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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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.. the trip continues from HERE 220224 IA-CA 2 RV's to El Cajon CA ... spending the night at El Centro CA Rough night but feeling some better today. Moving slowly to not get light headed or dizzy. BB had grabbed some yogurt a couple of days ago at a hotel so that was breakfast this AM. A little frosty this AM but our units are facing the rising sun and with the defrost on all the frost was gone by the time we are ready to pull out. Sun is right at eye level so it was a slow move. I could not see this behind me, but BB told me later that as she started to move she noticed that her right window was down a couple of inches. To start with the window would not move with the control on either the left or right door. So BB headed out expecting a cold AM ride. But she had a long wait at the stop light and she tried again. Finally the window would go down, then up all the way but drop down a couple of inches. As it warmed up it finally would go all the way up and stay there. Around Flagstaff they must get enough snow that they know how to deal with it. Roads are plowed full width. There are still areas of hard pack and most places on I-40 are not down to the pavement on both tire tracks. But we are after rush hour so traffic is fairly smooth. Once we start heading south on I-17 it looks like the road is going to be better because of the angle of the sun. But there is a lot more hard pack on this stretch. I didn't remember how far the road stayed at the higher elevation. A few miles before Camp Verde we drop below the snow line. 1st stop is the rest area in Camp Verde. Glad we did not try this when it was snowing or in the dark. Today it is a clear day. We were able to see all of Mt Flagstaff when we got on the freeway in Winslow. Beautiful snow covered trees. Surprisingly we did not see much if any stuff in the ditch. Today BB was paying closer attention that I was. When we got close to Buckeye there were signs that said ___ exit is closed. So she took the prior exit. I did not know which street exit that was so kept going until I couldn't exit where I needed to. So I ended up taking the next exit and making a four mile u-turn around a field. I could see where I wanted to be so I wasn't feeling lost. 2nd stop was the Loves in Buckeye. BB waited for me to fuel because we are running all the fuel for this trip on my card. When I go in to pay there is an old guy wanting to fuel and get his 'corporate discount.' The clerk doesn't know what he is talking about and they both leave to go somewhere (without asking me.) Then I see the guy moves his RV without fueling. I could have told him how it worked but they didn't stand there long enough. BB's pump starts, mine does not. When I go back in the clerk gets on his phone and lets someone else know that 'pump six is STILL now working.' So I had to move. But both fuel stops today the people knew how to handle the corporate card, but not how to run both pumps on one transaction. Subway for lunch, we ate outside. It's about 60 degrees. 3rd stop was another rest area near Dateland. From here I call the dispatcher for this trip and let them know we will deliver tomorrow, two days late. And I leave an updated message for the drop. Then I call the west coast dispatcher. He sounded happy to hear from me. "If we can't get you something tomorrow (Friday,) we will put you up for the weekend" Lots of farm labor out in the fields. Not sure what they are doing. Somewhere today there were huge feed lots, likely larger than those in the Dalhart area. I didn't find the Dalhart numbers but the location near Yuma can hold 130,000 head of cattle. 4th stop is the Loves in Yuma for our last fuel. I miss guessed and need to add more. When I get here I have 3 miles more range than I need. I prefer to have about 50 extra miles range. Both BB and I add more fuel. She only adds one gallon and the computer does not the range. From here we decide to keep going. Otherwise we had planned on getting off at the next exit and staying in Yuma tonight. 5th and final stop is the Comfort Inn in El Centro. We are using points as hotels are getting up closer to $200 a night. We are in early enough to do laundry. Laundry is in the Main Stay hotel across the parking lot. It would have been closer to have walked to the laundromat behind the hotel in Winslow. And then we had nothing but time. We have enough to do one load so we get that started. After we put it in the dryer we walk across the dead end street to the In-n-Out Burger for food. Load board US - 609 IA - 332/330 Plan is the leave out early enough to get fueled and to the drop when they open at 8:30 (we are still 90 miles away.) Then BB will walk to the rental car place and be there when they open at 9 AM. Assuming we are done at the drop by 10 AM we should get near the buses by 6 PM about the time it gets dark. Or we will wait until the AM ... but I need to get permits before 6 PM. Hmmm. LOG 8:00 - Winslow AZ - Quality Inn - left 10:00 - Camp Verde AZ - rest area 12:30 - Buckeye AZ - Loves - fuel 12:45 - Buckeye AZ - Loves/Subway - eat 2:45 - Dateland AZ - rest area 4:00 - Yuma AZ - Loves - fuel 5:15 - El Centro CA - Comfort Inn 6:30 - El Centro CA - In-n-Out Burger 220225 CA-CO 2 RV's to El Cajon CA (delivered) 1 Bus to Colorado Springs CO ... spending the night at Livermore CA (written three days later) Too long ago, I do not remember breakfast. I say hi to another person walking out of the hotel, when he gets to his truck I see he is from Maple Lake MN. We say a few more words. The sun is just coming up as we are pulling out. We both are kind of blinded by the light. I take a longer way out so that we have a signal when we get to the main road. It helps. Today it is my window that drops when I close it. But only once. I have enough fuel to get to the drop plus 50 miles, that is where I want to come in at. BB and I have been running within a couple of miles of each other this whole trip so I do not even bring up our fuel situation. If she is running low, I will be too. But before we get near our drop BB disappears from behind me. I stop and call, she has stopped for fuel. I decide to continue on. My low fuel light comes on when I am within a mile of our final fuel. Talking to her later, she says that first her low fuel light came on, then it started flashing at her ... and we still had 20 miles to go. She stopped, as would have I. (written five days later) 1st stop was for final dealer fuel in El Cajon at the GoGas. I am not paying close enough attention and put in $1 more than needed, that cost is on me. BB is there by the time I am done fueling so I pull ahead but someone cuts in front of her. A few blocks later we are at the drop. Very small place, we have to wait on the street while they move RV's and then we park cross ways across the customer parking to get inspected. As soon as we had our stuff out of the RV's BB walks the few blocks to the rental car place. I don't see anyone in the office so I wait outside, the first few people that come past ignore me and then someone says they will send someone out. I do see that one a few more times while I am there and we say a few words each time. One time he mentioned that he was hoping the water in his RV did not freeze last night ... near LA. BB has to wait for a car at the rental place. This time there were not an shady characters on her walk but there was one at the strip mall where she was waiting. After watching them for a while she decided to wait inside. She is back to the drop with the rental car before they are done inspecting. Once the paperwork is signed we are off. 8 hours to go to get a bus. 3rd stop is a Burger King in Murrieta. We get it to go. Somewhere about 3 PM local BB calls dispatch and puts in on speaker phone. Colorado Springs is where we are going. We don't want to carry chains so I ask if we can go the southern route. Dispatch is OK with that. Later we will look to see that there is not a truck wash within 300 miles coming from the south, so we decide to go the northern route. 4th stop is for fuel at a Pilot in Lost Hills Somewhere along here there was a pickup that was passing cars on the right shoulder. A little while later we see a cloud of dust ahead in the median. As we get closer and slowed down we see a car driving in the median with a flat tire and a pickup near by. Not sure if it had anything to do with the other pickup that was in a rush or not but the timing was close. 5th stop is at the Wendy's in Santa Nella. There are other place we could have eaten but we wanted something fast. 6th stop is the shipper in Livermore. New phone number to get in and I do not have it, so I flash my headlights at the security guard until he gets the message. When we get in we get the new phone number from him. I don't see this but at some point the security guard tells BB she can not be in there with a car ... she replies she will be pulling out as soon as the bus is inspected. (The guard did not say anything to me about this later ??) By the time I am doing my inspection it is already dark. I fumble for the lights in the engine area. The first switch I hit is not the right one so I re-set it. Then I get the lights and check my fluids. But when I go to start the bus it does not start. When we got here there were other drivers but when I look for them they are already gone. But before I call support I go back to look at the bus and do a rear start ... OPPS ... when I was fumbling for the lights I had switched the power from front to rear start but when I re-set it I put in the kill position. :) Once that was corrected we had no issues. We do a quick inspection and BB is gone. I get my paperwork to the guard and am on the way to the hotel. We decide to keep the car overnight and drop in the AM. :( :( The 5th wheel trailer home that was at the hotel two months ago is still here. Now it has water and power running across the parking lot to it. So far tonight there is still room for me to park with the cars. I don't see the sign when we walk in but they want everyone to check in through the outside window. Lots of signs but I don't see anyone checking in or out the next morning using that window. Load board US - 564 IA - 316 LOG 8:30 - El Centro CA - Comfort Inn - leave 10:15 - El Cajon CA - USA Gasoline - fuel 10:30 - El Cajon CA - drop 12:00 - El Cajon CA - leave 1:00 - Murrieta CA - Burger King 3:00 - Lost Hills CA - Pilot - fuel 7:00 - Santa Nella CA - Wendy's 8:15 - Livermore CA - shipper 9:00 - Livermore CA - Best Western 220226 CA-CO 1 Bus to Colorado Springs CO ... spending the night at Wendover UT Pushed and got 630 miles instead of our usual 500. Now the forecast is for high winds on Sunday instead of Monday in WY. (written one day later) Here breakfast comes in a brown bag, we need to check items off when we check in the night before and they will have the bags ready for us. I need a NV permit so I try calling a number I just recently found on FaceBook. I get someone on a Saturday AM and they can get my permit. That saves me both time and money. As I am waiting for my receipt, the person asks me how my room was, then how my breakfast was. So I said as long as you are asking how things were ... you three parking spots for large vehicles at this hotel, that is one of the reasons we stay here. There is now a travel trailer parked in one (with water and electricity running to it) and a storage trailer parked in another spot. So they are taking up 2 of the 3 reasons we stay here. :( We head out at 6:30 just as sky is getting light. BB has to fuel the rental car before we leave town, pumps don't work, even the cashier can't get her a receipt so she ends up behind me instead of ahead of me at the drop. I know where I am going but turn a street too soon. Not an issue, it is early Saturday AM and very few people up and around. Usually I pick up BB at the bus stop on the street but today I just drove into the strip mall parking lot. Lots of room ... today. This was about 10 miles the wrong direction so we wasted about a half hour of daylight getting the car dropped. No traffic issues this Saturday AM even going through Sacramento. 1st stop is the rest area in Gold Run. A few miles down the road my bus dispatcher calls. He wants to know if I will come directly back after dropping in CO. He will have either a MN or an IA bus for me. 2nd stop is the rest area at Donners Pass to call the dispatcher. No cell service. That is surprising as we are right next to a large ski area. Today that lot was completely full. (written two days later) 3rd stop is the Pilot in Fernley. Fuel is cheaper at Loves but when you include rewards points, Pilot wins. And Pilot wins over Flying J because they have a Wendy's instead of a Denny's. No wait, but the pump screen is slow responding. I tap it once that I want fuel, it doesn't respond so I tap it again and get authorized for both fuel and DEF. After I fuel I go to get my receipt but it was not ready at the kiosk so I go to the register. No receipt there either. I still need to eat so I go back in after I eat and the receipt is ready. Later I remember I had been authorized to pump DEF but did not pump it or clear the pump. My guess is the pump was still on until the next person used it and cleared my info. 4th stop was the Pilot in Winnemucca. I don't need fuel yet but it will get me on the right pattern. After I pump $10 it stops and says see cashier. So I go in and get my receipt and tell the cashier what happened. They insist that I hung up the pump ... even as I was walking away they yelled after me 'Don't hang up the pump this time.' So I watched closer the next time. This time it pumped $20 before saying 'see cashier' and stopping. I was not even on the same side of the bus/truck to shut it off when this happened. And when the pump is hung up, the screen welcomes the next customer, it does not say 'see cashier.' Also I had now gotten 7 gallons in about 20 minutes. I went in and got another receipt from a different clerk and mentioned the problem again. 'Yah, the pumps are slow.' No concern. I left without filling. The Golden Gate truck stop is now open in Battle Mountain. It has a Port O Subs, I wonder if they have closed the one by the Maverik? 5th stop is in Elko at the Golden Gate / Sinclair for Port O Subs for later. I do not like running this late but we want to beat the winds coming later to WY. 6th and final stop is in Wendover at the Quality Inn. But first we stop at the Pilot for fuel. As we are waiting to check in, someone walks in and asks if they can cut the line to see if the location has rooms left. We let them, and no, the place is sold out. Good thing we did not wait until we were in the parking lot to reserve a room. When we came through town it looked like all the casinos were full. Things are almost back to normal. Load board US - 561 IA - 305 220227 CA-CO 1 Bus to Colorado Springs CO ... spending the night at Laramie WY Ring ... ring ... ring ... At 11 PM, after we had been sleeping a couple of hours, the phone rings. I sit up to pick it up but didn't realize it was the room phone which was sitting on the floor until after it was done ringing. It's hard to get back to sleep after only sleeping for a short time. While I was awake I looked out the window at my bus in case that was the issue. What is an issue is that someone parked in front of me where I didn't think there was a spot. So far, no one behind me ... I am parked crossways across a number of parking spots. BB is up and showering before the alarm is set to go off. This place does not have much for breakfast so I just eat the yogurt that was extra from yesterdays hotel. That saves us a little time. As I am packing up, I realize that I did not take my meds last night. Opps. Longest day we had run for a while. When I check out, they still have not gotten their printer/computer working so no receipt today. Then I ask the person at the desk about having a full hotel last night. It has been that way the last three weekends. ??? Two years ago it looked like there were maybe five people a night when we were there. If they are full that is about 75 rooms. As soon as I get on the freeway I have to exit for the first scale. Today the sun is right at the overhead message sign. The message never changes so I am good to go. 1st stop is 100 miles down the road at the Flying J in Lake Point. As long as we are here and the place is mostly empty I put in DEF. Because I have to pull into the pumps backwards I want to get away from the pumps so someone else can pull in. There is a tanker filling the tanks so I ask if I can park in front of him. OK with him. But by the time I get back from getting my receipt he is getting in his truck and he follows me out of the parking lot ... 2nd stop is the Port of Entry in WY. I pull on the scale and no one talks to me so I sit there. Finally someone flashes the lights red-yellow-red-yellow at me. I guess I am OK to move. The person I get inside the scale is looking at their cell phone. First he wants my license and registration. "I'm a transporter." New or used? "New" To a dealer or ... "Customer" You are good to go. (No permit required) It is lunch time so down the road a couple of miles to the Arby's. Double Stacked Reuben for me. Once was enough. It didn't taste right, the wrong ratio of foods. 3rd stop was the Loves in Green River for final fuel for me. I could only get as far as my truck number and it said 'See Cashier.' So I did. My guess is I was transposing my truck and driver ID numbers. Today going past the 'big dig' the bucket was way up in the air and easy to see. 4th stop is the Flying J in Rawlins for a rest stop. Gross. Saw another one of these people that think they need to blow their nose into the bathroom sink ... Ugh We are clear to go. BB has been following the weather since yesterday. Last night it showed that there would be high winds today between Rawlins and Laramie. Even this AM when we left the hotel that was still the forecast. But after the sun came up the expected wind speeds dropped and we should be good to go. Nothing is showing on the road report so we head out. Just past Rawlins the overhead signs say expect gusts of 65+ mph. Then signs that said current gusts of 40+ mph. But there were not any times when I grabbed the steering wheel or when I saw others getting blown or even leaning. So we made it. Food. There is not any food near our hotel so we go into town to get food first. 5th and final stop is Laramie First we go to a place that is now (another) Sinclair . They have Papa John's and Chester's chicken. Nope, Papa John's has been out of dough for three days now. And all their Chester's area has is a few potato sticks, all the chicken baskets are empty. So we go across the street to the other Sinclair and the Blue Taco. No luck there either, the cook had gone home early. So we go back to the Pilot and the Wendy's. They are out of salad ... ? I got chili, it was not too hot or spicy for once. 'Our spot' is still open at this hotel to park the bus, but I get out of routine and forget to shut the battery off on the bus. The 1st time, but we can't carry all of our stuff in in one trip so I get it shut off the battery shut off the second time. Not sure what is going on with this bus, it has a temp control that I can set by degree and they usually work very well. This one has gotten up to 90 degrees a few times with the temp set at 70 and then when I shut it completely off it keeps blowing heat. BB has had the windows open part of the day. We did see a variety of transporters today including one of our IN RV's heading east with some other company's transport plate on it. We still had daylight left when we got to Laramie but after the long day yesterday we decided to shut down after getting past the problem area. ONE problem area. Now the stretch we need to take in the AM is closed. Not sure why, wind was not forecast and the roads this far were all clear. Tomorrow ... we have about four hours of highway left before the drop. Plus a wash and a fuel. I've looked at the maps and both are easy. We have decided we are not going back to CA from the drop. We have not decided yet if we will be picking up one of the trash trucks coming back to MN. If we do, and we keep the car, the hours are tight to get the car back to the airport in two days. (I thought we were always going to get our cars for one more day than we needed) But if there is room inside the cab, we may drop the car after we pick up the trash truck and then not have to double back to get our personal car before heading home. .. the trip continues HERE |
