the bus sitting next to a smelly stranger. We didn't tell John, though.

We had a nice walk around campus and I had fun chasing squirrels. After all these years, I never realized that I was supposed to chase things. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks!

After dropping Katie off, we went back to Green Bay, returned the rental car, and found some loads going back east. It was an uneventful trip home and we were able to see some of the progress on the new driveway.

That's all for now.

Hudson, the semi-Beagle

November 7th, 2010

Greetings from Knoxville, TN. John and I are waiting to unload in Maggie Valley, NC in the morning.

Since the last update, we have been busy running out to the mid-west, then down south and back home.We have had a couple of oversize loads out of Maine going to Cleveland. This has been tough for John. the tolls have been around $100.00 each trip. He is such a cheap-skate that it is fun to see the dust fly out of his wallet when he gets out the cash. From Cleveland, we went down to Charlotte, NC with a Forklift and a truck cab. From there we loaded a little go-cart race car and some more snow guns from Cataloochee ski area. John has been there so often that I feel like we work for them. They are a great bunch of guys. They always say hi to me and tell John to let me out of the truck so I can explore. They also make fun of John which is a bonus. (especially after he caught the telephone wire the last time we were there).

We took the snow Guns up to Berkshire east ski area, another place we have become familiar with, and then delivered the go-cart to Falmouth High School. They have two of these cars and are going to make one of them an electric powered car. I think this would be a fun car to cruise around in, just my size.

We spent a few days home so John could move his three storage sheds. He is having a large driveway put in so he can get the tractor and trailer home. He also spend the good part of a day trying to get his other truck running so he could get that out of the way too. He was successful in getting the truck running, but couldn't get the brakes to release. A friend came by to help and It was kind of fun to watch from inside the warm house as these two guys were crawling under the truck with pipes and hammers pounding on the brakes trying to get them to release. I don't know if it was the cold or the approaching darkness that made them give up but, the truck still sits where it is.

Later that evening, we headed down to Newport, RI with a delivery of one bundle of lumber. John was told that it was a tight place to get into so he decided to get there the night before. Well, it was in downtown Newport, which is full of narrow streets. John got to the street we needed to be on, but there was no street sign, so he pulled over to ask directions. He saw a policeman so he asked him if this was Thames street and the kid said it was, and told home where he had to go. I said kid, because it was Halloween, and the kid was in a costume. I'm glad he was, because he was wearing short-shorts as part of his "uniform". He was dressed as the cop from the series Reno 911. I'm still not sure when,or if, John realized this was a costume. He's made it this far in life,so I don't worry about him anymore. So down the street we went. It was a narrow, one way street and about 10 blocks down, John had to turn down an alley that was a dead end. He was delivering to a yacht building college, so they blocked off the parking section so he could make the swing onto the alley.

We unloaded the unit of lumber the next morning and two of the guys stopped traffic so John could back out of the alley and try to find his way out of there. I have to give him credit, he was able to get out of there without running anything or anyone over. From Newport, We headed to metro Cleveland for the rest of our deliveries. We had a large magnet from a scrap yard to deliver in Maple heights, Ohio, and then down to Wooster to deliver a truck that was going to have a crane installed on it. We loaded the truck in Carmel, ME the previous Friday. John has hauled for this company before, but maybe this will be the last time. He had to use his ramps and while driving up the ramps, the truck started bouncing and it fell off the ramps! It didn't really fall off, but one tire slipped off the ramp so that the axle was resting on the ramp. They fired up the forklift and guided it back on the ramp and up onto the trailer. John admitted that the bucking was probably due to the fact that he was in 3rd gear instead of 1st. I was so embarrassed! They all laughed and compared stories of things like this happening before. John has been lucky in dealing with good people. After we unload tomorrow, we head out to Colorado to pick up a snow groomer coming back to Massachusetts. Let's hope we can get in and out of there without encountering any major snow storms.

That wraps it up for now.

Hudson, the semi-Beagle

October 3rd, 2010

Hi from Durham, ME.

I want to start out by apologizing to everyone for slacking off the last few months. We had a great time at the bash and lots of people came up to John and said that he needed to get more chronicles coming. It was fun seeing him get in trouble for slacking off! I'm always ready to tell stories, sometimes, he doesn't seem to feel the same way.

We did two more trips to Montana after our last update, the third trip was an oversize load. the weight was very close and everyone was nervous until we could get to a truck stop and weigh the load to see if it was legal. Luckily, it was, otherwise, we would have had to wait over the weekend and unload some parts and leave them behind. That would have involved calling the ski area and figuring out what to leave behind. Fortunately, everything worked out. We made it half way across Pennsylvania before we had to shut down for the weekend because of the oversize load. John spent Sunday polishing the truck while I relaxed. He saw a friend that he hasn't seen in 10 years. They spent several hours talking truck talk. To listen to them, you would think they were capable of stopping global warming, curing cancer, and creating world peace. I'm glad I,m not a Corgi, like Maggie, because "it" was getting pretty deep!

After we finished the Montana loads, we have been pretty busy staying on the east coast. One of the trips was down in North Carolina, picking up some snow guns headed for Michigan. We had been to this ski resort three times already. we pulled into the staging area where the equipment was and John noticed a wire swinging wildly. Walking down the driveway, this wire was only about 8 feet off the ground. John then noticed that the stack on a farm tractor he had on the trailer was bent. The mystery is that our truck was taller than the stack on the tractor. Apparently, the wire caught our stacks, slid up and over and caught the stack on the tractor. Fortunately, the wire was an out of service phone wire. John couldn't figure out why he had caught it this time without catching it the previous three times, until one of the crew mentioned that a garbage truck had hit the wire the week before. After that, we made it home without further incident.

