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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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.. the trip continues from HERE 211231 IA-FL 2 RV's, 1 heading to Ocala, 1 heading to Nokomis ... spending the night at Clarksville TN Breakfast - huge spread. They are ready for enough people to fill their conference rooms. Two large trays of eggs, one each of potatoes and one of sausage. Dozens of yogurt and fruit cups. Fruit including grapefruit. We pull out at our usual 7:30. In the fog. Lots of places the visibility was a quarter mile or less. So mostly focused on the road this AM. Got another good look at the former Holiday Inn in Hannibal this morning. Seemed to be a few cars. Not sure if it is enough cars to keep it open. 1st stop was the Casey's in Troy for fuel. We don't need it yet but we may not make it to Mount Vernon without fueling and we need to stop somewhere for a break. The way the mileage is going up we may have made it but there is no reason to drain the tank to 'E' this early in the trip. As we pull off the freeway I see a wrapped RV at a different gas station, but the time we get out of our RV's they are pulling out. Other than that there has not been much for transporter sightings today. 20 miles down the road closer to STL we see fuel for another $.20 cheaper at a couple of stations. No slow downs in STL. I have enough time to see where the bus depot is where I have dropped buses in the past. 2nd stop is the Arby's in Mount Vernon for food. It is almost 70 degrees so we eat outside by our RV's. Half the crew today at Arby's looks to be 50+ and somehow they got the wrong sauce on BB's sandwich. 3rd stop was just a few miles down the road, I look in my mirror and BB is not behind me. We just past a rest area so my first thought is that lunch did not agree with her. I keep going until the next exit and park on the ramp so she can see me. Then I look at the emails. Opps, we forgot to call in this AM. So she likely stopped to call. Yep. That is what she did. We talk as soon as she catches up and is stopped. She had been flashing her lights at me but I missed it. That was at Rend Lake. Traffic was down to one lane a few places before we exited IL. I'm guessing it cost us 15-30 minutes today. 4th stop was the Pilot in Paducah for fuel. Small place and as usual it is full with cars waiting so it took us a few minutes. We pull out as soon as we are done fueling we move before we go inside. Sometime today it hits 73 degrees before it starts dropping. 5th and final stop for the day is at the Sleep Inn in Clarksville. Later we order online and walk to the Cracker Barrel when it is ready. Some time recently I had left something wasn't quite right on one of my teeth, like it hadn't been polished off right after being filled. Now tonight I realize that it is likely a filling that is getting ready to fall out. But when? Monday is getting closer, we are looking at options of working here in the southeast but nothing will be added to the load boards until Monday. Most likely after I drop about noon. LOG 7:30 - Leave Quality Inn hotel in Hannibal MO 9:00 - Fueled at the Casey's in Troy MO 11:15 - Ate at the Arby's in Mount Vernon IL 1:30 - Fueled at the Pilot in Paducah KY 3:15 - Arrived at the Sleep Inn in Clarksville TN 220101 IA-FL 2 RV's, 1 heading to Ocala, 1 heading to Nokomis ... spending the night at Tifton GA Breakfast? The person who checked us in last night had to ask someone to know if they were serving breakfast this AM. They did have hot eggs and sausage and juice but that was about it. For as much counter space as there was the place was looking pretty bare. We pulled out a little after 7:30. It had been raining earlier but not much when we pulled out and not much during the day. I don't remember having my wipers on full speed or even slow. Just on and off again. Nashville - a couple of cars did get between us going through Nashville today but I could always see BB in my mirror ... even when she was a half mile behind me :) Almost NO traffic today. I did notice on the west end of town that a couple of the older hotels have been knocked down and all that remains is the slab. Both had still been open the last time I was through this way. Then by the stadium there was a 'Metro Hotel' which had changed names often over the last 15+ years. Today I could see through the building. I have never seen a building/hotel gutted like that before. It is a 6-8 story hotel and everything is gone but the concrete. Windows, doors ... I was looking right through the building as I drove by. 1st stop was Christiana at the Loves for the restroom. BB said Loves so that is where we stopped. There is a nice Shell station that was on our side of the freeway but that wasn't mentioned as the plan. Chattanooga was quiet today too and by now it was closer to noon. No slow downs except for the hills. 