Las Vegas... and leaving Las Vegas

We drive (pretty much) straight through from Ft. Worth to Flagstaff, AZ, and stop for just a minute, then head to Kingman, AZ. We sleep there, then head to Las Vegas the next day. We think we are going to be really early for our 2pm delivery.... only this truck doesn't have any Jake Brakes. (Jake Brakes are special engine brakes that somehow use the power of the engine to slow it down.. amazing.) But without Jake Brakes, you are stuck just using your regular service brakes.

We run into some pretty severe hills between Kingman, AZ and Las Vegas, NV.... and we are having to use our service brakes quite a bit. We used lower gears, and applied "controlled braking" apply & release,.... only..... half way through the hills our tractor(truck) brakes started smoking. So we had to stop and let them cool off a bit (15 mins) and we start taking the hills even slower...... So we get there only 20 mins early..... but still on time!

We get unloaded (pretty much) right away, and we head to our pick up. Get loaded with Wood, heading for Lowe's distribution warehouse in Stockton, CA.....
All Right we are heading in the right direction.... toward Home!
(or so we thought...)