The first time was due to my copilot not being able to find the customer to pick up our load. We were in Everett, Washington, just north and east of Seattle. The directions were not very clear and both GPS' sent him down the wrong road. So he went around the block, and with my help we found the place. I stayed up to do all the paperwork associated with picking up a load, off we went and back to the sleeper I went.
A few hours later I was woken up again. Copilot had pulled over to the side of the road and had woken me up. "I just saw a sign that said traction tires recommended, what does that mean?" I was up in a flash. "Are we on I-90 right before Snoqualmie pass?" I asked. He didn't know, but I knew. I immediately grabbed the cell phone and called 511. I had just listened to the message saying chains were being required on all vehicles over Snoqualmie when copilot announced "yes we're on I-90". At least he tries! But before I could tell him what I wanted us to do he had put the truck in gear and was heading down the road. He's always been very impatient. No matter tho, we just had to go up a few miles to turn around. I decided we would go to the TA to find out more information, and to possible wait it out. As we pulled in to exit 34, there were trucks lining both sides of the exit. "We might not be able to find parking" I said. We pull in to the truck stop and see an empty spot, but it's on his blind side so he has to find a place to turn around. But as we pull forward we found another empty spot, this one we just needed to pull in, bonus!! Not only that but it was super close to the entrance so I didn't have to walk very far to use the restroom. I love how God takes care of us even for the small things!
After getting back to the truck I turned on my computer and went to the Washington state road conditions website, and again confirmed that they were requiring chains. Later I will have to tell the story of the first time we ran into this same situation, at this exact same location. We are not chaining-up type people. So we both decided to go to sleep and hope that the chains-in-affect would be released later in the day. It was almost 6 am by this time. At 9 am I woke up and called information and they did indeed lift the chain requirement, so I grabbed my coffee and off we went.
The view over Snoqualmie pass is one of my favorites. And today the pine trees were topped with almost a foot of fluffy white snow. It was amazing and this is one of the reasons why I love my job.
Later that same day, which was yesterday March 21st, I was driving over a mountain pass in Idaho, just past Couer d' Alene, when it started snowing... no wait, let me tell the truth, it had started snowing around Spokane, Washington, but once I started going up the mountain, the snow started to fall pretty heavily. I kept an eye on the signs that says "chains required when flashing" but they never did flash. But me and the trucks in front of me and behind me took it easy up, and then down, going about 25 mph the whole way. Once I was down and the roads got better I breathed easier. Copilot slept through the whole thing.
Something else happened yesterday that just adds to my adventures in trucking. Copilot had woken up after only sleeping a few hours (later he would sleep more). I was driving the boring part of I-90, which is after Snoqualmie but before Spokane, when suddenly ahead of me I see 3 trucks start to pull off. I see a sign that says "Restaurant" and I think to myself, wow must be a good restaurant. One other truck did not pull off. I didn't see much of anything else because I was concentrating on not hitting these trucks in front of me as they had started to slow down to get off the exit. But then something funny happened - copilot just happened to look out his window at where the trucks had pulled off, and he sees a uniformed officer waving his arms! "Hey I think that was a weigh station!" he says. "And that officer is waving his arms saying we were supposed to pull off there! You better pull over!" So pull over I did, and put my flashers on. We were discussing what should be our next move - walk back there with my cdl and registration? drive up to the next exit and turn around? - when the officer came up behind us in a van thingy with flashing lights. He walks up to the passenger door and Manuel rolls down his window. I tell him I'm sorry I missed the weigh station but that my gps didn't tell me, and my EZpass didn't flash anything either. He kinda laughs and says "So you missed those 2 signs?" DUH. Yup I sure did! He looked at my license and registration and lets me off with a verbal warning. *PHEW* And the first thing I can think of is my trainer at PTEC, Al, drilling into our heads "YOU HAVE TO READ THE SIGNS!" Lesson learned, I wont let that happen to me again!
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