Long Haul? An AAR

[p.stucki]

The new state is here. Finally. I was looking forward to it to see, how long it will take to finish one Long Haul. Before Arizona, my longest distance was about 950 miles from Eureka to El Centro. For this one I took Eureka to Sierra Vista. There might be longer distances now, but driving from the northwestern spot of CA to the southeastern of AZ seemed good enough for a litte test.

So here we are, a fully upgraded Peterbilt with 18 tons of Sugar on my back. This white, powder-ish stuff is Sugar. Right? Right??

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz266/Voltaire1971/ATS-1_zp♥♥♥♥♥asum.jpg

Here is our route:

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz266/Voltaire1971/ATS-2_zps5gajswdq.jpg

10 Minutes into the delivery we have left the new 101 and are on the I-580 at San Rafael. Nothing special happened so far.

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz266/Voltaire1971/ATS-3_zpszlvwt5qh.jpg

20 Minutes. We are at the Truck Stop north of Huron, since it is time for the first break. It took some time at the intersection west of Stockton, since I needed three green phases to turn left. Maybe the left turn green phases should be a tad bit longer.

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz266/Voltaire1971/ATS-4_zpsexgddc6a.jpg

30 Minutes. East LA, shortly before the intersection, where the new and longer I-10 begins. Had to pull into the weigh station in south CA. Speed limit of 15! 15!!

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz266/Voltaire1971/ATS-5_zpsvwnbpszj.jpg

40 Minutes. Finally Arizona. But right after the border I had to go to the Truck Stop in Ehrenberg for the second break. I get rewarded with a beautiful sunrise after waking up.

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz266/Voltaire1971/ATS-6_zpsdzimf2im.jpg

50 Minutes. South of Phoenix, at the I-10 / I-8 intersection. The speed limit is 75, but I have to admit, that I stopped at 70. Took me long enough to accelerate to that point. Had a bit lag in Phoenix. And there was another weigh station. With an on/off ramp with 35 mph before going down to 15. Nicely done. Can we have that too for CA and NV please?

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz266/Voltaire1971/ATS-7_zpsabehzwyh.jpg

56 Minutes. Arrival at Eddy`s in Sierra Vista after 1132 miles.

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz266/Voltaire1971/ATS-8_zpsuicdxu8t.jpg

As I said, this might not be the longest delivery on this map. But roughly an hour is not too shabby. If New Mexico should really be the next state, I assume that this might increase to 75 Minutes. Long Haul feeling improving.

As mentioned before, I like the new weigh stations. Something more debatable is, that, as in Scandinavia, one has to "explore" each and every lane of the more complex interjunctions separately. I don`t know how you guys feel about it, but it feels a bit like stalling for time to me. No drama, though.

Anyway. It is good to be trucking in America again and the fact, that the I-10 and I-40 now are Interstates which actually deserve that name, is quite pleasing.

[tmaddox]

Yeah, I spent almost an hour with a long haul out of Eureka. I had to veer off the beaten path once to find a sleep area, so that added a few minutes. I think it was about a total distance of 1,042 miles. From Eureka, Ca to Kayenta, AZ