MAUMEE, OH to NEW BEDFORD, MA: 763 miles + HAZMAT ($100),
Thursday June 18th, I arrived at 10:00pm as this shipper was also the previous consignee and they are a 24/7 facility. I spent the night there as some facilities allow it which is quite convenient for us drivers.
Friday June 19th, I started my day at 1:30pm with the pre-trip inspection of the truck. This assignment allowed me to drive through my home base and spend Father’s Day Weekend with my kids. The trip required around fourteen drive hours and I had just over three days to accomplish it so time was not a factor. I had plans to have dinner with one of my daughters on Saturday night in Greenwich, CT, at Kira Sushi which is a restaurant we both enjoy. Sunday I was spending the afternoon and early evening with my two daughters that live in New York City. My son lives in Boston and could not make it. I drove six and half hours to Loganton, PA, to Kavkaz Restaurant with a stop for fuel along the way. A very good Russian restaurant with parking for trucks. I shut it down for the night at 9:00pm and proceeded to have a nice dinner of beef and vegetables soup and their home made bread.
Saturday June 20th, I started my day at 7:00am, after the mandatory ten hour DOT Regulation Break. I did the pre-trip inspection of the truck and drove five hours to the Pilot truck stop in Milford, CT. It is farther north than the more convenient Darien CT Service Plaza but I cannot leave the truck unattended there as there is a risk of being towed. I rushed to pick up a rental car because they closed at 1:00pm and my son has my car in Boston. Later that night I had a wonderful dinner with my daughter.
Sunday June 21st, I started my day with a shower at the Pilot truck stop using one of the vouchers we get for fueling more than seventy gallons of diesel. Those vouchers last ten days. I picked up some baked goods on my way to NYC that my daughters love and drove my rental into the city. We walked from their apartment to St. Patty’s Cathedral for 5:30pm Mass and afterwards we had a fabulous Italian dinner at Il Tinello Restaurant on 56th Street including their renowned fettuccine with black truffles that is prepared at the table. I walked them back to their apartment and drove back two hours and returned the rental and then took an UBER back to the truck.
Monday June 22nd, I started my day at 8:00am with the pre-trip inspection of the truck then fueled and two and half hours drive to the consignee where I arrived at 11:00am.
BOOK REVIEW: First and Forever by Lynn Painter (2026), ROMANCE – RATING (*****)
A cute and amusing romance novel with witty banter between the two main characters and some references to football. A strong FMC makes it even more enjoyable and her unabashful father adds to the humor of certain situations.
Dufffy Distefano is a diehard Minneapolis Coyotes fan, a fictional narrative of a real NFL team probably due to infringement rights of real teams though some other NFL teams are mentioned in the narrative. Her family’s team loyalty dates generations with her brothers, dad and grandfather as fans too. A video of Duffy shoving the team mascot down the stadium steps goes viral and she becomes persona non-grata in the city. She is blamed for the team’s poor performance and considered a jinx. Her dad arranges for her to be interviewed on a local sports show and the team sends their star TE, Connor Cunningham, for PR remediation. The chemistry between them is palpable and the team wants Connor to pursue Duffy for good publicity. What starts as a PR stunt quickly becomes something more until it isn’t.
Very entertaining with tearful moments.
