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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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1 - New Bus 20181003 - CA - MO (Not sure why the mapping software puts Santa Nella up by Santa Rosa ... We are south of Stockton) >>> this is being written two days later, so some details may be missing <<< The restaurant is open again by the time we get down there 6. We order the usual bacon and eggs, bacon seems a little less than usual but still plenty of it. We both need to fuel once more before Sacramento so BB fuels at the Chevron and I fuel across the street at the Flying J. I first pull in the correct way but need to stand in deep water to fuel, so a turn around and come in backwards. I've only made 8 mpg so I fuel based on that. BB says I should have used 10 mpg for the last day ... Our first break is in Fernly at the Flying J, next break is at Donners Pass for another break. Sun through the clouds is making for some interesting views this AM. The Nightingale Springs are steaming again, it must very depending on the air temperature if we can see them or not. We get to our final fuel in West Sac at the Chevron. Fewer and fewer pumps are working. It's after noon so we order Subways to go expecting the RV inspectors to be on break. They are down with their break and are out to our RV's by the time we get our plates and placards off. My inspector again makes a comment about it being un-safe to drive with plastic on the seat. I had take the heavy stuff off but left the thin plastic on the back of the seat. Still too much for him. Because we were eating and not in our RV's we took the time as off duty. This may be the extra time we (now) need to get to Weatherford. As soon as we sign the paperwork I call dispatch about a bus. "Meet me there." No need to call back a few times this time. Our usual driver picks us up for Enterprise. This time the salesperson is really pushing the extra's but we hold firm. None. We drive down to Livermore, stopping once in Sacramento at the Pilot. This time we fueled ahead of time instead of BB fueling between the bus and the drop. Mis-guessed here also. The gauge said 26 mpg so that is what I based how much fuel I put in ... then we saw the 'current' mileage was 54 mpg so we had put in twice as much fuel as we needed. Again we left them with more fuel than they left us. I think we got dumped on here too. Lots of water in the desert because of the last huricane. Saw one place they thought AZ would get a whole years worth of rain in this one storm. We have a little over an hour for a walk and to order something to eat at our outlet center. BB orders a chicken wrap and I have a couple of bites of it. I am not hungry yet and never do eat tonight. We get to the buses just after dispatch does ... I'M GOING TO ST LOUIS ... "it works for me" I told him ;) ... it parting he said "keep in touch" so I guess he does want to see me again. Two other drivers arrive before I pull out. This time it only took 45 minutes to do the inspection, guess I'm finally getting good at it. BB wanted a 5-10 minute head start so she'd be done at the rental before I got there ... so I gave her 7 minutes and she had to wait 15, guess I'm a little slower with the bus. I may want to quit going through downtown with the bus. If anyone is in the left turn lane where I make a left turn that direction, I have to wait until that lane is clear. And tonight there were witches everywhere, large groups of them ... That I think is a once a year issue but the other I need to deal with. I'm able to pull over, BB hops on and we are rolling ... into stop and go traffic on the freeway. We had talked about leaving later on delivery day so I could drive later that night. Sounds good in the morning but now that it is night we aren't interested in driving into the night. We do make it past Wesley down to Santa Nella. Here we do not make a reservation until I know I can park. Last time it was real tight going around the motel building, one car in the wrong place and I would have spent hours trying to back around corners trying to get out. This time I figure I can back into a stop, but it is dark and raining. BB stands out in the rain to guide me in, and it's not as hard as it looked. Back-up plan was to spend $40 more and stay at the Best Western with a huge lot. After we put our stuff in our room, I want to walk and see if I could have made it around the building tonight. Then I see another bus coming in so I go back to the room to let BB know where I'm going. But by the time I get back outside the bus is winding it's way around between trucks, backing up ... and I finally gave up on them. I was expecting them to