The next day, we went west to Libby, MY and loaded a heavy duty wrecker going to Syracuse, NY. John's computer crashed and we spent the day in Missoulla, MT waiting for the Geek Squad to repair it. He is still trying to work out some minor bugs.John was also able to pick up a small machine going to Massachusetts that fit on with the wrecker. Overall, it was a pretty good out and back. We didn't have to sneak around scales, nothing broke, and we got rid of John's obnoxious nephew! (John's words, not mine!)

As usual, we had a great time at the beagle bash. there was a good turnout and the weather was fine. I don't mean to brag, but I was the loudest beagle there, for a while anyway. John spent a good amount of time at the table helping sell calendars and t-shirts. Some of John's cousins and his aunt and uncle also came by. Joey, who is a second cousin, what ever that means, was a big help selling t-shirts and calendars. He takes after his grandfather...poor kid! Thanks to everyone who helped support this years bash. All the beagles who benefit make all the effort worthwhile.

I hope everyone has a great fall season.

Hudson, the semi-Beagle

August 15th, 2010

Hi from Columbia Falls, MT. We just delivered a load of ski lift equipment out here. John got hooked up with a broker who deals with used ski-lift equip. We have been hauling all his stuff since the end of May.

It's obviously been a couple of months since our last update. I think John needs to get his priorities straight. He says we have been busy. I have been lying around pretty much all the time waiting to dictate. Who needs a paycheck when there is plenty of opportunities to enhance my celebrity status! Oh well...back to the story.

After our harrowing trip to Colorado, through the tornado, we got back home and picked up John's nephew, Alex. He flew to Boston from Virginia, and we picked him up Saturday evening in Portsmouth, NH. We spent Sunday in Kittery with John's mom and we left Monday to load a load of lumber in NH going to Binghampton, NY and Scranton, PA. This put us within striking distance of Monticello, NY where the ski lift equipment was. After spending all day loading, John and Alex were ready to get a good nights rest. The next night we stayed at a truckstop in Portage, WI. Alex humored John and let him buy a cheese hat for him as a souvenir. Unfortunately, I was the poor sap that had to get his picture taken wearing it! Sometimes life just isn't fair.

We made it out to Kalispell, MT Sunday and got a motel room for a couple days. We couldn't deliver until tuesday because of the fourth of July weekend. Later Tuesday, after we got unloaded, John's sister came out from Spokane,WA with her son and stayed over and left the next day with Alex. He spent a day with them in Spokane and then flew back to Virginia. It was fun to have him along, but it is always nice to get back to our routine.

The next day, we went west to Libby, MY and loaded a heavy duty wrecker going to Syracuse, NY. John's computer crashed and we spent the day in Missoulla, MT waiting for the Geek Squad to repair it. He is still trying to work out some minor bugs.John was also able to pick up a small machine going to Massachusetts that fit on with the wrecker. Overall, it was a pretty good out and back. We didn't have to sneak around scales, nothing broke, and we got rid of John's obnoxious nephew! (John's words, not mine!)

That's all for now. Hope to be able to make it to the Beagle Bash!

Hudson, the semi-Beagle

June 13th, 2010

Hello from Salt Lake City, UT. We are waiting to unload here in the morning.

Before I get rambling on, I would like to take a moment to send out condolences to a friend who, in a short period of time lost two of her beloved beagles. She is a friend of ours, a great friend of bones, and a great friend to many. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Pam and her clan.

Now for the rest of the story. Our trip out to Washington went well. it is hard to remember that far back. I guess that's what I get for sleeping so much. John had a lot of freight scattered about the country, so the trip home was spent backtracking all over the place trying to get all his customers taken care of. Things have been busy this year which John is thankful for. Me...I could care less.

Once we got home, John got a call from a broker in Vermont, who deals in ski lift equipment. We loaded a load of snow guns in Maine and took them down to a ski resort in North Carolina, yes, I said the same thing. They do have them down there. We reloaded another load of snow guns there and took them up to Massachusetts. From there we loaded some barn doors in Mass going to Colorado. after a few days we were able to fill out the trailer with a load of stone going here to Salt Lake City.

The trip out was uneventful until we were outside Denver. THe sky grew dark, the storm clouds looked menacing, What ever that means, John told me to use that word. Before long we were headed right for the storm. At the same time there was a tornado warning for the same storm we were approaching. We both saw a funnel come down from the clouds and then the wind, rain and hail proceeded to make our trip very intense, The rain and hail was at times sideways and the truck was rocking violently. after about ten minutes we made it through and continued on into the Denver rush hour which can be just as bad. So far this year, we have been in an earthquake, and experienced a tornado. I can only wonder what is next.

Once we unload in the morning, we have a load to pick up west of the city, going to Mountain View, CA. From there We have a control panel to pick up in Arcata, which is way up the coast north of Eureka. John has loaded for this company before, in fact, the last time we were up there, we encountered a rock slide and hit a coup[le bowling ball sized rocks which damaged the trailer. The last 100 miles of rt 101 going to Eureka is restricted to 60 feet for trucks. Since we are quite a bit longer, we have to sneak up there after dark, and hope nobody is paying attention. Wish us luck!

Hudson, the semi-Beagle

April 18th, 2010

Hi everyone, we are home getting ready to leave tonight for Houlton, Maine, where we will load a load of wood beams tomorrow headed for Tacoma WA. I hope this trip will be better than last trip.

