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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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.. the trip continues from HERE 221214 CA-CO 1 bus to MN (Thursday) ... spending the night at Mojave CA Ring, Ring ... middle of the night calls are never good. It was one of our grandchildren just saying something that didn't make sense. Then sorry for waking us. ... the the AM we found out it was part of a game they were playing and they didn't realize we would pick up. Yes, we always have our phones on and will answer from people we know if not driving. BB was so confused, she had been in a deep sleep, that she had to turn some lights on to remember where we were :) Up before the alarm. Breakfast is leftovers from last night. We don't have paper plates so we nuke our stuff in the styrofoam containers they came in. It always takes us a little longer to get out of the hotel than planned. And then we both grab to-go food to eat on the road. The transporter that was there when we got there was gone when we got up. But the parking lot had almost filled up, it was almost empty still when we came back from getting food. 1st stop was a couple of miles down the road at the Flying J for fuel. It would be the cheapest the rest of the trip. Worth the extra stop. Today when we went passed Gallup, we looked at where the horse/cow was hit. There is a railroad track with a steep grade on one side and businesses on the other side for miles. Not sure where they could have come from. 2nd stop was the Welcome Center in Lupton AZ. Sign said closed, but we pulled in and the rest rooms were open. The 'welcome' area was closed. It was foggy and frosty by the time we got here, might have gotten some nice pictures if we had stopped in the correct place. I've been running I-40 for almost 20 years and I've never been able to see Mt Flagstaff before Holbrook. Even on a clear day. Today BB and I did see it. Befor Holbrook, Mt Flagstaff is over our right shoulder ... after Holbrook it is ahead of us :) 3rd stop is the Flying J for fuel and food. Some guy hits me up for gas money and in the process I forget my receipt. We end up getting shelf pizza. Mine was of the breakfast type. 4th stop was in Selegman at a Shell just for the rest room. We did pass one tanker truck driven by my local company. We sit too low o see who the driver was. Later we did meet one Denver bus, then a couple of semi tractors. The Denver bus was likely mine that failed on Saturday. Trains - For a good part of the day we could see trains. Container trains. Dozens of them. It wasn't until the end of the day that we saw a few, five, non-container trains. 5th stop was Lake Havasu for fuel at the Pilot. The last two fuel stops we were only down to a half a tank, but fuel was cheaper at each than anywhere forward and we needed a stop so we filled. From here I called dispatch and said we would be back on Thrusday/tomorrow. 6th stop was near Newberry Springs at a rest area. I called dispatch but they didn't pick up. Just down the road they called back ... he'll have one for MN waiting for me when we get into town mid-afternoon. :) Now to decided how far we will go Thursday night. It really doesn't look like we can shave a day off this trip so we aren't really gaining anything but piece of mind. Most of the freeway in AZ was 75 mph, CA it is 70 mph. Then when we get on the non-freeway it is 65 mph. At one point the truck ahead of me slowed quickly so I signaled and got over to pass. The car coming up on my left looked like a cop but I didn't want to slow and stay behind the truck and I was going the speed limit ... the cop was not. The cop was right behind me before I got over in the right lane again and then he was gone. So he must have been doing about 70-75 mph. We had the GPS on and it later said 'speed check ahead.' And we saw the 2nd cop when we passed it, no where to hide out here in the desert. We could still see the 1st cop when a car went sailing past us 80-90 mph. And I commented ... 'catch up to that copy quickly.' :) A minute later the 2nd cop we had seen went flying by at the same 80-90 mph with it's lights on. Both cops and the car caught up to trucks trying to pass trucks and had to slow ... when the road cleared, it didn't seem like the car realized the cop was after THEM. Interesting to watch. Beautiful sun set. Not so much fun looking into the sun, but beautiful sunset. No pictures. Final stop was Majave. 