Working for the Defiance Stove company in Calumet Michigan (UP), I made numerous trips to the Lower Peninsula (LP) of Michigan. My stops were numerous, like a milkman. On the way through the UP, going across the Seney stretch, I memorized the rivers that cross beneath the road. I figured out how many white lines were in the shadow of my truck going East at sunset, only spoke to vehicles that pulled out in front of me and then turned left, my head would pivot from side-to-side gazing at the scenery as I drove. I never listened to music or the radio, I preferred not to because the truck was noisy enough. Noise will tire you out too. I didn’t want to add more. I made this trip to LP on average, 4 times a week. My longest drive was over 800 miles. My morning started in Grayling in the LP. After making a large loop through the LP to the many businesses, my journey ended up at a wayside rest in Keweenaw Bay in the UP. By that time my right leg had gone to sleep and after putting up on the seat, I used my left leg. I slept for about 4 hours. When the cold fall weather crept in, I woke up to finish my journey to Calumet.
Each time I delivered stoves, I’d stay at a different home of people that I knew usually in the Farmington Hills area. This time, I stayed at Laho’s and parked my truck at Pennala’s. In the morning Lisa L. gave me a ride to my truck on her way to school. I got my truck pre-trip done and running, warming up. This would have been in October 1979 and the chill was already in the air.