That pic was taken when? I long for green these days. I'm told soil moisture is 120% below normal right now in Dallas.
My story may fit, if you'll allow a "I shoulda known better (and wasn't a teenager)":
In '98 was leaving Eureka, California (actually, Blue Lake) with a load of redwood lumber for Colorado Springs. Dispatch had me routed back down 101, then to Sacramento. Mr. Wizard here decided to run CA-299 east to Redding, then south on the Interstate.
Weighed out at 78,500# first thing that morning, and proceeded -- in my underpowered, no jake-or-exhaust-brake Freightshaker -- to get a new lesson in steep grades. Finally smoked the brakes so badly on one long downhill (winding scenic highway; the designation I chose to ignore) that I was probably less than 100' from losing them altogether.
Got out of the truck (when I said "smoking brakes" I was not exaggerating), and climbed back into the sleeper shaking and exhausted. Slept an hour, slapped myself and spent the rest of the day just getting to Redding.
132 miles. MapQuest sez 2-hrs, 28-minutes.
I got there about dark. Spent a couple of hours in Weaverville, and another hour or two off the road in other little places on the way to try to shake the willies. Didn't work.
Held up traffic. Nearly sideswiped a road crew ashphaltman off into a canyon. And so forth.
Worst day I ever spent on the road, in any vehicle.
Thanks to some very caring owners, the cows are still this fat. They are getting their diets heavily supplemented at the moment. They're sweet girls....but they can get pushy when it comes to food.