We had quite an adventure on our last trip out to California. It started off well, we loaded an engine in Wiscassett, ME and then went to Johnston, RI and picked up a couple of dust collectors that were going to San Diego, CA. The engine was going to a waste water treatment plant in San Bernardino, CA. We got to San Diego on Friday and unloaded the dust collectors and headed up to San Bernardino that afternoon. John was feeling generous since the trip out paid well and he had several things lined up to go back home with, so he got us a room for the weekend. On sunday, we were relaxing in the room when things started shaking. John looked out the window and the cars were shaking and the pool had waves in it just like the beach. That's right, we experienced our first earthquake! It ended up being the quake that struck the Baja California peninsula. It felt like the times when we are stopped on a bridge and the traffic makes the bridge bounce, although this was some major bouncing. I am somewhat confused about you humans though, several people asked John what I did, if I sensed the earthquake, or acted funny in any other way. I was sleeping! I was doing what any dog would do. I think you people watch too much reality TV!

The next morning, we unloaded at the WWTP (WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANT) for all you laymen, and went to Anaheim where John had two machines to load. That evening, John's cousin was in LA for a convention, so they got together and went out to eat. The next morning, we went to Long Beach to load a forklift. After several hours of searching, they found out the forklift was down in San Diego. So down to San Diego we went. Once we loaded the forklift, we headed north to Trona, which is in Death Valley, to pick up our last piece, a trailer mounter compressor. Just north of San Diego, John crossed the truck scales and got the dreaded red arrow to pull around back. He was 2100 pounds overweight on his drive axles. luckily, he didn't get a 2000 dollar ticket, but he did have to hire a crane and move the forklift from the front of the trailer to the rear. Once we got that fixed we headed to Trona to load in the morning. By this point, John had realized that the dimensions on three out of four of the pieces were wrong. The weights were heavier than he was told. This tends to throw off all the planning. We got to the mine the next morning, and guess what, that's right, the compressor was 18 feet instead of 14 feet. The problem was that we only had 14 feet of space left on the trailer. John called the customer in Maine and explained the problem and suggested cutting the tongue of the trailer off and welding it back on back in Maine. The customer agreed to this and out came the cutting torch. John was able to put the compressor on the front of the trailer and he put the tongue on top of the forklift. Once he got everything loaded he was able to use the scale at the mine to weigh out, only to find we were 800 pounds over on the drive axles again. with no option to make things legal, we were off on an adventure to go around all the scales between Trona, CA and Bangor, ME.

I'm beginning to wonder if we should rename this "confessions of a trucker", instead of Hudson's chronicles. Anyway, off we went. We got to Needles, CA at dusk and called it a day. John had found a way around the first scale at the Arizona port of entry. He decided to wait until daylight which was a smart move. We headed north on highway 95 and took a right on the Oatman road, which was marked as a straight gray line on the map. well, it wasn't straight at all! We kept passing signs saying no trucks over 40 feet long. We are 75 feet long and these signs didn't really bother John, since we have been on lots of similar roads before. The town of Oatman was straight out of an old western movie. We drove through town, which had a saloon, hotel, and three people, one of which was cleaning up after a horse, or a really big dog! John was expecting someone to call the state police and report a truck going around the scales, since there wasn't much other truck traffic, or reason for a truck to be on this path, for that matter. A few miles later, we came upon a mine and John relaxed a little, figuring they would assume we were making a delivery there. After the mine, things went downhill fast. (After going uphill, of course) The road got narrower and the curves got tighter. We met a few cars and were able to gert by each other and after we got over the pass, john started to relax because he could see off in the distance the valley floor and a straight road going across it. We were doing fine until one last 180 degree turn. John got tight against the cliff on the right and dumped the air in the front trailer axle to make a tighter turning radius so he could make the turn. Since the turn was at the bottom of a steep hill the trailer axle was in the air and so the rear axle was on the ground, making for a long turning radius. The trailer tires came up against a retaining wall full of sharp, jagged rocks. John had no choice but to run the trailer tires up over this wall and hope the trailer didn't get hung up on the wall. Fortunately, we didn't get stuck, but we ruined two trailer tires and two trailer wheels. The compressor, since it was overhanging the front of the trailer, pushed against the headache rack on the back of the truck and pushed it into the back of the sleeper, leaving some ugly gouges and scratches.

We finally made it out of the "valley of pain" and back on to I-40 and there were no state police waiting for us. We limped into the truckstop in Kingman, AZ and bought a new tire, mounted our spare tire on the other wheel, and proceeded east. The New Mexico Port of Entry was a lot easier to get around, and from there, we took back roads for the rest of the trip home. The rest of the trip home was much more relaxing for John. For me, I enjoyed all of it.

Well, that about covers it for now.

Hudson, the semi-Beagle

March 7th, 2010

Greetings from Durham. We just got home from 5 weeks on the road. Things have been busy and now it's time for some home time with the usual stuff to be done while home. Quite often, it is nice to get back on the road and slow down a little.

We started out with a quick trip down south to Arkansas with an oversize tank. Along the way John picked up some custom barn doors from one of his customers in Massachusetts. They were going to Georgia. After unloading those two items, we headed to Knoxville to pick up a piece of machinery heading back to New Hampshire. We were lucky enough to be about six hours ahead of the second snow storm that crippled the east coast.

After we unloaded in New Hampshire, we picked up a truck tractor in Mass to bring home for a friend here in town. John then dropped the trailer and off we went to Vermont to hook on to the trailer we brought from Utah a month earlier. The snowboard tour was over and time for everything to go back to Utah. John had kept in touch with the broker and was able to get one of the trailers. We had some bad weather on the way out and I-80 was closed in Iowa and Nebraska, so we had to wait a day for things to be cleaned up. There were still a few slick spots the next day, and an eastbound SUV lost control and crossed the Median right in front of us. Luckily, it stopped before it came up on the westbound lanes. After that, the weather and roads improved and we had an uneventful ride to Salt Lake City. From there, things got interesting.

