Mountains And Valleys And... Goats!

I just crossed the country from the East to the West and now after delivering to Phoenix, Arizona I had a short run over into Las Cruces, New Mexico. Then I got dispatched right back over into Arizona to the small mining town of Morenci where I'll be moving a "High Value, High Security" load all the way back across the country to Norwich, Connecticut. So I got up at 3 a.m. and headed out at about 4. I had three hours of driving time just so I could get there by six o'clock. If that doesn't sound right to you it's because I crossed the time line and there's an hour lost in the transaction somewhere. Yes, that's one more little piece of math work that a truck driver has to understand when planning out his trips.

So, this is a great job to get - 2,700 miles on this one.

I've been to this mine before so I kind of know what to expect. There's a quaint little town called "Clifton" down in the Gila valley just before you make the ascent up the mountains to Morenci. It goes back to the "Gold Rush" days when folks packed up and headed west to seek their fortune. This whole area reminds me of my all time favorite movie starring Humphrey Bogart - "The Treasure of the Sierra Madres". I like it because it illustrates human nature, that is also why I will endure watching those lengthy Jane Austin movies with my girls - Jane Austin was a great illustrator of human nature in her works.

The little community of Clifton is sort of a ramshackle looking place to this day - it still has the look of an "Old West" town. I kind of expect to see Miss Kitty or Matt Dillon coming out of the store fronts every time I come through this place. It's still an active community, but it has an aura of days gone by about it as it sits nestled down in that peaceful valley below this giant copper mine up above on the mountain tops.

Here's a few views of the town, I might could have gotten some better photos, but I really didn't have the time to stop at different places and take pictures like a tourist - I am working as I come through here.

Here's an entrance to an old hand dug mine in the side of one of the hills that I came across.

From there I wound my way up to the top of the mountains where the expansive copper mine is and here is the view looking down on to the community of Clifton while I am waiting in a line of trucks to get my "High Value, High Security" load.

Here we are waiting in line to get loaded - believe it or not we hauled several million dollars worth of copper out of this place today.

Just to give you an idea about the altitude and the wildness of this area as I was leaving with my loaded truck I was getting weighed on the scale by the security people and look what was right there in front of my truck as I was getting weighed - two mountain goats gingerly grazing around in the few scrubby plants available to them.

Okay, just one last thing for you from me today. It's a test - can you spot the mountain goat in this picture? Here's a hint he's looking right at you!

Old School, quit feeding these poor souls with your Flatbed Crack.

On a serious note, that place is nice! Sure beats these distribution centers! I had a talk with Guy Decou about your pickup yesterday and he knew about this place but couldn't recall the name.

It reminds me of the Great Khans in the Red Rock Canyons in Fallout: New Vegas!

Very cool indeed . And goats dont give you headaches like the 2 legged versions in dc's

Awesome pics and awesome town!

It's nearly impossible to fathom the difference in our society in even the past 75 years. I'm fascinated by American history. It might be a short history relative to the rest of the world but we packed a lot of excitement into a short amount of time!

Old School, or any of you with experience, I was wondering how time zones play in HOS. Do you have to add/subtract from your HOS for crossing time zones and calculate your hours based on your starting time zone?

This is new territory for me as aviation simplified this by converting everything to what is called Zulu time or GMT(Greenwich Mean Time)

Great pics BTW

Old School, or any of you with experience, I was wondering how time zones play in HOS. Do you have to add/subtract from your HOS for crossing time zones and calculate your hours based on your starting time zone?

This is new territory for me as aviation simplified this by converting everything to what is called Zulu time or GMT(Greenwich Mean Time)

Great pics BTW

As one Pilot to another, your Zulu time is your home base time ( HOS regs ) Turbo Dan

Old School, or any of you with experience, I was wondering how time zones play in HOS. Do you have to add/subtract from your HOS for crossing time zones and calculate your hours based on your starting time zone?

This is new territory for me as aviation simplified this by converting everything to what is called Zulu time or GMT(Greenwich Mean Time)

Great pics BTW

The HOS are based on the time where your company is based. For Melton, it is central time. Just one more little thing that you have to be aware of when you are shutting down for the night. You have to watch it real close for a 34 hr reset, too. For the most part, all of your dispatching/delivery is done on local times. It can help you or hurt you depending on which way you are headed. I've only gotten bit by it once, but was able to recover, somewhat gracefully.

Cool Pics OS.... Love the mountains, give them to me any time. I spent the last week and a half running beck and forth across South Dakota and I thought I saw a hill to the north but I think it was actually in North Dakota

Saw my first wild big horn sheep up around Big Sky, Montana last year. It is amazing where these critters can live.

Old School, or any of you with experience, I was wondering how time zones play in HOS. Do you have to add/subtract from your HOS for crossing time zones and calculate your hours based on your starting time zone?

This is new territory for me as aviation simplified this by converting everything to what is called Zulu time or GMT(Greenwich Mean Time)

Great pics BTW

As one Pilot to another, your Zulu time is your home base time ( HOS regs ) Turbo Dan

That makes sense. Thanks Turbo