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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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.. the trip continues from HERE 220314 IA-VT 2 RV's heading to Montpelier, VT (delivered) 1 RV heading to Elkhart IN (Tuesday) ... spending the night at Latham NY More later (again) I was waiting for a CGO bus out of NY today but all they got were 4 NYC buses. I had also called on a tanker from MA to MN but after talking to the shipper I found out it was a cabover. My plan was to take the tanker if no buses showed up by 4 PM but someone else took the tanker around noon today. I'm not really sad as I do not like driving cabovers more than 500 miles because of the ride and this one because BB would have had to follow me as there would not be enough room for our luggage (unless we bungeed them to the top of the cab.) The pay would have been good on a 1,000 trip going right past our house. (the rest is mostly written three days later) Breakfast - I do not remember. We pull out at 6:30 AM. BB will head solo to Burlington to pick up the rental car. I head a block down the road to the only gas station the right direction that I have seen. I put in a little more than I think I need so I do not need to stop again. Then after I am getting closer to the edge of town, there is cheaper fuel. But I only put in two gallons so not a big deal. There is only three highway numbers to remember today and they are all well marked. The roads are typical back roads in the northeast. A lot of the way I am driving ten miles under the speed limit and most of route was a no passing zone. I did have one car who followed me most of the way and often it was going slower than I was but it would catch up again. When I get off the freeway I have one more turn and I head east instead of west. As soon as my compass kicks in I realize I have gone the wrong direction, but nowhere to turn around for a mile plus. And then when I come back I do not see a highway heading where I want to go. I guess and when I look in my rear view I see the highway sign that makes it look like I am on the right road ... but a mile down the road I see a dead end ahead sign. I guess again and end up on a road that only goes to the freeway and no place to turn around. I'm good. I know the next exit should be US 2 and that is the same street my drop is on. Interesting town. I am on a US highway a couple of blocks from the state capital and the road like an abandoned road full of chuck holes. I keep heading in the correct direction. I know the gas station is just past a round-about. But it is now a Mobil not an Exxon, but it is the only station close. 2nd stop - Mobil for final fuel. 3rd stop - the drop. The directions say to stop at a remote location so I did. But they say I need to go to the actual address. It is just another mile down the road. I pull in the 'wrong' driveway and wind my way around the RV's. The area has been kind of plowed but still lots of snow. It took a few minutes for the correct person to come out and look at my RV and the only thing they seemed interested in was how I was going to get out of this place. Once I asked if I was needed by the RV I went inside and waited. No cell service up here but their WiFi code is printed on the wall. BB had text me once she had gotten the car so I had an idea about what time she would get there. When my paperwork was signed I waited. Not enough time to dig out my computer and work. As soon as BB gets there we head back to Burlington. It is about 45 minutes back via freeway. I had emailed MN dispatch about the truck in MA going back to MN. I didn't have any cell service while I was waiting for BB. They had replied with the pay and the phone number of the shipper so I could call and ask any more questions. 4th stop - the Burlington airport - So as I waited for BB in Burlington I called the shipper. The rattled off a whole lot of things about the truck. All I wanted to know was what year and what style it was. The year was either a 2020 or 2021, not an issue. But the style was a cabover. Those have enough room for a non-large person to sit on each side of the center console. Other than that, this truck had one four foot tool box. And we have two suite cases and four bags. BB would have to follow. (And my limit on cab overs is 500 miles, this trip is 1,400 miles) ... but the pay is good. Then I call the NY bus dispatcher. They want me to stay and will pay. We talk but I do not commit. We head back to the drop and BB now knows where everything is. 5th stop is the same fuel place I stopped at. 6th stop is the drop, again. This time it took a lot less time to look at hers so we were in and out, as soon as he got back from lunch. 7th stop was a deli in Montpelier. We ordered from the car, picked up our food and ate in the car. I had told the bus dispatcher that I would wait until 5 PM today. But I called back at 3 PM and all they had seen today was four NYC buses. They still want me to stay but I say that I am leaving, but that they can call me the rest of today. We will be heading SW and not really getting any further from the shipper for the next couple of hours. While we have been waiting, the MA to MN trip was taken. We are deadheading home after things looked so good. An OH to MN trip is also now gone. We head back the same route that I had taken this AM. The road seems much better traveling in a car instead of an RV, even if it was a smaller RV. 8th stop is a gas station in Bethel for the rest room. And I want a cookie :) I had seen the 'deli' sign when I went through this AM so I am looking to see what they have. Which also means I am looking beyond the shelves. And I see a pan of cookies cooling. Then when I go to the counter I see they have one (old) cookie left, so I get it. Now that there are two of us we remember where things are in this town. BB's aunt lives here and we have stayed at a BB and eaten various places in town. 8th stop was in Killington on the side of the road. There is now an RV in NY going to IN. Not many miles but it is right on the way, so I call and grab it tonight so I can print the paperwork tonight from the hotel. 