2nd stop was in Dalton at the Pilot for fuel and Arby's. Arby's two days in a row. 3rd stop was in Jackson at the Flying J for the restroom and to make a reservation for tonight. We had talked about stopping in Macon for the night but it is only 2 PM as we have plenty of time to get to Tifton before dark. 4th and final stop is Tifton at the Comfort Inn. BB's routing software says 63A so that is where we got off. All the billboard signs had been saying 62 but I had no way of knowing if there was more than one in the area. I can see the signs in the area so I know I am close. I looked at the map location and now that we are here I remember we have stayed here before. Last time we ate at the Golden Corral. We won't tonight but the parking lot is packed. There are three good places to eat across the highway but that would mean we would have to agree on one meal or have leftovers as they all serve too much food. There is a Hardee's and a Zaxbys in our parking lot and a Sonic across the side street. We walk to the Sonic and use their Kiosk to order. We are told we must use the drive thru ... until we tell them we have walked. Our service was quick. The car that was at the drive thru window was there when we ordered and there when we left. And there was a line of a dozen cars behind them. Zaxby's was the same number of cars. BB's food was not good. I had a breakfast sandwich and mine was OK. All Zaxby's has is chicken but we will likely try that next time. MONDAY - We have decided not to take either of the FL trips currently on the loadboard. One was going to near Miami and the other to AL. When we get buses out of CA we know we are going to be going east, closer to home. But with AL we have no idea where we would be going. Going to CA would nice but BB doesn't want to ride in a city bus for 4,000 miles. They are not that comfy. And with only me driving we aren't making as much as if both of us are driving. We do best if both are driving the first leg and then one or both are driving the 2nd leg. We only have about three hours to drive tomorrow to be in place for Monday's deliveries. We have delivered to both drops in the past so no 'unknowns.' LOG 7:30 - Leave hotel in Clarksville TN 9:00 - Rest break at the Loves in Christiana TN 11:15 - Fuel at the Pilot in Dalton GA 11:30 - Eat at the Arby's in Pilot/Dalton GA 2:00 - Rest break at the Flying J in Jackson GA 4:30 - Arrive at Comfort Inn hotel in Tifton GA 5:00 - Get togo food from the Sonic in Tifton GA 220102 IA-FL 2 RV's, 1 heading to Ocala, 1 heading to Nokomis ... spending the night at Ocala FL No rush to get going in the AM, we have three hours to drive, likely four hours total. Breakfast was eggs and ham. No yogurt, all they had was peach or something with banana. Breakfast area was crowded, we usually eat closer to 6 AM. Not used to the crowds on the (holiday) weekend. Pulled out when they wanted us out at 11 AM local. Temp was already closer to 80. We had talked about stopping for fuel right away where it would be a couple of dollars cheaper than down the road but decided against it by the time we pulled out. Traffic heading north is often bumper to bumper, stop and go ... That might be why the first place we pull in was packed. Not sure why, but the semi that followed BB off the freeway did a long blow of his horn when she turned into the station. 1st stop was the Loves in Jasper ... that took a while to drive in and out. The place was packed with the line out to the highway by the time we left. I ended up going the wrong way through the drive thru to get turned around. We decide to drive back across the freeway to a Shell. The Shell is slightly less crowded ... at the pumps. Once I get fueled, the pump doesn't give me a receipt. Once we are both fueled and parked we go inside to Wendy's. At least a dozen people waiting in line and the drive thru line. We go look at the roller food. The shelves are almost bare. So we use the restroom and decide to head out without eating ... But this time I remember I need a receipt before we are two hours down the road. The first clerk can't find it but the second one pulls the correct one up right away. 2nd and final stop is the Comfort Inn in Ocala. I had written down exit 352 but this is exit 354. But there is a Comfort Inn here, but there are way to many businesses here. Online it shows a lot of building but no names. For some reason I do not pull into the hotel but pull across the street so it will be easier to get back on the freeway. BB says this is the correct place, but how do we get there. The only street says 'Do Not Enter.' At the hotel the clerk has to go up to our room to make sure it has been