I went on a road trip down to California to see my parents and be there for my dad’s hip replacement surgery. Mode of transportation was provided by my brother, a heavy equipment hauler who happened to have a load to bring to WA and a load down to take back to Cali.

We set out from Spokane on a cold, snowy Sunday morning. His truck is a 2015 Peterbilt. It’s more comfortable than I imagined. Of course, I’ve always loved riding in a truck! He hauled a 623E Caterpillar scraper. In all it was 110 feet long, 11’10” wide, 36 wheels, 9 axles, and 147,800 lbs. Our dad said it looked like a train!!!web.the train

The route south was over many hills and mountains. Even though his truck was built for severe duty hauling, let me tell you she worked hard, most of the time traveling at only 20 mph up any grade. That means it took a lot of time but we didn’t cover many miles.

We arrived in SoCal on Wednesday morning, quite weary from the journey. But oh did we have a great time together, laughing, reminiscing as we passed places where our family lived when we were young!

Here are a few pics along the way-

my ride

my ride

first morning out

first morning out

Columbia River gorge

Columbia River gorge

winter road grime

winter road grime

Mt. Shasta

Mt. Shasta

Shasta Lake at low level for new bridge construction

Shasta Lake at low level for new bridge construction

at the truck wash

at the truck wash