Get Off The Truck

A few months back, maybe close to a year ago, I was coming off a load at the Lewiston, ME Walmart DC. I parked at an Irving Oil station near the town of Richmond, ME that just happens to have truck parking. I ended up doing a 34 there, per dispatch request. I went for a walk and kept waking after starting. A little over an hour later, I came to a beautiful scene of the Kennebec River. If you walk east on ME 197 (Main St) for 3.2 miles, it dead ends at the Kennebec River. There is a small park with a walking trail and benches.

Ryan, if I was there I would want a fishing rod. That’s a beautiful place.

BTW, does anyone go fishing while on the road? During breaks?

BTW, does anyone go fishing while on the road? During breaks?

I'm sure people do. Being able to purchase the license online makes it even easier. Most states charge $10-$15 for a 24 hour license to a non resident, otherwise you're looking around $50 give or take for a full year.

Back when I did food service nearly every single Thursday I sat for about 2 hours at my 3rd(?) Stop of the day. I kept addressing it to management and nothing changed until I threatened to take my fishing pole and hit the Des Moines river and send pics of what i catch. Then they changed my routing so I was sitting there 30 minutes tops, which I used to stack everything up so I could scoop and run once the customer arrived.

BTW, does anyone go fishing while on the road? During breaks?

That's why I love being home daily with 2 days off, allowed me to buy a bass boat last year and spend most Sundays on a lake.

A few months back, maybe close to a year ago, I was coming off a load at the Lewiston, ME Walmart DC. I parked at an Irving Oil station near the town of Richmond, ME that just happens to have truck parking. I ended up doing a 34 there, per dispatch request. I went for a walk and kept waking after starting. A little over an hour later, I came to a beautiful scene of the Kennebec River. If you walk east on ME 197 (Main St) for 3.2 miles, it dead ends at the Kennebec River. There is a small park with a walking trail and benches.

Ryan, if I was there I would want a fishing rod. That’s a beautiful place.

BTW, does anyone go fishing while on the road? During breaks?

I have more photos of the river. It's quite stunning.

Just got back from a weeks vacation. I took my 18 year old grandson on a Caribbean cruise. First time for both of us. We had a great time, but I thought most of it was boring compared to driving. And too much food. It’s not so much a cruise as it is gluttony. I probably gained 10 pounds which I now need to lose. Really glad to be back at work.

During the cruise, I wore my company T-shirt all the time and I had 4 other drivers come up to me and we had some good discussions. All 4 drivers are working steady and their companies are busy. One flat bed driver, one dry van , one reefer and one oil field. Of all these drivers, I was the least experienced. The flat bed driver is O/O and has been for 21 years. His tractor is an ‘89 with about 3 million miles on it. I could be wrong, but I got the impression he was struggling to keep the O/O thing going. But he was obviously fiercely independent and that was his priority. I asked him how busy he was and he replied: “As busy as I want to be.”, which could mean various things.

It was good to take some time away from the truck, but it seemed like more work to go on vacation than just to keep driving. And definitely more expensive.

Here’s the grandson after a half day on the beach. He looked like a lobster, even with using sunblock.

Rotisserie man

Bruce,

What cruise line and which ports?

Any interesting excursions, shows, or activities?

Below are pictures of a marbled grouper from a Caribbean cruise my brother and I took in 2013.

Bruce,

What cruise line and which ports?

Any interesting excursions, shows, or activities?

Below are pictures of a marbled grouper from a Caribbean cruise my brother and I took in 2013.

We went on the Carnival Conquest out of Miami. First stop, Key West. Second stop, Cozumel. No excursions, Devin just wanted to explore the local area on foot. We did take a taxi to a beach facility in Cozumel, but it wasn’t anything special. His sunburn happened after the cruise. We had a day long layover in Miami and he wanted to go to South Beach. He really enjoyed that experience, but paid the price. Teenagers.

Interestingly, I got to converse with several taxi drivers and practice my basic Spanish skills. What really struck me is how Covid negatively impacted their lives. Cozumel was the most graphic example. They lost their livelihoods for over a year when the cruise industry shut down and tourism stopped. They had to scramble to find other work just to survive. Same with the crews of the ships. The situation really created mass hardships. It was a “count your blessings” experience for me as a driver and I tried to impress this point on my grandson. I’ve been encouraging him to take a Spanish course in college. This trip did the trick. It got him hooked on the benefits of being bi-lingual and he is going to add that to his course load as soon as possible. Very positive development.

I forgot about posting photos of my trip to see Victoria Falls.