You Meet The Darndest People

Published on March 11, 2008 By MasonM In Blogging

This has been a pretty good trip so far. I stopped Sunday night in SD and accidentally wandered into the bar next to the truckstop for a couple of cold ones before hitting the sack. Being Sunday it wasn't overly busy, just a few truckers and a few locals.

As I was sitting at the bar knitting a sweater with some alpaca yarn I bought down in Ocala this big dude walked over from the other end of the bar and asked what kind of yarn I was using as he could tell that it wasn't regular wool. That guy must have some damn good eyes to have been able to tell that from that far away. After I told him it was alpaca he told me that he used to raise llamas for their wool and that while he doesn't knit he used to spin the wool so his wife could knit with it. Pretty cool.

Monday I delivered some mining parts in Gillette, WY and spent the night there. I accidentally wandered into the Applebee's a couple of blocks away for a couple of cold ones and some dinner. The manager ecognized me even though I hadn't been in the place in at least a couple of months. Must have been the knitting LOL. I chatted with her for a good while as well as meeting some new folks and talking with them for a bit. One guy was a technician for the power company and climbs poles for a living. We swapped pole climbing stories for a while.

Today I delivered a snow plow truck and plow to the Wind River Indian Reservation in Fort Washakie, WY. Those guys were great. As soon as I set the brakes they jumped in and starting taking off the chains and straps. Really made my job a lot easier. I shot the shit with them for while working. They were a really nice bunch of guys and interesting to talk with. They had all sorts of questions about where I travel and what other parts of the country were like. None of them had ever traveled very far away from the reservation.

I'm now parked for the night in Fort Bridger, WY. No bar here. Oh well that's ok, it'll save me some money. The weather out here in WY has been unbelievably pleasant. The temps have been in the 50s and the sun has been shining. Really quite nice as I was expecting cold and snowy weather.

I'll make my last stop, Salt Lake City, tomorrow morning. I have no idea what I'll be doing after that. For now I'm going to grab a shower and just relax for a while. I have DVDs to watch, internet access, and a sweater to knit so what more could I need?

Comments (Page 1)

Zoologist03

on Mar 11, 2008

Sounds like a pretty pleasant time...sure makes up for all that shit that happened with your truck a bit ago, eh?

~Zoo

MasonM

on Mar 11, 2008

Sounds like a pretty pleasant time...sure makes up for all that shit that happened with your truck a bit ago, eh?
~Zoo

Yeah things go well once in a while

Zoologist03

on Mar 11, 2008

Yeah things go well once in a while

Well, I think they have to at least once in awhile...otherwise they'd break the laws of probability.

~Zoo

MasonM

on Mar 11, 2008

Yeah things go well once in a whileWell, I think they have to at least once in awhile...otherwise they'd break the laws of probability. ~Zoo

Very true.

InquiringMind

on Mar 12, 2008

I hope you don't mind me saying but while I don't know much about truck drivers and stuff I thought it was very unusual to see the words truck driver and knitting in the same sentence. Even more interesting was to hear about another guy interested in your knitting. I am not trying to be stereotypical here, but it's just something I'm not use to seeing or hearing. Kinda cool actually.

I think it's great you come across such nice people during your trips thru out the states. I often find it hard to meet people who are not rude right off the back. I've always said if people spent a little bit more time being friendly to strangers and less time being in a bad mood for what ever reason, that maybe things in this country would be so much better.

Glad to know there's a nice truck driver out there. Maybe someday you'll pass by my job again, maybe we'll share some cold ones as well though I am not really a beer drinker. I can make an exception.

InquiringMind

on Mar 12, 2008

BTW, this is Charles. I'm working on a new idea for blogging on JU so I made a new name for my idea.

MasonM

on Mar 12, 2008

Glad to know there's a nice truck driver out there.

Thanks. Actually there are lots of nice truckers out here.

Thanks. People get bogged down in stereotypes all the time whether they realize it or not. I enjoy blowing away some of those from time to time.

MasonM

on Mar 12, 2008

Mason, your day brings a smile to my heart.

Thanks.

dynamaso

on Mar 12, 2008

MasonM

on Mar 12, 2008

That's what they mean by the luck o' the Irish

Ziggystyles

on Mar 12, 2008

Well Hmm, Sounds like you are parked at that truck stop right off the interstate that says Cafe in big black letters? I most likely passed you on the road tonight on my way home. You'll probably be on the road by the time I get my load and get on the road tomorrow in the morning, but Ill be headed west again and into Utah. Will give a shout out on the radio as I pass that spot...although with my broadcast range, I dont think youd be able to hear me if you were parked on the shoulder, lol.

Ziggystyles

on Mar 12, 2008

Lol or it could help if I read the date correctly. So I probably passed you yesterday then, lol.

uDigItTheMost

on Mar 13, 2008

Damn, I love those kind of accidents. But Mason doesn't "accidently" end up in bars. It's because of it's GPS, it's not a Garmin it's a BARman as in it will show you to the next BAR, man.

MasonM

on Mar 13, 2008

Man, you keep accidentally ending up in bars. How does that happen? I mean, do you have intentions to go back to the room, take a right instead of a left and end up ordering a beer or two? These sound like my kind of accidentsDamn, I love those kind of accidents. But Mason doesn't "accidently" end up in bars. It's because of it's GPS, it's not a Garmin it's a BARman as in it will show you to the next BAR, man.

Oddly enough it does show the locations of bars and nightclubs.

MasonM

on Mar 13, 2008

Well Hmm, Sounds like you are parked at that truck stop right off the interstate that says Cafe in big black letters?

No I was at the TA.

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