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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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210102`MN-NV 2 RVs, heading to Reno NV ... spending the night at home We both kind of slept in this AM. We needed to call at 8 AM and we were getting up about 7:45. My first call went to voice mail so I re-dialed. We got them. (the other two that would have worked are still there at the end of the day) We will head down to Albert Lea Sunday night. Then be at the lot at 8 AM when they open on Monday. We said we would get to Reno by Thursday, then we re-did the math. It will depend on how late they will accept the RV's and how much after dark we want to run each day. NE would be the easiest after dark. The next two nights would be through the hills/mountains. Spent some time looking at our motel numbers for last year. We stayed in motels 168 nights, 5 of those for free. We 'cashed out' rewards points for 90,000 points and still have over 400,000 points. We can get some of our motels for 10,000 points, others are 12-16, 000. points. If we just look at the motel nights we paid for, we averaged about $75 per night for two people. ($38 ea) If we include the free nights we did and could have used, we get down to $65 per night. And we stay at some pretty nice hotels with breakfast (before Covid) Breakfast. BB is tired of eating Ho-Ho's and Ding Dongs for breakfast so we are planning on brining a soft sided cooler with on this next trip. We may bring food from home, otherwise one of our stops in the afternoon will be for food to eat later. One guy I used to run with would cook on his days off and freeze some of it. The 1st two days he would eat the stuff that had just been kept cool and the 3rd and 4th days he would eat the stuff that had been frozen as it would have started to thaw by then. I doubt we will be that dedicated. Load board US - 313 IA - 134 MN - 1 WI - 18 CA has one trash truck coming back to Rapid City SD. Otherwise everything showing on the loadboard stays on the west coast area. The next east most load is to Denver, then one to SLC. Even going to Denver is rare from the west coast. As of right now, there are three tractors coming back to MN, 2 from OH and 1 from AR. That's it. So hopefully we find work from the west coast to at least get us back to the mid-west. I will call Monday afternoon to let that dispatcher know we are coming. 210103`MN-NV 2 RVs, heading to Reno NV ... spending the night at Albert Lea MN Lazy AM doing mostly nothing other than a few odds and ends. We get going some time after 2 PM. 1st stop is in Faribault for a case of water, but Walmart didn't have most of the other food that BB wanted. 2nd stop was the rest area near Owatonna. BB was trying to book our usual motel and there were no rooms. No rooms on a Sunday night when people are supposed to be staying home. So I called "... we will be re-opening on January 4th ..." So we end up making reservations at the Quality Inn in the same town. It is one of those motels that have been split into two motels. Quality Inn in the front of the building, Econo Lodge in the back of the same building. And food :) 3rd stop at the Quality Inn in Albert Lea. The restaurant is closed. Recently. All the signs still say open. It closed because 'the cook left and they may not re-open.' So we drive down to down town and get our usual Erbert and Gerbert's. But their sandwiches either are <> a foot long or a half a sandwich with soup. I got the soup. We get back to the motel and turn on the Weather Channel. Wind in WY. Today I-80 was closed to 'high profile vehicles.' I was going to write down the speeds the next time they flashed up. They didn't. But I think the winds were 80 mph+ and are supposed to be back on Tuesday. At this point we are going to get as far as we can tomorrow. Then we will see what the weather forecast is for Tuesday. Might be a short day on Tuesday. Getting delayed a day isn't a problem. Getting delayed two days means spending the weekend somewhere and our income goes down. Plan is to get to the office shortly after they open. Breakfast is a check off list, they will bag it, we will eat in the car. 210104`MN-NV 2 RVs, heading to Reno NV ... spending the night at Kearney NE Alarm went off at 6 AM. Breakfast was a bag lunch so we stopped to grab it after we had our van running and ate on the road. Lots of frost on the van this AM. And on the trees, everywhere. But it came off easy as the temps were not too cold. We get to our lot/office about 8 AM, there is already a line waiting for paperwork. This is the most people we have seen at one time in quite a while. Sounds like last Wednesday afternoon the shipper brought over 70 RV's. And we saw them bringing over more while we did our inspections. We had no issues, but it still takes our usual hour to check things out and be ready. I did talk to one driver at the lot, he was towing and his pickup had a TX plate and he said he was taking one to TX ... and was glad to be leaving (the snow) Talked to another driver we've seen before at the gas station, she was heading to FL. Also saw what looked to be a grandpa / granddaughter running together. Grandma was at the lot until they were ready to go. 1st stop was the Pilot in Clear Lake for fuel. 2nd stop was the QT / Quick Trip in Des Moines for Burger King. They don't have much for truck parking but we found room in the car lot. We ended up opening the back of the RV to use as a wind break when eating. Above freezing by lunch so eating outside wasn't too bad. And the fog lifted about noon so the rest of the day was much better driving. This AM it was about a half mile visability. 