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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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2 - New RV's 20180216 - IA-CA No write up for yesterday, we sat home all day. Sat home again today watching the board, at some point they have to start putting huge numbers out there. They did put out about double today but nothing we wanted. We had talked about heading down at noon but that sounded better earlier, once it got be be noon it didn't sound like such a good idea. Dispatch closes at 5 pm and still no work. Five minutes later they dump 30 on the board including a bunch we will take. So within a half hour we are packed and out the door. We do a drive thru at Arbey's in Burnsville and then on to the Comfort Inn in Albert Lea. Tomorrow at 8 am we will be dialing with both cell phones to try to get the run(s) we want. There are six to El Cajon or eight to Mesa/Phoenix that will work for us. Not all the units will work, but enough that we should be close to what we want. That would set us up for a Wednesday delivery and a Thurs/Fri pickup of a bus if he has one for me. Need to be back for the 6th and the 10th, then again for the 23rd of March. 20180217 - IA-CA At breakfast this AM I noticed the sausage was about room temperature so I told the breakfast help. They took care of it right away, someone had shut the temp off on the warmer. At 7:59 we started calling in, but the phones weren't working right so instead of being busy they would go to someones voice mail. Finally after 20 minutes of dialing with two phones we got through. Our first choice was gone but we are still going to El Cajon. And I wasn't quite ready to walk out the door so a little delay there too ... and it was snowing so I drove a little slower. Someone who pulled on later down the freeway did a little 'fish tail' before getting going. Also saw those types of tracks on the side roads. Got to the office and we waited a while before someone asked us what we needed. Turns out dispatch puts the paperwork in the lock box on Saturday even when the office is open ... so that too a few extra minutes. Then I spent some time looking for my 'Intent,' when I had an 'Aspect,' so that took a little while extra too. Otherwise the pre-trip went OK. Did talk to one driver when we came in that had just taken an RV to MT, and back again. It was refused. He also mentioned another driver that had done the same recently. Also talked briefly to a gal that was taking her first trip since coming back to work for the company, talked to her again later, after she had locked her keys in her car. So far that bad luck hasn't rubbed off on us. Made it to Clear Lake Pilot for fuel. Both units are gas so we'll be watching the same prices. We had thought of making it to Des Moines but because of the little delays adding up we stopped in Ames at the Pizza Ranch. Just as well, I-35 was closed due to an accident. Lots of good fresh food at this place, stuffed. No closed signs by the time we got going so we stayed on the freeway, just before the next rest area there was debris on both shoulders and the center cable was down for a block or more. Then at the rest area were all the tow trucks and cops so it had just re-opened. Stopped again at the welcome center in MO, Eagleville. By then we knew we wouldn't make it to Ottawa or Emporia. Ended up picking Lenexa, there is a Clarion there that a few months ago was a Crown Plaza. Got there a few minutes after sunset. As we come off the freeway we got to a red light. I stopped and then turned left, BB was blowing her horn at me ... until she saw the sign 'Left turn on red after stop.' It's one of those newer criss-cross overpasses they have started putting in to speed up traffic. We ended up eating at the 'Bistro' at the motel. Our room has a fourth floor balcony overlooking the indoor pool. Nice room, but this Crown Plaza was really past it's prime by the time they moved on. There is a new Holiday Inn across the street, they took out a couple of really old motels (that I used to stay at.) Just looked at the board, they added about 70 orders after 12 noon today. Lots of work now. We have about 500 miles tomorrow to get to Dalhart, TX. That is the last motel before NM and we can't get our permits until 8:30. No way to get to our drop Tuesday without a permit. We should be out of the snow by now. 20180218 - IA-CA WIND No free breakfast at this place, so we might try the Quality Inn across the street next time. Breakfast buffet is $13 each. I'm not hungry, if I had seen the soup on the menu last night, that is all I would have gotten. Instead I ended up with a quarter pounder. BB has looked at the weather and it will be 'iffy' at best. We decide to stop for fuel in an hour at a TA/Shell. Shell limits their discount to 20 gallons, and then the credit card won't work a second time to restart the pump so that is all we put in. Winds were throwing us a little so we decided to stop for breakfast, had the buffet. Only $10 here. Bacon was really good but I can only eat so much of it. Some egg back was also pretty good. We were there at 9 AM and some of the stuff it looked like we were the only ones who had taken any. After over an hour we finally decided to do the day a section at a time. More or less stop at each town that had motels to see if we should go further. We also looked at going even further out of route to get around the weather but that would be a lot of two lane highways. 