I'm currently sitting in a truck stop in Weatherford, TX. I'll be here for the night.

Monday I picked up a fire truck heading for the Air Force base in Abilene, TX. Once I loaded it up and chained it down I stopped by the yard to see if they had anything else going this way. I was told that they didn't so I hit the road for Texas.

I stopped down at the WI/IL to fuel up. Once fueled I was preparing to hit the road so that I could be in Abilene by Wednesday (today). Just as I was about to pull out I got a call from "R" saying that another driver had just picked up a roller going to Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, which was  right on my way. I really hadn't  planned on running that way, but whatever.

I turned it around and headed back to the yard to load the roller, which turned out to be a real pieve of junk and was a bear to secure safely. At one point, while tightening the binder on a chain I discovered that the outside tire on that corner was flat when the opposite side suddenly shot up into the air making me think this 9,000 lbs roller was about to come over on top of me. Oops.

I finally managed to get it all secured but by that time it was getting kind of late and I just headed down to the closest truck stop and called it a day so I could get an early start Tuesday morning.

I guess I didn't hear the alarm clock because I over slept. Shit happens.

I spent Tuesday rolling steady with very few stops for bathroom breaks and quick bites to eat. I rolled into Red River Depot at 1:05 PM today. The lady there informed me that they had changed their hours and now stopped receiving at 1:00 PM. You've got to be kidding me.

After a bit of sweet talking I finally managed to convince her that she should write down ay arrival time as 12::55 PM and to let me go on in to get the piece unloaded so I could be on way way to Abilene.

I got to this truck stop, which is about 2 hours from Abilene, and called it a day. By the time I got here it was 6:00 PM and I hadn't had a bite to eat all day. It was time for dinner.

While sitting in the truck stop I noticed a lot of guys wearing straw cowboy hats. That makes sense as it's far too hot for a felt hat right now. That reminded me that I have been meaning to pick up a new straw cowboy hat myself. My old one looks pretty ratty and doesn't even fit me with my hair shaved off anyway. I have a very nice Rodeo King hat in the truck, but it's heavy felt and, as I mentioned, it's just too hot to wear it right now.

A cowboy hat is not just for looks, they're very functional, especially when out in the sun. They provide great sun protection and help keep the head cooler. At one time, when people spent the majority of their time outdoors with little in the way of shade, they could mean the difference between life and death.

After dinner and a few minutes spent knitting on the sweater, which is almost finished now, I wandered into the store section to see what sort of hats they may have. I found a couple that I liked but none in the required size. I suppose I'll just have to keep looking until I find one that fits and that fits my style.

I'm now sitting in my truck watching lightening flashing not too far away. A storm is going but, while it's very cloudy here, so far it hasn't quite reached us here. I kind of hope it does as a nice rain coming down on the top of the truck makes for some nice sleeping.

I'm going to head over to Abilene first thing in the morning. Once I unload the fire truck I have to shoot down to Georgetown, TX to pick up a Snozzle to take back to Oshkosk to be installed on another fire truck. It's going to be tough as the folks in Georgetown close at 2:00 PM and it's over 200 miles away from Abilene, and that's  not on interstate.

Well, worse case I'll pick it up Friday morning. They won't be happy about that, but it is what it is. You never know, I might get lucky and everything will go right and I'll actually make it before 2:00. Stranger things have happened.