3rd stop was Adair for a rest break. Somewhere along here that was a Casey's that was closed, signs gone and work being done on the building. Now the sign is back up. It just says Casey's in Wendy's style writing. The 'General Store' in yellow is gone from the sign. 4th stop is Gretna NE at another QT for fuel. We are way earlier that we had thought so plans are changing as far as how far we will run tonight. 5th stop is York at a rest area. We had planned on trying to get as far as York by dark if we could. It is 4 PM. It won't be dark for another hour. So we make a reservation in Kearney and keep going. 6th and final stop is the Comfort Inn in Kearney. We could have stopped in Grand Island at the Quality Inn and had Arbey's. But this is a nice motel, further down the road, and has better food near by. Food was going to be the burger and shake place next door. But they are closed on Monday. So we order from Joy's Table. Italian. It was good food too. The way the office does the paperwork, is that they do it when they get the RV. That is also when they decide the fuel pay based on fuel that day. Fuel has gone up in the weeks this RV has been sitting there so BB is getting more for fuel than I and is getting better mileage. It is the 1st of the year so we get some new paperwork from the office. Our plate stickers are expired, but that is normal. But we did get our new IFTA stickers for our placards. The office gives us magnets placards but I don't like the magnets because it could effect my computer. So I had my own placards made and used Scotch tape to put the IFTA stickers on in case I had to go back to the magnets. No issues last year so this year I try to take the Scotch tape off the placards. It is stuck. I'll have to deal with that when I get home, until they I will improvise. Wind in WY. It was supposed to be bad today and then again tomorrow. Someone posted a picture of a new travel trailer that rolled there this AM. Our plan is to get going as usual, but the forecast is still for high winds. The highway department just doesn't issue advisories / closures this far ahead. IF we can keep going, we will be in Rawlins Tuesday night and Elko Wednesday night. Otherwise ??? Just checked my info, we ran I-80 14 times last year and we only worked eight months. So some trips there just isn't anything new. Load board US - 416 (this is the first time I have seen it over 400) IA - 167 MN - 3 WI -15 So IA is up 30 again. And some good runs. But we are already gone. If there wasn't a bus this time I was looking at the other trips on the load board. There is one in Yreka. It would be 250 miles on non-freeway through the mountains in the winter to get to it. Then the 1st 300 back would also be on non-freeway. Not sure how you would get there, there is not a rental car agent in town. The truck has a wood chipper behind it, so you can't tow your car. Plus you would need to carry chains to get over the passes. And pay is $300 before you subtract motels, transportation, chains. I think that one is going to sit there for a while. 210105`MN-NV 2 RVs, heading to Reno NV ... spending the night at Cheyenne WY Short day. BB has leftovers from last night so I go down and get 'breakfast in a bag.' 1 muffin, one nuke sandwich and a bottle of water. At a $$$ motel. We pull out at 7:30 AM right at sun up. 1st stop is less than an hour down the road at the Cozad rest area. 2nd stop is at the Ogallala Walmart for fuel. Gas is $.06 cheaper if we pay cash at the Big Dog. Or $.25 more at the Cenex. I think this was a first. No one else at the Walmart fuel pumps. 3rd stop is at the Love's Taco Johns (for me) for food. BB gets shelf food, raw vegies, fruit and hummus with crackers. When I walk in, someone says 'Hi.' And I reply. As I am in the restroom, I am wondering if he works for the same company. I go back to the cashier where he still is and ask if we know each other. 'No, I just say hi to everyone.' But then we do start talking, I excuse myself to pay for BB's food and I go to Taco John's. As I am leaving he starts talking to me again. I have to excuse myself again. 4th stop in near Burns WY at the POE. Just before the POE we see an overhead sign that says 'Expect cross winds 65+.' BB is distracted inside of the POE so we are there a little longer and I see the road conditions scrolling. 'CLOSED.' I-80 just closed between Laramie and Rawlins. We had talked about shutting down in either Laramie or Cheyenne but hadn't made any reservations yet. Now we decide. Driving to Laramie isn't going to gain us anything and we will be driving into the storm. We won't be able make delivery until Friday. 5th stop is at the Comfort Inn in Cheyenne. It is 2 PM. Later we drive to a place called 'The Philly Shop.' I say I am there to pick up an order. 'Jim?' 1st I wonder if I am their only customer? Then I see all the other orders waiting for pickup. And someone walks in and everyone says 'Hi George.' No, I am not their only customer, I am just the only customer they don't know by name. Both of our phones are going off with alarms. Snow squall warning. It took me a long time, but I finally got all of my alarms shut off. I hope. Last night I spent way too long trying to get the Scotch tape off of my placards. This AM I remember that I have a second set of placards that are clean. So mostly a waste of time. Load board US - 211 IA - 157 MN - 2 WI - 14 4 of the IA trips are not RV's. I am posting a picture a day on FB. At times I am wondering how I will come up with a picture, and other times I am wondering how to pick just one. Winds are supposed to be less the rest of the week. We should get to SLC tomorrow and then at or close to Reno Thursday. ... the trip continues HERE |
