 |
|
|
|
|
...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
|
200305 IA-CA "... on the road again ... " :) 2 RV's heading to Davis / Sacramento CA ... spending the night in Ankeny IA Alarm went off at 6 AM, rolling at 7 AM. No breakfast today. 45 minutes later we are at the safety meeting. Just before 8 AM I start calling dispatch, no answer before 8. BB is just getting back to where I am and she starts dialing. Gets right in before anyone answers my re-dial. We get two runs to Davis. We had discussed taking to RV's to El Cajon near LA for a change. But after doing the math on the price of the car, extra motel, day spent driving it was going to cost us an extra $300. And that is without taking any extra time sight seeing. The safety meetings are not all the same. This one had a lot of video's on texting and driving. They also showed us the youtube video from Monday's 100+ car/truck crash in WY. Google/search it at "#DEADLY #WYOMING #PILEUP | #FATALITIES ON INTERSTATE 80" It is a 9 minute video. There are others videos on YouTube. Another thing mentioned was that we SEEM to be slower this year. But the boss added up the numbers and so far this month there has been 1,700+ RV's. Last year there were 1,700+ RV's. The RV's are just being released more evenly. Normally we get about 25 per day. Last year there was one day where they brought over 600, in one day. There is no way for the office to get that many on the loadboard so we only see about 200 a day. We should be in that area sometime on Saturday. We sat a table with two other drivers. One we had met last trip in Adair at the rest area. The other driver was with his wife but it didn't sound like she drove. The 1st driver had just gotten back from Anchorage. And the couple was heading to NB. For the most part it doesn't sound like they have had much for problems at the border. Wind. We had to wait about an hour after the meeting before we could get our paperwork because of the wind speeds. Spent more time talking to drivers. Two new drivers were just finishing up their training. The one couldn't find his truck so I pointed him in the right direction, later I saw someone from the office walking him to his truck ... and then back to the office. It must not have been parked where the paperwork said it was. We did get going right at noon as we had hoped. And yes, it was windy. Cheapest fuel was a Casey's in Clear Lake per GasBuddy. By the time we got there it was the same price at the Kum and Go. We had picked Casey's because it was closer too food. We picked Taco Bell. Not sure what was going on but it took us 15 minutes to get our food. From where I could see, the 1st 10 minutes there wasn't anyone working in the food prep area. Just one person taking walk in orders and one taking drive thru orders. Then every one hanging around got there food within a few minutes and no one waiting when we left. I had hoped we would be in and out in 15 minutes. We don't need a half hour break today. Next stop was at the rest area in Elk Hart. When we walked around to the west of our RV's it almost blew us over. The wind assist had been slowing me down every few minutes and at times I had slowed without it's help. It wasn't going to get any better and we would be bucking a 30 mph headwind for the next two and a half hours so we called it a day. 10 miles down the road we stop at the Sleep Inn in Ankeny for the night. But with this being a short day we will need to do a couple of 500+ mile days to get back on schedule. If we can't do it, it will be because of the weather and we'll deliver on Tuesday instead of Monday. About 5 PM we walk, or get blown, across the street to Outback. Not my favorite but it is the only place open within walking distance. There is another place that is a fish shop but that it's always open. We got the blooming (onion) chips to start. We had them bring Ranch dressing besides the usual dipping sauce. When I commented later to the server about how hot it was ... oh that is SPICY Ranch. I think the usual sauce has less kick. It wasn't listed on the menu but I ordered chicken alfredo. They had chicken AND shrimp alfredo and they had steak and shrimp alfredo so I guessed they could do a just chicken one. I had them put the sauce on the side after tasting the Ranch. But all was good. I was able to eat 90% of it before I got too full. No desert. When I checked in I asked them if they had cookies or just free pop corn. The guy said 'we don't usually have cookies, but come back down about 8 PM.' 59 left on the board tonight. One of our Davis is still out there. And they added 5 to Bend, OR. El Cajon is 20 miles closer to Livermore CA than Bend OR is. Given a choice I'd do El Cajon this time of year. Weather looks good tomorrow ... so far. After I ate until I was stuffed, and then walked against the wind and up two flights of stairs ... my blood pressure was still lower than when I have to see a Dr ... it's a Dr thing. 