John found a trailer-mounted generator going to Tacoma, WA out of the ports in LA, that was paying quite well. After he booked the load he saw that there were also some units heading back east. John called the broker the next morning to see if he could get one of these instead and he broker gave him one of each. this doesn't happen very often, so we thought we were pretty lucky. John was able to book a new trailer in Salt lake that needed to be taken down to Fontana, CA. He was saying how things were falling into place and going much too well. Boy was he right! He hooked on the brand new trailer and realized that he had about 2 inches of clearance between the back of his tarp rack and the front of the reefer unit on the trailer. After a tense trip down into LA we made it to the exit where we had to deliver the trailer without incident. Traffic was backed up on the ramp and after John stopped he felt a bump and when he looked in his mirror, he saw a car and a truck veer off into the shoulder. These two vehicles couldn't get stopped in time and hit the brand new trailer as well as each other. Fortunately, nobody was injured and the bulk of the damage was to the car and there was only a small scratch on the bumper of the trailer. When they checked the trailer in, they didn't show any concern over the scratch.

After that excitement, we spent the rest of the day on the phone between the broker and the port trying to get the generators released. There were some storage charges to be payed. Finally, about 3 pm, the generators were released so we headed to Long beach, right in the middle of Friday afternoon rush hour. We made it there with about 15 minutes to spare, got our trailer and fought the rush hour traffic again to head north. The second bunch of traffic didn't seem as stressful, since we weren't racing the clock.

It was a spectacular trip up I-5 towards Tacoma. Spring was in full bloom with lots of green grass and flowering buds on the trees. We had a beautiful sunset over Shasta lake in northern California, and then we were able to se all three snow covered peaks of Mt Hood, St He lens, and Rainier at the same time. John tried to get some pictures with his phone since his camera is broken. The pictures didn't do the view justice.

We made it to Tacoma on Sunday and dropped the trailer off Monday morning and headed back to LA to get our second trailer. The broker called John on Tuesday when we were in Northern California and told John hat he had taken the wrong trailer up to Tacoma! He had hooked up to the wrong trailer in the rush to get out of the port without delaying the people waiting for him. Fortunately, the trailer he took up by mistake was the one that we had to take Maryland. All we had to do was hook on to the right trailer, take it back up to Tacoma, hook on to the other trailer, and head to Laurel MD. When we arrived Wednesday morning, the trailer wasn't there, after some phone calls, the trailer was found to be half way across Arizona, headed for Baltimore. I guess truckers have troubles with numbers, because someone else had hooked on to the wrong trailer. I guess that's why truckers drive trucks instead of, say, work in banks. But wait, maybe there are truckers working in banking and that's what the problem with the economy. well, let's leave that for another time. Anyway, the next morning, our trailer arrived and we made our second rip up to Tacoma. Fortunately, this trip went well, we swapped trailers and had an uneventful trip to Laurel MD.

John's birthday was during our trip to Maryland and he got a phone call from his mother wishing him a happy birthday, she told him that she was having a party with her friends and his sister who was visiting. I guess I don't understand all of your habits, but it seems to me that if you have a birthday party, shouldn't the person whose birthday you are celebrating be present? I have been giving this some serious thought. I am beginning to wonder if there is something wrong with John. First of all, he babysits his friends kids in New Years, while they go out and party. Now his own mother has a birthday party without him. Makes you wonder doesn't it. Well it hasn't gotten to the point where people on the street run away screaming, so I'll stick around.

Well, that about covers it for now.

Hudson, the semi-Beagle

January 29th, 2010

Hey John, is that fire?

That's right, our latest adventure included the truck being on fire!

John got a call from his friend Chris asking him if he wanted to pull a water filtration unit permanently mounted on its own trailer. John said yes, and so we left out trailer home and bobtailed (that's what truckers call riding without a trailer) down to Concord, MA and hooked onto the trailer. John and several of the people involved with the unit had to tarp the whole unit. This was the first trip and the tarps were new and never rolled out to see what they looked like. As a result, they were rolled up backwards and the three of them looked hopeless, scratching their heads, trying to figure out what was wrong. I had fun watching them. Finally, they figured it out and got everything tarped and tied down and off we went. The trip went well until we stopped at a rest area just past the state line in Alabama. That's when I saw the smoke. John got out and saw that one of the wheels was on fire! He got out the fire extinguisher and was able to put it out without further complications.He then found a brake component that had an air leak. He thinks this leak was enough to allow the brakes to come on enough to build up heat but not enough to really notice. When he put the brakes on in the rest area, that was enough to touch off the grease inside the wheel. Fortunately, there was no damage, He plugged off the air leak and headed on to our destination. We were able to get it fixed the next day and were off to our next adventure.

