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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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220211 IA-SC 2 RV's, 1 RV to Greer SC, 1 RV to Myrtle Beach SC ... spending the night at Walcott IA Too much food last night. I was awake at 3 AM and up again before 6 AM. I should not eat so much. The plan was not to eat anything this AM and get on the road early. Breakfast - I looked at breakfast when I checked out. They had the good ham sausage, plus today would be a good day for yogurt to settle my stomach. So I took food to go. The temp is 37 degrees. 90 miles to the north the temp is 27 degrees. By the time we get back to Forest City it will be 20 degrees with a very stiff wind. BB has to stop and put in a gallon of gas to bring it back to half full. We should not have had to add fuel but the head wind took a huge toll on the mileage. 1st stop (for me) was the rental car place in Burnsville. 2nd stop is the rest area near Owatonna. We are talking about plans on and off again as we head to the lot. Then BB asks where are we ??? ;) We have missed our exit to the shipper so we will add a few miles to the trip this AM. Close to Forest City there is a yard with a large 'u' shaped pond that sometimes has hundreds of geese. We do not see any today, but we do see that the snow is all green around the open water so the geese have not left town. 3rd stop is Forest City. We stop at the Caseys instead of the Kwik Star because of the way we came into town. Then to the shipping lot. There are two drivers getting ready to leave. It was windy. I tried walking across the parking lot and a couple of steps I wondered if I was going to gain anything. As I am inspecting I do a walk down the center of the inside of the RV, WHAM. I am looking at the floor as they are raised and lowered in different places. I was not looking up and I walked right into the raised bed, smack on my forehead. I stood there for a while to make sure I was not wobbly. And I have looked later, no black and blue. We were able to get get inspected and out in about a half hour. Quick check, we don't want to stand outside and these are small units. We both have enough fuel to get to Floyd where fuel is cheaper. As we head down the highway we pass a farm where we can see the animal carcusses overflowing from a normal garbage dumpster. I would think there would be regulations against that. 4th stop is the Loves in Floyd. The BP has raised their gas price since we were here yesterday. Gas at the Caseys went up a dime between when we fueled on the way into to town and when we left town. When we are done fueling we grab a GodFathers personal pizza off the shelf and split it. We are in and out in a half hour having both fueled and eaten. 5th stop is Center Point at the Caseys for a rest break. 6th and final stop was the Comfort Inn in Walcott. The lot is empty except for the front desk help Later we call Grandma's next door and got food. They gave me two soups with my half a chicken salad sandwich. I ate it all and now I will likely not sleep well again. Load board US - 448 IA - 188 NC - 20 LOG 7:00 - Leave Comfort Inn in Albert Lea MN 8:30 - Burnsville MN - Avis - return rental 10:15 - Forest City IA - Casey's 10:30 - Forest City IA - shipper 12:15 - Floyd IA - Loves/GodFather's 3:15 - Center Point IA - Casey's - rest break 4:00 - Walcott IA - Comfort Inn 6:30 - Walcott IA - Grandma's 220212 IA-SC 2 RV's, 1 RV to Greer SC, 1 RV to Myrtle Beach SC ... spending the night at Lexington KY Breakfast - Juice. This place has not had breakfast since the start of Covid. Today they do. Juice and nuke sandwiches. And a couple of kinds of pastries. First the juice machine is off so I have them turn that on (an hour after breakfast opened) Then I try the grape juice and water squirts all over the place. So I let them know that also. "Of course it does that, there is no juice container." I make a couple of comments trying nicely to let them know they should do something about it. Finally BB says 'Well maybe you should put up a sign letting people know not to use it so you don't need to mop the floor later.' (When we left there was a sign on the machine) We pull out about 7:30. The lot still only has five cars and two of them are us. 1st stop is the Loves in Davenport for fuel. Fuel for BB would be cheaper at the Flying J but she fuels with me. When I get my pump turned on, it seemed like the cashier knew what she was doing. When I go back in to pay, not so much. Finally she asks for help, but by then my card