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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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2 - New RV's 20180326 - MN Local, spent time with family last weekend and will again next weekend. Moved a truck from the office to WBL and then got a ride to Sauk Center and drove a 2nd truck back to the office. 20180328 - MN Rode to Crookston, picked up a bus and got as far as Evansville and it broke down. Waited for the tow and got in my 14 hours for the day. 20180329 - MN Tuesdays bus got towed back to Crookston and I drove it back to the office. Slow week. I try to be in town for the end of the quarter and I moved one bus this time. They also asked me to go up last Friday and Saturday and I was busy. And I didn't call dispatch about Wednesday, asked the shuttle driver to mention it when he talked to them. Should have done it myself, but I was fine not working after not getting back to the office until 11 PM 20180331 - IA-AZ Made the call and got runs to Phoenix, AZ. Yesterday there was more and better stuff but we did not want to leave on Sunday. The board had been back up to almost 150 again with lots of old stuff. We had talked about taking some RV's that had been on the board for a while but when we saw that rental cars are at post Spring Break prices we wanted to get south. Why pay $300-400 for a car when you can get one for $50? Finally was able to get a dentist appt so I took whatever they would give me. Didn't match it up to BB's appt. So we have to be back in 8 days, no time for a return trip. We looked at doing 2-3 short runs but if anything goes wrong we wouldn't make it back in time. So one one-way trip, off another week then maybe back to the west coast and doing buses. 20180402 - IA-AZ Left out this AM at 8 AM. Most of rush hour had past so we made good time other than I don't push our old cars to the limit. When we got to Forest City someone in the office always looks at our logs. I had really messed up one day. Wrong date, wrong math, wrong hours, so that took a few extra minutes. Then both BB's and my paperwork had not been properly signed off. AND it was cold. By the time I had one of my cable ties done my fingers were froze. I took a break and checked my lights while my fingers warmed up. Before we left, one of the other drivers came over and asked us about how we were getting home. They tow, so I mentioned a couple of the ups and downs of rental cars. This trip is an up, $50 for three days, total. BB has a diesel and I have a gas. She stopped in Forest City, I stopped for fuel at Pilot in Clear Lake. Then it was lunch time so we ate at Subway. Tried to drive 60 mph today but the RV kept down shifting. Finally set it at 62 and it was better. Stopped first at the rest area in Ankeny. When we pulled in I noticed a truck from my other company sitting there so I walked over to say hi. The guy said he had just gotten fired. Not sure what was going on, dispatch was sending someone else down to take the truck the rest of the way to CA. Not sure what happened, they guy has been there almost as long as I have. As long as we were stopped we called in to get our NM permits. I like to have two chances at a motel to try and print them out. Next stop was the rest area in Eaglesville, MO. By now BB needs fuel. I still have over a half a tank so this was poor planning on our part. We ended up stopping three times in two hours. We stop again a few miles down the road at a Caseys for fuel. Then a few more miles down the road for the night. Kearney, MO. We stop at the Quality Inn for the night and walk to JJ Homestead. It closed last Monday for good. Website is still up, lights are still on, just a little note on the door. So we went across the parking lot to a Asian place. Too much food but good. There is also another place between these two that is closed ... on Mondays. These three were the number 3, 4 and 5 best places to eat in town. Got to spend the better part of an hour to get the permits printed and my corrected log faxed. 1st the printer didn't work, then I tried using the office computer and it kept locking up, then I wasn't sure if I got it logged off. Weather, wind again. Hope we can make it past Pratt. Worse weather coming in behind us, we should stay ahead of the snow and ice. If tomorrow is a good day we should make it to Dalhart. 20180403 - IA-AZ Weather was iffy this morning so we didn't get going until 8 AM. We wanted to wait until after rush hour in KC. Talked to a guy while I was doing my inspection at the motel and he had came down from Eagan, MN. Said it started snowing about noon and by 2 PM he didn't know if they were going to be able to leave ... but drove out of it before Owattona. We fueled before leaving town, the QT in Kearney was cheaper than anything else would be today. Not too bad of traffic, it helps that I70 west is closed so less traffic on the downtown part of I35. But they have the roads under constructions and lanes moved ... I almost pushed some guy into the cement median. He was right along side of me when I started coming over. Once I got a little closer to him he showed up in my mirror. Lost BB most of the way through town. Doesn't take long to get a few cars between us. When I got to the scale I could see it was changing colors before I could read it. I thought maybe they were opening/closing it depending on who it was. Nope. Between