Mar 15, 2011

( searching....)

Another perfect start to a seemingly perfect week.


If you know me at all, you would probably know that from the moment my load is assigned to me on Thursday, the little wheels inside my head begin to turn, churning out numerous options in which I can reroute my trip to save time. From the time I load up my gear on Sunday, I am already thinking about coming home.

Monday morning finds me in Youngsville, NC. After chatting up the customer, I begin my trek towards Evington, VA. Already knowing that because I will remain on the back roads for most of the day, I am inclined to sit back and enjoy the ride. And ride I did... After 4.5 hours of peddling down the lost highway, I am able to arrive at Customer #2, but at this point, I am resigned to the fact that I will not achieve all I have scheduled for the day. It seems that with the coming of Spring, everyone is out and about basking in the glow of warmth. And with this basking, there is surely some sightseeing to be done! Mother Nature is slowly canvassing this part of the world in vibrant colors and there is not a much better spot to take in the beauty than on the back roads. However, I am at work and 35mph in a 55mph zone is not helping my cause, especially when the duration of said impediment lasts for nearly 20 miles. UGH!!!! By 10:30am, I was knew it was a lost cause.

Now don't get me wrong, while I may have grumbled under my breathe for a few miles, I was also soaking up my surroundings. Nothing is more peaceful than tooling around on the back roads. Such serenity!!

The second customer had recently moved and had yet to receive a delivery at the new location, so it was up to me to play Lewis and Clark. You would think with all the fancy technology available, this small feat would have been no problem. First off, I do not use a GPS tracking device. Same routes, same customer... Don't see the need for it. However, when you are riding around in the middle of absolutely freaking nowhere and cannot get more than 2 seconds worth of cellphone service, it tends to start looking bleak rather quickly. Trust me, I have put my Big Truck on many a road I had no business being on, and that is not the most comfortable feeling. So after dozens of numerous attempts I began to get just a little bit antsy. Even the local fellows on the CB had never heard of Happy Home Drive. Could it be because Happy Home Drive is actually just the name of the driveway to the only customer at the end of the Happy Little Road.

But I found it, made the delivery and proceeded back out onto the back roads. Once again settling back to enjoy the country sights, I am in no hurry to get to Maryland. After 6.5 hours of back road trucking at just over 300 miles, I finally reemerged into civilization. I am now racing the clock to beat traffic through DC, because at this point it is go.go.go!!

I arrive at Customer #3 at 4pm. Knowing I was not going to get unloaded, I ventured in to grab some food and let them know I would be waiting on them bright and early in the morning....

Well, it wasn't about 30 minutes later, I was back rolling. Have I ever mentioned how much I love my customers? Oh yeah, right back on track after giving up hope some 6 hours earlier!!

Oh that reminds me, for any of my new readers who have not had the pleasure of indulging in my misadventures or mistaken routes, perhaps you will enjoy this post ----> If I Had A Hammer

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pictures to go with this great post!

ZT

John said...

Very nice.