has been swiped so many times it is locked out. I have to use my personal card which costs me more. 2nd stop is the rest area near Goodfield. First I call the company fuel card number. No option to talk to a human. So I called our companies central dispatch, the only number I can think of. One person working today and they have no idea what to do. 3rd stop is the Loves/Hardees in Oakwood for fuel and food. We hadn't planned on stopping at Loves/Hardees or for fuel. But I wanted to put in a little fuel to see if the card was working again, and I wanted to do it at Loves. (But it wouldn't have had to been at Loves.) The card is working again :) For food, same as usual at Hardees, bacon western burger and I only eat half the bun. Somewhere before or after this stop I had been following a semi, finally there was no one coming for a mile plus so I pulled out to pass. It takes a mile or so, maybe less, to pass him. By then someone is right up on me. As soon as I think I am good to pull back in the right lane the car behind me is also pulling over ... so I pull back left and let them go. The get along side of me and hang there for about a mile, I ignore them. Then they pull right in front of me, but by the time they are in the left lane I am back in the right lane and they move on. ??? 4th stop is the Loves in Whiteland for fuel. Fuel is cheaper in KY so I just put 'some' fuel in. I do not do the math but when I get back in it looks like I have added way too much. Our one toll for this trip is the bridge from IN to KY, both bridges have tolls. 5th stop is the rest area near Simpsonville. BB tries to make a reservation but the WiFi is slow. Very slow. We had planned on staying in Lexington but two of the hotels said no rooms available. So we look at Richmond a few miles beyond. All they have are twin beds, no kings. So BB looks to see what other hotels are in Lexington ... now there are rooms at the two that said no a few minutes ago. But the WiFi is so slow that we leave without a reservation. 6th and final stop is Lexington First for fuel, I am down below a range of 50 miles on a diesel. I put in one gallon at the Speedway. BB now has enough service to reserve a room Second stop is the Comfort Inn Thirds stop is across the street for food at the Cracker Barrel. Load board US - 438 IA - 180 Today we did over 500 miles, tomorrow we have about 350 to go. So a shorter day tomorrow. My 1st fuel stop should be my last. Based on my last fill, I should come in right at 'E.' But I assume my mileage has gone up ... or not, now we will be hitting mountains tomorrow. We have pretty much decided how we will do Monday. Once we have the rental car 'close,' BB will leave and I will follow once I am delivered so we will not be running together the last four hours. But by doing it that way we should get both RV's delivered on Monday. Who knows, we might spend a couple of hours on the beach ?? LOG 7:30 - Leave Comfort Inn - Walcott IA 8:00 - Davenport IA - Loves - fuel 10:00 - Goodfield IL - rest area 11:45 - Oakwood IL - Loves/Hardees - fuel/food 2:15 - Whiteland IN - Loves 3:45 - Simpsonville KY - rest area 5:30 - Lexington KY - Speedway 5:45 - Lexington KY - Comfort Inn 6:15 - Lexington KY - Cracker Barrel 220213 IA-SC 2 RV's, 1 RV to Greer SC, 1 RV to Myrtle Beach SC ... spending the night at Greenville SC Breakfast - Yogurt and juice. Because that is all I wanted. Light snow on the RV's when we pull out this AM. 1st stop is in Richmond at the Pilot for fuel. I can't help myself. I have to top it off so I am going to likely be leave extra fuel for the dealer. Coming through the hills this AM it was sunny and the trees on the tops of the distant hills had snow on them. Pretty but no where to stop and take a picture of them. 2nd stop is the welcome center for TN near Jellio. 3rd stop is in Newport for food. There isn't a truck stop close so we look at what there is and decide on Arby's. I try a new dip sandwich they have. Good, but too much food. It's 40 degrees outside and we are still eating inside ? When we are done, BB decides she will need more fuel so she wants to do it while we are stopped. There is a station to our right that will make things easier than taking a left across traffic with no stop lights. Nope. It was easier to get to, but it was closed. So we stopped at one of the others that were between us and the freeway. The mapping software had us taking non-interstate roads from here because of a major accident. But by the time we left the gas station the backup was no longer showing on my computer but was still