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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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.. the trip continues from HERE 211106 IA-CA 2 RV's, 1 to Reno NV, 1 to Manteca CA ... spending the night at Elko NV No alarm this AM and we actually slept in. Breakfast was eggs and sausage ... and leftover pizza, just the toppings. And the last piece of bacon from yesterday. Too much food. We finally pull out at 11 AM at check out. That gives us two hours to get to the border when our permit kicks in. Coming across the salt flats the most interesting things are what people set up along the road. There are the shark and nessie that have been there for years. Now someone has a skeleton sitting in a chair fishing in front of the shark. And at nessie, some one put plastic flowers. 1st stop was Rolberto's Mexican. We pull in and realize there was no where to go. Very small lot. I try to back into a spot but there are tree branches. Cut off branches. So I try to stay far enough away from them but far enough out of the travel lane so others can get past. As soon as the cars clear BB and I decide to park in the truck parking at the adjacent station. Huge AmBest truck parking and no trucks. Just a couple of buses, and now us. A short walk and we are back at Rolberto's in Wendover. We order and then sit outside at one of the tables. I had ordered a 'mix.' It was listed as the same price but something must have gotten lost in the translation. I got two and was charged for two. Again ... too much food. Good food, we will be back. But too much food. And it took over hour half hour but we have nothing but time today. The next 100 miles was un-eventful. We did see a 'federal police' unit. I didn't know we had a federal police. And we saw the patrols sitting in the inspection area, but it was not open today. 2nd and final stop was at the Comfort Inn in Eko. When I pull in, there is someone asking if we were staying at the hotel. Then they tell me that each vehicle can only take up one spot. We had parked crossways like we often do. I told them we could move, but we park that way because the vehicles are too long for the spots. Then they said we could leave them where they were ... 'they only had three stay overs and two new arrivals.' So five customers for a hotel that has 65 rooms and they are making sure everyone parks properly. But once we got in to check in they were all chatty. ??? Then a few hours later we walked next door to the Pizza Barn to order food. They said it would be 45 minutes so back to the hotel. 45 minutes later we were back, and waited ... another 45 minutes. Lots of pizza's, some people were not happy. It looked like they were fully staffed and the oven was always full with pizza's waiting to get put in the oven as soon as one came out. I end up getting a free cookie :) for our wait. I got their version of a reuben. Their version is wrapped in a pizza like dough. Very good. Way too much ... for the third time today. This time I only eat half. Not sure when I will eat the other half. Load board US - 271 IA - 55/52 MN - 5 WI - 16 211107 IA-CA 2 RV's, 1 to Reno NV, 1 to Manteca CA ... spending the night at Reno NV This hotel must not enforce their 'one parking spot rule' for everyone. When we got up this AM there were two larger trucks and a pickup with a trailer all taking up a few spots each. For breakfast I had juice and my leftover sandwich from last night. Still good. We pull out of the lot today at 11 AM as that is what our permit was good for. If we do a split permit again we will do it differently next time. One of the last things BB and I talked about before leaving the hotel was there often is a cop sitting in the median just west of the next truck stop. BB said 'Hopefully he is already busy.' Sure enough, as soon as I could see where they park I saw flashing lights. When we had pulled on the freeway two miles back a travel trailer transporter moved over to let us on. As soon as we got up to speed we were pacing them. That is the one that got pulled over ... and not us. 1st stop was the Maverick (used to be Flying J before they got bought out) for gas. Crowded place. Then across the street to Port O Subs for lunch. Now they have tables outside so we ate outside again. It has been in the 50-60's this week at noon so not too bad yet. Masks - A lot, maybe most, places in NV have signs on the their doors that masks are mandatory. And it varies from location to location. Some places everyone is wearing them. At others, like the pizza place last night, some of the staff was not wearing them and I only saw one other customer besides me that was wearing one, out of 50 (?) while we waited. ... and that was too long to be waiting with that many people. 