When I got near Kansas City from the west I made the mistake of following the shortest route my onboard GPS unit suggested. Instead of taking the long way around to Olathe (I-70 to I-435 to I-35), it took me through Lawrence and over Kansas 10 and 59. Lots of stop and start traffic. I saved a few miles but it cost me a lot of time and aggravation.
I spent the night parked at my consignee and in the morning they offloaded about half of the load. The satellite system then directed me to the final destination for the load in Fort Scott. It didn't mention that the dock required a blind back into a really small, single slot. After some careful preparation and "get out and looks" I wedged it into place and the rest of the cargo was offloaded.
Afterwards, my masters at CFI decided I could pack it in for some time off and sent me back to Joplin. I took some out-of-route miles and visited Crowder College, where I earned my CDL. I met with three new students headed to CFI (Oz, from the cfidrivers.com boards, his roomie Gary, and a lady) and an instructor that helped me a lot when I was in training.
Everyone agreed that I was twice the trucker as Turtle Bob (*) who visited there last week. They got to peek inside my truck and kick the tires for a while, all under the watchful gaze of my Vicious Attack Cat.
(*) If measured by weight.