cleaned. While waiting an older (than I) man comes in and we start talking. They used to live in St Paul, now live in IL and come south for the winter. We have a room. We haven't eaten since breakfast so that is next on the list. At first BB is looking at the BBQ place on the other side of the freeway but doesn't want to walk that far. So we end up at the Oyster place in the next parking lot. She gets a Po Boy and I get a chicken Philly. Huge sandwich. BB eats all of hers, I am babying my tooth as it gets looser so I eat slower and finally stop at half the sandwich. Very good, but ... I seem to have gotten close on the fuel. When we pulled into the hotel I have a range of 21 more miles than I need. Bad news is I lost more range than that on the last tank full. And I would like to arrive near my drop with a range of closer to 50 miles range. Still no hard plans for tomorrow. We'll see how things are in the PM. LOG (local) 11:00 - Leave hotel in Tifton GA 12:30 - Fuel at a Shell station in Jasper FL 2:00 - Arrive at Comfort Inn in Ocala FL 220103 FL-WI 2 RV's, 1 heading to Ocala, 1 heading to Nokomis (delivered) 1 Tree truck to Menomonee Falls WI (Tuesday) ... spending the night at Brooksville FL Breakfast - no 'hot food' at a Comfort Inn? So I just grabbed a yogurt and some juice and took the yogurt with for later. BB and I ended up splitting the other half of my sandwich from last night. After BB finished her half and I was just about to finish mine, she asked "Didn't you order a chicken Philly?" :) I had eaten 3/4ths of it over two days and hadn't even thought of that ... they gave me beef instead of chicken. It was still good. East coast time - we pull out of the hotel at 7:30 their time. We head to the airport to pick up a rental. It is an 'international' airport but smaller than a farm shed. I drop BB off at the door and then park in case they do not have a car. As soon as she gives the OK I head to the Pilot to stage my RV to pickup later. 1st stop - the Pilot in Ocala. It is about 10 miles south of town but Ocala is still their address. BB gets there about 10 minutes after me and we head back to the hotel to pick up her RV. 2nd stop is back at the Comfort Inn to pick up BB's RV. No left turn so we take a left through another business so that we are doing a U-turn where they didn't want us taking a left turn. 3rd stop is for final fuel at a Race Trac in Ocala for BB's RV. 4th stop is the RV dealer a mile down the road. Lots of new RV's waiting to be inspected including another person from our company. BB asks where to go to check in and they say wait by her RV. Same as last time we were here, it does not take them long to inspect. They had a half dozen RV's and travel trailers inspected including us in about a half hour. 5th stop is back at the Pilot to pick up my RV. BB follows most of the way and then pulls off at a rest area, I don't. Yesterday on my prior fill of fuel I had lost 20 miles range from full to re-fill. When I did my final fuel I had put in enough fuel to get to my drop at 17 mpg plus one extra gallon. When I got to the motel last night I had 10 extra miles range past my drop. This AM with driving extra miles and on city streets I no longer was going to get to my drop without fueling. BUT I was hopeful so I did not fuel when I was at the truckstop. My range slowly went up to 25 miles past my drop. When the fuel range gets down to 30 miles on these units it stops counting. I had about five miles to go. Nervous but not scared. It is a gas and BB is behind me. 6th stop is for fuel at a Speedway in Nokomis. I made it. I made $.08 more on my 'fuel adder' than BB did. I came in with a range of about 20 miles and BB got to her station with a range of a little over 30 miles so no extra fuel left in the RV's from us this time. 7th stop was the dealer about a mile back from the gas station. I've been here before but forgot where to park. When I finally walked in, they told me wait where I was until someone confirmed I was at the correct location. Soon someone was out looking at all of my paperwork, yes I am in the correct place. They must be having some kind of issue, that is not something that normally even comes up. In and out of this place in 30 minutes also. I did talk to one of the inspectors a little, the temps will be getting down in the 40's in this part of FL tonight. Jacket weather I guess. 