2nd stop was the truckstop in Lovelock, Golden Gate maybe. Just to use the rest room and look at the map. Just before we got to Fernley the driver of a car that was passing me was holding up his phone as he passed. I noticed but really didn't know why. Then at Fernley that same car slowed way down so I had to pass them ... and again the driver was holding up his phone, and again it was facing in my direction. My guess is he was videoing me but I have no idea why. 3rd and final stop was the hotel in Reno. No left turn so instead of taking a u-turn like the computer said, we turned into the next strip mall and drove through their parking lot. And while we were there BB stopped and put in her final fuel at the 76. Then the next building was the Comfort Inn. Tonight we only took up one spot each, sort of. We parked in the corner and the RV's are long enough that they block the 1st spot along the next side. As soon as we are in we walk to Capriotti's for food. If there wasn't a cement block wall around the parking lot we would have only been a car length from their building. But instead we had to walk a couple of blocks. Capriotti's website shows they are voted best Philly by four different groups last year. So that is what I got. Really good, but the Charley's at the airport in Atlanta but who knows if I will ever get back there ... now that I do not fly. Unlike last night where our order took an hour and a half and we waited inside half of that time, here it was going to take five minutes and we waited outside. We are now five miles from BB's drop in the AM. Tomorrow we should know IF we get a 2nd leg, when and where. Somewhere today we did meet one bus, the marque was running which is unusual. And all I could read was 'FLYER' so I thought it was one of those buses, heading the wrong direction. But I didn't look at the markings, style or placards. BB did see that it was one like what we will pick up tomorrow but we don't know where it was going. Midwest :) ??? 211108 CA-WI 2 RV's, 1 to Reno NV, 1 to Manteca CA (delivered) 1 bus to Milwaukee WI ... spending the night at Rocklin CA NEW YORK CITY ? ! ? ! (Written up two days later) Eggs and sausage ? ... it was two days ago. We pull out of the hotel at 7:30, we have about five miles to BB's drop. We are heading out of town, against traffic so it wasn't too bad. 1st stop is BB's drop - I park at the strip mall next door and walk over to the RV dealer. We have had issues of dealers wanting the RV's that we are not dropping for them so we now keep them out of sight. This has always been an 'outside operation.' We just know where we are supposed to wait, no one greets us or asks us why were are there. Finally a little after 8 AM someone arrives and takes our paperwork. By 8:15 we are signed and ready to go. 2nd stop is for the rest area in Gold Run 3rd stop is at the Tesero for final dealer fuel. I had been driving flat on 'E' for the last ten miles so I put in an extra half a gallon that I won't get paid back for. I didn't want to drop the RV with the low fuel light still on. It wasn't. The range went up to 100 miles and the low fuel light comes on at a range of 55 miles so I would not have had to give them the extra $2 in fuel. Fuel - $5.19 for regular. Across the street from the RV dealer is the Hertz, I drop BB off there to pick up the car before heading to the drop. When I left the Hertz I was going to take a right and cross two lanes of traffic and be in the left turn lane ... but right then two cars heading left decided they were going to turn into Hertz so I had to quickly adjust. 4th stop was my RV drop. 2-1/2 hours early. I go inside and they will take it NOW. On their lunch, so they are inspecting by the time BB gets there with the car. They didn't tell me, but I overhead them talking and I am the last one of the day. So that's why they want to be done ... done for the day. Less than a half hour and they have signed clear. ... and I call the bus dispatcher to let him know I have delivered. I had hoped that he would have one ready and we could be on our way... "Do you have a problem with going 55 mph?" 'No, it just takes longer.' I said "Are you OK with CNG?" 'I've done them many times.' I said. "I have some buses going to New York" 'New York? or New York City? New York City is the only place I said I would not go when I started.' ... yes, New York City. So I am supposed to call him back in a couple of hours. 5th stop - We have delivered out west so we head to In-and-Out for our burgers. We have quit getting the double-doubles. Now it is just the regular cheeseburger. Too cold for BB, here in CA, so we eat in our car. Inside the In-and-Out was the typical homeless person. Unwashed, layers of clothing, hard to understand, wondering ... even while he waited for his food. 45 minutes and we are in Livermore. 6th stop - we are at the Livermore Outlet Mall. Our place to wait for buses. It has lots of place to park, bathrooms that we don't have to access a business through and place to walk. And we actually did a short walk today. BB's foot is getting better. Gucci - Not sure what it is, but they have a store at the outlet mall. There has been a line waiting to get into that store every time we have been here since stores re-opened after Covid. Today was no exception. There were also lines before Christmas before Covid. I call the dispatcher, he doesn't know yet. He tells me to call him back. I do and he asks me to call him back again, I do. Then he says he will call me back. Finally ... I am going to Milwaukee. So we start doing the math. 7th stop - the shipper - We get to the lot before I can get my paperwork, but that way I will be ready to go. I can't find my bus. I find eight other Milwaukee buses but not mine. I am ready to call dispatch