April in Phoenix. I will never forget that load of cat litter.
Started out in Yuma after spending the night on a dead-end road next to a field of cut alfalfa. 4 am, the farmer starts raking hay. I get a load of cat litter scheduled for loading in Phoenix at 5 pm, so with a very late morning start, off I go, still trying to figure out how those plants live on so little moisture.
Stop at the truck stop first for a shower. Why is there a towel hanging there? I am dry 15 seconds after turning off the water. Walking across the parking lot, I am trying to figure out why the asphalt doesn’t liquify or at least get very sticky at 102 degrees. Deserts are foreign to someone who has always lived within 25 miles of the Great Lakes.
Arrive somewhat early. Docks are facing west. Wonderful. Good thing the air conditioner works. At least I can keep the cab cooled down to 90 or so. Two hours later, I am loaded. Just as I am about to leave, I am stopped.
“Open the door. We need to check to make sure it is the correct cat litter.”
Isn’t it all the same?
“No. There is the cat litter in the green container, the stuff in the blue container, not to mention the red container and yellow container.”
What is the difference?
“The cat ladies are very fussy about the correct color container when it comes to cat litter.”
But isn’t it all the same inside the containers?
“Yes.”
And?
“Wrong color on the trailer. Back into the dock, we need to reload.”
So after four more hours, off I go to Reno, Nevada, in the dark. Good thing I didn’t do anything all morning. Not an all-nighter. Only until 1 am. I was never on US-60 to 93 out of Phoenix, so I had no idea where I was going. Thankfully, the truck stop at Kingman, Arizona had plenty of spots on a Saturday night / Sunday morning.
I still got it to the grocery store warehouse on time, despite no bridge for big trucks at Hoover Dam at the time. No aliens spotted along the way. Only strange people living in vans looking for little green men. That is another aspect about the desert that makes no sense to me.
A very enjoyable load, despite the screw-ups at the warehouse.
That’s their cover. Those are the 