7th stop was The Works, a kind of fast food place. Good food. Philly. Good to the last bite. Also got a mango smoothie. To go. 8th stop was the Best Western in Mojave. BB looked at the Comfort Inn but the last review was almost a year ago. And the BW was rated #1. 744 miles today. All daylight. And I didn't fall asleep. So I must have gotten some sleep last night. I do know I did because of the dreams I was having. We have another 300 miles to go tomorrow before we get back to the shipper. Bus should be ready, we'll drop the rental car and be on our way. Load board US - 190 IA - 7/3 As of 3 PM parts of I-80 were still closed in WY and NE. So we don't want to get there too quickly. We won't be there until Sunday so another four days with no more snow coming in, just the snow that is there blowing around. I'm only in contact with one other bus driver and I mentioned I was heading out again tomorrow ... they were told there was no work. Opps. There better be for me, we have deadheaded 1,500 miles to get this bus. If all goes as planned, we should be in Rocklin Thursday night. Wendover Friday night. Laramie on Saturday night, Lincoln on Sunday night. Monday night we will be near the Twin Cities but not early enough to deliver. Tuesday AM deliver and home ... or work for the local company. ... as of 9 PM the roads in WY and NE are still closed. Even where the roads are not closed, semi's are being turned away as all parking spots are full closer to the closure. 221215 CA-MN 1 bus to Minneapolis MN ... spending the night at Rocklin CA Awake at 5 AM local. Down for breakfast at 6:30. We had thought of only getting food to go again but ended up with food we should sit to eat. Pulled out at 7 AM local. Sun is turning the sky red. Not much for excitement today. Mostly the same road as a few days ago. 1st stop is in Tulare at Loves. 2nd stop at Medera at Pilot to fuel. This is the cheapest fuel we could find in this part of the country. This is why we came up CA-99 instead of I-5 like we usually do. Gas at Pilot was $.80 less than across the street at a Chevron. We do see that a lot with Chevron, and people still are buying fuel there. Not sure why. 3rd stop was at Manteca at an In-n-Out for lunch. 4th stop was the shipper in Livermore. There was a bus heading to my location with someone in it ... I stopped and talked to them right away. They are taking the southern route and only going to a close hotel this afternoon. They had lucked out a few years ago and called this dispatcher right after Christmas a few years ago and most of his drivers were still on vacation. They've been driving for him ever since. Both of my prior buses to Denver were still sitting in the lot. 2013 was the first bus I was supposed to take, but dispatch called me late in the evening to change it to 2005. Bus 2013 was now sitting in the center of the lot, unable to be driven. And 2005 was still there, since Saturday. Things have changed in the 'done' lot. Now there are only 3 MN buses, four Denver buses and two others ... plus a whole bunch without any decals. All of the RI, KC, etc buses have been moved to the 'not going anywhere' lot. I didn't ask ... My bus was sitting where it could be driven out without moving any of the other buses, one of the few. All looks good and we are ready to go. BB heads to the rental car place and I drop off my paperwork. Dispatch calls while I am driving, so when BB isn't waiting at the drop, I pull in so I can talk on the phone. I still haven't gotten paid for my fuel for the OR bus and they were calling about that. BB checks the traffic. It is still faster to head west from here then head east. There was an accident on the east bound freeway when we were heading to Livermore and it is still faster to head west and take a different freeway by about 20 minutes. If we had been leaving Livermore at 12:30, we would have been able to get to Reno yet tonight. But we were running about an hour later ... maybe due to all the stops ?? As soon as we are rolling, BB makes our reservation in Rocklin. 6th and final stop is the Comfort Inn in Rocklin. The place is almost empty. Once we are checked in, BB orders food online from the Sourdough and Co, sandwich shop. We walk over and pick them up. BB had looked at the German place but they no longer had the reuben on their menu, which was about the only thing I order there. So the Sourdough it was. Load board US - 248 IA - 9/6 I-80 was still closed in spots mid-day but seemed to be open by evening. One transporter we heard about was sitting for three days. Paperwork says the drop is only open until 2 PM. We are not going to push that hard to get there on Monday. That is part of the reason we shut down so early today, that and it would be an hour after dark when we got to Reno. Usually our NC dispatcher puts out 5-10 trips a day. Today she added 50, that many won't move as fast ... and most people are heading home for the holidays. 