when another driver asks what I am looking for. Then he tells me there are buses in the employee lot ... and in the past there were buses across the street in a dirt lot. Usually there were about 10 buses when we got here, sometimes 20 but those wouldn't be all ready. Today there were about 45 plus another 10 battery buses that will be flat bedded out. And about half of those are going to Long Island NY. No wonder he wanted me to go to NY, or anywhere. I find my bus and have it inspected by the time I get my paperwork. It's going to be dark but the time we get to the hotel in Rocklin but I am still in the 'get out of town' mode. In the future, we should stay in town in the winter so we can check the weather before we leave in the AM, some trips we may head south before going north. I give BB a 15 minute head start to get to the rental car drop. That was planned. It was good we planned that as I had to wait for security and my 15 minutes were up before I left the lot. BB had got to the bus stop about two minutes before I got there. It is a bus stop so I don't want to be waiting there for her when the next city bus gets there but this worked out. We usually do Enterprise but they didn't show up as having cars this time. This location is about 10 miles out of the way but it works. Now for two hours of traffic, mostly in the dark. 8th and final stop - Comfort Inn in Rocklin. Opps - I hit the curb coming in to their parking lot. I haven't done that before here. Then I bottom out under the front bumper going across the parking lot. It is dark and raining and I didn't remember the parking lot was that steep. There is a trash truck where I often park but I get parked behind him. It is from Scranton IA, we have moved those before but this one they are moving with a company driver. We check in and walk to Arby's. It is the closest and allows people to order in, but not dine in. It is late, we are tired. Load board US - 272 IA - 66/64 MN - 14 WI - 11 Plan is to be out of NV by tomorrow night. 211109 CA-WI 1 bus to Milwaukee WI ... spending the night at Wendover UT BB is awake at 5 AM today and looking at the weather. Chains are required for Donners Pass. I'm not awake until 6 AM and the chain restriction is lifted by then. I call for our NV permit based on us leaving the hotel by 7:30 AM and getting to the state line by 9:30. Eggs and bacon. We pull out at 7:30. It has been daylight for a while but we wanted to know if the chain restriction would be lifted before we left. As we are driving the signs are saying 'chain inspection ahead.' But the CA website has no mention of it now. 1st stop is Gold Run rest area. Plan was to stop at Donners Pass rest area but that is closed, because of the snow. At Gold Run we look online again. It is still mentioning a CHP inspection closer to the summit but we keep going. About this point I mostly decide that in the future we may ALWAYS go south to get out of CA. I don't want to test the chain law. My local company says we need to carry them, this company does not. We are at 6,000 feet when we start seeing snow. The pass is at 7,000+ feet. Lots of snow plows out. It looked like the slow blower that was working on clearing the rest area was up against snow that was 6 feet high, as high as the in-take on his blower. And this is just an early snow. We did see one cop with someone pulled over in the 'chain up area' but that may or may not have had anything to do with chains. We get to the CA/NV line about 15 minutes after the permit starts, traffic was a little slower in the hills today. Inspection station is closed. 2nd stop is the Flying J in Fernley for fuel. Some people. A truck has pulled into line for a pump that is close. That is not an issue for me, but they pulled in at an angle so that you can not get to the next pump unless there is no one in line at the 2nd pump over. The truck was sitting there empty when we got there and when we left. 6 mpg so far. No way of knowing how full the tank was. Gauge shows full, but it did for the first 200 miles. I didn't need fuel yet but Fernley is the cheapest until we get to WY. When we leave there is someone waiting in all lines for fuel, including for the pump that is closed. Too much traffic right then for me to stop and tell them that pump isn't working. 3rd stop was in Winnemucca for fuel and food. First it was for fuel at the Flying J. By topping off here I can get to Rawlins where the fuel is cheapest in WY. I was expecting to put in 20 gallons, I had to squeeze to get in 10. So 14 mpg on this leg. Second stop in Winnemucca was for food at the Pig. We ordered, food is ready in five minutes. It is just starting to rain when we walk back to the bus to eat. We sit on the step and start to eat ... and it rains. Our legs get soaked before we move inside. By now BB is freezing and soaked and ends up dumping part of her sauce on herself. She's done eating. Once she cleans up we start the bus, turn on the heat and eat the rest of our food as close to the door as we can. We should have eaten inside but we didn't know it was going to rain ... it is NV where it seldom rains. 