Sometimes Change is Good!

After delivering in Durham, our next dispatch was to be Buffalo to Memphis.  Yes, it was back to Buffalo for us.  After dropping our trailer on Monday evening, we headed to the closest Petro. Vince’s dispatch for Wicked out of Buffalo arrived on Wednesday.  After we looked at the weather reports for Buffalo this weekend, we decided it would be best to leave Friday.  The weekend forecast for Buffalo and actually the entire East Coast and Midwest called for snow, cold temperatures and high winds.

On Friday, after breakfast we started out for Buffalo.  About an hour and half into our trip Vince’s phone started ringing.  It was an unknown caller, which we knew 90% of the time meant it was a Clark Dispatcher calling.  Sure enough it was Chris, a dispatcher for Clark letting us know the show decided they wanted to go with all team drivers for the Buffalo to Memphis trip.  As a result we were taken off Wicked and put on Once coming out of Durham headed to Orlando.  So we turned around and headed back to the Petro and this evening head to the theatre then it is off to sunny Florida. 

Needless to say I am thrilled with this change.  Let me see, freezing temps and snow in Buffalo or sunny Florida, which would you prefer?  Yes, sometimes change is good. 

Brody’s Diner and Flynn’s Truck Stop – a little piece of home

On the road our weeks consist of traveling from truck stop to theatre to truck stop with the occasional travel plaza thrown into the mix.  The old fashion truck stop is long gone; most truck stops are now chains with the same options in the stores and same menus at the restaurants.  But every once in a while we get a chance to go somewhere that is different, or in this case just like home. This week those places were Brody’s Diner and Flynn’s truck stop in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.

After Schenectady we learned our weekend dispatch was to take the show Once from Boston to Durham.  The closest truck stop to Boston from I-90 was Flynn’s on US 20.  The set up at Flynn’s is the truck stop is on one side of US 20 with an extra lot across the road.  At the corner of the extra lot is Brody’s Diner, an old fashion diner with waitresses and cooks that treat their regulars like family and strangers like regulars.  The cost of a meal is very reasonable especially for the amount of food you get.  If you go away from Brody’s hungry something is definitely wrong with you.

Brody's Diner

Brody’s is also the kind of diner, where when it is slow, the cook comes out to talk to you.  One afternoon he came out to share stories with us about the many accidents that have occurred outside the diner.  Like the time he was cooking and out of the corner he saw what he thought was a SUV in the air.  Sure enough he did. After hitting a car just before the diner the driver of the SUV lost control, hit a large rock that is outside the diner. Upon hitting the rock the SUV was projected into the air where it then smashed into the side of the chapel trailer that sits in the extra lot. That is only one of many accidents that they shared with us, so apparently it is never dull around the diner.   

While Brody’s is like Paul’s Restaurant at home, Flynn’s reminds me of our local Speedway.  I loved going in to pick something up in the evenings, because the evening guys always had their own music playing and were funny and very friendly.  The other thing nice about small truck stops is the prices for services are usually reasonable. The showers at Flynn’s were only $9 compared to the chains now as high as $15 and laundry only $2.25 for a wash and dry compared to $3.00 plus at the chains.

 

Flynn's Truck Stop

Along with hanging out at the diner and truck stop Vince and I also got the chance to go to the movies.  On Friday the new Jack Ryan movie came out and since I am a Jack Ryan and Chris Pine fan we had to go.  The theatre was only a few miles away, so all in all the time in Shrewsbury was like being home.

Next up, is our load out in Boston, which is usually good for a story or two.  Then off to Durham for load in.  Of course the weather prediction for Durham is 46 degrees on Tuesday. All I can say is sorry Durham, cold weather seems to follow me wherever I go.

The Trip to Milwaukee – Better Weather and Some Fun!

After surviving the blizzard Buffalo threw at us. We headed west toward Milwaukee.  While on our way we learned that our friend Jim Walker would be in northeast Ohio approximately the same time we would be passing through the area.  So we made plans to meet up with him for dinner Thursday night. 

As some of you may recall Jim was with Clark Transfer a few years back and the lead driver on Story time, a show tour Vince was on for about 10 months in 2010.  Jim has also been a guest poster on this blog. His post titled “Does Kalamazoo know it is 2011...” is among one of my highest viewed posts.  He is now with a company based out of Texas that provides him the opportunity to be home on a weekly basis.

Now most people when they get together with friends for dinner it is easy. Everyone meets up at a restaurant, possibly right after work; you have dinner and are home by 8:00 p.m.  When truck drivers want to meet up it isn’t so easy.  Getting to see Jim meant first figuring out a place where we could meet.  Vince did a search and found a Walmart in Streetsboro, Ohio that would be convenient for both of us to get to without going off route.  Now unlike most people whose day ends at 5:00 pm, that night Jim’s day didn’t end until 9:45 pm when he pulled into the Walmart.  We bobtailed (a tractor only is a bobtail) over to a Steak N Shake that was nearby to have dinner at 10:00 pm.  Not most people’s typical dinner plans with friends, but not that unusual for anyone in trucking.

While Vince and Jim had seen each other on the road since his leaving Clark, this was my first chance to catch up with him in a couple of years.  It was great seeing him, sharing stories and having some laughs.  Even though we miss seeing him on a more regular basis, it was great to see him looking well and content.

In addition to seeing Jim, on Saturday we were able to catch up with our niece, Kerry and her family who live in Milwaukee in a more regular type setting.  Our arrival on Saturday gave us the opportunity to hang out at their home Saturday afternoon and evening. It has been wonderful to see the girls grow and change over the years.  Right behind my chance to spend time with Vince, the opportunity to see family and friends still remains my second favorite thing about the road.