Since we had no trailer, we now had to find another trailer to hook on to. This is a different side of trucking for us, but there are lots of trailers that need to be moved around. Most are new trailers that are picked up at the factory for a nominal pay rate, and the you load the trailer in the direction of where it needs to go. John didn't think this would be the best paying option, and as luck would have it, he found another option. Ho spotted an empty trailer up in Tennessee that had to go to Idaho Falls. someone bought it on line and needed it transported. The rate was actually pretty good, so John booked it. The man in Idaho said the lights had all been replaced and everything should be in working order. He was leary and was ready for an adventure. The trailer was 32 years old and it was bought by one farmer from another farmer. Now don't get mad-these two men were nice and extremely helpful, but some farmers seem to have different ideas about maintenance. As it turned out, the trailer looked really good for it's age. the lights had been repaired and the tires looked ok, except for the fact that 3 were flat. The gentleman that sold the trailer, had to go to Nashville for the day so his father showed up to help me air up the tires. We couldn't get one of the tires to hold air so he called the local tire shop and gave me directions, wished me luck and left. I hooked up and Pulled down on the trailer brake handle and...nothing. no brakes! John spent the next three hours with his tools trying to find what was wrong. The lines were blocked somewhere between the tractor connection and the main air valve on the trailer. By this time, the father was long gone, the shop was locked, and the man that sold the trailer was still in Nashville. They finally decided there was nothing more John could do so he told John of a garage about 10 miles away that could look at it. So, off we went, carefully, to the garage. They were busy but said they could fix it in the morning.

As it turned out, it was a simple repair. Some mud wasps had made nests in both airlines just behind the tractor trailer connectors. the trailer tire had a split in the sidewall so a used tire was put on. At 11 am, we were finally under way. The trip went well that day, the old tires held up, wheel seals didn't leak, we didn't even have any fires. I was feeling pretty good about this part of the trip, and then it happened. We pulled into a McDonald's in De Soto, KS to stop for the night. We had stopped there before, it had truck parking and was a nice quiet place to sleep. Trucks had filled one side of the lot, so John started another row on the other side. He misjudged where the edge of the gravel was and got onto the grass.No problem, if there hadn't been the major snow storm a few days ago, and then the recent warm weather and melting snow. That's right, he got stuck! The more he tried to get out, the deeper we sank. Finally, he gave up and went to bed. The next morning, he had to call a wrecker to winch us out. It cost John $200.00 but he was expecting a bill twice as expensive, so I guess in a way, he got lucky. After we got pulled out of the mud, We had a great trip to Idaho Falls without any more problems.

We dropped the trailer a it's new home and the owner was grateful for the extra care and work that John did that he gave john a tip to make up for his time and troubles. We then went to a nearby truckstop and spent the next three days waiting for our next adventure. At the time John booked this farm trailer, he had found a bunch of trailers in Ogden, UT going back to Vermont. There is a snowboard competition sponsored by Mountain Dew and they had just finished an event in Utah and everything had to be shipped to Mt. Snow, for the next event. He was able to book one of these trailers at the same time he booked the farm trailer. Things don't usually work out this well in trucking, but everything fell together on this trip. We hooked on to the loaded trailer on Wednesday and had a perfect trip back to Vermont. We even missed a major ice storm in the midwest. We got to Mt. Snow on Saturday morning and dropped the trailer and made it home later that day without incident.

It was an exciting trip with lots to tell. fortunately, just minor stuff, and we even made some money. I don't know about John, But I've had enough excitement for a while.

Hudson, the semi-beagle

January 17th, 2010

Happy New Year to all of you. John and I were on the road up until Christmas Eve. We spent Christmas and the day after visiting friends and neighbors. It was a nice quiet time. I have one question about that tree you bring inside. Why can't I pee on it??? Why else would you bring it inside except for my comfort, so I don't have to go out in the cold. Well, enough about that.

Last update, we were in Pennsylvania loading some truck bodies for Missouri. I was told they were trash containers, but they ended up being a couple of dump bodies. We already had on a pickup truck and had to load a screen machine in Ohio going to Arkansas. After we got everything loaded we had some extra time so John stopped in St. Louis and we visited his niece who is going to college there. It was a nice afternoon walking around the campus, and to a park nearby. We walked a lot that afternoon and I must say, John held up well. We both slept well that night though.

We headed out that night for our first delivery in Sullivan, MO. After we unloaded the truck bodies, we headed to Berryville, AR where we unloaded the screen. We had to do that stop next and then go back to Waynesville, MO to deliver the pickup truck because it was a surprise and we couldn't arrive until that Friday. So we sat for three days and waited for the 18th to arrive. When it did, we showed up, unloaded the truck, and played Santa. It was a complete surprise and worth every minute of the wait!

From there we went to Nashville where we loaded a forklift going up to Houlton, ME. after we loaded the forklift, we went to Waverly, TN and loaded a skidder that was going to Hillsborough, NH. We were quite lucky to have been able to find these loads back home, since it was so close to the holidays. The skidder was an oversize load so we need to get permits. during the winter months, it is always a challenge to haul an oversize load, since the days are so short. fortunately, the weather cooperated, no mishaps occurred, (that happens in the next update) and we made it to NH before the holiday curfew.

The following Monday, we went to Houlton and delivered the forklift. There wasn't anything moving out of northern Maine, so we came home and enjoyed a little home time. We spent New Years Eve babysitting while John's friends went out. Times like this I think he needs to "get a life" as you people put it. I can't complain though. I'm warm and well fed, even if I still have to go out to pee in the cold when there is a perfectly good tree in the corner!

That's it for now!

Hudson, the semi beagle

December 9th, 2009

Hi to everyone,

Greetings from Clearfield, PA. We are picking up a couple of trash containers tomorrow in Hadley, PA so we are staying here and waiting out the snow storm that is rolling through the area.

John has been pretty busy since the last update. We did a quick trip down to South Carolina and were able to find a load back to Maine within 10 miles from the house. We had some down time where we got caught up on things around the house and the truck...same stuff as usual. I keep an eye on things at the shop to make sure that John and Terry don't screw anything up. I sometimes keep Terry's creeper warm as well.

We were home for Halloween and had as many as two kids come trick or treating. The neighbors came by before they headed out to a more trick or treat friendly neighborhood that wasn't on a busy main road. When the kids knocked at the door, John went to get the candy and also got a couple frozen burritos. He handed those out and the kids weren't impressed. The parents thought it was funny. I didn't understand any of it. Just another one of your human traditions.