200306 IA-CA 2 RV's heading to Davis / Sacramento CA ... spending the night in Sidney NE More from yesterdays meeting. One of the manufactures chassis is on hold, the small no-tow trips are part of that hold. So at some point there should be a lot of units in a short amount of time. They also said at the meeting that the company will be expanding, either by landing new customers or by buying other companies and getting the customers that way. The people that went up to AK said it was so cold that something on their RV froze up and they didn't have any heat for the night. They sleep in the RV's ... in down sleeping bags. Also they mentioned seeing a lot of wildlife. But most of the touristy things are closed during the winter. Today. We were down for breakfast at 6 AM, I had been mostly awake for quiet a while. OJ was like water so I complained, they took care of it right away. The cranberry juice was out also. Bacon and cheese omelet. I wasn't going to have yogurt because the small containers were diet. BB looked at the ounces and the bigger containers actually had less yogurt than the small containers. So I ended up having yogurt also, plus part of BB's banana. We pulled out right as the sun was coming up. We had to look at the top half of the sun to see the traffic. On the NW corner of Des Moines they are working on where a rail trail, hiking, used to be. Close to that area there was a pickup with it's engine under water in the river. They must have driven down the hiking trail, it wasn't next to the construction equipment. 1st stop was in Adair at the rest area. We usuall park with the cars, but an oversized load had pulled was sitting on the shoulder with one pilot car next to it and another across the drive from it. Problem was the one across hadn't left enough room for anyone to get between the two pilot cars ... so we parked with the trucks. When we left, the two pilot cars were just then moving ... not sure if they had let cars past before that or not. Lots of cops doing roadside truck inspections today. I think there was six within 20 miles of Omaha. Better them than me. 2nd stop was Gretna at the QT for fuel. We hadn't looked at prices but it is still the cheapest The weight scale in IA was closed and we both got the OK to bypass at the first NE scale. I've notice that the Claas dealer in Milford, NE has had a lot less equipment lately and today I noticed they big tall sign is gone. Posts are there but nothing on it. Looked it up on the website and it says they are still in business. The Claas site shows that in MN that Ziegler is the dealer. But Ziegler doesn't list on their locations that they sell Claas. 3rd stop was in York at the Iron Skillet for lunch. Only the salad bar was set up when we got there. I asked how soon and they said a couple of minutes. We have seen this waiter a few times so I asked him how soon the place was changing to an IHOP. He hadn't heard anything that it ever was going to change ... but seeing I asked him one question, he stopped by a few more times to chat. Guess business is down ... maybe because of the virus people aren't eating out as much? Food was good. But it was a Friday, during Lent, so there was a lot of fish. So I just had the soup and salad bar and saved $2. Didn't go away hungry. Before we ate, we had to call in and get our permits for NV or we would have had to sit in UT for the weekend. Completely forgot about calling the drop until we got to the motel ... after they had closed. Nope that isn't an issue Monday. By noon I have Willie radio (XM) on. They mentioned that a different station was counting down the biggest 1,000 country hits of all times. So that is what I have been listening to. It doesn't show that that station is assigned to anything, so we will see what happens when they hit #1. Should be Sunday afternoon. Kearney is supposed to be the 'sandhill crane capital of the world.' I've never seen many cranes, lots of other birds in the deep of winter. Today I did see a few hundred cranes and a bunch of sea gulls? Too far away and sitting to know for sure. Haven't looked to see if there is a peak week ?? for the sand hills or why the area has this notation. 4th stop was Cozad at Casey's for fuel. No issues with the pumps this time. Somewhere today we both noticed a rental RV sitting at a rest area starting to pull out. He caught up to us and passed BB and then it looked like he was going to pull in between us ... a couple of times. Then I realized that he couldn't control it, so I hit the brakes and hit the shoulder and let him pass. As far as I could see he was all over the lane. Later we saw him parked again at a rest area. Soon I see BB riding the rumble strips as the guy is trying to pass her. He was going to be brave ... until he started swerving into my lane between us again. I just pulled to the shoulder and let him go. No one else was having an issue with the wind today. We get to the second scale and I get the bypass and I thought I could see that BB did too. But she pulled in. I asked later and she said that she did get the by pass ... first. Then got the must exit and there was no one behind her so she exited. She weighted and was back on the road. When she pulled in, I slowed to 60 mph and a truck caught up to me and stayed behind me. When BB caught up to me I set the cruise back to 65 mph and he stayed with us. Finally after an hour he pulled out to pass just as we were ready to exit in Ogallala. 