1st leg was about an hour and a half and we stopped at a rest area/oasis right before Wichita. We usually take the back roads from Emporia, but today I wanted to stay on the four lane as long as possible. So we ended up on the toll road. 2nd leg, we decided to keep going. It is still mostly four lane until Pratt. On the way we stop at a Walmart where gas is $2.20. Lowest we've seen so we fill. 3rd leg, there are a couple of short spots of two lane highway and that is enough for us to decide to get off the highway. We are really getting rocked and thrown every time we meet a semi. We stop in Pratt and make reservations, it is only 3 PM and we have only done 260 miles. It's taken us eight hours to get a four hours drive. We end up at a Comfort Inn. Weather looks about the same for tomorrow. High winds forecast and for here. For most of the next 300+ miles the road is mostly two lane with some passing lanes. IF we can make 500 miles tomorrow, we can still make it for Wednesday delivery. I'm not counting on it at this point. 20180219 - IA-CA Up and ready before breakfast was ready. We were down at 6:30, but half the food wasn't out and still wasn't by the time we were done eating. May be windy again today so we want to get an early start. And we also may be able to get more than 500 miles today and make up some time. For some reason my windows were foggy on the inside this AM ... like someone was in there. But no one was. BB's RV had a front wrap on it for rock damage. Some units do some don't. Her's does but it is coming off in the wind. My last one to El Cajon did the same thing. Wish they would give us extra tape, but they don't. First stop is about 90 miles down the road in Meade. Had planned on stopping at the old truck stop, but then I saw the new Loves and pulled in there. NOT much room, in OK they have a lot of Loves gas stations and this is one. We kind of parked in the drive, only saw one person have to make a quick turn once he saw were were blocking the drive. This was our stop to call for permits so we sat there a little bit. If we stop at this one again we will park on the street a block away. Next stop is Stratford at the Pilot to pick up our NM permits. Gas would have been cheaper back at the Loves in Texahoma but that would have been an extra stop. As long as we are stopped at Flying J we fuel and eat at Subway. This place also has a Godfathers and at PJ Fresh. Godfathers wasn't open yet? at 11:30 when we got there, was by the time we left. This is how I remember PJ's, just another name for hot food. Nothing like the one we stopped at last trip. At the POE in Nara Vista I get a 'Park' sign before I get to the scale, then once inside I'm told I should have just held up my permit and I wouldn't have had to come in ... I think someone hit the wrong light for me, it should have been 'Stop.' Some dog followed me from the office back to my truck and then just sat by the truck until someone from the scalehouse called it off. Getting windier. Rocking us pretty good. The 'High Winds' are supposed to start about an hour after we are out of this area. Another break stop at Tucumcarri at the Flying J, not nearly as busy as last time we were here on the weekend. As we pass Santa Rosa, I pickup a weather station that I can hear quite well when they aren't running an intro over it. High winds, snow, not good weather. The weather map shows it is not good from the Great Lakes down into NM and points west. Our next stop is listed as Vaughn, but that town is miles south on a different highway. The closest point on this road to the rest area is Clines Corner. By now the wind is really rocking us. Told BB it was good she left space between the RV's so they didn't touch when they rocked. We thought we might get to Grants tonight, and we could have based on hours, but the wind has really kicked up again so we are going to push to Albuquerque. Should have stopped at Mority 30 miles are so closer. Some guy towing a travel trailer came way over in my lane as he passed and then was swinging after he got by so I backed way off until he was gone. I hit the shoulder pretty good with one of the gust's. Also saw a semi trailer laying on its side. And the sides of lots of trailers as I followed them. Made it to ALB to the Quality Inn again and had Mexican again. Then actually went for a walk. Side note. Last week when we were home we stopped at our cell phone store to drop our insurance on our devices and ask about dropping service for my note pad. After I ask them about dropping the service, they tell me about a 'new offer' on note pad's ... "I'm not using the one I have, I don't see why I should buy a new one (to not use)." Disconnect. IF we get to Gila Bend or further we will have less than five hours to our drop for Wednesday. The weather finally looks better. I won't call about picking up a bus until I know we are going to make it past Phoenix tomorrow. The loadboard is up to 141 at the close of day. That's the highest since the first week in January. Lots of work if we do come strait back. IF we wanted to push it, we could do another west coast before we have to be back. More likely we would do something short. 