A couple of days later, we headed up north to load some crane parts going to Boston. John had some local trips lined up after that to finish out the week.So much for plans. Next thing I know, we are heading to Mobile, Alabama with a backhoe. From there we headed to California with three partial loads we picked up in New Orleans and Houston. Our final drop was in the bay area so we got to spend some time with John's relatives out there. We always have fun out there.

On our last delivery, a piece of lumber was dropped on John's hand and it was a little sore. well, since he had an audience that apparently cared, I do pick up on subtle hints, he decided to milk the sympathy for as long as he could. We went out for breakfast one morning to a fashionable section of Oakland and found a place outside to eat. There were dogs everywhere! John looked out of place, but I fit right in. Where's my rhinestone collar and my personal handler?

Sunday night, we were treated to a traditional turkey dinner, since we were going to be on the road on Thanksgiving. The next day, we loaded in Stockton, CA heading for Syracuse, NY and Ayer, MA. Later that day, we stopped at a rest area on Donner's pass. There was a couple and their dog who had lost their home to a fire. They had nothing! They were farmers and were trying to get to Colorado, to a dairy farm they had worked in the past. John packed the turkey and fixings, some blankets, and I shared my dog food, and gave it to them. That gave a whole new perspective to Thanksgiving.

We had an uneventful trip across and made our first delivery in Syracuse on Friday morning. On a side note, while traveling through Nevada, we were going through Battle Mountain, and we saw a billboard that referred to an article in the Washington Post calling Battle Mountain, NV "the armpit of the country." Well, to make the best of a situation, the new slogan for the town is "Make us your pit stop." This humor is from the same state that built a prison in Independence Valley.

Once we unloaded in Syracuse, we stopped in Connecticut, and loaded a skidder for a friend back in Maine. Once loaded, John found out it was wide and needed permits. With no other option, off we snuck, hoping nobody would bother us. All we had to do was go about 100 miles to Leominster Mass, where we were planning to go to drop the trailer and bobtail to Kittery, ME and spend the weekend with John's brother and family. It was a nervous 100 miles but we made it. We dropped the trailer and made it to kittery that afternoon. It was good to see everyone and get all the attention! I even got to beg and climb up on the dishwasher and clean things up.

Sunday night and we are back in Mass. hooked up to the trailer. John orders the permits Monday morning and we are off again. We deliver the last half of the California load in Ayer, MA and Tuesday we deliver the skidder. I was expecting to head home after this, but John has other plans. He got a call to see if he wanted to do a quick round trip out to Utica NY, and back. Since freight is slow, naturally, he said yes. That trip went off without a hitch and when we got back to Fairfield, to unload, there was a piece of farm equipment right there going out near Albany. We then went home and had a pickup truck to load that was going to Missouri.

It was a very short weekend with lots to do, but John was able to get all the primary things done. I'm glad that things have been as busy as they have. I would hate to think that I have to start hunting and killing my own food. It's so much easier to have it served to me twice a day. As I said earlier, I could live the rich life.

That brings things up to date. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Hudson, the semi beagle

October 20th, 2009

Hi to everyone,

I'm home with John and we are getting ready for a trip down to Greensboro, NC. We had a little snow the day before yesterday, which is way too early, so we are glad to be heading south.

I have an official announcement to make. I have been given a new name by one of John's friends who is also a trucker. I guess you could call it my official trucker CB handle. Anyway, I am now known as "Hudson, the semi beagle". I think it sounds good.

Thanks to everyone who made the Beagle Bash so much fun. It was fun to see everyone and make new friends. I can't speak for John, but I look forward to the bash every year. Luckily, for the past three years, our schedule has allowed us to attend.

Since my last update, we have had a couple of shorter trips than usual. We had to stay around because one of John's friends got married in September. I wasn't invited for some reason. Later that evening, after the wedding, while we were getting ready to go home, I made a new friend. John was putting his stuff in the pickup when his mom started telling him to call Hudson, quickly. I don't know why they didn't like my new friend, he seemed nice to me. Well anyway, we sniffed each other to get acquainted and then went our separate ways. I didn't see why they made such a big deal about my new friend, Mr. Skunk. I hope we get to play together next time we're at John's moms house!

On one of out trips, We took some steel to a coal mine in Hillsboro, Il. The day we delivered, it had been raining all night and was still raining hard. The road to the mine was flooded in several spots. When John was done he was so wet he looked like...well...a wet dog. It rained all day and into the next day where he had to load a load of roofing supplies that needed to be tarped. I actually felt sorry for him. Especially later in the day, when, while fueling up, a lady fueling next to us called over and said "Hey handsome!" John turned around to say hi, and realized she was talking to me. Sometimes he acts like such a loser. I mean, why would anyone talk to him that way? We caught up to a friend who loaded at the same place. He was headed to Long Island and we were headed to Massachusetts. We met up at a truck stop in Pennsylvania, and spent the day hanging out, working on the trucks, and looking for Scotty's wallet. He was nice though and read to me in the afternoon. He made fun of John all the time. I like him!

Our other trip took us down to Knoxville, Tn. We had several stops along the way, in Maryland and North Carolina. On the way down, we stopped in Virginia, to have lunch with John's sisters. During lunch, John got a call—our friend lost his battle with cancer. He was John's friend of 20 years, but he was my friend as well. He let me get up in his lap along with his two Pugs. He was a friend to all and will be missed. Obviously, we had to rearrange our travel plans. From Knoxville, we were supposed to head to Memphis to join a friend and attend some drag racing the following weekend. We canceled the races and were able to find a load back home. I guess I must have had cancer on my mind because I felt a lump on the top of my head. I panicked because I was sure it was a brain tumor. I had John look at it and as it turned out, it was only a tick. I guess I may have overreacted.

