well here it comes

[mowerman]

 My god Brocky… that’s a lot of traveling Yeah back roads are always a lot slicker besides wife always drives and we usually use as many as possible be in San Diego for thanksgiving 

[other dog]

5 hours ago, mowerman said:

and brocky,,,as far as running around goes,,,,after a million years in these big rigs,,,,i dont really like to drive anywhere,,,,bob

I'm pretty much the same, fortunately Zina likes to drive and I like to ride. When we go to Florida to see Vicki from Florida she probably drives 2/3 of the way.

My neighbor across the road, that I worked with at H.H. Moore Jr's and at F.L. Moore and Sons, was over here this summer and Zina asked him when he was going to retire. I think he said after the first of the year, it wasn't too far off anyway. He said "my wife said she wants to travel after I retire. I told her I've been traveling all my life, I'm ready to sit home a while". When he came in this afternoon I was sitting on the front porch and waved a Miller Lite at him when he blew the horn.

[mowerman]

Ha ha yeah that’s me Tom. I am just happy that our clam just sitting around here poking around it little stuff. I did some more leave pick up today. Started the DM. Let it run a while. I was gonna work on it, but it was a little chilly besides, I’m retired now and I have attitude, why rush into anything and yes, my wife does all the driving as you said she does not mind driving and I don’t mind riding I can sit on a passenger side for 10 hours. Doesn’t bother me a bit.

[mowerman]

Went and picked up my wife’s Explorer at the shop yesterday took the bus down there $1.50 and the bus stop is only about one block from here. drops me off right in front of the repair shop. took me a long time to get home and I really didn’t care and Reno traffic is horrible these days but I wasn’t in any hurry and didn’t really care

[mowerman]

She’s talking about renting a camper. I’m going to Yellowstone with the puppies and maybe going out there for the truck show after she retires. I will probably have to help out with the driving if we’re going all the way out there.

[mowerman]

But then again, if it’s not a road run and you’re not trying to beat the clock. It might be a little bit more relaxing.

[fjh]

21 hours ago, mowerman said:

and brocky,,,as far as running around goes after a million years in these big rigs,,,,i dont really like to drive anywhere,,,,bob

yup to many Stupid people  on the roads these days and its getting worse! Rather stay home and mill wood or work in the garden even watch soap operas as to go to town  !

[Brocky]

51 minutes ago, fjh said:

yup to many Stupid people  on the roads these days and its getting worse! Rather stay home and mill wood or work in the garden even watch soap operas as to go to town  !

I am glad that I live out in the boondocks!!!! Even in town, Laurens SC, Our heaviest traffic from 4 to 6 PM is what you consider light.. I live on a fairly main road and only hear a siren go by the house maybe once a week..

[other dog]

16 hours ago, mowerman said:

But then again, if it’s not a road run and you’re not trying to beat the clock. It might be a little bit more relaxing.

Yes it is, we usually take the "back roads" to Florida. Zina calls them back roads, but they're like a super highway to me, for the most part. We go down U.S. 1, 601, 301, 17- all major highways, a good part of it is 4 lane. You go through a lot of towns, there's stop lights, some traffic in some places, but nowhere near as much traffic as on I-95. We might take 2 days to get there, but there's no high speed stress like there is on 95.

[other dog]

1 hour ago, Brocky said:

I am glad that I live out in the boondocks!!!! Even in town, Laurens SC, Our heaviest traffic from 4 to 6 PM is what you consider light.. I live on a fairly main road and only hear a siren go by the house maybe once a week..

I don't even like going to Appomattox, and you know how small that is!

... except for going to the Taco Wagon. We have 3 choices in Appomattox - Mexican, Chinese, or pizza. Be nice to have a steakhouse, or an Applebee's or something.

[mowerman]

Yes, her and Reno we’ve got too many cars too many people. Everybody is in a hurry to go nowhere I’ve probably mentioned this used to be a cute little town. There was hardly anybody here. All of a sudden it took off. I have to drive out in a little while and pick up stove pellets. I don’t even want to do that. 

[mowerman]

only been to applebees once,,,,it was in las vegas,,,,,had a terrific prime rib and baked potato

[mrsmackpaul]

On 11/2/2024 at 1:17 AM, Brocky said:

I am glad that I live out in the boondocks!!!! Even in town, Laurens SC, Our heaviest traffic from 4 to 6 PM is what you consider light.. I live on a fairly main road and only hear a siren go by the house maybe once a week..