221216 CA-MN 1 bus to Minneapolis MN ... spending the night at Wendover UT Breakfast, two kinds of eggs, sausage, french toast, lots more. Juice was lacking. No OJ and the apple juice was a different flavor of apples. Last night when I came in, I had a short bus so I didn't park in my usual spot. Somehow a semi got in that spot and used it all. I had forgotten to call for my permit last night so I called right away at 6:30 AM when they opened. Someone answered and took down my info. The only thing I wasn't ready for was the 'what time' question. I said starting in one hour. But it takes us two to get to the border. No issue, we will be across the state and gone today. We are still able to pull out a little after 6:30, lot is only about half full. Often it is full, they do a good job here. The only time this bus slowed to below 45 mph is when I got behind a truck. With the 40 footers I'll get down to 35 mph in the mountains. Snow, it is still here. It's been a few days so the snow should have settles some. It is still four feet over our heads at the rest area. We are up in the fog today so not a lot of good pictures. 1st stop was Donners Pass. It is only 30 degrees and it does not get warm in this bus. Some buses have where I can set the exact degrees, others just have heat, vent or AC. BUT someone last year showed us where to set the heat degrees on any bus, wish we had known that years ago. But this bus has some new kind of lock on that area and I don't carry a key for that. Fernley is usually our 2nd stop, cheapest fuel in western NV. BB looks at the prices while I am driving and says fuel is cheaper in Wells. But I ask how much cheaper, is it worth only putting in enough to get to Wells? $.20 cheaper in Wells, then she says the dollar amounts ... no, it is not $.20 cheaper ... it is $1.20 cheaper a gallon in Wells. We will only put in enough to get there. Wells is not our usual stop so we adjust the whole day. 2nd stop is in Lovelock for the rest area. Somewhere down the road after Donners, I remembered there are a few parts in a box over the driver. When we stop in Lovelock I look, there is a key and we can now set the heat. For a minute, I thought BB was going to hug and kiss me right there :) Didn't happen, but almost. 3rd stop is in Battle Mountain for Port O Subs ... always fresh and good. While there, I stuck the tank even though I do have a gauge on this bus. Gauge says half full and I really don't want to drop below a quarter. I decide to add eight gallons of this higher priced fuel. I almost always take a picture of what I am driving at every stop and then post the best one online. BB doesn't like being in those pictures so she followed me past the bus and said ... 'Something is wrong with the bus.' Yes there was. We had driven it 400 miles, freezing ... with the window open. On the last bus we noticed the window open as soon as we got on the freeway. All these little things should help the bus stay a little warmer. Still lots of drafty gaps. 4th stop is the Pilot in Wells. I put in 61 one gallons in an 80 gallon tank. Fuel gauge said one quarter so it was very close. After I got my receipt I realized I did not get my rewards points ... almost $2. So I went back in and asked. Opps, my error. I have two Pilot cards, one is for gas and the other for diesel. I had used the gas one. At one time I had used a marker and written on each one because I have done this before. But those markings are long gone. Running hard all day and we will only make it to Wendover. We are almost to the shortest day of the year. BB makes reservations from here. There is now a SureStay/BestWestern here in Wells now. It had been a private name/Mom and Pop place for as long as I have driven this route. Freeway sign is still the old name so this just happened. It would have saved us $20 but cost us an hour of daylight. 