showing on BB's. We assumed the accident was close to being cleared so we stayed on the freeway. Ashville. Always a backup. There should be two lanes going from I-40 to I-26. They are rebuilding I-26 but so far no sign that they will redo the interchange. Today I am able to get over because someone coming up an on ramp wants to get behind me. BB doesn't get the same break and has to work her way into the lane somewhere down the line. We do not see each other for the next half hour. 4th stop is the rest area near Inman. It was only 130 miles from where we ate to the hotel but with road construction and backups we decided to take the extra stop. We are not in a rush today. We park next to two other RV's and got talking to them right away. They are dropping about three hours down the road, I do not remember the town. But they live only a few miles from the rest area. I didn't ask them why they did not just spend the night at home ?? From here BB made a reservation. Usually we stay at a Quality Inn before the drop. But BB has never been a fan of that location so this time we talked about it and decide on one 3 miles past the drop. 5th and final stop is in Greensville at the Comfort Suites. Big parking lot but the closest food is across the highway and there are not cross walks at the light. The food looked better on the other side of the freeway so we will drive. After an hour or so we head over to Schlotzsky's. As we were turning off the freeway earlier I knew we had stopped for food at this exit but couldn't remember where. Once I saw this online I knew where. We get to Schlotzsky's, yes last time the drive thru line was out onto the street and we were taking a left into the parking lot. No issue today getting into the lot. Sign on the door said "We closed at 3 PM today because of staffing issues." :( A few cars came and left while we sat there deciding where to eat. Found a couple of other places that were just closed on Sunday's. Finally we decide Five Guys. It is about two buildings away and is not our normal truckstop fast food. We think we finally have a plan for tomorrow. After we pickup the rental car, I will drive BB back to the hotel and she will head out to her drop. She still has four hours driving to get to her drop so it will be 1-2 PM if she leaves then. Who knows what time if she waits for me and there is a line. I looked at the map and her drop is about one block from the Myrtle Beach State Park. We will likely go there tomorrow. It is supposed to be a high of 51 degrees in Myrtle Beach tomorrow. The coldest day of the next 10 :( But it should help keep the crowds down. LOG 7:00 - Leave Lexington KY Comfort Inn 7:30 - Richmond KY - Pilot - fuel 9:15 - Jellio TN - rest area 11:00 - Newport TN - Arby's 11:30 - Newport TN - Marathon - BB fuel 1:45 - Inman SC - rest area 2:45 - Greenville SC - Comfort Inn 5:00 - Greenville SC - Five Guys 220214 IA-SC 2 RV's, 1 RV to Greer SC, 1 RV to Myrtle Beach SC (delivered) 1 tree truck to Olathe KS (Tuesday) ... spending the night at Irmo SC Breakfast - yogurt and juice. We pull out the 1st time at 7:30 local. BB rides with me to pick up the rental car. At this location the airport is about one mile from my drop. I let BB off at the airport and head back to fuel and park my RV. BB picks me up from the gas station and we head back to the hotel. We move BB's luggage from her RV to the rental car and she is on her way, solo. I head back to the gas station and move my luggage from my RV to the rental and also remove some of my heavier items from my back pack and leave them in the rental car. 1st stop was the Spinks for gas in Greer 2nd stop was my drop in Greer I call my contact when I get to the drop, it is before hours so it goes to voicemail. I leave a message and wait. When no one has shown by 9:15, they open at 9 AM, I call again. After a dozen rings someone answers. They are not in town, they tell me who to look for. After finding the wrong person in the lot the correct person drives past so they know we are here. Then after I talk to a sales person a 2nd time and the other driver waiting talks to someone else, a couple of sales people show up to do the inspections. Once they start, it only takes them 15 minutes and I am signed off and good to go. From there it is about a 15 minute walk back to the gas station and my rental car. I am getting out of shape. :( I should have been looking at the load board as I was waiting but I was expecting someone to show up ... any minute. When I did look once I was back at the rental car there were two non-CDL trucks