park and I would say a quick 'Hi.' 20181004 - CA - MO Another long day ... guess I will do these write-ups on my day off, which has been moved to Sunday. Was up and around before the alarm went off, headed down for breakfast a little after 6 AM. But breakfast doesn't start until 6:30 so we walked around for a few minutes and looked at the other buses that had come in overnight. Two of them. One was the one I was watching last night, the other had no markings on it at all. Door to breakfast was un-locked but not open until after 6:30. Breakfast was the usual. Almost forgot to get a receipt when I left them the keys. Then I asked where truck parking was ... side street and Carl Jr's. So far, twice, I had found spots in car parking. Not sure I'll try it again. Somewhere before our first stop I see a bus coming up behind me. To me it looks like a bus from two miles back. Someone I have not seen before is driving. It looks like a 30 or 35 foot bus instead of the usual 40 foot. Another one heading to PA. First stop is at a rest area near Avanel. We took a short walk around the lot, we haven't been getting much walking in lately. We have been taking this route since last winter so now we have seen the trees and fields start to turn green, blossom and now harvest and the leaves are turning. I think it is nuts that they are harvesting now, big piles covered with plastic. Not big as in huge, but like two or three truck loads dumped in each pile. Also this trip I think it is the grapes they have covered. Not sure if they are worried about frost or birds or ... ??? Lots of hand labor. Lunch is at the Flying J in Tehachapi at the PJ Fresh. This is one of the few places we remember to share what we order. One order of meatloaf and two sides is more than enough for both of us. While we are stopped, I call for my New Mexico permit. The permit gal was getting ahead of herself a few times. Assumed I was driving an RV, needing a NV permit, etc. A restroom break in Newberry Springs and rolling again. Needles, we've always eaten at the same exit and same two places. Jacks or McD's. This time we stopped at a place we had seen from the freeway, the Wagon Wheel. Good food, big enough lot. My Philly/French Dip didn't need much of the au jus. BB's chicken taco salad was also really good ... Next was the Port of Entry. Two people were getting inspections but just a permit for me. Saw the same bus as we saw earlier today, she crossed the scale as I was getting a permit. She doesn't need a permit, she was running on a AZ plate. The same bus is at the motel when we get there, she had already checked in and was nowhere to be seen. Another night of not just sitting down. This time first the fan wasn't working on our heater so we switched rooms. Then this location doesn't have a printer for guests so I have to wait for the guy at the desk to try and figure out how to print my NM permit. Had the same issue last time. Finally I get a readable copy ... an hour later there is a knock on the door. Someone is brings me a much better copy. While I'm dealing with all this, BB had looked at our next motel. Some times we don't make a reservation until we are in the parking lot of the motel, for some reason she was looking ahead. We had planned on stay in Albuquerque for two nights while I do my restart. No rooms at that motel and anywhere there are rooms they are $100-$300. There is a balloon festival this weekend. She is able to get us a room in Moriarty with rewards points for a reasonable rate. She also makes reservations in Weatherford, OK for the next two nights. I will do my restart there instead. 20181005 - CA - MO Up again before the alarms go off. Breakfast is 'real' eggs, plus the usual other stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if this place is a Rodeway Inn the next time we come through. It's showing it's age and lack of up keep ... but that is why it's half the price of the other places we stay at. We'd likely keep staying here. This morning there are two other buses in the lot. The one that had came in ahead of us and one more. First stop is just down the street at the Flying J for diesel. Someone was pulling out just as I pulled in so I grabbed it before someone waiting for another pump got to it. 94 gallons and I wasn't down to 1/4 of a tank yet. It is a 120 gallon tank, not sure how accurate the gauge is. $3 Opps ... I used the wrong rewards card so I did not get credit for the fuel I put in, it would have come to about $3 plus maybe count to a bonus. During the day I notice a lot of things, but by the evening I have forgotten most of it ;) Next stop is at the Loves in Williams to use the restroom. The place isn't very big, but I'm able to back into some car spots and be out of the traffic. Lots of road construction today. 