9th stop is back in Rutland for fuel at a Shell. If we had looked another two blocks down the street we would have seen it was another 10 cents cheaper. Right across the street from the hotel we stayed at last night was the VT state fair grounds. Not much bigger than some of our county fair grounds. 10th and final stop was the Ascend hotel in Latham. A lot of Ascend hotels are resort style, this was is just quaint ... and old. Part of the reason BB picked it was because it had food onsite. But when we get there we find out it is closed on Mondays ... today. We sent too much time again deciding which food we wanted. We had talked about it a couple of times before the hotel but decided nothing. Now we talk about it more, finally we decide to get Italian. I'll have the meal, BB will have the salad. It ends up being way more food than we wanted or needed. Tired hotel but one thing interesting, the shower has the controls on the other end from the shower head, I like that. When I tried to print my paperwork, first I have issues logging in to my 'ghost' account. Once I do log in and print my pages out I can not get the computer to forget my info. It wants to keep me logged in like it has done for others. Load board US - 550 IA - 342/337 Plan is to pick up this last RV tomorrow around noon and drop it Wednesday AM. As of right now, there is a truck nine miles from the drop going to Rhinelander WI that may pay. LOG 6:30 - Rutland VT - Comfort Inn - leave hotel 6:45 - Rutland VT - Mobil - fuel 8:15 - E Montpelier VT - Mobil - fuel 8:30 - E Montpelier VT - drop 10:30 - Burlington VT - Airport - pick up stashed RV 12:15 - E Montpelier VT - drop 2nd RV 12:30 - E Montpelier VT - Wayside Restaurant 2:30 - Bethel VT - Irving 3:00 - Killington VT - phone calls 3:30 - Rutland VT - Shell - fuel 5:30 - Latham NY - Accend hotel 6: 00 - Cohoes NY - NY Style Pizza 220315 NY-IN 1 RV heading to Elkhart IN ... spending the night at Sandusky OH Slept good last night. Surprisingly, as I ate way too much food last night. I had about an eight inch tin foil container of chicken alfredo. At home I likely would have split it into three days instead of eating it all in one sitting, plus the garlic toast. BB did eat a little of the chicken. My blood pressure seems to go up and down more based on how well I sleep over any other reason. Breakfast ... served on china so we ate in the breakfast area. All I had was a little vanilla yogurt from a large bowl. Still too full for the other stuff. BB ate more than I this AM. After we put our things in the car and the car is running I go back in to check out. When I come back out, I open the car door ... and someone is sitting in there ... their car. I had walked up to the wrong SUV. Luckily they were good with an 'excuse me.' 1st stop was in Frankfort at a rest area/oasis. I call the drop again, I get sent to voice mail on both so I leave a message with the second person. They can call me back if they wish. I had planned on calling on the IN to WI trip but BB was back to the car and I was ready to go. 2nd stop is just before we exit the toll way. Victor rest area/oasis. 3rd stop was the shipper. They had no idea what I was talking about. The main person I was talking to called others and found out what I was talking about. The other person there was just making comments like 'did we have that deer in the headlights look?' It seems what happened is that the owner of this RV couldn't get the dealership to fix the RV so they called the manufacture and are sending it there. The RV is a year and a half old and one wall is falling apart on the inside (so it should be safe to drive.) The dealer did not know anything about this and the owner did not clear any of their personal stuff out of the RV. The person I am talking to calls people on the radio to bring the RV up but everyone is busy so they head out to do it themselves. Then come back in, the RV is four deep behind other RV's. ... so I ask if I can go to lunch. I can. That takes care of another issue that BB and I have been talking about, where to stash my RV when we go eat. We want to eat at the Angry Rooster which is in down town. 4th stop was the Angry Rooster. As we are waiting in line to order, the person who was helping walks in. The RV is ready to go :) Only one person working so each order took a while. The one person seemed to know everyone but us. Small town. 4,000 people in the middle of corn fields. At the center of town there is a statue in the center of town in the center of the street ... with a small round about around it. I get a chicken salad sandwich, good but twice as much as I can eat. I save it for later, but later I throw it. Not good enough to risk getting sick over. When we get back to the shipper, the RV is sitting there ... running. And we have been gone a half hour. We sign the paperwork and take pictures. I do have 3/8th of a tank of fuel so that is where I need to leave it at the drop. 5th stop is Angola at the Sunoco at the oasis for fuel. I put in enough fuel to get me another 100 miles to OH where fuel is now below $4. I call dispatch to let them know I have picked up. The trip I had looked at from IN to WI is gone. I did not want to call before I picked up this unit. We will see if anything else shows up, nothing right now. 6th stop is the Shell in Conneaut for fuel. I put in 25 gallons. I have no idea what mileage I am getting so I guess at 10 mpg to make sure I do not go over. From here we also decide that we will be stopping in Sandusky, another two hours down the road. Two hours IF there is no traffic in downtown Cleveland during rush hour. We look at taking other freeways but Google kept changing the routing as we looked at it so we stuck with what we knew. NO HM / no HazMat on I-90 through Cleveland? That is what the signs say but I saw two tankers pass me on that route, one also passed a cop. Am I missing something? There was no slowdown during rush hour, we sailed through at the posted. Right before we get onto I-80 there is a toll booth. I have a huge overhang so I am worried that the toll readers will not read my I-pass. But the gate goes up so I do not come to a complete stop ... WHAM ... my mirror hits the post. But the glass does not shatter. 