4th stop is the truck stop in Elko. I put in three gallons of DEF. I have to come into the pumps backwards so I try to pick mostly empty places to do it. I had to go inside to get my receipt and I hadn't looked at the pump number so I just said 'about three gallons.' I signed and walked out looking at my receipt. Then I see the last four of the credit card number, it is not mine. Then I see this has a company name on it, not mine. So back inside I go to get the correct one. This person re-swipes my card and finds the correct one. 5th and final stop is the Quality Inn in Wendover. It has been dark for well over an hour, second night in a row. We could have stayed in Elko but the Comfort Inn has a sharp turn to get in and then a few nights ago I was told 'one spot per vehicle.' And the Best Western has a low overhang to get into their parking and it was 2-3 times as much, even using our voucher. BB is still stuffed from lunch so I grab an apple from the breakfast area and eat a poptart I had grabbed from a breakfast area in Brainerd a few weeks ago. ... and shut out the lights. Load board US - 255 IA - 69/67 MN - 15 WI - 7 211110 CA-WI 1 bus to Milwaukee WI ... spending the night at Laramie WY Breakfast - No hot food so we both had yogurt. Sunrise was at 7:20, we rolled out at 7:30 so I got a few hours driving into the sun. We could have gotten going a half hour earlier to make use of all the daylight. Within a mile we have to cross the POE / UT scale. Three trucks ahead of us, the first two get pull in. As we are leaving, BB sees an officer coming out with a tape measure. Of of those trucks passed us about 10 minutes later, the other one never did in the next two hours. It was raining yesterday and today there is actually water sitting on the salt flats. 1st stop was at the Flying J in Lake Point for a rest break, and some water for the bus. I couldn't see any coolant in the sight glasses so I added some water. It didn't need any, what ever they put in was clear, not sure what good a sight glass does with a clear liquid. Today is all the same stops as we did on the way out here so not much new. We did get a better look at the reservoir near Echo. It is the lowest we have seen it, but the pavement for the boat ramp is still in the water so they must have planned ahead. Not much room left for boats with the water this low. 2nd stop was the POE / Port of Entry in Evanston WY. Last time I was here I had to go back out and drive my bus across the scale after I had gone in the scale house. So this time I ignored the green arrow and crossed the scale before going in. Right call on my part. I did ask after I did it so now I know. Dozens of trucks in the lot but no one inside so it was quick. This is the first time I remember being asked for my IFTA paperwork, usually they are just interested in giving me my permit. 3rd stop was a couple miles down the road at the Flying J for food. There was a line for Subway and only one person working so we got pizza from under the warmer. Food, but not good food. But I hadn't wanted to try any place knew with a 40 foot bus. I've looked now and the Taco Bell has a large lot so maybe next time. At 5 AM BB had looked online and I-80 in WY was closed to high profile vehicles but that was dropped by the time we left the hotel. Now the overhead signs say 'Current wind gusts 45+ mph.' It makes for a nice tailwind :) 4th stop is at the Loves in Green River. We still have not decided how far we will get. We had talked about only getting to Rock Springs, 20 miles from here. But by now the forecast is for high winds all day tomorrow. So we will decide once we get to Rawlins. 5th stop is Rawlins for fuel at the TA. Cheapest fuel in WY and it will get me to York NE where the fuel is even cheaper. I've only had my TA rewards card for about six months and it is already worn out so I don't get my points for this tank of fuel. I got 8.5 mpg on this tank full vs 6 mpg on the first tank full. At that rate I should be able to go 850 miles on one tank. The most I have done is about 700. The forecast is for higher wind speeds tomorrow than there are right now so we head to Laramie. We should get there right about dark, if there are no issues. We could feel the wind but it only threw me once when I passed a truck parked on the shoulder, other than that it was just hold on with both hands. 6th stop was the Loves/Carl Jr (Hardees) in Laramie for food before going to the hotel. I would have liked Papa John's but we just had pizza for lunch. Coming back across the freeway to the hotel the traffic ahead of me had to wait for oncoming traffic to take a left turn onto the freeway. When the last car in front of me turned, the truck to my right cut in front of me. I thought he was going strait across but then he turned towards me and I had to turn down the up ramp so he didn't hit me ??? 7th and final stop was the Comfort Inn. After we are in our room, BB looks online again at the WY roads. 'Closed to high profile vehicles.' So we just made it. Now gusts are 65+ mph instead of 45+. And they are forecast to stay that way overnight. So we are past the worst and can keep going. Otherwise we may have been spending our extra day in Rawlins. Waiting. Load board US - 240 IA - 74/72 MN - 11 WI - 8 I will call the drop tomorrow AM, we could still get to Milwaukee on Saturday if they will take it, but that is not likely so we will get there on Sunday. ... the trip continues HERE |