5th and final stop is the Quality Inn in Wendover. We did look at the BestWestern here but it is sold out. It's a Friday night in a casino town. Also the place has a small parking lot which you need to enter under a canopy. Food truck is back in the parking lot. I think it has been at least the last three times we have been here, it was not. It makes the question of where and what we are going to eat easy. Tonight we ordered a quesadilla and three small taco's and split them. Water in the pool is cold tonight ... still trying to figure out how those big chucks of ice got on the top of the solid ice. Yesterday it was 65 degrees and tomorrow AM it will be 10 degrees. Load board US - 219 IA - 4/0 Tomorrow we will get into WY. But will likely shut down early. The forecast is for 65 mph winds. It makes for a good tailwind but the roads are straight it's not as much fun as a cross wind. Lots of fellow drivers commenting online about the weather. Five drivers are stuck in Sioux Falls since Tuesday. Haven't heard if the storm changed directions or just that no one was watching. Lots of roads in NE and SD are still closed. Even roads that are open are plugged with accidents. Hopefully another two days will give it a chance to clear up. 221217 CA-MN 1 bus to Minneapolis MN ... spending the night at Rawlins WY No alarm needed. Breakfast was yogurt. But first, besides carrying out our first load of luggage, I also started the bus. It was 10 degrees this AM. I started the bus, but not the heater ??? Just before sun up, we pull out. Scale is open, but just a drive across. Sun in my eyes for quite a while this AM. No clouds. Water was still this AM, nearer to Salt Lake City, the snow covered hills were reflecting perfectly on the water. 1st stop was the Flying J in Tooele for a rest break. This bus does good, more steep climbs and it does not drop below 50 mph. 2nd stop was the Port of Entry in WY. This officer knows the buses. I just need to confirm that the bus is going to it's final user and not a dealer and I'm free to go. No permit required. 3rd stop is the TA fuel stop in Fort Bridger. Half the fuel islands are closed. I get in one of the open lines. I notice the truck at the pump in the next line is not moving. Then the truck next to me notices too and tries to move. Whatever he tries to do, he slides closer to the truck ahead of him. Then I see him crank his tires, if he can move turned like that, he will turn into my truck and hit me with any momentum. I try to move, but I can't move backwards. And when I try to slowly move forward, I slide closer to him. I decided to wait until the truck ahead of me had moved and then make a run for it. Without my food on the break, the front tires grabbed and steered correctly between the pumps. But there were huge ice piles and I almost hit one of the pumps with my mirrors, missed it by a couple of inches. Then when I went to pull out, I was sliding around again, but I hit nothing. I was able to find a flat spot in the car parking area and parked there. The truck that had been sliding around next to me, was now inches from the truck in the truck on the other side. He had slid sideways the other direction. By the time we left, trucks were backed up four deep and most non-fueling trucks were coming in the exit. We had Taco Bell for lunch, because we had taken so long fueling, it took 45 minutes here. 4th stop was Cruel Jack's in Rock Springs for a rest stop. This time I was planning on getting DEF here, but they did not have bulk DEF so we just used the rest rooms. We used to stop here before they built the Loves, this is the first time we have been here since. Lots of changes. Roads were bad a couple of places. 45 mph speed limit for about 20 miles. Most people stuck to it, but not all. There was also a second place where the is not a variable speed limit but the roads were just as bad. Semi's and cars in the ditch, some still trying to get out of the ditch. 5th and final stop is the Comfort Inn in Rawlins. Only 400 miles today. We had thought we would make it to Laramie. IF the winds died down. As of Rock Springs, the road was still closed to 'high profile vehicles.' About 30 miles before Rawlins, the opened the road. By then we had a reservation and we were running late enough that I'd be driving an hour after dark. And it would gain us nothing. For food we order Pizza Hut online. I-90 finally opened today. We had drivers sitting in Sioux Falls since Tuesday. Maybe with those RV's that dispatch wanted us to take, but BB said we would not take that run so we went to Boise instead. ... or not. That was two weeks ago. We've been gone for a while. Load board US - 220 IA - 4/0 Tomorrow we will try to make it to Grand Island, 509 miles. From there it is about another 500 miles to where we want to stay in MN. Deliver on Tuesday. .. the trip continues HERE |