30 miles down the road and my I-pass does not activate the arm. I back up, I go ahead again. Luckily this exit has almost -0- traffic. I get out and walk around with my I-pass trying to get the arm to go up. I back up again to go to a different lane, the arm goes up ... whew. NY was all open road tolling so I have no idea if it was reading the I-pass there or not. The plate is tied to my I-pass but this is all EZ-pass area and I'm not sure they share that info. 7th and final stop is the Quality Inn. There are nicer places at the exit but they are further off the exit. Food is the drive thru at McD's, they have not shakes, they do not say why. Load board US - 572 IA - 343/339 NY - 6 (city buses going to CGO) We have 180 miles to go in the AM before the drop. No plans after that yet. Yes, there are now six buses going from NY to CGO, if we had waited a day. Last week it was 'if we had waited another day' we would have gotten two pickups right back past our house. LOG 6:45 - Latham NY - Ascend hotel - leave 8:00 - Frankfort NY - rest area 9:45 - Victor NY - rest area 10:00 - Calidonia NY - pick up unit 10:15 - Calidonia NY - Angry Rooster 1:45 - Angola NY - oasis / Sunco - fuel 3:45 - Conneaut OH - Shell - fuel 6:00 - Sandusky OH - Quality Inn 6:30 0 Sandusky OH - McD's 220316 NY-IN 1 RV heading to Elkhart IN (delivered) ... spending the night at home Big breakfast area, almost nothing for food. Two waffle makers, a fridge, juice machine and a Hostess tray. Heading out as the sun is coming up. I have taken my I-pass down. I have created a problem that may take days, but hopefully no dollars to work out. Yikes ... now I see why I hit something at the toll booth yesterday. I have less than two inches between my mirror and the posts on each side. And that assumes that my mirrors are flat at the edge which they are not. 1st stop is for fuel at the Loves in Edon. It is the last gas we will see for under $4 until we are back in WI. While we are there I see a new package van fueling and then see the driver. So I walk over and ask where they are going. PA, we talk a bit. BB comes of and talks also, and takes a peek inside ... no, she does not want to ride in the flip seat in one of those. This person works for our company also, but this trip is with another carrier. As we are pulling out I see another transporter in a box truck but we are already leaving. 2nd stop - the drop - I have memorized the turns once we get off the tollway in Elkhart so no issues finding the drop. But no one answers the phone so I walk into the closest building. The door is un-marked but it is the correct place. Within 20 minutes I have seen everyone I need to and I am dropped and ready to head out. Next stop is also in Elkhart, today BB has picked the Jimmy Johns a mile or so away from the drop. No new work on the load board so I call my MN dispatchers to see if they have anything coming back to MN from IL, IN or IA. They may have yesterday but that dispatcher never calls me back. Coming out of the last IN toll booth I could see that a truck was stopped in the EZ-Pass only lane so I went thru a cash lane. They take longer but it was moving. The first truck in the other lane did get thru, then a car and then the semi that I would have been behind sat there, and sat there. Finally the gate did open. Two out of three vehicles having issues? More likely the EZ-pass system was having issues. Opps, they moved the road again and we end up where we do not want to be. Getting from I-294 to I-290. I was in the wrong lane, now. It used to be the correct lane. Not sure why but they have detour signs for people like us who miss the turn? (or maybe there is another reason, one that we did not see) It only took a few minutes but by now BB is looking for a restroom and the two Oasis on this route are now closed and ready to be torn down. I'm guessing that the gas stations that will stay also have rest rooms but we didn't think of that until later. 3rd stop was in Hampshire at the Loves, it was about 10 miles closer than the next oasis. It sits right on the corner of two major roads but it is a long way around to get there. Road Ranger would be much quicker but it is not quite as nice. More later ... (written one day later) 4th stop is at the BP where fuel was $3.69 and we have a gift card for. 5th stop is the Log Cabin Deli in Mauston for food. Besides my chicken salad sandwich I also try their ham and macaroni salad. Good, but not worth giving up my sandwich for. I eat most of my sandwich, the rest of it I wear until I get home. Not car friendly food. We have had a lot of deli sandwiches this trip. All good, most are too much for one meal. Load board US - 596 IA - 357/350 Tomorrow we will be up early to return the rental car and drive to IA to pick up our car. No work yet. LOG 6:45 - Sanduski OH - Quality Inn - leave hotel 9:00 - Eidon OH - Loves - fuel 10:30 - Elkhart IN - drop 11:00 - Elkhart IN - Jimmy Johns 2:00 - Hampshire IL - Loves - rest break 3:00 - Janesville WI - BP - fuel 4:00 - Mauston WI - Log Cabin Deli 7:00 - home |