5th stop Ogallala at Walmart for fuel. Still only two diesel pumps working. Who ever I was waiting for was talking to BB, usually people ask how much they cost, not sure what he was asking her. $.50 a gallon spread at this exit. Walmart and Casey's have diesel for $2.49, the TA is $2.69 and Sapps has it for $2.99. Between the two of us we are putting in 30 gallon every stop. So $15 saved just here. Just before we get to Sidney, I look back and BB is on the side of the road. I pull over and wait for the call. "I have a warning message ..." It wasn't a warning light, it was a message in the radio display area. It doesn't say what the warning is unless you tap on it, BB didn't want to. I had gotten the same message earlier. The county we were passing through was testing their emergency notification system. Whew ... we were back on the road. 6th and final stop was in Sidney NE at the Comfort Inn for the motel and the food was at Three Margaritas, a Mexican place we eat at when we stay here. It's a two or three block walk across the freeway but it is over 70 here tonight before the sun went down. No snow. Food was good, too much, but not stuffed. Cookies were ready when we got back :) We had about another hour of sun light tonight but it would have been another hour and a half to Cheyenne plus however much time it would take at the Port of Entry. IF we had only taken a half hour at the buffet we might have tried to make it. 67 RV's on the board. Two coming out to CA that would work for us, but we are already here. We'll see how tomorrow goes. Maybe Evanston, maybe Coalville, maybe all the way to Tooele. 200307 IA-CA 2 RV's heading to Davis / Sacramento CA ... spending the night in Tooele UT Good day, no issues. (almost no) Motel breakfast was late, 7 AM, because it was the weekend. We still wanted to be gone by 6:30 so we went down at 6 AM and got what we could. BB had her usual, toast, hard boiled egg and fruit. I just had juice and yogurt, something I am trying to have every other day. (all the cookies were gone from last night) When we walked out the door this AM there was a set of keys laying on the sidewalk. I brought them back in, I looked and there was a truck key on the chain, and only one truck in the parking lot. And I'm pretty sure they aren't going anywhere without their keys. Sun was up about 15 minutes before we pulled out this AM, heading west so not an issue for most of the AM. 1st stop was the Port of Entry in WY. We know the routine so it doesn't take us long. Two bus sized RV's pulled in behind us, when we were done with our permits I asked them where they were heading ... 'Bend, the worst place on earth to deliver.' And then it was their turn at the counter so we left. We had seen them earlier at a truck stop when we went past, and later they would pass us. Must have been doing 70 mph, has to burn a lot of fuel at that rate. 2nd stop was a Mobil/Exxon fuel in Laramie. The Conoco next door was one cent cheaper but we stopped there last time and it's a lot smaller and not as nice. Not worth the penny. During the day today we would see a number of other RV transporters, and we'd see them a few times. Also met a few transporters but not nearly as many heading east as heading west. At one point a coach bus passed us, I didn't realize he was a transporter until too late. I saw the placard in the window after he was past. Then I noticed his first marker light was hanging by it's cord. Pretty sure it was our St Cloud guys. Right product, right plate. 3rd stop was at the TA/Country Pride in Rawlins. I thought we were going to do Subway to save time but when we walked in, BB walked over to see the salad bar and decided to stay. This place no longer has a hot food buffet, just the salad bar or order off the menu. We were here a few years ago a day or two after they stopped the hot food, lots of unhappy people. Food looked good. BUT ... my pineapple tasted like it was fermented. The second piece I had had as much fizz as soda. I didn't eat any more of it. Then BB said the tomatoes were really off. There were a couple of other things that seemed a little off so neither of us ate until we were full. I thought there might be a lot of accident debris left so I set my phone / camera in the dash. Turns out the best way to set it up is inside a roll of duck tape. Just the right size and slant. When we got close to where I thought it would start I turned on the video and let it run. There was only one area where a lot of debris had just been pushed to both sides of the highway. Other than that no real signs. There is a lot of random debris in the ditches but I don't think it is all from this last storm. 