OPEN it would flash NOW HIRING. :) First stop was Ottawa at the rest area. I almost missed it. Busy thinking about other things right then. We had lots of fun with tolls today. We often avoid the toll road, but because of the wind we wanted to stay off the two lane as long as possible. A semi was ahead of us and it took him quite a while to pay. That is when I realized it is now 'self pay.' No one working the booths anymore. Next guy had not gotten a ticket when he got on the freeway so he had to wait until someone somewhere realized he had issues and started talking to him over the intercom. They finally got that worked out but then the gate closed again before he could get moved. We were all getting out of our trucks/RV's to pay. The area was not set up for that. When it was my turn, it wouldn't take my credit card so I had to use a different one. Then when BB pulled through I walked back to help her, once she had paid the gate went up ... and when I walked past it went down ... with her still on the other side. Had to wait for the intercom again. Somewhere along the toll road I noticed cattle walking in mostly single fine. About two miles long, not sure if they were being driven or it was just time to move on. A few miles later a shorter line on the other side of the freeway. Who leads? Why do they follow? Next fuel stop was in Goddard just past Witchita at WalMart. Next we ate at Pizza Hut a couple of blocks away. We had the last 10 minutes of the buffet so the stuff wasn't real fresh. Wind. We were down to 55 mph a good part of the day. Stopping every hour to check the weather, it was iffy all day if we should have even been running but we did. Quick stop at the Caseys in Pratt to check the weather. Next quick stop was in Mullenville. We didn't even go in BUT, BB had three warning lights go on. She was getting ready to call in for service, but she double checked to see what each was and the all went out after about 15 minutes. She had lost the cruise somewhere in a gust of wind, that is likely what caused the other errors. Another quick stop in Meade where we realized we were not going to make it to Dalhart before dark. Maybe if I hadn't needed fuel but I don't have quite enough so we will stop in Texahoma tomorrow. We shut down in Guymon, OK at the Quality Inn. Ate at the 54 Pub. New name first of the year, we have eaten there before. Mine was really good, BB couldn't find anything good to say about hers. Got a text that I need to send in my logs so we got that done. Work board is back up to 140 out of Iowa. Long day tomorrow, we would still like to make it to Winslow ... 600 miles instead of our normal 500. 20180404 - IA-AZ Lots of excitement today so I have likely forgotten half of it already. At the motel this AM there were two places on the cement where that were long enough for trucks to park ... and there was a car parked in one of them. There also was one area of parallel parking with one car parked so bigger rigs couldn't park there either. But we had gotten there early enough so this wasn't an issue for us. BB had planned on fueling in two where diesel was $.03 cheaper but decided once we were out the door to just fuel where I was going to, 20 miles down the road. About three miles after we fueled and across the state line, diesel was$.15 cents cheaper. First stop was at Loves in Texahoma, OK. As I was turning on my gas pump, it wasn't until it didn't ask for my Pilot rewards card that I remembered I was at Loves, not Pilot. :) Also it didn't like me using my Fridley zip code (from 25 years ago) for my credit card. Lots of wind again today, I tried going 65 mph for a while but I have been running about half the time in 4th gear, 2/3 of the time in 5th and the rest in 3rd gear. Not good for the mileage. Finally caught up to a semi going 55-60 mph and we just stayed behind him ... until he pulled off and fueled. Lots of trucks caught up to us but none of them passed us and only a couple of cars passed us. Finally we got to Tucumarri for a break. Quick one at the Flying J then back on the road to Santa Rosa. Stopped at the Pilot in Santa Rosa, we were going for the Subway but they have a TJ Fresh. Most aren't much but a few are good, this was one of the good ones. BB had a half a chicken and two sides. I had meatloaf and one side. The server dropped one of the pieces of meatloaf in the gravey before it got on my plate ... at least that one wasn't too dry. No charge for the gravey. Just before we were going to walk out someone from our driveaway company pulled through the gas pumps before going out of sight in the big rig area. After using the restroom I went looking for him, but he was already asleep in his cab so I didn't knock and wake him up. Wanted to know where he got the tanker from, I don't see those on the board. There also was an RV from a different company sitting there when we left. I think it was the same one we saw backing up the exit ramp once he realized there was not an entrance ramp nearby (it's a mile <> down the road) Finally somewhere after Santa Rosa the winds let up, even BB thought I was going to loose it one time when we came out from behind a hill and I ended up on the shoulder before getting it under control again. When we got to the Flying J in Alb there were a few other RV's there. I made our calls to our drop which got me behind BB, she was ready to go before I got out of my RV. First