Today was one of those strange, mixed up kind of days. As far as myself and my trip goes everything went quite well and under other circumstances I would have called it a good day.
But I was also following the insane tragedy in VA today and that put a real damper on things. I really do hate hearing about these kinds of things happening. They simply defy any sort of logic or rationale a sane mind can conjure. As the story unfolded and I followed the information update I couldn't help but feel a little sick to my stomach. All of those promising lives snuffed out like candles. Terrible.
As I'm pulling an oversized load I had to stay on the road and traveling to make the best use of the daylight hours. By the time I reached Little Rock, AR, (technically North Little Rock) my 11 hours of allowed driving time was up for the day. Since starting out this morning at 6:00am I made a single stop, for 45 minutes, to have a bite to eat and stretch my legs. The balance of the day was spent rolling. I rolled into the truck stop here at 5:45. Exactly 11 hours of actual driving time, and only 11 3/4 hours real time.
I'd say I made pretty good use of the available time. I'm here, I used up all of my hours for the day, and still have some daylight left. Under other circumstances I might try a little "creative writing" in my log book and go a little further down the road, but I don't like to push my luck when pulling an oversized load as the odds on getting checked out go way up when you put on the signs, flags, and flashing amber beacons. They may as well read "hey! come screw with me!"
The port in Houston receives until 4:30PM. I am about 8 - 8.5 hours way from them right now. If I get rolling at 6:00 in the morning I can make it there easily before then and even have time to stop and eat something along the way.
Well, I'm here now for the night. May as well get a bite.