Day 41 Mar 23 Day 49 Mar 31
All right, this past week was a very interesting week indeed with all the crazy weather we had and how it effected my travels.
We had only 2 runs this past week all becuase of the crazy weather we had in Colorado. We did our first run that was close by in Texas and then we had a run we got to pick up from Sears on Wenesday to take to Aurora, Colorado which we have been there before so no problem. The drive up there was simple and easy and dry. All around the land was dry and barely aything in site. We got into Aurora, Colorado and notice that it was starting to snow a little and we knew in the broadcast it was going to snow a little bit. So we got to the mall and stopped and slept til morning to have the Sears store unload their things from the the trailer. We woke up in the morning and Tom got the trailer all set up for the Sears guys to unload the trailer and we went inside to the food court to go get somehting to eat in the mean time.
After eating i went to this nice arcade which was pretty big. I played a round of DDR and since i have not played in a while, i had to get back into the game sorta. I finsih that and went back to the truck to find that it has been unloaded and we could leave.
We left and made our way to the Denver Terminal of our company to pick up our next load to be taken to a Target warehouse in Tyler, TX which we have done before no problem. When we got to the terminal, we notice that the wind has picked up alot more and snow has been starting to fall faster as well. We didnt really think much about it until we got on Highway 76 to leave Denver and thats when all the fun and action begins. Visibility droped to near nothing and all traffic slowed to 15 MPH until we came to a complete stop. All hell broke loose through out town with ppl crashing into everyone, buses, cars, trucks, etc.. It was mayhem all over and when we started moving again, we noticed that the other side of the highway was not moving and we thought they just closed that side already due to the wetaher and stuff. We got to a bridge where a truck in front of us was stuck and couldnt move due to it being to slick. We had no prblem getting over and when we got over we looked to the other side and we found the prblenm to why traffic was not coming down the other way. What i saw was the biggest pile up ever. There had to be at least 40-50 vechiles crashed in eery which way possible and when i say vechiles i mean cars, trucks, a bus, Semis, etc.. It was bad very bad and ppl were slaming on their brakes to rubber neck and Tom having close calls with idiots braking on bridges i mean a bridge ca mon you think ppl in Denver would be used to this kind of weather and would know how to drive in it. Psh yeah right, im wrong and they are dumb. I live in Texas and we rarely get this kind of weather and i know how to drive in it smartly. Oh yeah, it was also scary when the trailer was swiinging left and right when we slowed down to hard becuase of some idiot braking to hard. We also saw some cars spin out on the highway and make it back frontways and go zooing down the ghiway again and spin out again. you think they would leanr their lesson the first time but i guess it will take them to crash to learn it the very hard way.
So anyway, they closed I-70 out fo Denver so we had to stop at a Wal-Mart near by to wait it out and it was about 2 hour wait until they re-open it. In that time we went to Wal-Mart to get something to eat and all the food departments were closed and sent home early and the surrounding resturants did the same except for Wendy's, they stayed open til 4pm. We got food there and went back to the truck and i checked back on the road and they re-opend I-70 and we took off agian. We attempted to leave Denver at 11am and didnt reach Lamar, COlorado until about 11pm that night where Tom decided to stop becuase it was impossible to see. On our way to Lamar, they closed the highway due to a truck semi crashing on a bridge out of the town of Kit Carson. It took them about 2 hours to get it clear for us to pass. There was a Cafe right there and Tom went to check to see if it was open and the owner tells him yeah, i can make you something but will hand it to you through the door. Thats cold man, and they even refused to serve the EMS and police that responded to the accident. That person lost out on alot of money they could have made right then and there and we wont stop there ever due to their rude attitude. So we finnaly got through and made it to Lamar and stopped and eat some food at the Loves Truck Stop.
We slept and woke up in the morning and wanted to get out of COlorado asap but we got to Springfield, Colorado and Tom wanted to stop at the truck stop there to get some chewing tobaco. He finds out the truck stop was closed and he came back and started to leave but, the brakes have frozen shut and i had to go out and beat them with a sledgehammer in order to get them to seperate. As soon as we got that done, Tom started driving and he made a left turn to head towards the a\exit of the lot but the truck said no and went head first into a snow pack and we were stuck. The company called a truck wrecker to pull us out and after they did that, we were going to rroll out and when we made that decision, the higway patrol came and closed the gates to the highway in and out of town saying the roads are to bad to drive and they wont open them until morning fi ti clears up. Tom was not pleased at all and i wasnt either, the truck stop was closed and i have to deal with a man that is craving his snuff......yuck. We found out there was a LOve gas station down the road that was open and it had a SUbway in it and we took off to that and got some things and came back to the truck stop and parked for the rest of the night. Oh did i mention the heater on the APU unit was shot and we had no heat without having one of us sit by the brakes to tap the brake pedal so the engine wont turn off and have the heater on to warm up and then turn off the engine. We did that for a while and then went to sleep and the sleeping bags did all thw work for me keeping me toasty warm.
We woke up the next morning and the wind and snow has finnaly stopped and the roads were still closed to give the plows time to clear them out. The truck stop finnaly re-opened and we went in to get some hot drinks and some snacks. The resturant opened at 9 and we had breakfast there which was at a verygood price conisdered for a truck stop. After 11pm, the highway patrol re-opened the highway and we all took off towards Texas. We stopped in Whichta Falls to fuel up and i got tired of watching him drive and took a nap and he woke me up when we finnaly got to Paris, Tx at arouns 11pm last night where i am now taking 2 days off. Thanks goodness, i needed it.