45 miles an hour. Lots of people don't seem to like that, but all they can do is follow the car ahead of them too close ... one lane each way. Lunch is at Tom and Suzie's Diner. It's a former Pizza Hut building. We've stopped here before, the parking lot behind the building is big enough for a bus ... or two RV's. BB had a BLT ... lots of B, I had a philly. Next we have to cross the border into New Mexico, the guy looks at my permit this time but then I'm on my way. I'm down to 1/4 of DEF so I fill up at the Flying J in Jamestown. Because of how the buses are built I have to pull in to the islands backwards ... or buy it by the jug. For some reason my credit cards don't work at Flying J again. I'm guessing it's been too many months of not buying diesel. It showed it was down to 1/4 but I could only fit 5 gallons in a 10 gallon tank. Plan was to stop once more in ABQ for a break but we both were good so we kept going. Traffic was pretty light as it wasn't quite rush hour. 40 more miles and we are in Moriarty. :( ... the areal pictures do not show what I see on the ground. Not any good places to park at this motel. They don't want anything bigger than cars in their lot and two semi's got here ahead of me. And you could hide a VW in the pot holes. I was able to drive around them and parked, went in to ask where to park. Not good options, but I was able to fit behind the semi's. The other option had tree branches overhanging. ... we've looked twice later, and there is one area where no one is parking and the motel is sold out. Next time I just won't ask, just park. People were walking in looking for rooms even though the sign on the door said sold out. And others were calling, good thing we had planned ahead for once. The person at the desk said motels are mostly sold out from Santa Rosa to Grants. Over 200 miles ... all because of a few balloons. After checking in we walk next door to the Wild West BBQ (it's not listed on Tripadvisor ... yet.) I think I ate across the street a few years ago, but it's now a tire shop. Food was good, but they were out of canned drinks. Busy place. We both had pulled pork. Have have most of an hour to spare for tomorrow, we need to make it to Weatherford, we already have a room reserved for two nights. Time for my hours re-start. Not sure what our plans will be, we have planned on staying out a week past when I deliver the bus. I was hoping for a bus to the east coast and then we'd try to get trucks coming back. Instead we are in the center of the country with time to spare. There is a truck right in St Louis going to MI. Or we will head back to MSP and be back to IA on Wednesday PM. That would give us enough time to do just about a 1,000 mile run. But we will have to look at the $$ on those runs. IF there are any runs. When I parked tonight, I had gone 500 miles since I fueled and the gauge was still at 3/4 ??? Not sure I trust that. Yesterday I was down to 1/4 after 500 miles. Plan is to fuel in another 100+ miles so I will see then what mileage I'm getting. I know I fill it right to the top, maybe they didn't. 20181006 - CA - MO Usual spread for breakfast, not too crowded in the breakfast area at 6 am. Before going to breakfast I had walked outside to put our first load of stuff in the bus ... and to see how much room there was. Lots of room. But when I checked out the person at the front desk said people were leaving by 3 am to get a good spot for Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. So I'm not really sure how much room there was overnight. Next time I think I will just park and not ask questions. We didn't stop at any restarea's this morning, but one of them we passed there was another bus heading our way. A few miles later he passed us, not someone I had seen before so that makes six? heading our way. 1st stop was 130 miles down the road at Tucumcari at the Flying J. Fuel gauge shows I've gone about 600 miles on less than a half a tank of fuel. But I put in almost 80 gallons in a 120 gallon tank so I guess I was really down to 1/4. I lucked out and was able to get a lane, without waiting, and the guy had pulled far enough ahead so I could fuel. Doesn't happen very often. The guy at the pump next to me said that these buses used to be built at a former Peterbilt plant, and now the plant is being used to build Tesla cars. This time I almost put the fuel on my credit card instead of the company card which gives me the discount. Had my card 3/4 of the way in when I yanked it back out. I did get almost $3 perks for this fill so would have gotten $4 plus for yesterday. And they are offering me a bonus if I buy 300 gallons this month. That will