We got Up early, well Pops did, I was awake but stayed on the bed. He made it to he chain up area and the road was still closed. So we waited a little longer until we saw traffic going. We tried again. At first they told us no, it had to be chains, but Pops told them that he saw on the internet that Nevada had just recently approved the tire socks. So, they left us go but told us that there was another checkpoint at Truckee, CA.
We made it to Truckee. They looked at our tire socks and waved us through. Oh, boy, Donner Summit, here we come.
We made it! No problems at all. 85 miles of mountain and we did just fine on the incline and the descent.
By the time we were 2/3 of the way down, we were out of snow.
We made it to our pickup on time. But ended up being there for hours. There was no "hurry up" in anyone who worked there. I mean, everyone was friendly, but no one cared to make us a priority. However we did get our load on and then it was back up and over the same mountain for our delivery near Reno.
But what a difference a few hours had made. The roads were cleared of snow and ice and we're just wet now.
It was a much better trip back.
We got a call from our company. They wanted us to change our pre dispatch. We had been scheduled for a load picking up in Las Vegas going back to Columbus, OH. This trip was the bargaining chip for us to accept the California load in the first place. So giving it up sounded ridiculous. However we were offered a good load with good pay going from California to Bloomington, Indiana. So there went our Las Vegas load.
Then it was once again back up and over the mountain to California. Pops was driving this time while I slept.
He woke me up as we got near to the pickup. It was my turn to drive and we were about 30 miles out. The day was clear and sunny but still a little cool. Traffic was pretty light.
We were about 8 miles away when we got a message that this load was cancelling.
Oh no! Now here we are in California wanting to be east so we can be home for Christmas.
We sat still, waiting, hoping for something else. I was trying really hard not to cry or be panicky.
We were offered several loads. All of them were intrastate California. Then another Las Vegas load came to us. It was delivering in Pittsburgh! We accepted the load.
But we didn't get it.
Finally we accepted and were dispatched on a load delivering in Denver, CO. At least it was east of the Rocky Mountains and we would still have a week to work our way closer.
But before we even began to move the truck, that load cancelled too.
A load came going from Seattle, WA to eastern Maryland. We looked at the miles, the pay, the opportunity to get close to home, then we looked at the weather. Oh, goodness, the weather was going to be snowy.
Well, we have the awesome tire socks, right?
So we accepted and got the load.
I was driving, north, up through California. It was a very pretty drive. But by my bedtime we were in the mountains and it was beginning to snow.
Pops had some snow covered roads, but when I woke up it was raining really hard. We were near Portland, Oregon.
This is Portland.
We had the evening free so Pops called some friends of ours, Howard and Debbie Herndon. They were free too and offered to take us to dinner. They picked us up and we went to Jasmine Mongolia Grill.
It was a buffet of every kind of meat and vegetable. They were raw. So you fill bowls of whatever you want, take them to the grill and watch them cook it. It was so good.
We had such a lovely time with them. It ended way too soon and they drove us back to our truck, presented us with a fresh baked gingerbread loaf and we all said goodbye.
After picking up our load the next morning we set out for our long journey. Our computer said it was just over 2900 miles.
We were just 53 miles from leaving our pickup when we were stopped. The road was already closed down because of snow removal ahead. We waited two hours until we were allowed to leave provided you were chained up. Pops put the tire socks on and we got moving.it was a long, slow climb. Three times we came to a complete stop and all three times I pulled out without spinning a wheel. We were just so impressed with the tire socks.
Near the top Pops began to drive. It was just as slow back down the big mountain. He drove, I slept.
I woke up in Montana. It was still dark and still snowing very hard. I started to drive. I took it slow, very slowly.
After a while I found bare roads. It was so good to finally sigh in relief. It had been over 600 miles of snowy roads so far.
We started to notice a lot of deer. They seemed to be everywhere.
Then came Wyoming and South Dakota. There was still some snow, but the roads were good.
The rest of our trip, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland seemed like a breeze.
This is Mason, our grandson. He seems to be growing big and strong. I can't wait to meet him.
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