[RKDinOKC]

Was U-haul driver for my Sister and her husband to move them from Harlingen TX back to Rolla MO. 1100 miles, 16 hours.

Flew into Harlingen just in time for lunch. The U-haul, their mini van and car were all ready packed. Except for the passenger seat in the car she picked me up at the airport in. Everything was packed so full I barely had room to put my carry-on in the cab of the U-haul with me. Each of us driving a vehicle we left right after eating lunch.

On the highway between Harlingen and Corpus Christi we had to go thru US customs. We got pulled to the side and drug dog sniffed but they said the were looking for fruit. In Corpus we added a U-haul car trailer for me to pull behind the full U-Haul. Drove the loaded down Chrysler on it and moved stuff from the passenger seat of the mini van to the driver's seat of the Chrysler so my sister and BIL could be together and take turns driving the mini van.

I drove the packed U-Haul pulling a packed car from Corpus to Rolla MO. We only stopped for dinner and a few minutes at 1am to decide to drive on thru instead of stopping to sleep. Then at my sisters in-laws place for breakfast as we passed Holdenville OK taking some out of the way back roads thru Oklahoma. Made to Rolla by suppertime. With lots of helpers unloading the U-haul and trailer got them turned in before U-hual closed so were only charged for one day.

Overall the drive was just crazed. First following my sister and BILwas very frustrating. No matter what I said or did they would slow down just enough that I would have to downshift to keep going up hills. If they would have just have kept going the speed limit the U-Haul would have done well, but...after a couple of hills they would start slowing down on the uphills forcing me to downshift to keep from lugging down and killing the U-Haul.

The next big event was harrowing. Somewhere in Texas in the middle of the night it started raining. Sister pulled way ahead as usual as she topped over a hill with me trying to climb the hill without any momentum. On the downhill the road turned sharply and I found my sister in the van fully stopped in the middle of the highway lanes under a bridge. I pumped the brakes only to discover with the U-haul and trailer fully loaded on wet roads there was no way the tires could stop in time to keep from smashing into the van but good.

In a panic maneuver I turned the wheel and pumped the brakes to turn and put the truck and trailer in a slide just missing the rear of my sister's van by less than 2 inches. As I come sliding around her van I see a semi and truck wrecked and what looked like big chunks of concrete scattered all over the highway. Deftly applying brakes, gas, and steering I steer the sliding U-haul truck and trailer curving thru the slick and raining field of obstacles without hitting a thing or jack knifing my own truck and trailer. When thru finally exhaled and pulled over the to side of the highway.

As I stopped, noticed there was one semi stopped on the other side of the highway at the side of the on-coming lanes. The driver jumps out in the rain and runs over to my window. He tells me the accident just happened and he saw me come thru all the debris and just wanted to let me know that was some of the best driving he had ever seen. The way the truck and trailer missed the van and then slid back and forth through the carnage without hitting anything was just amazing to see. Compared it to a movie stunt in real life.

As I sat there in the rain waiting for my sister to come on through the wreck all kinds of late night traffic stopped. It wasn't until the police showed up 30 minutes later and motioned my sister thru were we able to continue our trip. The cops never came to my window so I assumed they got all they needed from the amazed truck driver.

Later when my sister and brother-in-law decided to take the back road highways and stop for breakfast in Holdenville did I realize there was one thing worse than following my sister on 4 lane highway. It was following her driving too fast and too slow in all the wrong places thru the hilly curvy backroads and small towns driving a less than stable U-haul truck pulling a car trailer with a heavy car also full of stuff. I don't know why they wouldn't give me the route and just follow me. It was very frustrating, but we got all her stuff moved in one trip.

So Jeff, if you need help moving...I can long haul drive a U-haul. I have experience with U-hauls loaded with lots of stuff and even pulling cars behind it. Also pretty good at avoiding accidents. I only ask for airfare from and back to OKC, room and board, and I only drive, no packing, no loading or unloading.