Homeward Bound Now

[CZ93X62]

Well, all great trips meet their end point. The four of us departed from Orlando FL at about 1 P.M--Sara and Melissa by air a few hours later, Marie and I after good-byes at the airport.

We drove out of the insane traffic and construction cluster-BLANK that is Orlando at present. We turnpiked it northwest to Ocala, where we got onto U.S. 27 to Tallahassee. What a gorgeous drive! Mostly farm and ranch country, and was a faster drive from Ocala to THA than the I-75/I-10 freeway route. GO THIS WAY if you travel in that direction.

We ended out day in Pensacola (again) about 8 P.M., and was able to take in about 3/4 of Thursday Night Football ln the hotel room. There was a group of young men in the hotel bar that were very strongly partisan toward Tampa Bay (how surprising.....). I used to enjoy watching games with friends or fans in bars. I'm a loaf now, I just watched with very low sound while Marie did homework.

Today we were out the door by 8:15 A.M. and down I-10 westbound. We were through the rest of FL and into AL and MS by lunch time, then into LA and through Nawlins by about 3 P.M., where traffic wasn't real bad. Just as we approached the LA/TX border, a tennis-ball-sized rock fell out of the bed of a dirt hauler and bounced up into Marie's windshield. I didn't shatter through, but needs replacing. Scared the liver and lights out of us.

Got to Houston about 6:45 P.M., and traffic was awful. It took most of an hours to get through the Houson metro area. Houstol SUCKED going in both directions. West of Houstol, some pretty dogmatic rain downpours and lightning kept us entertained, and road costruction meant unmarked lanes and fog lines for about 25 miles of darkness and downpour. That took another hour. That broke off and the DOT remembered to paint lanes and stripes again, and we pulled into Seguin, TX about an hour ago. Today was....sufficiently interesting.

Back at it tomorrow and Sunday.

 

[Intheshop]

Nuthin like heading "back to the barn" eh?

 

[Cherokee]

North Fla does have some nice country. Sounds like you made good time to Houston, its a real pain to drive in. Long day...but you're headed home. Safe travels.

 

[Pistolero]

Stay safe, Al, that rock sounds really scary.

I always use US 27 for that run around the armpit of Fla. No pejorative, just the shape.
Great road, tons less traffic.
Be safe the rest of the way. Beautiful weather here in the south of England, 69F for the high. Sunny, great historic races. Most dressed for the era.
Pix later.

 

[popper]

an hours to get through the Houston metro area be happy you didn't try Austin during evening!!

 

[CZ93X62]

Today went well, take it all around. About 14 hours of driving, and we parked about 20 minutes ago. Seguin, TX to Marana, AZ (just west of Tucson). So about 420 miles to home, which we should knock out in 6-7 hours tomorrow. We might sleep a bit late tomorrow. If those totals hold, then 40 hours of driving got us from 30 miles west of the Atlantic coast to within 50 miles of the Pacific's surfline. Not bad for two old people.

Just like yesterday, we hit summer monsoons in west TX, most of NM, and much of AZ. Not the whole distance, but at least 1/3 of the time it rained--somerimes with gusto. It cleans the bugs from the windshield. For those keeping track of such things, TX via I-10 wider at 880 miles than CA is tall via I-5 (801 miles). What a huge place. Er, places.

 

[Ian]

While driving I-20 near Weatherford one time I heard a trucker come on channel 19 and say "I been driving ALL F....... DAY and am still in Texas!" Well, duh. Running the gauntlet of I-10 through downtown San Antonio and El Paso isn't much fun even in light traffic. Austin? Fuggetaboutit, was there Friday at morning and noon rush hours and didn't realize there were that many cars in the whole universe, much less a 20-mile radius. 40 hours of seat time in three days is no small feat for anyone, I just about lose my mind driving 18 hours in one day to Colorado and have a rest before and after.

 

[Pistolero]

That's a lot of driving, Al.
The run from Key West to Mobile is a deceptive one, too.
About 850 to 880 miles, people won't believe you if you say that you can drive over 800 miles in Fla, not retracing or wandering, just getting from here to there.
Crossing Montana can take all day, west to east, too.