I am reading the replies and quoting Brocky as he has been on Australia's main highways and I probably guessing Brocky could tell you all that Australia's main highways are back roads by world standards 

I have read about when Peterbilt tricks were sold in Australia in the 60's and how and head man from Peterbilt bailed on truck and driver between Adelaide and Melbourne as we are all half mad zooming about on shit roads with little to no shoulder on the road

Once night time falls and it gets to maybe 9.30 - 10.00 most roads a few hours from big cities you won't pass another vehicle in every half a hour so 

Get out a little further west and it's every couple of hours

Hence our big bull lights punching into the darkness 

Are our roads as back woulds as I think ?, Brocky maybe best to answer that

I can tell you there is nothing like pushing out into the darkness, hour after hour and just hearing the truck purring away as you drag a couple of trailers along

It really is special 

 

Paul

[mrsmackpaul]

On a different note, the next area of hay is getting it's last irrigation, all gravity flood irrigation here 

24th September, paddock  topped and fertilized and getting a drink

Today, the old "dissapearing Miss Molly the border collie trick"

Poor old Miss Molly is getting old and spent the rest of the day in "I'm knackered mode"  

Still sad to me dogs don't live longer

 

Paul

[Brocky]

Paul, DO NOT knock the highway system in Australia!!! You may not have the Interstate system we have, except around the major cities, But your Main 4 lane and 2 lane highways are equal to our older US and Major State highways with stop lights, driveway access, villages and small cities..... The no shoulder thing also applies here except for the northern 1/3 of the country where they need a place to push the snow.. We do not have the dirt roads in rural areas like you do in the Outback, but I presume as more traffic grows you are extending the paved (Bitumen) roads. On our 2013 trip to Alaska I ran about 150 miles of dirt road from Tok AL to Dawson YK, 10 miles of rough grade construction, But the rest was smooth enough to run 40 to 50 MPH.

Edited Sunday at 02:53 PM by Brocky

[Geoff Weeks]

In the US I have met many truckers who will not venture off the interstate any further than absolutely required. 

 I, on the other hand, only traveled on them when time and sense dictated it was necessary.

 If you travel in some states and only stick to the interstates, you'll drive a long way out of your way.

 I'm thinking of the western interior, like MT, WY etc.

 I often drove MT 200 from the eastern part to the west-central, 200 miles of nothing, and you would rarely see another vehicle. Very peaceful, but many I spoke to were afraid they would breakdown and get stuck. If your vehicle isn't good enough to drive 200 miles, why are you on the road with it at all?

 In good weather I would sometimes run Mt 500 between Milstone and Mosby, loaded, a good part of that is little more than 1 track wide, gravel or dirt. Not that long, may 40 miles total.

[mowerman]

Quiet lanes hard to find ….. but one of my favorite runs was Reno to Eugene, Oregon….  stretch between Janesville to Klamath Falls, sometimes one hour before you see anybody coming at you at night … bob

[tjc transport]

i am a back road driver.

and will do it every chance i get. 

i hate major highways. way too many idiots on them. 

[fjh]

1 minute ago, tjc transport said:

i am a back road driver.

and will do it every chance i get. 

i hate major highways. way too many idiots on them. 

👍agree

[other dog]

I used to run Hawk's Nest a lot, because I just liked it. Even after I-64 was finished between Sam Black Church and the West Virginia Turnpike I would still go that way a lot. It was a "piece of cake" to me then because I had "a big motor and a Jake Brake" as compared to going across there in an F model with a 300/5 speed. Went across there many times in that F model with an almost 50,000 lb. load of coils out of Armco in Middletown going to either Modine in Buena Vista or Walker Muffler in Harrisonburg. 

I used to run up rt. 60 to Charmco, then rt. 20 to rt. 39 at Nettie, then 39 over to rt. 19 at Summerville, and 19 north to I-79 all the time too when I was going to Erie or the Pittsburgh area.

If I was going north on I-81 I'd get off at the Broadway exit a lot and take rt. 259 to 48 to 50 to 220 to 68. I'd come back that way too, I'd take 51 out of Pittsburgh down to Uniontown, then rt. 40 to Keyser's Ridge. Man, there's some steep hills across there- most not that long, but really steep. I mean low side of the transmission with a 550 Cat steep.

Then 219 and 560 back to 50, to 93, 220, 259 and back to Lynchburg. According to my log book it always to me 5 hours to get to Harrisonburg, I'd take a 30 minute break there, then drive 2 more hours to Lynchburg.

...and then somebody came up with this e-log thing and put a stop to all that. Ran the Pa. Pike up and back after that, at great expense to everyone except the Pa. Pike. 🤣 

[Geoff Weeks]

Up until I retired, never had to run an E log, all my equipment was too old to need to.  Except for a few trailers I pulled, no auto slacks, no ABS either. 

 Running the west, often the shorter miles made up for the slightly less speed, anyway.

[tjc transport]

luckily i do not need a log book, or elog either as i never go more than 100 miles from home, and return there every day.

[Brocky]

When we started at Wrangler Blue Jeans, some of the old timers told us that the only reason that Wrangler had a plant on the Interstate was because the Interstate came thru later!!!!! The worst was the container port in Panama City FLA.  The roughly 200 miles from Columbus GA to the port had 72 red lights!!!

[mowerman]

On 11/1/2024 at 6:22 AM, fjh said:

yup to many Stupid people  on the roads these days and its getting worse! Rather stay home and mill wood or work in the garden even watch soap operas as to go to town  !

Just had a throw this in. I was flipping to the channels the other day and found General Hospital. I didn’t even know that show was still on. And yes, there’s 1 million things I could be doing around here without even having to drive anywhere.