she talked to one of the drivers from our company, he was going to CA. The the time I came out of the building she was talking to another driver, this one from Horizon. Someone has shut him down because of an issue with his log. We spend most of a half hour talking to him, but still not sure what his original issue was. As we were talking one of the local beggers came up to us but I told them there were a lot of places in town they could get help and when back to our log conversation. Did see this guy at the scale about three hours later so he got going. Shorty before ALB, we were going up a long steep hill and the RV downshifted to 2nd ... and the check engine icon started blinking. I backed off and it went off. BUT once we got going after ALB it came on again and has stayed on. When we got to the Flying J in Jamestown I shut the RV battery off trying to force a reset but that didn't work. One other little thing about that stop. I park in the far corner of a 50+ parking lot that is only half full. Before I get the RV shut off, someone comes and parks in the spot right ahead of me. If he had stayed there, I would have had to carefully back out to get around him ... ??? Dispatch said to keep running with the light on, if it doesn't go off, it needs to go to a dealer before delivery. I did the math and so far I am getting the 6.5 mpg that the office says I should be. I put in 13 gallons less than what I needed and so far after a 100 miles it still says I will make delivery without refueling. Helps to have lost the wind. The first driver BB talked to in ALB is here fueling also. The tanker driver was sitting on the side of the road but we didn't stop. No triangles out so maybe just a phone call ?? Next stop Sanders POE to get our permits. They now are route specific, right to the drop address. Used to be state wide for three days. And the prices changed. Saw another RV driver here but didn't talk to him, only said HI to the guy with the log issues, he was still sitting there when we left. Somewhere between Sanders and Holbrook a semi had rolled and they were doing the clean up. Traffic was backed up for a few miles. Quality Inn in Holbrook right at dark. 12 hour day. Winslow would have been after dark. Ate at Denny's a few blocks walk. Had my first smoothy there, good. Still the AZ to OK trip on the board, but if we couldn't drop until Monday it would be 750 miles in one day as I have a dentist appointment on Tuesday and BB doesn't drive after dark. Maybe straight home via the Grand Canyon? 250 miles left for tomorrow. Pick up rental car. Maybe visit or drop at the shop. We have had two where the lights have gone off after a few hundred miles. Others don't. IA is still over 130, IN is at 29, NC has 26 just of the ones we have driven. Lots of work. 20180405 - IA-AZ Got going shortly after daylight. But first I checked to see if the company had my paperwork. They had not updated the computer when I got up, but by the time we were ready for breakfast it was updated. Whewww. One less phone call to make. Not much wind today. Not much to notice out of the ordinary. There were signs on I-40 that there was smoke on I-17. It was pretty heavy for a little ways, slowed down to 55 and lost BB in the smoke. I was wondering if the RV's would carry the smoke but it only lasted a few miles and it was clear again. Controlled burn. First stop was south of Flagstaff at a Cheveron in Munds Park. BB fueled and I called to get my RV looked at. Another two hours we were at the dealer. The guy I had talked to was gone to lunch but he must have let people know I was stopping because I was in and out in under a half hour. A prior 'mis-fire' is what caused the engine icon to be on. No way to track into it. Then to Flying J. Roadwork caused major backups but we finally were in and out. From there the drop was at the next exit. Just one guy checking us in, sign on the door said sign in and wait. After we got there the guy went to lunch, when he came back he updated us as to our wait. Finally a couple of hours later was asked if it was OK to go pick up our rental. It was. We tried calling taxi's, an hour plus wait. Tried downloading Uber and Lyft but that was taking forever. Finally called Hertz to ask what taxi they used and they said someone could pick us up. They sent a Lyft driver NC, and he was there in two minutes. Traffic was slow and Hertz was real fast but we finally got out of there. Sometime earlier I called our office and was told I needed paperwork for my repair stop. I hadn't gotten any so we stopped back with the rental car. There is no paperwork, so we will see how that flies with the office tomorrow, they were gone by the time I found out today. Another driver from our company was also there at the drop. He was flying back. We didn't offer a ride it would have been a couple hours out of route due to traffic. Our first stop was In-and-Out. We hadn't eaten since 6 local this AM and it was now after 4 PM. We decided it was a long enough day so we ended up staying in a Sleep Inn on the north end of Phoenix. The last Choice motel before Flagstaff. We did switch and get the car for 4 days so that raised the cost to $45 for the four days. We did good on the fuel. BB made $20 on the fuel and the low fuel light came on when she pulled up to the pump. But for her the low fuel light comes on at 1/4 tank so she would not have needed to add fuel today. I did better. I made $100 and pulled into the station with a range of 75 miles, or about an 1/8 of a tank of fuel. The run from Phoenix to OKC that I had been looking at was gone today. Just as well, I wouldn't have been able to pick it up on tomorrow because of how late it got. Not sure if we will head straight back or stop at Grand Canyon or ?? We won't be doing the train into the canyon. We would have to leave here by about 5 AM for that to happen. They are only running one train a day this time of the year. Forecast for home is snow again on Sunday so we aren't in a rush to get back ... 