4th stop is usually Terribles Shell in Rock Springs. The A&W burnt down and took the rest rooms with it. That is half the reason we are stopping so we decided to stop at the Flying J instead. As we are coming down the exit ramp I see that the Chevron has fuel for $.30 less than the Flying J so I pull in there. But they don't have or we couldn't find any small nozzles. Only the semi sized ones. Then I see that the Exxon has diesel for the same price ... but when I get to the pump it shows even more. I mis-read the sign. So back to the Flying J. One RV island so BB waits for me. I don't have any issues other than I don't get my discount out west. For BB the pump says see cashier. Turns out that this station puts a $500 hold on your credit card when you swipe the card. That big of 'purchase' out of town put all our cards on hold. Guess we won't be stopping here again. And it cost us almost $10 extra in fuel just to not have to stop a second place to use the restroom. When we pull out of the station, I no longer have any information on the computer part of my dash screen. Opps, I must have bumped something. Then five miles down the road I get the check engine icon on. So at the next parking spot we get to I pull over and re-start my RV. Same issue. I should always take pictures. I forgot until hours later. I call the after hours dispatch and get the OK to keep running. Last trip both BB's and mine had the check engine issue and both re-set before delivery. Hope this does again. 5th stop is at the Flying J in Evanston for the restroom. When I get back in my RV I notice I can see my mileage again. My dash is working. But for some reason it takes the check engine icon 24-48 hours to re-set itself if it is going to. By now we can tell we are going to make it past SLC. Last night we weren't sure, but today it has been mostly clear and sunny all day. No issues with traffic or anything else. Last night when we weren't sure if we could make it we were looking at other places. Park City was one of them. One motel was $150 a night, that was the one cheap one. One was $1,200 a night. The others were somewhere between. There was also a Best Western closer to WY but that one didn't have any food near it, gas station food or pick our food up in Evanston and bring it with us. 6th and final stop is the Comfort Inn in Tooele. As soon as we check in, we walk across the street to the Denny's. Short staffed and BB didn't like the way her food was cooked. We might just have to stick with breakfasts there. They USUALLY can't mess up eggs and toast. Another 500 mile day tomorrow. We've been spoiled the last few trips. 'Long' days. The five Bend, OR orders that were out on the board yesterday are still all there today. No takers. Not some place on the top of our list, but for a one way trip we could make it pay. 200308 IA-CA 2 RV's heading to Davis / Sacramento CA ... spending the night in Verdi NV More later Breakfast at 6 AM. When we are getting ready, BB looks at the weather and it still doesn't look good for NV so we decide to wait 15 minutes so it is light out when we head out. No issues. Roads are all clear all day. I did slow down a little on one pass because it looked like it might be icy but by that time it was mid-morning, the sun had been up for hours and it was in the 40's. At one point a cop crossed through the median and followed us. We are doing 65 mph in an 80. But after a few miles he exited. On the other side of the freeway I could see where there was another cop parked 'in the weeds.' I'm guessing this guy had just finished his stop and was heading back into hiding. 1st stop was the Sinclar in Wendover. Across the state line the fuel at Pilot was $.50 a gallon more. We crossing into NV 45 minutes later than our permits said we could have. Strange sights. Fog was raising from the grass covered ground like it does over an open river on a sub-zero morning. At one place I thought from a distance it was a dust devil, when I got closer I could see that it was the fog raising, sometimes all the way to the clouds. Roads are all clear but everything passing us is still throwing up rocks. Guessing the windshields will need to be replaced. FINALLY. I know once it my past I had run a 'chains required' sign. For some reason I thought it was down near Barstow, CA. Nope, it is between Wendover and Wells. The sign is just before a turnout area, rest area is right at the top, concrete median on the way down the other side. All just like I remember it. No chains required today. NV truck check station is closed today. 