Year 2, Day 162 (Pennsylvania Bound, Then New Jersey)

Due to our delay yesterday, John and I only made it as far as Woodville, OH, just east of Toledo. This leaves us with about 490 miles left to go. We did, however, get pre-planned on a load that picks up tomorrow evening in Souderton, PA, which is only about 25 miles from Bethlehem. The only problem is that this will be one of those all-night runs, as it has 3 drops, finishing at 0930 Thursday in Bridgeton, NJ (about 1 1/2 hours south of Camden).

Being as I drive a truck, and I do get the occasional "live on the edge" streak, I wish I had an L.A. Kings jersey to wear during my drops (in case you don't follow the NHL, the Kings defeated the NJ Devils 6-1 last night, taking the Stanley Cup for their first time in their 45 year franchise history). Some would say that's a little crazy, some would say it would be a stupid move, but hey, they would probably do the same thing (by the way, the MVP award went to Kings' goalie, Jonathan Swift, for his most impressive performance).

Congratulations to the Kings... L.A. is VERY proud of you, as am I.

Year 2, Day 161 (Not Much Progress Made)

John and I left from Rochelle, IL this morning at about 1030 and made our way to Woodstock, IL for this load of pickles heading to Bethlehem, PA. We arrived at the customer just a little past 1200 for an appointment time of 1230... only to find that the CSR that dispatched us on this load gave us incorrect information, as our loading appointment was for 1100. Since we were late, we fell under a "work in" status. We were finally loaded and leaving at around 1630, just in time to get caught in Chicago rush hour traffic.

I was driving for that fiasco, which actually wasn't too bad, considering it was Chicago. I took a slight detour to Merrillville, IN to pick up a few groceries (and John did, as well). We did pretty well, in and out in less than an hour. I took us to the Indiana toll road and pulled off into the first service plaza to get this load scaled, and to let John take over.

Despite the SNAFU of being given the wrong information, getting delayed at the customer because of said SNAFU, then hitting the Chicago traffic (all of which affected our drive time), this evening is turning out pretty good. I found out a little while ago the update of Game 6 of NHL's Stanley Cup game: end of the first period, L.A. Kings are leading the NJ Devils 3-0.

Keep the pressure on, Kings... you take the Cup if you win this one!