After we got home, John had some friends over from a trucking company where it all started years ago, to toast and remember their friend. I wish I understood people talk. I understand laughter and there sure was a lot of it that night. Just goes to show what kind of person he was.

To end on a happy note, we were lucky enough to be able to help transport a fellow B.O.N.E.S. beagle to his forever home. Saturday, we picked up Jet in York, ME and took him down to Chelmsford, MA to his forever home. He would make a good trucker beagle! He spent the first part of the trip looking out the windshield, then he laid down and went to sleep like a veteran of the highway. I'm sure life for him will be as good as the rest of us are enjoying. Thanks again for B.O.N.E.S.!

Hudson, the semi beagle

September 11th, 2009

JOHN GOES TO PRISON

Well, kind of -- I'll get to that a little later.

We just got home from another extended trip on the road that took us out to the pacific northwest. Back in mid-July we loaded a couple military ambulances that were headed out to Oregon. Along with the ambulances we had a machine that was going to Kentucky. After we delivered the machine in Kentucky, we then headed up to Indiana and loaded an industrial washing machine going to a federal prison in Washington.

After loading the washer, John decided to take a scenic route from Indianapolis, which followed the original pony express route, through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado into Denver. We even passed through the geographical center of the United States. No I'm not going to tell you where it is, you have to look it up. I will give you a hint...it's on US 36.

We stopped in Denver and John was able to look up some friends from high school. We got to the truckstop, and when John was backing into a spot, he hit a piece of concrete barrier that was partially hidden and broke off the ICC bumper on the trailer. He was NOT happy! Luckily, it was a relatively easy, cheap fix. I had to stay in the truck for the afternoon while John went to visit, but they came by and said hi. I think they liked me better, and were just being polite to John.

We got out to Clacamas, OR and delivered the Ambulances. then we went to Clallum Bay, WA where we delivered the Washer. After a few days of searching, John found a load of diving equipment in Seattle that was going to a dam project in Colorado. Due to all the oxygen tanks that were part of the load it was a hazmat load which required placards. The shipper is required to provide the placards, and in this case, the shipper had none. The ones we had were not the right ones. So after some head scratching, John decided to tarp the load and hope nobody wanted to peak under the tarps. Luck was with us, we made it to the job site without incident. There was a big crane there to unload us because they had to reach from our trailer out to the barge. It was fun to watch.

From there, we headed back to Spokane, where John was going to spend a week with his nephew, while his parents took his sister off to college. On our way, we were passed by a pickup truck that had a goat and a pit bull in the truck bed separated by a piece of wrought iron fence. Only in Idaho!

We had a good week and I had fun with their Corgi, Maggie, the legless wonder. We had a good time in Spokane, but after 10 days, it was time to hit the road. Maggie was starting to get "clingy", following me around, lying down next to me, and sharing her toys. Don't get me wrong, she is fun, but I'm a free spirit who's mistress is the open road.

The following Monday, we loaded an Army truck that was going back to Augusta, ME. We also loaded 5 other partials in the Seattle, and Portland areas that were all going back to New England. This was one of those rare trips where freight just falls into place every time you pick up the phone and make a call. This is what makes trucking fun and rewarding. Too bad these loads seem to come along once a year!

We got home and were looking forward to some time off, but a customer called with a quick trip for us. John was able to line up a load coming home for the Labor Day weekend. Well...welcome to the world of trucking. We loaded and delivered the first stop on Thursday without any problems, but Friday brought us delays in the last two stops so we couldn't make it down to Camden, NJ in time to load our load home. We spent the holiday weekend at a truckstop in lovely Bordentown, NJ. It's hard to be stuck over a holiday weekend so close to home. We loaded our load of steel Tuesday morning and delivered it in New Brunswick On Wednesday.

We made it home and are looking forward to a few days to relax and get things done around the house... I relax while John gets things done.

Hudson

July 26th, 2009

Hi all,

Time to check in from rainy Durham, ME. From what we have been told, or have seen ourselves, the rain just won't quit. The summer has been wet and cold so far, Luckily, the weather was great down in Virginia when we were down for the third graduation back in June. It was a good time and it was nice to see Hally, Shadow, and Toby. John was able to get a load down to Virginia so he could start getting some money back into the bank (whatever that means). As long as I have food, what else matters. On our way home after the graduation, we had loaded a backhoe in New York. We had just gotten back on the highway and up to speed when I heard John mutter to himself, "what was that?" Luckily for him, I was watching out the window, and was able to tell him it was the roof off the backhoe that blew off and was now lying in the median. John pulled over and walked back to retrieve it. For some reason the roof was not attached properly and had blown off. It is a 25 year old machine so that may have something to do with it. John was able to get it to its new owner without losing any more parts.

We spent the next week at home trying to find loads out of Maine. Things are quite slow so John caught up on stuff around the house and worked on the truck. I played with Brody and Lilly next door, slept, and caught up on some light reading which comes in handy at the truck stops. I let John tell the jokes and pretend that they're his jokes.

Finally, John found a load down in Newport, RI going out to Seattle.It was 7 empty periscope crates we picked up at the Navy Base. We loaded on Friday and finally headed west. It was nice to be able to get out and do some riding for a change. The trip out went well and I even made some horse friends out in Montana. After unloading in Seattle, John found a load nearby going back to Vermont that he loaded the next day.

