Finally home tomorrow

This trip has been quite the experience. Had some deliveries to make on the way up. One was in Mt. Shasta City, at the foot of beautiful Mt. Shasta of course. Neat little town, reminds me a little of Big Bear, or Idyllwild. Not a great place to be driving a 75 ft. big rig, but hey, it's not a job, it's an adventure, RIGHT?? But I got the chairs delivered and finally found my way back to I5. As I mentioned the other day, stopped and saw family, enjoyed that, then got up early and hussled to Puyallup. There was a driver waiting there for me to guide me to and over the Canadian border. This is no mean feat. It is actually quite a hassle, and can take up to four hours from what I hear. Everything is contingent on paperwork being completed and filed in advance, the paperwork you carry must match what was submitted, and they want your life history in order to cross. Coming back is not much better, you must do everything by the book, or they punish you. I didn't have my trailer door open, and didn't know the license number of the trailer. My punishment was taking the truck through an xray machine. That is one big xray machine let me tell you. But evidently they didnt find anything because they let me go. You do have to pay $10.75 for the priveledge of bringing your truck back over the border though. Neither side has any sense of humor at all, so it is best to just keep your mouth shut and do what they say. The driver that led me over, and explained where the deliveries were and the best way to go about backing in was a really nice guy. Helped immensley, and when we found out we had to go back on Friday with two more loads, he offered to bring me coffee in the morning. Which he did, along with a nice order of biscuits and gravy. What a guy!! Explained all the deliveries again to me, I had 5, so it was hard to remember everything he told me, but the guy has a memory much better than mine. I recognized everything he told me upon reaching each location. He is a Army Viet Nam Vet like me, is 63, started driving truck again after a failed business, anything here sound familiar?? Heck of a guy. Even came and woke me up after he returned from the border ( he had more deliveries and a pick up) took me to his house, let me take a shower, and fed me dinner. Then drove me back to the truck so I could leave early this morning. Even though the border guards are quite surrley, the people where I made my deliveries were all very nice, to a tee. All in all it was an interesting experience and not wholly unpleasant. Just finding out I had to go back on Friday to deliver again, instead of heading for home was the only real downer. But, I made some pretty good money by my accounting in these 7 days, so I guess it was worth it. I headed out at 4AM this morning, and made it down to Corning, CA to spend the night. Corning is about 25 miles past the halfway point from Puyallup, to Riverside, so is the perfect spot. It makes for 2, 11 hour driving days, plus breaks, but I can just make it home legal. My cousin Don turned me on to a Casino just south of Corning, and I stopped in on the way up to check it out. Good truck parking, nice and clean, a truckers lounge complete with showers, laundromat, internet, and the casino has a nice buffet. I joined the gamblers club, and won $25 in a half hour on the way up. Didn't gamble tonight, just want to get a good nights sleep and head out early. I only got 4 hours of sleep last night, and it was broken up into 2, 2 hour naps. Not good for a long day driving. I struggled a few times staying focused today. Anyway, I have some other things I wanted to mention but will hold off for another day. This post has gone too long as it is. I don't want to bore the patrons. LOL