be a little harder now that I have already missed my first 100 gallons. Noon was at the Iron Skillet / Petro in Amorillo. It was raining pretty hard when I parked but had let up while we were eating. We had the buffet. Food was not so good that I stuffed myself, but I didn't go away hungry. Saw the same bus as this AM on the frontage road ahead of us so I pulled off to see if everything was OK. Didn't see the driver when I walked back, also didn't see anything that made it look like a mechanical issue so I guessed he must have gone into the woods ... so I left. Never did see him again the rest of the day. Got the by pass at the scale coming into OK, then stopped at the rest area near Erick. Another hour and we were at the Comfort Inn in Weatherford. Turns out I had over 2 hours to spare, we could have made it past OKC if we hadn't already had a reservation. Not that it would have done us any good ... if we had been two hours further down the road we still would have had to on the road before 5 AM to have any chance at Monday delivery. So this is good, just under 500 miles today and again Monday. People had spaced themselves so that we didn't have much for options when we got here. Later one of the cars had moved but others had since parked there, so we are the middle of the lot taking up six spaces. We had planed on going to a Mexican place we have eaten at before, but we walked right past the BBQ place and decided to eat there instead. The BBQ place is closed on Sundays, that is why we didn't eat there last time and won't eat there tomorrow. We'll eat Mexican tomorrow if it's not raining too much. If it is raining too hard we'll order in :) I had the pulled pork sandwich and BB had a half chicken and two sides. Then we went for a half hour or so walk. The work board had four RV's on it this morning but they were gone within a couple of hours. So any trips we guess at tomorrow will be just that ... guesses. 20181007 - CA - MO Needed to do my DOT re-start. Stayed in Weatherford all day. It rained. Just before noon we went outside, we could still see the rain onto the puddles but couldn't feel it so we walked to the 'shopping center.' A strip mall with an overhang to walk under. We had planned on just walking to food but the rain had quit by the time we got to the other end of the mall. So we walked for another 15 minutes until we got caught in a downpour. Luckily we were next to another building that had a large overhang. We waited this downpour out, about 5-10 minutes before we decided to walk before we got dumped on again. This time we did go eat, and it was raining again while we were inside. We at at El Patio. This is the place we had eaten at last time we were in town. Food was good and lots of it. Which was good, as we planned on taking half our meals home so we wouldn't have to go out later. ... and it was raining again later when we ate our left overs. The front desk did have paper plates for us so we could nuke our food. Other than that, spent the whole day on the computer. I had taken about 700 pictures at cemeteries in Evansville a couple of months ago and was working on getting most of them onto Ancestry. I still have a ways to go. Sitting for a day in a motel makes for a long day. Most times we have driven short days until I have my hours back from the prior week. But this time we were planning on doing a second trip before heading home, so this sounded like the better option. 20181008 - CA - MO This mornings breakfast seemed to be the left overs from the weekend. The gravy looked like it was in the same Crookpot all weekend, with all the old gravy stuck to the sides. I little ham left over from the weekend, but the new stuff was sausage. Different style of eggs, and more options of yogurt. By the time we left the lot at 7:30, there were fewer cars in the lot than there were in the middle of the day over the weekend. Lots of high water between Weatherford and OKC. Traffic was minimal. First stop is at the Flying J at the north end of OKC. Again I was able to pull right up to the prior truck and able to fuel while they were sitting there. I was only down to 3/4 of a tank but was able to put in 43 gallons. Hoping this is my final fuel. On to the toll way, one toll booth east of Tulsa and one west of Tulsa. The area near Tulsa is non-toll. On the buses, tolls are not reimbursed. When I got on the toll road, the speed limit signs also said there was -0- tolerance. Coming into one road construction area there was a 'your speed is ...' sign. It said I was going 61 mph and I was, I slowed down to 60. A mile or so later there was a cop on the side that pulled in behind me. I made some comment to BB that the cop was behind me looking for his next