20180220 - IA-CA Wanted to head out by 6:30, but breakfast wasn't until 6:30 and it wasn't out any earlier. So we had our stuff out in the RV's and waiting, had to plug in the toaster. One of the last things he did was unlock the yogurt. That's all I ended up having for breakfast. No meat today, garlic bread instead? Forced diet. BB looked at the weather this AM before we left and there shouldn't be any issues. Then I looked up where our stops should be and saw a whole lot of red on the maps. Weather was OK, but the snow overnight had iced the roads and there were accidents. Looked like about 100 miles of red. But it should clear by the time we get there, right? By the time we got going it was getting light, first stop was four miles down the road at a Flying J. Fuel was $2.08. The station that was $1.99 a couple of weeks ago was now $2.33 and no business. Last time the lot was full. Price does make a difference. Things started out good, got past where the roads were to start getting bad. Then did have to slow down where the original accident had been. A few tow trucks still in the median picking up junk. Looks like at least two semis and one car trailer getting towed. Didn't get far and there was a pickup on its top and nothing left of the trailer he was towing. While we could still see those flashing lights traffic came to a stop. This next accident might have just happened because I think it was one of the tow trucks from the ditch two miles back that came and towed this next semi off the road. It had done a 180 right under the overpass. When we got to our first break, there was a semi stalled on the side road and traffic backed up for at least a 1/4 of a mile into the truckstop. Plan was to wait for it to clear before we left but it was gone before we were ready to leave. That was at Flying J in Jamestown. Some guy came looking to wash his windows while I was fueling, but the buckets were all frozen, he did finally find one where someone had busted the ice out and threw the ice on the ground. Lots of ice. Lots of slow and go. We lost at least two hours of travel time before noon today. So basically it took us seven hours to do what we should have done in under five. More semi's turned the wrong direction. Lots of tracks into the ditch. But here there hasn't been much snow so as soon as a car hits the ditch it stops and they drive back onto the road. Lots of under 45 with the flashers on. Sometimes traffic would follow, other times they'd blow by. Sometimes they were blowing by me at 45 ... I was going that much less than 45. Last major issue was right outside of Gallup, roads didn't get any better for a while but no more accidents. Stopped at the POE in Sanders. No issues. We stayed on track and waited until we got to Winslow for food. By now it was 3 pm central. McDonalds. Not sure what had been next to it but the building is gone, the parking lot is still there but in very bad shape. Called the drop and called about a bus, dispatch didn't pick up and they never called me back. Wanted to know so we knew where to get a rental car too. By now the skies had cleared and the roads were clear but sloppy. Finally could set the cruise and make some time. But we had already lost enough time that we won't make it to Yuma or even Gila Bend. That means an early morning tomorrow. Stopped at a rest area on the down side of Flagstaff. It has many names depending on which map you look at. By now we knew it would be 6 pm and sunset when we got to Buckeye. Motels are expensive so we are using points. They would have been expensive in Gila Bend also. We used the 303 to get around the north side of Phoenix. It looks like what they have done is starting to build the road, but where there is going to be an overpass, they route us down the ramp and back up. There are no roads out that far, but they are guessing there will be some day. Not much traffic for rush hour that far out of downtown. Got on I-10, ten miles from our exit. Fueled at Loves in Buckeye, guessed at how much fuel we need to get to the drop. We'll see how close we are. We put in 10-15 gallons less than BB wanted. Who's right? Right behind Loves is a Days Inn, double/triple the price of most Days Inn's and it is nothing special but it is the only motel around. Walked back to Loves and got a Subway