At Long Last

Thursday, February 4, 2010; 8:30 AM:

First, I want to make another observation about Mark. He made fun of my snoring the first night we roomed together. I was apparently so tired that I didn’t notice his snoring. He made comments about how I was making barnyard noises. He couldn’t wait to hear what animal I would impersonate next.

It was all in good nature, so I just laughed it off. Well, last night I must not have been quite so tired, as I woke up around 1:30 to one of the most frightening sounds I’ve ever heard. There was a bear in the room, snarling, growling, and making horrifying sounds of devouring what could only have been a human corpse – and since I was still alive, I knew it must have been Mark’s corpse.

Except that there was no bear, and Mark is a loud, terrifying-sound-making snorer. I lay in bed for almost 2 hours, unable to tune it out. Eventually, he started waking up, and the snoring subsided. I drifted back off. He was gone by the time I woke up again.

I made it onto the 8 o’clock shuttle from the motel to the terminal. That part was easy enough, once we convinced the other people on the shuttle to move their bags off the seats so there was enough room for everybody who needed to go.

Once at the terminal, I turned in my direct deposit form (would have done it in orientation, but I couldn’t find my voided check), then I called Mike to let him know I was ready whenever he was. Wouldn’t you know it, he was in the truck waiting for me already.

It’s now about 6:30 Mountain Time. Mike drove us to pick up our load in Rancho Cucamonga (yes, there really is such a place), then he drove as far as Barstow, California, where we stopped for fuel, lunch, and to trade places.

It was now my turn.

I drove just over 450 miles from Barstow to Richfield, Utah. California has some pretty restrictive laws on trucks, one of which is “all vehicles with trailers – maximum speed 55” while everybody else gets to go 75. On top of that, the truck itself (all Werner trucks) are governed at 65 (which is actually rather reasonable). So, it took 9 hours to make the trip.

We stopped for the night at the Flying J in Richfield, and got back on the road about 2 hours ago. Mike will probably drive another 6-8 hours, then it’s my turn. So I’ve got some time to kill.

Good thing I brought movies.