AUGUST 2010 TRUCKER TALK
QUALITY DOWNTIME
BY WRITER & DRIVER KIM GRIMM
We recently found ourselves near Albuquerque, New Mexico with some friends (fellow truck drivers) and some downtime, and we took full advantage of it. Every once in a while, you just need to go out and have some fun. It was Friday night and there were seven us waiting to deliver loads to the same place on Monday morning, so we parked our trucks in a secure location and went on to have a terrific weekend just goofing off with each other.
All our loads came from Oregon, Wisconsin (yes, that is the name of the town), and five of them were oversize (15’ high and 15’ wide) – we were all delivering individual pieces of a big building that was to be assembled at an electric plant. Most of us traveled together in a convoy, and by the time we got to New Mexico, we were all ready to relax. And since we were hauling oversize loads, we had a few escort vehicles for us to use once we parked the big rigs.
Several of the drivers, Pete and I included, were traveling with spouses, family members, kids and/or dogs, so our “little group” was rather large. Two of the drivers, Mike Marks and Bob Buckholder, brought their sons, Nathan (11) and Dalton (10) along on this trip. Along with Nathan, Mike also had his dachshund Buddy along for the ride. Scott & Sarah Landphier had their little girl (dog) Autumn with them, and Becky Matthews had her dog Tara with her. And, of course, we had our little cocker spaniel Mr. H. with us.
After getting the trucks parked, we jumped into our escort vehicles and headed to a nearby hotel. Once we all got settled in our rooms, we went over to a local casino where we played around for most of the night (and also celebrated Bob’s birthday). It was great to just relax and have fun after all of the stress of getting the loads there.
Two of us carry propane grills, so on Saturday we went to Wal-Mart and got all the supplies to have a barbecue. Under a shade tree in the parking lot of the hotel, we got out our fold-up chairs, borrowed a table from the pool area, and had a great tailgate party. We had everything we could have wanted in our own back yard right there in the hotel parking lot. We enjoyed freshly grilled hot dogs, burgers and brats, as well as potato salad, macaroni salad, fresh fruit, cucumbers and onions. It was like family – we sat around sharing good food and conversation, including a few good trucker stories! Many of us don’t talk on the CB much anymore, so it’s really nice to have some “normal” time to get to know each other while out on the road together.
Dalton and Nathan spent most of the day in the pool, which was a really smart decision on their part. When Saturday night rolled around, I offered to take the boys out for ice cream and, believe it or not, they were all for it. Sarah got directions from Bob who had got them from the hotel desk clerk (you can see where this is going). Yes, I turned the wrong way on the first street (my fault) and we found ourselves at the dead end of a dark residential street. I taught the boys a very important lesson that night when I pulled into a Wendy’s and asked them for directions.
Asking the locals about what we should do while in town, everyone said that we should ride the Sandia Peak Tramway to the top of mountain. We all decided that we would go first thing Sunday morning before it got too hot. Bob & Dalton and Mike & Nathan weren’t going to go with us on the tram at first, but we convinced them to come along and they were glad they did. I am proud to report that Scott, who has a fear of heights, faced that fear and was very happy that he went with us. In the beginning, us girls were going to go with or without the guys, but in the end, I’m glad that everyone went and had a good time.
The Sandia Peak Tramway is the world’s longest aerial passenger tram. Located just east of Albuquerque in the Sandia Foothills, the tram transports you high above deep canyons and breathtaking terrain a distance of 2.7 miles from the Rio Grande Valley floor (elevation 6,559 feet) to Sandia Peak (elevation 10,378 feet). The tram runs daily, year-round, when the weather permits. There is a restaurant at the top and the views from the observation deck are spectacular!
The tramway was manufactured by Bell Engineering of Switzerland from 1964 to 1966 at a cost of only two million dollars. Looking down as you pass over Tower One, you can see a little trail that was used when they built the 232’ high tower, which leans at an 18 degree angle for strength. After traveling a mile and a half (this is the third longest clear span in the world), you pass Tower Two, which stands 80’ tall. This tower, because of its rugged location, required about five thousand helicopter trips to construct and then install the cable. The tram cars were updated in 1986 to help celebrate the tramway’s 20th anniversary, and then new cables were installed in 1997.
After the tram ride, all of us went to the Hinkle Family Fun Center where we got to act like kids again. The early bird special was only $19.95 per person for three hours of unlimited fun. First on our list were the go karts! I must say, we all had a good time “driving” for fun and not work. Our next stop was the bumper boats, complete with onboard water cannons. Pete sat this one out and took pictures, and we all got soaked. After that, we headed over to the bumper cars where we took two rides in a row before moving on to the laser tag building. Pete, Bob and Mike sat this one out, so Dalton and I were one team and Sarah and Nathan were the other. Sarah and Nathan beat us in points, but I shot the most opponents between the four of us! After two more rounds on the go karts and then one more time on the bumper boats, we were out of time (and energy).
If you ever find yourself stuck in a city with one of these fun centers (and you have a way to get to it), I would highly recommend that you check it out. We had a blast! And going early on a Sunday morning, we really feel like we got our money’s worth – there was no waiting in line and we got on every ride that we wanted to try at least once. While we were at the fun center acting like kids, two other couples who were waiting with us went out on their own excursion to the Grand Canyon.
Sometimes, as drivers, we just need to take advantage of where we are and do something to give us a break from all the stresses of our jobs. We have the unique opportunity to see and do things that “normal” working people cannot do, and we should take full advantage of that fact. When you work hard (and we do), you need to offset that time by playing hard, too. So, wherever you find yourself, get out there and have some quality downtime. I hope that we all get the chance to run together again, because we had a great weekend with everyone and would love to do it again somewhere else real soon!