2nd stop is in Elko at the Sinclar for food at the Port O Subs. Only 10:30 here but after noon our time. When we were here we saw a young couple putting on a new 'Oversized Load' sign on their truck. They had passed us a ways back and the back sign was shredded flopping in the wind. We talked about fueling in Battle Mountain so we wouldn't leave so much fuel in the truck but then we might be coming in on 'E' and that is not a good feeling either. When we went past Battle Mountain, fuel is one cent cheaper than where we stop in Winnemucca. 3rd stop, Mavrick in Winnemucca for fuel. We came in the new way, easy. As we leave we see we have paid $.54 a gallon less than the Flying J. BIG money to be saved by not buying at the major truck stops. I think last trip when we left the station I had just enough fuel range to get to the drop and once I got there, I had a range of just under 100 miles. Today we are leaving the station with 110 miles range more than we need so we may end up leaving them with an extra half a tank. If so, next trip we stop in Battle Mountain again. We used to and then didn't make it a couple of times. 4th stop was the truck stop in Lovelock for a restroom break. From here I had to call for a room because we were getting a discount and it couldn't be done online. Took a few minutes but saved us ?? $40 on a room. Cheapest room this trip. 5th and final stop is the Best Western in Verdi west of Reno. We had time we could have made it to Roseville / East Sacramento but by then it would have been 9 PM home time. As soon as we checked in we went down for the buffet. Last time we were here we got casino cards so the buffet is half price. That is why the room was about half price too. (haven't spent any money here yet ... ever) We were sat right away, no one showed up to ask about our drinks so we went to get food. After 15 minutes I went back to the cashier and asked how we got drinks. "Someone should be right over." I told them it had already been 15 minutes ... we got our drinks. I don't like to start eating without a lot of water because of my throat issues. Food was mostly OK, it was fish night so not as much for me to eat. But we didn't go away hungry. As soon as we had parked someone walked over and started asking BB questions. Not sure what they all were but once I was out of my RV, I helped them measure the wheel base, etc. Sounds like they might be coming back to look at them again later. Check engine light is still on so I will need to deal with that in the AM. ... when BB looked at the weather last night, Donners Pass needed chains. Tonight it was clear, per the weather reports.* * * * No free breakfast here so we need to allow an extra half hour for them to make it at Mel's Diner. Then we need to be across the state line by 8 AM. 200309 IA-CA 2 RV's delivered to Davis CA ... spending the night in Livermore CA Changes. A day of changes. Cold night, the room was warmer once we shut the heater off so it wasn't blowing cold air. Luckily it was still in the high 60's. No free breakfast here, down to Mel's for eggs and bacon. Good food, in and out in 30 minutes. We'll see, we might start eating here in the evening instead of the buffet. That is what we do on the nights the buffet isn't open. Need to be out of the state by 8 AM, so we are out of the motel by 7:30. No issues with the roads, BB did slow down once ... just in case, but other than that we were at our max unless the turns were to sharp. 1st stop - At Rocklin / Roseville we pulled off for me to call in my check engine icon. It was still on this AM but when we got stopped in Rocklin I figured I would try it one more time. I shut the RV off, restarted and ... no check engine icon. Gave the thumbs up to BB and we were ready to roll. This was the 1st day changer. If the light had stated on, we would have had to go to a MB shop. They may or may not have been able to look at it right away. If they couldn't look at it right away I would have had to leave it. And then I don't get paid until someone else delivers it. Someday. 2nd stop - Another 30 miles we are at the 49er truck stop. We fuel, no issues other than the card readers, receipt printers don't work and the lot is always too crowded. 