victim. Then he pulled around in front of me and got a car that had just past me. They were likely only going about 65 ... so -0- tolerance. We stop briefly at the Flying J at Tulsa. Saw a few buses in transit at the truckstop but not the drivers. Took the time stopped to call the drop, no answer. So I called the cell number listed, out of service. Called back to the first number and left a message and my number. I have not heard anything back. A few miles after Tulsa, I yelled back to BB ... "Where are we?" I had just seen a crossroad, very rare on freeways. (Now that I have looked at the map ...) Leaving Tulsa, there is one sign that says I-44 Right Lane. Within a mile, the highway the next ramp adds a third lane on the right. Within another mile that new lane exits ... as I-44. No exit number. The main two lanes are now US-412. Not sure how many miles we went out of route, but we got to Joplin about the same time I had guessed. When we got to Chouteau, we got on US-69 and headed up to Big Cabin. It's a highway we have been on before, four lanes, but still have to slow down for the towns. I did save me a couple of bucks on tolls. :) In Joplin was stopped at the Iron Skillet / Petro for lunch. Lots of food choices. Besides the Iron Skillet there was a DQ, Caribau, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. Buffet as usual. Lots of good food, didn't even have room to try the potato soup. Lots of armadillos as road kill, not sure I have ever seen one live. One more stop at a rest area in Conway. Less than 500 miles today. We stop for the night in Rolla at a Quality Inn. The big area that looked like truck parking from the areal shot was actually a dumping place for rocks. After trying a couple of spots, I finally settled on a third spot. Not much for parking for this size motel. Getting to a motel, we passed a Sirloin Stockade, it wasn't open but I couldn't tell if it had closed or not yet opened. The building looked new, but the sign looked out. Turns out it burned last winter and is being re-built. The fire was noticed by people on I-44 when flames started coming out the roof. Those inside were not aware of the fire until bypassers let them know. There is a Dennys across the street but we walked down to a Bandana's BBQ instead. Great food. They have other locations, we will have to look them up. There is a truck right in St Louis going up to Michigan. We priced that out, but we'd come home with less money than if we went straight home. Then sometime today there were RV's going to Alabama but we would need to have Saturday delivery, and the RV's were gone before we called. Later there were PU's out of Kansas City going to California. But we couldn't find a cheap rental car, and without a cheap car the trip wouldn't be worth it, and we are too tight on time to get a bus back next week. It is likely that we will just head home from MO. After events a week from Wednesday, we have about six weeks before we have to be back. And by the end of the month there should be more RV's, based on the numbers from the last two years. Then we can afford to wait in CA for a bus and still make more money that coming back in a car because we don't have time to do a run. The down side is, it is already snowing in places. So we are going to want to stay south. Lots of FedEx vans in transit, more than anything else right now. 20181009 - CA - MO Breakfast was the usual 'choice' breakfast. We pulled out at 7:30 as planned. 30 miles later we were in line at Cuba at the Blue Beacon. We had about an hour wait there, they had a full crew so they were doing a truck about every 10 minutes. While we were waiting a truck showed up on the board going from Rolla, where we just left, to North Carolina. By now BB was watching Hurricane Michael and was pretty sure we did not want to head in that direction. From there, just over an hour to St Louis. We were behind rush hour, that was good. There was still road construction, that was not so good. If I go back I will do the extra miles and find a different route. Then once we were on the city streets they were painting the crosswalks so that traffic was down to one lane. Avis is less than a mile from my drop. BB had guided me in today. I had looked at a map to see if there was a better way to get to my drop, there isn't. But I never refreshed my memory as to what streets to take after I dropped off BB .... but I did OK. Just before my drop is a right turn that needs the oncoming traffic to obey the 'STOP HERE ON RED' sign. Last time they didn't and I skipped the turn and added about two miles so I make a left turn. This time no one was there so not problem. BB said traffic was not stopping when she came so it would have been a