UMATILLA Megaload No. 2 hit the road Sunday night, and made it to Pendleton, according to a spokeswoman for hauler Omega Morgan.

That puts the rig on track for Grant County sometime this week.

Its expected arrival time in the John Day Valley was not certain at press time, and all travel is dependent on weather and road conditions.

The Oregon Department of Transportation also has ruled out travel for several days over Christmas and New Years. The load must stay parked from 12:01 a.m. Dec. 24 through 11:59 p.m. Dec. 26, and 12:01 a.m. Dec. 31 through 11:59 p.m. Jan. 2.

ODOT on Saturday announced the green light for the second load, one of three oversized loads being moved through Eastern Oregon by Omega Morgan.

The load will follow the same route as the first load from the Port of Umatilla east to Pendleton, south on Highway 395 to Mt. Vernon, east through John Day and Prairie City, to the Oregon-Idaho border.

From Oregon, Omega Morgan is taking the loads through south-central Idaho to Montana and north to the tar sands oil region in Alberta, Canada.

ODOT said this load will take more than a week to complete its journey. The first load took closer to a month due to delays caused by weather, the Thanksgiving weekend shutdown, and environmental protests. It was due to begin travel across Idaho this week.

The permit for the second transport, like the first, mostly restricts travel to between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. to avoid traffic impacts.

However, ODOT says daytime travel will be allowed on rural highways under special conditions including consultation with officials from any affected county or tribal lands, and approval by the ODOT district manager. The first load got a permit exception to travel in daylight last week near Unity, to cross a particularly icy pass en route to Ontario.

The permit specifies there will be no daytime travel in Mt. Vernon, John Day or Vale.

ODOT initially reported the same dimensions for the second transport as for the first: 380 feet long, 23 feet wide and 19 feet tall.

However, Holly Zander, spokeswoman for Omega Morgan, said this transport wont be quite as large as the first, coming in at 350 feet long including pusher and puller trucks. The gross weight is similar, at 804,000 pounds.

The cargo is the same, a 94-foot-long tanklike vessel destined for use in the water purification process at the oil fields.

One difference noted by Zander is that this load may be decked with Christmas lights over the holiday.

Meanwhile, protesters have pledged to track the vehicle, with a repeat of the delaying protests likely.

Rising Tide spokesman Trip Jennings said people from across the region will gather to support Umatilla tribal chiefs and drummers at a ceremony in Pendleton at 7 p.m. Monday night.