and things for breakfast. Breakfast isn't served until 6 AM and we plan on being on the road by then. Our work board had a net drop of 10, so still at 131. Not sure what we will do if there is not a bus for me. We've just done back to back CA trips and have time to do another one ... but. 300 miles to our drop. We've done this drop before so we know the turns. Three days in a row we have had weather delays. Two days we shut down early because of wind, then today we had to drive slow because of snow/ice. It was nice to see the wind sock's barely moving instead of barely hanging on. 20180221 - IA-CA Left out before daylight. Sign said breakfast from 6-9, so we had bought breakfast at Loves last night. And when we checked out this AM at 6, people were in eating breakfast so no idea how long it had been open. Most places first light is about a half hour before sunrise. Out in the desert you can see the outline of the hills long before that. It was daylight before we got to Gila Bend. US 85 is four lane until the outskirts of Gila Bend so daylight was good. Did check out the Best Western for parking in case we end up there next time. Lots of room. Restaurant attached. They have confusing signs in Gila Bend. One sign post has three highway signs on it and under them it has an arrow to the right. But only the bottom highway turns right. Same town, after that it says I-8 right lane. Two blocks later the right lane turns/ends. The I-8 entrance is still a couple of blocks down the same street. First stop is a rest area near Dateland, about 100 miles from start. Second stop is Seeley, CA, another 100 miles after that. We did have to stop at the AZ exit scale that is closed 90% of the time. Just weight and go. Stopped again at the ag inspection area. The scale there says NO picks/RV's so that makes it pretty clear, we haven't been stopping in CA anyhow. Also had to wait in line at a border check. This is one that is only open sometimes. When we got close enough I was watching how close together the cars were clearing. One got held up more than a flag through and sent to the side for more questions. Two people in a pickup, not topper, etc. We did stop again 40 miles before the drop on the exit ramp to make sure we both had enough fuel. We did, but BB's low fuel light came on 17 miles before our exit and mine came on ON the exit :) I like guessing that close. I had looked a the website for the wash this time and saw that they had one larger bay so I took that one, still I went past it and backed in instead of trying to swing it. Mine was so long I had to wash it in two sets. Should have took a before and after, they were both really bad. Fueled at the same place as last time and I was watching when we got it it to see if I was going to bottom out. Bottomed out in the middle and the rear leaving the motel this AM so next time we will have to park somewhere else. I got into the gas station OK but wanted to back out for 'swing' reasons. But someone was behind me so it took four pull aheads/backing to make the turn ... and then I bottomed out at that exit. Next time we will try to fuel somewhere else if we remember. No one ahead of us at noon when we get to the drop but the inspector is on break so we unload our stuff and walk to Hertz a few blocks away ... in the rain. Car is just about ready when we get there, but they have the fuel wrong and have to take a whole bunch of pictures 'because the car isn't in there system?' Looks like a Vemo issue (Vemo is the program that our last company used.) We get back and the guy says he is almost done, but it is most of another half hour before he is done. No notations on either RV. I call the bus dispatcher but he doesn't know if he has anything, call him back in a half hour. At this point we should have headed north, instead we go and eat. Really good food and twice as much as either of us needed. And we eat it there. Half hour later dispatcher still doesn't know, says he will call me back in five minutes. Finally a couple hours later he calls back to say he will know more after 5, he never calls back again. By stopping and eating, we end up in rush hour traffic and it takes us about five hours to get a couple hundred miles around LA. Traffic was all bad, it likely could have taken us twice that. 16 lanes the one place we counted. Got caught again being in the left lane when the freeway exit to the right. managed to get over, last time I did it with a bus :) By the time we are past LA it is dark and decide to stay in Bakersfield. It is a little out of route but CA-99 doesn't have much for motels. We end up at a Comfort Inn, if there was something close we might have had soup, instead we had cookies and I'm still not hungry. Will find out where we are going tomorrow. Never did the math to realize we needed to get going out of El Cajon to get the car back in time. Now we have to be up by 5 AM and may still have to drop me at the bus and run to get there in time. Opps. ... the trip continues HERE |