problem. Or ... I've gotten an attitude and I would have just blocked traffic until they moved. When I got to the drop I parked inside the fence and waited for BB so we could unload our suitcases. She calls wondering where I am ... "I'm in a big bus, you should be able to see me from anywhere." ))) yes, she could see my bus ... along with 100 other buses, she just didn't know which one was me ((( I never did make contact with my contact so I just drove around to where I dropped the bus last time and walked inside. They found someone right away. We said a few words, tore off the plastic, signed my paperwork and I was on my way. ... this time we knew how to get out of there ... much easier if you look at a map. I'm not a big fan of the downtown's so we got 30 miles behind us before we stopped to eat. Lunch was to go, from a Chik-fill-A. I hadn't been paying attention but BB had and didn't want the person at the counter we got. BB ordered a meal with a side and I ordered an entree with a shake and a lemonade. He rang it up as two meals, when we tried to explain, we realized it was easier to just re-order BB's drink which they hadn't given her ... but they did give both of us sides. We made it over the 100 mile mark to Wayland to a Flying J for a restroom. Before 5 o'clock we had pretty much decided that we were heading home. We could still change our minds if something showed up before we dropped the car tomorrow morning but that wasn't too likely. My plan was to send an email to my 2nd job telling them I could work Thursday and Friday. I planned on doing that when I stopped. But, but before we stopped, first my brother posted about an auction on Thursday and then I got an email about a funeral on Saturday. (2nd job did call me about Thursday even though I had said I was NA for another week yet.) Funeral is for an 102 year old cousin of my Dad's. I had gone to visit her a couple of times, once for her 100th birthday. From Wayland we again made it over 100 miles, this time to Evansdale to an Arbeys. No issue with the order here ... instead I was able to drip food all over my shirt ;) By now we were in the rain. Lots of rain. Driving slow in traffic rain. When we got to the Quality Inn in Mason City, I first pulled under the small overhang and BB stepped out ... right into deep water. So I pulled around and let her out by the door, then pulled ahead so she could get stuff out of the trunk. From there I went to park and got soaked coming in. It was raining hard enough that the water was doing that swirling that it does around the bathtub drain ... but it was doing it around the manhole. Got to our room and they had given us an upgrade. Interesting room. There was a window into the bathroom from the bedroom, with the shade on the bedroom side of the window ... ??? When we drove through Cedar Rapids we noticed that the former Clarion is now a Ramada. Looked that up after we stopped and it made the news. Choice/Clarion had pulled their name after the employees hadn't gotten paid, but it was a lot more than that. About that time the owners had done a $1.5 million dollar upgrade on the motel and the manager had not only taken the employees money he had also take some of that money. The owners sued and won a $2 million judgement against their former owner. But Choice still wouldn't take them back ... too bad. It was a nice place, too nice to be just a Ramada ... but some of the Ramada's are pretty nice. Also looked up the mall in Waterloo. They lost both Sears and Younkers (Herbergers sister co) left this year leaving only Dillards. Amazon has been ruff on the smaller town malls. 20181010 - CA - MO Car has to be back by 10:45. We don't feel like getting up early so we decide grab breakfast and eat in the car. Great breakfast, good bacon. Instead of just yogurt in the fridge there was also cottage cheese, apple sauce, pineapple and mandarin orange cups. It had stopped raining ... From the motel it was about a half hour to the lot to pick up our car. I've never seen the lot this empty. The board was down to 1 RV going to IL. The lot had maybe 10 RV's that were waiting to be picked up ... instead of the up to 200 earlier this year. We moved our luggage from one car to the other and headed to drop the Avis in Burnsville. It's 10 miles or so closer than the airport without the airport hassle. We are in town at least until next Wednesday, maybe longer if there isn't much work. The last two years the board got up over 70 RVs the last few days of the month, so I expecting it to get back up over 100 at least for a few days. The guy who signed the paperwork in St Louis said they had 20 more buses coming so hopefully I can get back out and get another one coming back this way. |