3rd stop - We are at the drop. Two other RV's we have seen a few times were there ahead of us, just un-loading. So they had to get inspected first so we were there an hour plus. As soon as we were unpacked BB walked down to get the rental car. We had all of our stuff sitting in the parking lot so I stayed close to it. The other couple went into the 'new' office like they were told. They've told me to go to the office a few times but I'm from MN. In the winter it's below freezing or below zero and when I'm out here I want to enjoy their 'warmer weather.' As soon as BB was back and we were loaded, we went inside to talk to the couple. They drive out of IN and will be flying back, but may start driving if the virus hangs on. Then the inspectors went back out to our RV's so we headed out after them. One had to do something else so that left one inspector to do both of ours. We just hang out and let them do their thing. BB's had a chip in the window, she got it somewhere in IA. No other issues and we were cleared to go. As soon as we pulled out of the lot and found a place where the road didn't drop off ... don't need any more car damage. I called in the window chip and then called the bus dispatcher. Usually I call him ahead of time but being the weekend I hadn't. "... this time you are just passing through ... nothing. I have drivers stacked up and they aren't putting out many buses. But call me next time." That was a game changer we hadn't talked about. It's been a long time since he has said no. Sometimes it's you can hang around a couple of days. Other times he pays for us to hang around. This time just no. We still needed to eat. Davis was one of the first places the virus was reported so we didn't stop at our usual In-N-Out. Instead we went another 20 miles down the road to the next In-N-Out. Now BB made a reservation for a one way home, but we had to get to San Leandro next to the Oakland Airport. About an hour away so two hours out of route but the rate was worth it. A one week rental so we didn't have to hurry home. But that meant our income rate would keep going down. We get to the rental place and they only have vans. No big issue, we can take it to the airport and exchange it and we are going there anyways. We drop the 1st car and then the 2nd one, unload everything and go to the office and ... no cars. -0- Unless we want to wait until Thursday. BB finally asked if we could at least get our van back. Yes, but someone would have to bring it back it was gone for 'cleaning.' (After three miles??) So we wasted an hour trying to switch cars and came up empty. And that put us deeper into the traffic. We had decided to drive up to Santa Rosa before we headed out of town. BB had gotten a motel and we planned on heading out in the AM. We had talked about going to Alcatraz ... no problems getting tickets. It's been on my bucket list for years but the more we talked about it the less good it sounded. So finally it was off the table. Maybe a stop at a National Park in UT ?? While we were waiting for our van to come back to the rental lot we were talking to other people standing around. Seems this car rental place (still) has 3-5 cars a week being returned with broken glass. This is not the same rental agency we had the issue with. And we were told that the Oakland police will no longer respond to these call, instead people are directed to fill out an on-line form. About an hour after we leave the airport, we get a call. bus dispatcher. I can't answer so BB has to. 1st he wants to know where we are ... and then he asks why :) Yes, we are still in California, but we are hours away and NOT heading home yet. Yes, the area is known for craft beers and wine. No, I do not drink. He has a bus going to IA, less than two hours from the RV's. He wants it picked up tonight but must be in a bind because tomorrow AM will be OK. Actually at the time we had no idea where in IA it was going. IA, we will take it. But we keep heading to Santa Rosa ... we have a room and it can't be canceled. BB tries online. We keep talking and finally I pull off at an exit. It's starting to seem like loosing $100 on that motel would be worth it in the long run. I call, the say it 'can't be done' and then do it. That settles it. We are heading back. But we have already said we will pick it up tomorrow so we will. We also still have a car that is supposed to be going back to MN so that will need to be changed in the AM. Back through SF / Oakland in rush hour. Lots of time to think about all the scenarios without the facts. Still light when we got back to Livermore but late enough that we don't want a big meal. I want an A&W so I stop there first. No one at the counter to ask and two choices on the carbonate machine. I only want it out of the barrel. Some places have it that way but they are hard to find. We had already had a burger today so tonight was Jimmy John's. Final stop was the Quality Inn in Livermore. Very expensive during the week and still only a few rooms available because they are working on the rest. Tonight we got a new room. Nice, but well over the $100 we try to limit it too. I think the Motel 6 is the only motel under $100, maybe. 51 on the board last night in IA. Nothing that works for us for a short run. We MIGHT be able to make delivery on Friday, if, if, if. That would give us one week to do a short run and get back for the last week of the month. By tomorrow night we will know more. |