8th stop was at Gentile's Authentic Philadelphia Cheesesteaks. Not sure how BB finds these places. We just had a Philly last night. This one was good, last nights was better. But this one was chicken and I ate the whole thing in one sitting. We are within a couple of miles of the beaches but we don't go. BB didn't pack for it (?) so we head back north. I did call the NC dispatcher but they did not answer, it just went to voicemail. They did have one truck I wanted to ask about but I was more interested in talking to them than I was in the truck I would ask about. There are about the same number of auction trucks as usual but none in FL. But a few in the midwest that would have kept us busy if that is what we wanted. An hour down the road after eating and BB and I are talking about where to fuel and where to stop for the night. Then she looks at the load board ... There is a truck in FL going to WI ... and we are just about to a rest area exit. We don't even do the math, I just call. But somehow I get the phone on speaker and I can't hear it. But I do have dispatch on the phone and they stay until I get my phone figured out. We got the trip. :) We are about two hours from the truck, it is still north of us on the road we are on. 9th stop was the above rest area stop at Ruskin. Within a few minutes we have my paperwork and we pull off the highway to call the pick up location and to fuel the rental car. 10th stop was the Race Trac in Riverview. When I called the shipper they answered right away, they knew which truck and they would set it out within a few minutes. I can pick it up anytime, but told them I would wait until tomorrow AM. I do not need to find anyone, just grab the truck and go. Down side is it is a 'puddle jumper.' I had to Google that one. it will be interesting. It doesn't sound like it has anywhere for luggage except the cab. We have done that before but we will see how this one looks before returning the rental car. BB has sat in the middle before so we can fill the right part of the seat with luggage. We'll know tomorrow. 11th and final stop is the Quality Inn in Brooksville. It is the closest Choice hotel to the shipper. When we get there, there are two cops in the lot. Never a good sign. We check and get our room. This place looks to be an old, old Holiday in where the windows and doors are right next to each other. We see the signs for the former restaurant but it looks to have been closed for years. After we are in the room for a while we go for a walk. A short walk. The last few days my knees have been starting to hurt, and BB isn't up for long walks right now so 15 minutes around the parking lot was enough for us. And then we saw it. The reason the cops were here. There had been a semi in the parking lot ... the semi had hit the corner of the roof of the hotel. One of the reasons I wanted to pick up tomorrow was so that I could print out my paperwork at the hotel. I did get that done. Then after calling a couple of places I order soup to go from a local family chain. Cheddar barley soup. BB is still full from lunch. So we drive a couple of miles to get my food, then we realize there is road construction and we need to head out of town another mile before we can make a u-turn to get back to the hotel. Soup wasn't that good, glad they gave me crackers. If I had looked online before we went I would have also stopped at Duncan Donuts for a cookie. I didn't know they sold cookies. Today the temps here were in the 60's. Nice. Back home in MN it wasn't so warm. The person staying at our house, their car wouldn't start yesterday AM and someone had to come and jump it. Once it was running they went to the MOA, and when they came out it wouldn't start again. This time it wouldn't jump either. Had to get a new battery. It would have been nice to stay south :) But we looked at the trips last night and with the price of rental cars and hotels being up this year the short trips there are would not pay. It would be a 'working vacation.' Load board US - 303 IA - 61/59 I've decided not to keep track of the MN and WI trips for now. Tomorrow we plan on leaving the hotel by 7:30 after breakfast. That should get us to the shipper by 8 AM. IF we can get all of our stuff in the truck, we should get back to the airport around 9 AM. Not sure how much the rental place will charge us for not having the car back in 24 hours. That would have been the only reason to pick the truck up yet tonight. We should be able to get somewhere between Atlanta and Chattanooga tomorrow. LOG (MN time) 6:30 - Leave Comfort Inn hotel in Ocala FL 7:00 - Drop BB at OCF to pickup Budget Rental car 7:15 - Spot my RV at Pilot in Ocala FL 7:45 - Drop BB back at hotel to pickup BB's RV 8:00 - BB RV fuels at Race Track Ocala FL 8:15 - Arrive at RV dealer in Ocala FL 9:15 - Arrive at Pilot to pickup my RV 11:30 - Fuel RV in Nokomis FL 11:45 - Arrive at RV dealer in Nokomis FL 12:30 - Arrive at Gentile's Philly's in Sarasota FL 1:15 - Leave Gentile's 2:15 - Arrive at rest area near Ruskin FL - Call dispatch 2:30 - Fuel at Race Trac in Riverview FL - Call shipper 4:00 - Arrive at Quality Inn in Brookville FL 5:30 - Pick up food from Beef O Brady's .. the trip continues HERE |