Over the years, Kerry, Tom and their girls, Elizabeth and Grace have been the family we have had the chance to visit the most. I believe this is most probably due to the strong supporters of the arts that can be found in Milwaukee, which results in more shows going in and out of there and most assuredly plain darn luck. The fact that they live 10 minutes from the truck stop helps too. Our trying to meet up with friends and family sometimes is very difficult especially depending on their proximity to a truck stop.  As you might imagine, we can’t just get into town and pull up in front of someone’s house with our truck.  For some reason most neighbors just don’t appreciate the beauty of a semi.

On Sunday, the weather in Milwaukee was clear and the temperature was in the high 30s.  It was a pleasant change from the previous week’s load out in Cleveland of torrential rains and the blizzard conditions of Buffalo’s load in.  Since we were one of the first trucks to get loaded in Milwaukee we were not there long last night. We were on our way in a few short hours and are now on I-80 eastbound heading to Schenectady, NY.  

We Survived the Buffalo Blizzard of 2014

Tuesday Evening in Downtown Buffalo

Just as the weather all over the country was cold so was Buffalo.  But along with the cold, Buffalo had blizzard conditions due to lake effect snow and high winds. Riding out a blizzard in the truck is really no different than doing it at home, with the exception of the rocking from the wind. The best way to describe 45 mile an hour winds hitting the truck is to say it is like a boat on choppy seas.  The rocking back and forth at times actually caused me to reach for something to hold on to.

Thankfully, the only problem we encountered during the blizzard conditions from Monday to Wednesday morning was the air suspension on the tractor freezing up Monday evening. This valve is the same one that broke last summer when Vince came to the rescue and replaced it on the side of the road.  This time it was a problem with the air lines freezing after Vince had dropped the air for us to fit in the dock area.  When we pulled out of the dock Monday evening, he flipped the switch but the air did not travel through the air lines into the air bags.  We had to pull over because the air suspension is connected to the braking system. Vince in the dangerously cold temps and winds spent three hours hammering and using a hair dryer to try and free the clogs in the lines. While he did all of that, I ran back and forth from the front of the truck to the back (all from inside, mind you) yelling out numbers off of the dials on the truck and flipping the air suspension switch off and on.  

Making our way to the drop lot

Sadly he could not get the clog to open up, meaning that Gary and Linda had to take the trailer we were under back to the drop lot and grab the next trailer while we moved under the trailer they were under.  The brake lines on the trailers freeze in these temperatures so keeping trucks under the trailers helps to keep that from happening.  We could move around just not very far.  We felt awful that they had to go back to the lot in the terrible conditions. To add to our bad feelings the trailer brakes on the trailer they went to retrieve were froze and needed a service call. The air lines finally started moving by Tuesday morning and while we wish it would have happened sooner. But we were just glad to be back in business.

The drop lot as we awaited an opening to return to the theatre

On Tuesday morning the winds were bad, but there was not much snow. That all changed by late morning when the heavy snow arrived. As our pictures show the trip to and from the drop yard meant multiple white outs and us guessing where the road began and ended.  Due to the closing of I-90 from the Pennsylvania border to Buffalo the trailer carrying the decking for the show did not make it on Tuesday and work on the trailers stopped much earlier than usual.  With the weather being so brutal, we never left the truck after returning to the theatre from the drop lot.  It was just time to hunker down for the evening.

Our trip back to the theatre - experienced white out conditions on the way back

 

Wednesday morning in Buffalo

We awoke Wednesday morning to snow (4-7 more inches expected) but diminished winds.  The deck trailer arrived first thing this morning. The crew is playing catch up so the show can open on time with evening. After these three snowy and cold days, trust me when I say, we are ready to shuffle OUT of Buffalo.  But there are no balmy warm temperatures in our future, our dispatch for this weekend: moving War Horse from Milwaukee to Schenectady.      

Record low temperatures and wind chills! I must be back in the truck!

By the Shea Theatre in Buffalo Monday Morning

Yes, I am back in the truck and a prediction I made last month has already come true.  In December, while I was home enduring snow and cold temps, Vince was in Florida enjoying warm weather.  One evening while on the phone with me, he mentioned how bad he felt that I was dealing with all the bad weather, while he was in warm temperatures. I laughed and told him to enjoy it, because next month when I joined him in the truck, as past experiences had showed us, we would be headed to cold places.  On New Year’s Eve he came upstairs in our home to tell me he had received his dispatch, Cleveland to Buffalo. I just laughed and reminded him that I had told him so.

The nice thing about the start of the trip is that we are with Gary and Linda Graff.  Gary as you will recall from one of my summer posts, has always been a big supporter of my blog.  But more importantly he and Linda are just good people.  I was more excited than usual to be heading out knowing we would be seeing them.

Sunday night we only had to deal with torrential rains on our way from Cleveland to Buffalo. With the snow fall that hit our family and friends in Indiana, we were very thankful it was only rain.  I was particularly thankful for the rain when we exited I-190 at Church Street in Buffalo late Sunday night.  It is a spirally tight ramp that I would not have wanted to be exiting on in ice and snow.

 

Same spot by the Shea, Monday afternoon

We are in Buffalo for the next three days shuttling trailers between the drop yard and the theatre.  This afternoon the temps have started dropping and the lake effect snow is coming down both horizontally and vertically. But most interesting are the winds that are really rocking the truck already. My understanding is that they haven’t reached the top speeds yet.  So I think tonight is going to be very interesting, especially trying to sleep.