After unloading in Vermont, We went to Albany to load some culverts heading back to Maine. We are loaded for New York now and need to get out to Illinois to pick up some truck sanders that need to come back to Maine. For the time being, things seem to be picking up a little. Everyone keeps talking about the economy and how bad it is. I don't even know what it is but I have all the food I need so what is the big deal. Sometimes I just don't get you humans.

Well, that's about all for now. It's time to get packed up for our next adventure.

Hudson

June 14th, 2009

Hi to everyone,

Things have been pretty busy the last couple of months. We were on an extended trip for 6 weeks, and then John left me with friends for 2 1/2 weeks while he traveled to Europe and then to Washing State for graduations. We have been home for a few days trying to catch up on errands and rest.

Way back in April, the day after Easter, John and I headed up north to start loading a couple of loads going out to the Midwest. We had to eventually make our way out to Detroit where we had a load of machinery going to Mexico. Once we got there, we realized that there was too much to fit into one load. The warehouse had another machine that was going to be shipped to Houston the following week, so we arranged to load that machine along with the rest of the Mexico load the following week.

We arrived at the brokerage warehouse in El Paso, TX where all the paperwork had to be processed. Once that was done, a Mexican truck hooked on to our trailer and took it across the border into Mexico. It was a strange sight watching our trailer leaving behind a strange tractor. I was afraid John was going to start crying and running down the street after the truck. He was very brave and didn't embarrass me.

U.S. trucks aren't allowed to cross into Mexico, that is why a Mexican truck had to hook on to the trailer. This can be a risky endeavor, but John had hauled for this customer before, Within the U.S., and decided the risk was minimal. It was only going 10 miles into Juarez, directly to the customers factory, and the customer was going to be with the trailer the whole time and took responsibility for all the equipment...tarps, chains, straps,etc. Later that day the trailer was returned without any problems.

We then looked for loads back to Michigan so we could get the second load. We found some crated machinery in New Mexico. During the trip, John had to stop and repair one of the crates which had started falling apart. It was a beautiful day and so he tied me up in the grass. I found a great "pile" to roll in and was having a great time when I heard John yell, then he jumped down from the trailer, and came running toward me. Next thing I know, he had gotten out some Joy. a picnic jug of water, and a towel, and started to give me a bath! After all the time I spent rolling around, what was he thinking?

We made it up to Michigan and picked up the second load headed for Houston and Juarez. On this trip, we went through St. Louis, and got a good view of the arch. It made me want to pee...what's up with that? Once we made our deliveries, we found a load of army humvees out of Ft Bliss,TX going to Nashville, TN. From there we loaded an ambulance in Alabama going up to Chicago. Then down to Georgia, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and finally Bangor Maine, then home.

A couple of days later, John dropped me off at his friends house while he traveled to Poland for a week and then to Spokane, Washington for another week. He had two nieces graduating high school. Terry and his wife took good care of me and I enjoyed myself for the most part. Like last year, they didn't let me sleep in bed with them, or get up in the recliner either. One day, while Cecile was giving Dog (yes, that's his name) his pain medication, he spit out the pill. Well, since I was right there, and there was competition for anything edible, I snatched up the pill before anyone new what happened. Cecile called the vet hot line and they told her what to do to induce vomiting. well, after a day of throwing up, I realized drugs weren't all they are "cracked" up to be (sorry for the pun).

Also, while I was visiting, a friend brought two steak B.O.N.E.S. for me and dog. We were both enjoying them when dog decided to take a closer look at mine. After I was done with him, he was afraid to come into the room. I thought German Shepherds were tough. About the same time, Terry decided I had enough of the bone for one day. As he approached me I snarled at him. He growled right back at me. This went on briefly, until he finally growled loudest and ended up with the bone.

John came home a few days later and he and I are both glad to be back home back to our old routines. Freight still continues to be slow here in Maine. He has one more graduation in Virginia the end of June, so I'll be able to go to this one with him.

That's about all for now.

Hudson

April 23rd, 2009

Hi to everyone, we are waiting for a load so this seemed a good time to get caught up.

I need to clear one thing up from the last chronicle. I was told that all the windmills in California, I had mentioned, are not really to harness the wind for power. Apparently, they are all there to keep pushing California towards the continent, to keep if from floating away, in the event of an earthquake. We headed back out west after a few days home. I did have some time to play with Lily and Brody from next door. They don't play fair. They go in the deep snow, knowing that I can't. It's fun anyway.

We loaded a Jeep for California and the Machinery for Pennsylvania. Afterthat we found three other partials, all going out to California, starting in San Diego, and finishing out up North in Ukiah. We had a tractor going to Ukiah. Thecustomer lived 15 miles up a narrow winding road in the Mountains. It was beautiful, but had several narrow escapes on the many blind curves when cars came racing around the curve, not expecting a 75 foot tractor trailer taking up the road. We were going at a snails pace and the others were able to slow down and make it by.

We then went down to the Bay area where we had three days to visit with relatives. Everyone seemed glad to see me and they seemed to tolerate John. I was happy to see the dogs next door to John's Aunt. John went in to San Francisco with his cousin John to visit another cousin. He had invited them to an eviction party. Some apartments were being turned into condos so everyone in the building was being evicted.

The next Monday, we went to a small airport and loaded a fueling truck that was headed to Ohio. Then we loaded a tractor in Idaho for a friend back in Maine. We spent a few days running in and out of snow showers but it was an uneventful trip home.

While we were traveling through Nevada, we came upon an exit called Independence Valley. Like every other exit, it was in the middle of nowhere. The ironic thing about this exit was, the only thing at this exit was a prison. Someone has a sense of humor.

That's about all for now.

Hudson