20180406 - IA-AZ I got a rude awakening this morning. BB woke me up and I thought that was rude ;) We had no where to go and four days to get there ... and it was at 4:45 AM. Never mind that we had gone to bed at 7:30 last night so it was over 9 hours sleep. But I was still out cold when the light went on. So we got up and down to breakfast by 6 AM and on the road a little after 6:30. Almost missed that the Comfort Inn tried to charge us a safe charge. When I said I wanted it off the bill, they said I should have told them that last night when I checked in ... Not really expecting safe charges at Comfort Inns' and never saw one in the room. The smoke signs were still up, but no smoke. There were also watch for elk signs put up. I suppose if you start a fire in the elk's habitat, the elk are going to move. Did get a call from the office today about not having a receipt for the break down. But all they asked was how long I was at the dealer and what they did. Hopefully that is the end of it. Also got a call from the local company to see if I could work Monday, I asked them to call me back on Friday or Monday ... today is Friday :) Car needs to be back on Monday by 2 PM, not sure if I'll want to work after that or not. Two and a half hours up to the Grand Canyon.We actually were earlier enough to make the train ride out of Williams but that would have limited how long we could stay and it also wasn't cheap. I had convinced BB that it would not be crowded today. Summer wasn't here and spring break was over. There was a little line at the entrance and the first few lots were full when we got there at 9 AM. We drove around the 'full' sign and found a place to park. If you go, park in the RV lot. There are placed to park cars around the edges where RV's won't fit. First we walked for a couple of hours and took a lot of pictures, never know when those rocks are going to move. Watching other people with young kids, it makes me wonder how non of ours ever got hurt with all the places we took them and the things we did. Next we went shopping and joined some group to support the parks and now we get a discount on what we buy at the store. Forgot that we also would have got a discount on our food less than an hour later. Then we caught the blue bus out to one of the restaurants. Food was good. I just had soup and BB had a sandwich and veggie. Then we had cheesecake :) From there we were going to ride the red bus out to hermits point but after standing in line for about two minutes BB was done. By now we had been on our feet for most of five hours and they were packing the buses as many as could fit standing. This is the bus that stops every few blocks right next to the rim so lots of people getting on and off. Rode the red bus a few years ago when we brought buses out to the Grand Canyon and had time to kill before our flight. So instead we got back on the blue bus and rode it back to our car. Got to see the train and all the pack mules that were were not in use. If I went on a mule ride, I think I'd ask how many years the mule has survived. We did stop at a few pull outs on the way out the east entrance. By the last Visitors Center, BB had had enough of 'being on the edge.' Did get a lot of pictures and no mis-steps while doing selfies. Can't imagine what this place is like when it gets busy, prime time. This was big enough crowds for us. We finally decided to stay in Tuba City and go north to I-70. At first we hadn't seen any motels on the maps until I-70, five hours drive north. That would have made for a very long day. So we had thought of going back south to Flagstaff, it was longer total, but motels were closer. We stopped in Tuba City for fuel at Shell and then on to the Quality Inn. Ended up using points. Price wasn't too bad. Some places we looked at online were $1,000 a night. Others were close so I don't think it was a typo. Ate next door at Hogan's. I had a philly and BB had enchiladas. Both were really good, only downside was it got busy so we finally had to ask for our check so we could leave. The work board is holding just under 150. The two places we want to go next in California have 11 and 12 RV's going to them. No one grabbed any of those today. But we won't be leaving until a week from Monday ... maybe they will still be there ?? 