 

[Intheshop]

Cousin lives in Shreveport. Used to drive a wrecker and had monthly biz in Dallas.....he was always proud of the <2hr eta.

 

[fiver]

probably makes you appreciate some of those truck drivers stuck at 65 maximum on a flat and 40 on a hill if it isn't over 3% just a bit more eh?
probably feel a little ashamed for giving a few of them a speeding ticket for trying to get a run down a hill so they can go up the next one before driving another 10 hours for the third day in a row trying to get from one place to another in the same state.

okay I know you don't.
but it puts a different perspective on things when your butt has completely rearranged the seat cushions all the way down to the springs underneath.

 

[CZ93X62]

I wrote very few cites to truckers over the years--mostly because they didn't often screw up badly enough to warrant a citation. My shop's emphasis wasn't on the freeways or the commercial drivers, unless it was egregious. A 55 MPH speed limit was and is ridiculous on a light-traffic freeway.

We rolled in at home about an hour ago--and were greeted by a leaking water heater/located in the garage. There is no water under the gun safe, but a few boxes of miscellaneous inexpensive stuff might be ruined. Serial cuss words go [HERE].

 

[462]

Allen,
I'm glad your trip was a safe one.

 

[Intheshop]

Water heater just happy to see you?

 

[Bret4207]

probably makes you appreciate some of those truck drivers stuck at 65 maximum on a flat and 40 on a hill if it isn't over 3% just a bit more eh?
probably feel a little ashamed for giving a few of them a speeding ticket for trying to get a run down a hill so they can go up the next one before driving another 10 hours for the third day in a row trying to get from one place to another in the same state.

okay I know you don't.
but it puts a different perspective on things when your butt has completely rearranged the seat cushions all the way down to the springs underneath.

A trucker that only drove 30 hours in 3 days! HAR! That's a good one!!! You must have missed the fact Log Books are stored in the "Fiction" section of the truckers library!!!

 

[fiver]

i dunno what your talking about.....

I still can't explain to my sisters husband how I was able to work a 90-120hr. week and have more than enough time to drive a rig 14 days in.
he drives truck OTR and doesn't understand the back of the handbook where the exemptions are or how to fill them in on a log book.
you also have to explain them at most weigh stations, which then cuts off another hour of your drive time for the day.

 

[Rick]

I never had a log book problem, I simply kept 2 of them going at once. Which one I got out all depends on who wanted to see it. See? Simple, no problems.

 

[Pistolero]

Al, hope the problems are minimal. Water wrecks SO much stuff.

One of our checklist items before leaving on any period of vacation is "Main water inlet valve - SHUT",
and "Water heater down to lowest setting" is another.

A friend had a pipe break and flooded his home for two weeks while he was on vacation. We decided that
the minor hassle of valving off the main inlet pipe was a small price to pay for the peace of mind.
He had two gun safes full of rifles....sitting in water for two weeks about 6-8" deep. Water ruined ALL
the stocks, and wicked up and messed up most of the actions, something that I wouldn't have guessed
at by myself. BIG insurance payout.

 

[Ian]

I put a main shutoff for the water inside the water heater closet. That valve gets turned and both the water heater breakers and water pump breaker gets thrown if we leave for even an overnight trip. For some reason stuff always lets go when you aren't home and have no trusted neighbors with keys to look out for you.

 

[Rick]

Same here, if leaving for any length of time I shut off the well pump and hot water heater & the HVAC. I leave only some low level LED bulbs on inside and the LED motion sensor lights outside switched on. Ian's right, that stuff never goes south when your home but leave for the weekend and . . .

 

[462]

Many years ago, my wife came home to a dining room full of steam, and water on the floor. The water heater is in the garage, and shares a common wall with the dining room. A pin-size hole had developed in the hot water pipe and the hot water bored its way through both sides of the wall.

Water can be turned off at the meter, and appliances and electronic gizmos unplugged, when we are away for a couple days or longer.