I made it up to Joplin in the late morning hours, though I was pulled in to the weigh station just inside Missouri for a quick weigh which is unusual. I only have 10,000 pounds in the box so I was quickly set free and rode into Joplin... where I was stopped by a passing train. If I had been 15 seconds earlier I would have been past it.
The folks in the inspection bay looked over my trailer and suggested hitting the landing gear with a shot of oil to see if it was just lacking lubricant. After filling the appropriate spot the gear started to move easier and they marked that off of the repair list. Three of the tires needed some TLC so I was dispatched over to the tire shop to get that taken care of. The line was a bit long and I was going to be late for lunch so I parked my truck out in the regular lot and took care of it later.
I had lunch with Bob and Christine, Tracy from New Zealand, Croc, his ex-dispatcher and now house mistress (?) Tonya, along with a few other ladies including the similarly named Tanya. During the meal I got a call from Andy to inquire if I would be in town soon! Hopefully we can get together later this week so I can finally get to see his prodigal son.
After lunch I finally got the tires taken care of, fueled up, had a very abbreviated truck wash then split towards St. Louis. I end the day in the SCORCHING parking lot of a Flying J about an hour south of that city, ready to get up early tomorrow morning to plunge into Illinois and deliver my load at 9 AM.
