Hey Everyone!!! I'm back in portland at derricks house. Actually I'm in Vancouver Washington right over the river from portland. Since I've last talked to you we have been down to redding and then back to Halsey OR at the Georgia pacific lumber yard then back up to Albany OR to the Target HQ's. From there we went down to Redding and back up and then down to Pinole, CA to a target store. From there we picked up a load in Oakland in the land of those crazy Container drivers and picked up a load to Lacy, WA. We dropped that off in Clackamas (Portland) and here I am right now. I've been driving every day and it's been the full 11 hours maximum. Lot's of driving but I'm loving it. It can only get better when I get my own truck and actually get paid for every mile I'm driving. Right now during training my trainer get's paid per mile even though he is in the back or sitting shotgun. Yesterday and today he's gone back into the sleeper and watched a movie when I've been driving and it makes me feel like I'm out there driving solo... I love it! I'll update more soon. I forgot my camera agian in the truck... damn. Oh well, I'll have a lot of shots for you guys when I get my act together and remember to bring it!

Wow, a lot of people actually do read this!

A couple post's down I mentioned that there was probably only one person who read this, then I got flooded with emails... Thanks everyone for emailing me...

I went on a wild search for my camera but after about 30 minutes of searching it appears I left it in the truck at the yard. I have some good photos for everyone but it seems that I will have to wait until friday to get it updated for everyone. I'm due back here in clackamas on the 23rd because my trainer has some personal things he needs to get taken care of. Until then, enjoy some of these photos...


OUCH!


oops...

(click on the photos to make them bigger)

I wish I was out there.... somewhere, anywhere but here!

Ha, sitting in the lobby of a best western is pretty boring. I have another day of this and then we head out on monday morning around 6am. I can't wait! Anyways, I took the hotel shuttle over to the "Clackamas Town Center" which is the largest mall in oregon. That place was crazy. So many stores, an ice skating rink and one of the biggest food court's I've ever seen. Somehow I ran into curtis and his family so I went with them into radioshack to research cell phones. I'm looking for a phone that has Blue tooth along with a external antenna port to go along with a big antenna I'm going to have mounted on my mirror. I'm not really sure what I should do for now. I just got a phone a couple months ago. It's no blue tooth and it has no antenna port. I'm debating just keeping it for awhile and live with the poor reception until I break down and really get one... I can deal with wire headset I suppose...

Heres what I'm getting for my truck. With a lot of help from Curtis (my trainer) and Don (another gordon driver) I've decided to go with the Cobra 29 CB radio with nightwatch. Meaning the faceplate lights up at night and looks real cool!



I'm getting a 400watt inverter that plugs into a cig lighter, a 13" TV and a cheap dvd player all of which are sold at any Loves or TA truckstop. I'm going to get this stuff real soon so when I get assigned my truck, I can be ready to roll right away.

Now, heres the hard part. Gordon runs 4 different models of trucks. The most recent model is the Coloumbia which my trainer has right now. I really like it although there is not a lot of legroom for someone my height. Next up is the Classic which has A LOT of leg room but the interior is rather old and does not have a lot of storage (which is VERY important. Gordon only has 50 or so of these trucks as they are reserved for the drivers who have been here the longest. After that there are some older Centuries which resemble the comlumbia but are about 3-5 years older. And last there are the old ex-dick simon trucks that supposedly just complete piles of junk although I've heard both good and bad.

My trainer can ask to get me a classic since I'm so tall and they can move the seat back if I need even more room, or I can go with what ever else they give me... Just a bunch of random babble I suppose... Leave a comment and let me know which truck you like best! (If you can tell a difference!?)


Freightliner Columbia


Freightliner Classic XL


Freightliner Century


Freightliner FLD

I'm in Clackamas

The other day we were at the target in Auburn, CA. We pulled away from the dock and I was outside noticing that there was a pallet on a pallet jack hanging halfway out of the trailer. The trailer was a sweep load that was supposed to be done in the morning but the lady never finished it. She came back and was like "where is my trailer?" that we just pulled away from the dock. The good thing is that no one was in the trailer, the LOD gave us the all clear to pull the trailer away, but the bad thing is that we now had to back into this incredibly hard back facing the wrong way! Oh well, we did it.

Anyways, I'm in Clackamas a suburb of Portland. I have until monday to find something to do around here. Right now I'm at the starbucks about a 20 minute walk from the hotel. Finally I get to have my caramel frappacino that I love so much. It's about 25 outisde right now with the sun shining! Even colder with the wind chill. Last night it was in the single digits! Olivia called me to tell me that it was snowing in Auburn and that they are going sledding today up the hill in Colfax!!! wow

First week is over!

Wow guys, training is going pretty damn good... I got teamed up with one of the coolest trainers out there. He runs for target from albany, OR to stores in the bay area and sac three times a week. I didn't drive the first day but they second day I just drove between corning,ca and vacaville,ca on 505. Everything went good and I felt comfortable but it was all flat and not much excitement. During the last couple days I took on Ashland and sexton and all the hills between the OR border and eugene. I didn't do to bad but I just was not getting the downshifts. I watched my trainer and yesterday I got it real good. Extremely comfortable and I'm seriously having a blast out there. I'm trying to be a sponge as much as possible and absorb all the info I can although the first few days were scary as I was so overwhelmed. But, It's been a week and I have 3 more to go...

That's it for now, I'm in clackamas,OR right now at my friends house in Portland. We went to Joes Crabshack and ate some damn good food and now It's time to head on back to my truck. I'm all alone in the truck while my trainer takes his reset. See you guys soon with another update.

Chris

Well, now I'm really out of here...

In a couple hours I will be meeting my trainer at the target in roseville. I'm not really sure where we go from here. We might be heading back up to oregon or we may be going to other target distribution centers and stores in sac and the bay area... Who know's at this point. I will try to update as much as possible. If there is a internet connection at a truck stop or at one of the receivers I will be posting an update for sure. If anyone needs to get a hold of me ( I think theres only one person who checks this ) email me @ info@norcalphoto.com or message me on myspace...

Alright, I'm out!

Chris

By the way...

Thanks to tracy for letting me know that I didn't let everyone know when I'm leaving. I'm out of town on wednesday sometime during the day, probably meeting my trainer a target store somewhere in sacramento. Could be the target in roseville off of douglas blvd or maybe the one off of elk grove blvd in elk grove... Who knows. I'll let everyone know on tuesday when I speak to him agian.

Talked to my trainer this morning

He is in his mid thirties (which is very good) I'm glad I didn't get some old guy in his 60's. He lives in Albany, OR which is about 1 hour south of portland. He runs a dedicated account for Target, meaning he does the same route all the time. He Delivers to all the targets in Sacramento, Roseville, Elk Grove, and sometimes auburn so the chances of me being home are very good. I could even get some new clothes from home since I will be so close. I will also get real good with driving over mountains since I will be going up and down ashland (in the pictures below. Ashland is like a 30 mile uphill/downhill with 6% grades... very good to learn and I will be chaining too! Good.

Back from medford!

I got home safely and I'm busy getting ready to meet my trainer real soon... Heres the photos from the trip!