I departed Santa Nella, California very early and drove to San Luis Obispo, California mostly in the dark. By the time I arrived the sky was brightening and I got a good look at the building this shipper was using.
On the west side were a pair of docks that you could only get to with a blindside back and there wasn't enough space to do that because of a locked gate. On the east side were three docks and an easy sight-side back with more than enough room. I chose the second set of docks then went inside to find the shipping people.
It turns out that they ship through the other docks, naturally.
(I realize, belatedly, that the picture doesn't illustrate the point very well. Basically, I had to drive my tractor through the gate shown in the picture then carefully jackknife my trailer towards the blindside to hit the dock).
The shipper makes all things that you use for pet reptiles: enclosures, heating lamps, etc. Eleven tons of that kind of stuff made its way on to the back of my truck and I shoved off.
On the way from San Luis Obispo out towards the coast along HWY 101 there was a stretch of tight turns and my satellite radio was playing the Kenny Loggins hit "Danger Zone". Coincidentally, a few minutes later I reached the coast and, for the first time, saw an actual flock of seagulls slowly floating in the breeze. Over the radio came "I Ran", by Flock of Seagulls.
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I figured if I could make a run into the Los Angeles area around noon to 1 PM, get loaded then get out of town at the forefront of the daily wave of traffic. Surprisingly, everything went my way and I reached the other shipper for this load around 1 PM and I was on my way thirty minutes later.
Barstow, California is where I ended up tonight. If I get up early (early in central time) I will try to run through Vegas before its morning rush. Otherwise, I'll delay a bit and let that situation sort itself out before I get there.