20180407 - IA-AZ Lucky for us we looked at the weather before heading out this AM. Snow is in the forecast for I-70, we are going to re-route our trip. Instead of the usual free breakfast at this hotel they give you a coupon for the restaurant next door. Pick a item off the coupon or take $7 each off any item. More than enough food. The road past our motel goes almost straight east to Gallup, NM on I-40. So that is our way back to MN. We had changed our plans so we would not get back to MN until after this next storm went through. Today we found out where it is coming from ;) We had about 180 miles of two lane road. Very, very few gas stations but a few towns/groups of houses where we had to slow down. First stop was over two hours and it was the first 'friendly' looking gas station. Steamboat. I am really not liking the cruise on this car. As soon as we start down a hill it goes from 65 up to 70+ mph and tac's out over 4,000 rpms. I know it does not have to do that, because if I am behind someone so the 'accident avoidance system' kicks in, it will hold the speed at 65 mph and keep the tac under 2,000 rpms. Also I really wish the accident system would let me know when it kicks it. It can easily drop the speed by 5 mph and I never notice it. Also I need to do some more reading up on it. Someone hit their brakes ahead of my and the system slowed me down fast ... Did my break lights go on so the person behind me knew I was stopping? I don't know. Another two hours after Steamboat we were in Gallup and back on the freeway. Next stop was in Grants at the Petro for the restrooms. When we got back to the freeway there were a row of trucks, cars and RV's that came down one side of the ramp and back onto the freeway. There is road construction on the freeway and it might have been a case of the blind leading the blind. As soon as we were back on the road 'we' decided we should eat so we stopped at the McDonalds at the Sky City truck stop. Just the drive thru as we had just stopped. Two more hours and it was the Pilot in Santa Rosa for fuel, then two and a half hours to Dalhart and the X-10 for real food before checking in at the Best Western for the night. Dispatch is still adding runs to the west coast, even on Saturday so some should still be there in a week plus. Tomorrow/Sunday night we want to get as far as we can, but still stay south of the snow. Right now it looks like Des Moines is under the weather until 7 AM on Monday. We can make it from there and still get the car returned by afternoon. 20180408 - IA-AZ Lots of train noise last night. We've stayed here a time or two before and it was never an issue. Maybe we just didn't sleep as well for other reasons ... or maybe there were more trains. And there were plenty of trains today. 100+ cars long, at least once or twice an hour all morning. First stop today was Liberal at the Loves. Then two hours later it was lunch so BB got a Subway and I waited and got a Godfathers from Loves. Also fueled at Loves. Loves also had subs, Loves Subs. They have those in a few locations instead of Subway, not sure why. Another two hours puts us in Emporia at the Flying J. Noticed a gal under the overpass when we drove into town, by the time we were done at the Flying J, she was there hitting drivers up for a ride. Got a taker and they headed west. Not sure her story. Up to this point it had been all non-freeway, now back on the freeway. Weren't on the freeway too long and it started to snow, just a flurry once in a while in the rain. Once we got past Kansas City it was all snow. Thought we were going to stay south of this. KC wasn't bad, made it through town at the posted speed. Stopped at the only north bound rest area on I-35 in MO near Holt. Then stopped again in Bethany at Casey's for fuel. We could have paid less today for fuel but we had close to 600 miles to go and the fewer the stops the better. By the time we got to Osceola it was mostly rain. Freezing rain. Door to the restaurant was iced over. We ended up both having their version of a buffet. (I had throat issues again, first time in a long time and also the worst, but it passes) Then across the street to the Quality Inn for the night. About five hours driving yet to get back to the airport by 2-4 PM tomorrow. Work called again today looking for me for Monday. Nope, still will not be back. Seeing the lady 'hitchhiker' today reminded me that when we were heading west across NM, I had seen a the cop lights coming from behind, then I saw a lady with a ten gallon purse walking at a good clip along the road ... faster than anyone could keep up for very long. When the cop got about to where the lady was, I didn't see it again due to the hills. But I guessing that was where he was going. Already heard one train tonight at the motel, hope its not an every hour thing ... 20180409 - IA-AZ ICE The windshield and car were covered with ice this morning. Lucky the temp was right at 32 so it didn't take long for the heater to loosen it up. Roads were not bad, but I didn't use the cruise just in case. Too late for rush hour in Des Moines. First stop at the rest area by Story City, next stop at Forest City. By the time we got off the freeway the sun was out but the side roads were not plowed very well. Hard pack with a little slush. Lots of snow on the car, the RV lot only had the main drive plowed. Drivers were using the main drive for hooking up their tow cars. I just moved enough snow so I could see, then gunned it. Once out I slid the rest of the snow off the car. Before we got back to MN, dispatch had called looking for drivers ... but we are NA until next week. After we dropped off the car, I had to go to the clinic but we ate first at the last Old Country Buffet. The one in Burnsville. Still over 100 RV's out of IA ... we saw them still parked all over the place. One week off, hope to be leaving next Monday. Then two, maybe three trips in before Memorial Day. |