going to KS. I called right away and put them on hold. Then I called BB but she didn't answer and she shouldn't. She was driving. After a bit BB did call back so I pulled off at the next exit ... Because of the size of the trucks, BB decided she did not want to drive one. So I called back to dispatch and just took the one for me. The rest of the trip in the rental car is pretty un-eventful. I had looked at the map once and could remember most of the highway numbers. My plan was to stop at the first rest area after I got on I-20. As I am passing a truck I see the exit for the rest area between his cab and his load ... Opps. But usually there are rest area's about every 30 miles so there should still be one more before I get off the freeway. Sort of. The next one is a 'trucks only' parking lot (former rest area) with no outhouse. Change of plans. BB had said she would be stopping at a Pilot at the exit where she got off the freeway. So the first Pilot I saw I got off to use the rest room. As long as I was stopped I looked at the map on my phone. The map shows I do not go under the freeway, that is now behind me. But when I get back on the street my internal compass kicks in and I head to the freeway. Then I remember the map and take a quick u-turn on the street. I pull into the first parking lot and look again, I should not go under the freeway. So I head away from the freeway, now I see that the signs are saying 'west,' and the coast is east. So I stop again now type in the TA truckstop I am at. Seems there are two Pilots in town and I keyed in the wrong one. 5-10 minutes lost on that one. From here I just follow the signs for Myrtle Beach until I get closer. Then I have to follow the highway signs to get closer. I know the road I want to be on will come to a 'T' a block before the beach. I didn't realize I was looking for 'business US-17' until I got to the main US-17. BB called me as soon as I pulled into the parking lot, she had seen me drive in. First thing now is eat. She hasn't eaten today and it is now 2 PM. Surprised she is still standing. She has had time to look online for food and there is a Manny's Deli a few blocks away. Manny's is in one of these tourist trap buildings and it takes us a while to find the correct door. Manny's. One old guy working by himself, taking the order, making the sandwich and then ringing it up. One order at a time. Good food. As hungry as we were we could still only eat half. I didn't see chicken salad on the menu anywhere but decided to ask. Yes they had it, it was good. But these sandwiches are too sloppy to eat so we sat in the car instead of eating while I drove. We had talked about walking on the beach across the street but it was only going to be above 50 degrees for a short time and we now had work. That was a 'back up plan' for if we did not find work. Opps, heading back I missed a turn and ending up on a business route through town. Other than time lost because of stop lights it was not any extra miles. Heading back we follow BB route and stop at the other Pilot. Now I know where both of them are. It will be dark by the time we get to Columbia so we'll stop there. Irmo actually. Our brother-in-laws Dad was living there when he died. We drove up to help our BIL pack some of his things on our day off when we were working for company #2 a few years ago. Comfort Inn, Irmo. Over looking the Walmart parking lot. BB decided it was time to wash clothes tonight. Then when I was going to go get food, our clothes were going to be done so she stayed at the hotel. I was just about back when I remembered I had both room keys. She stayed to put the clothes in the dryer, but then waited in the hall until I got back with the food. Food We ate the first half of our sandwich at 2 PM and the 2nd half while I was driving at about 5 PM. So when we got to the hotel we were not real hungry. But we had delivered so it was time for a treat. BJ's - pizookie, their trio. We ate half the ice cream and two thirds of the cookies. Enough. Load board US - 451 IA - 206/204 LOG trip 6:30 - Left Comfort Inn in Greensville SC 6:40 - Dropped BB at airport for rental car 6:45 - Greer SC - Spinx - fuel 7:15 - Left Comfort Inn in Greensville SC - BB heading solo to Myrtle Beach, I back to my RV 7:45 - Greer SC - drop 8:45 - Greer SC - left drop 9:00 - Mauldin SC - roadside - called BB 12:00 - Florence SC - Pilot 1:30 - Myrtle Beach - drop - pickup BB 1:35 - Myrtle Beach - Manny's Deli & Subs 3:30 - Florence SC - Pilot 6:00 - Irmo SC - Comfort Inn 7:00 - Irmo SC - BJ's .. the trip continues HERE |