We had only 2 runs this past week all becuase of the crazy weather we had in Colorado. We did our first run that was close by in Texas and then we had a run we got to pick up from Sears on Wenesday to take to Aurora, Colorado which we have been there before so no problem. The drive up there was simple and easy and dry. All around the land was dry and barely aything in site. We got into Aurora, Colorado and notice that it was starting to snow a little and we knew in the broadcast it was going to snow a little bit. So we got to the mall and stopped and slept til morning to have the Sears store unload their things from the the trailer. We woke up in the morning and Tom got the trailer all set up for the Sears guys to unload the trailer and we went inside to the food court to go get somehting to eat in the mean time.
After eating i went to this nice arcade which was pretty big. I played a round of DDR and since i have not played in a while, i had to get back into the game sorta. I finsih that and went back to the truck to find that it has been unloaded and we could leave.
We left and made our way to the Denver Terminal of our company to pick up our next load to be taken to a Target warehouse in Tyler, TX which we have done before no problem. When we got to the terminal, we notice that the wind has picked up alot more and snow has been starting to fall faster as well. We didnt really think much about it until we got on Highway 76 to leave Denver and thats when all the fun and action begins. Visibility droped to near nothing and all traffic slowed to 15 MPH until we came to a complete stop. All hell broke loose through out town with ppl crashing into everyone, buses, cars, trucks, etc.. It was mayhem all over and when we started moving again, we noticed that the other side of the highway was not moving and we thought they just closed that side already due to the wetaher and stuff. We got to a bridge where a truck in front of us was stuck and couldnt move due to it being to slick. We had no prblem getting over and when we got over we looked to the other side and we found the prblenm to why traffic was not coming down the other way. What i saw was the biggest pile up ever. There had to be at least 40-50 vechiles crashed in eery which way possible and when i say vechiles i mean cars, trucks, a bus, Semis, etc.. It was bad very bad and ppl were slaming on their brakes to rubber neck and Tom having close calls with idiots braking on bridges i mean a bridge ca mon you think ppl in Denver would be used to this kind of weather and would know how to drive in it. Psh yeah right, im wrong and they are dumb. I live in Texas and we rarely get this kind of weather and i know how to drive in it smartly. Oh yeah, it was also scary when the trailer was swiinging left and right when we slowed down to hard becuase of some idiot braking to hard. We also saw some cars spin out on the highway and make it back frontways and go zooing down the ghiway again and spin out again. you think they would leanr their lesson the first time but i guess it will take them to crash to learn it the very hard way.
So anyway, they closed I-70 out fo Denver so we had to stop at a Wal-Mart near by to wait it out and it was about 2 hour wait until they re-open it. In that time we went to Wal-Mart to get something to eat and all the food departments were closed and sent home early and the surrounding resturants did the same except for Wendy's, they stayed open til 4pm. We got food there and went back to the truck and i checked back on the road and they re-opend I-70 and we took off agian. We attempted to leave Denver at 11am and didnt reach Lamar, COlorado until about 11pm that night where Tom decided to stop becuase it was impossible to see. On our way to Lamar, they closed the highway due to a truck semi crashing on a bridge out of the town of Kit Carson. It took them about 2 hours to get it clear for us to pass. There was a Cafe right there and Tom went to check to see if it was open and the owner tells him yeah, i can make you something but will hand it to you through the door. Thats cold man, and they even refused to serve the EMS and police that responded to the accident. That person lost out on alot of money they could have made right then and there and we wont stop there ever due to their rude attitude. So we finnaly got through and made it to Lamar and stopped and eat some food at the Loves Truck Stop.
We slept and woke up in the morning and wanted to get out of COlorado asap but we got to Springfield, Colorado and Tom wanted to stop at the truck stop there to get some chewing tobaco. He finds out the truck stop was closed and he came back and started to leave but, the brakes have frozen shut and i had to go out and beat them with a sledgehammer in order to get them to seperate. As soon as we got that done, Tom started driving and he made a left turn to head towards the a\exit of the lot but the truck said no and went head first into a snow pack and we were stuck. The company called a truck wrecker to pull us out and after they did that, we were going to rroll out and when we made that decision, the higway patrol came and closed the gates to the highway in and out of town saying the roads are to bad to drive and they wont open them until morning fi ti clears up. Tom was not pleased at all and i wasnt either, the truck stop was closed and i have to deal with a man that is craving his snuff......yuck. We found out there was a LOve gas station down the road that was open and it had a SUbway in it and we took off to that and got some things and came back to the truck stop and parked for the rest of the night. Oh did i mention the heater on the APU unit was shot and we had no heat without having one of us sit by the brakes to tap the brake pedal so the engine wont turn off and have the heater on to warm up and then turn off the engine. We did that for a while and then went to sleep and the sleeping bags did all thw work for me keeping me toasty warm.
We woke up the next morning and the wind and snow has finnaly stopped and the roads were still closed to give the plows time to clear them out. The truck stop finnaly re-opened and we went in to get some hot drinks and some snacks. The resturant opened at 9 and we had breakfast there which was at a verygood price conisdered for a truck stop. After 11pm, the highway patrol re-opened the highway and we all took off towards Texas. We stopped in Whichta Falls to fuel up and i got tired of watching him drive and took a nap and he woke me up when we finnaly got to Paris, Tx at arouns 11pm last night where i am now taking 2 days off. Thanks goodness, i needed it.