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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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.. the trip continues from HERE 221218 CA-MN 1 bus to Minneapolis MN ... spending the night at Grand Island NE (From yesterday) We saw our first elk in the wild. They were feeding in a field just west of Whamsutter. A dozen or more. When I first let BB know, she was looking in the ditch for a carcass. Nope, these were still alive. We also saw a few transporters, including two city buses, likely from NY. But no markings on them to say where they were going. At the end of the day, BB washed clothes when we got to the hotel. We bring with two weeks of clothes, then this time we had an extra weeks when we stopped in IA between trips, but that still was not enough. (From today) We are out to start the bus before breakfast. Breakfast was eggs and bacon ... they also had sausage, french toast and pancakes. Today we were a little faster eating, I was. BB had already eaten the leftover pizza from last night so she didn't grab any breakfast. We pulled out at 7 AM local, we were about 20 miles down the road when we first saw the sun ... right in the eyes, coming around the corner as a semi was passing me and the thir lane I was in was ending. Forecast and signs said 55+ winds at only one weather station. Speed limit was down to 55 mph in a couple of places with snow blowing across the road. The only place that looked slick was right at the top of one of the passes for a 100 feet or so. BB was watching the weather as we drove and also the traffic camera's. When we went past the weather station the last gust had been 46 mph. And it was a tail wind gust so no issue driving. BB thought she may have caught us on a traffic cam but it was hard to see. All the camera's on our side of the highway were looking into the sun so she could only see the ones in the oncoming lanes. 1st stop was 90 miles down the road at the Sinclair in Laramie for DEF. Only one truck at the pumps so I can drive in backwards. Here I can pay at the pump so no need to go inside at all. This time I felt the hose 'buzz' but the pump didn't stop. I ran a little on the ground, but it was full. All the way full. 2nd stop was the TA in Burns. By now there was almost no snow so no slipping and sliding. Thinking about it, yesterday's parking lot was like the ice humps that form under an icicles. Today I was watching my filling even closer but this time it only took 31 gallons. I had gotten 10 mpg instead of yesterdays 8 mpg. I did remember to stick the tank before fueling so I'm pretty sure where I need to be at deliver. 3rd stop was the Runza in Sidney. We had been staying away from them for a while, but we like to eat something different once in a while and we seem to have found things we like. I ordered an 'Itanlian.' But won't again. Last time the Philly was good but that was last month. Next time I will likely try a burger. Today was Sunday and I noticed that out of 10 tables, there was only one table that only had one family. All the other tables had 3+ adults. It is more often 1-2 people at a table. 4th stop is at a rest area near Brady. We only have enough daylight hours to get to Grand Island, which is about halfway home. 5th stop is the Bosselman's in Grand Island. Or close. The Arbey's is in the parking lot, not in the travel center. This time I order the monthly special, the burger. Sitting near the Arbey's on the road bank is a man. Sitting flat on the ground, it is at or below freezing. Sitting there when we got there and when we left. 6th and final stop is the Quality Inn in Grand Island. We are paying $1 less here for two people than the Motel 6 is charging for one person. And tomorrow AM we will get two full breakfasts. We did see lots of random transporters but no large groups of any. And none of our RV's as they would all be wrapped by now. This AM it looked like we were meeting about 10 trucks for every one car. Later in the AM I tried counting and never got more than 9 trucks before seeing a car. But it could be that more people were up by that time on a Sunday AM. Tomorrow will be another full day. Price may decide where we stay. Likely either Albert Lea or Owatonna. 221219 CA-MN 1 bus to Minneapolis MN ... spending the night at Albert Lea MN Bark, bark, bark. Someone comes back to their hotel room in the middle of the night. I often don't get back to sleep after being woken up but tonight I did. Not sure if it helps any, but I start the bus before breakfast and let it run. Good breakfast. Eggs, sausage, hash browns, more. We pull out at 7:30 AM. It is still before sunup. But today it is cloudy, no sun in my eyes. 1st stop is the Petro 45 miles down the road in York for fuel. I won't have enough fuel to get to Des Moines without fueling somewhere and here is the cheapest fuel. The computer at the put is adding random letters when I key things in so I need to pay inside. That takes a couple of minutes extra. Mileage is down to 9-1/2 mpg. By the time we get to Lincoln it is snowing and most of the way to Des Moines. 2nd stop is the rest area in Underwood for a break. There has been lots of cars, trucks, tracks in the ditches this trip. Today there was a burnt out trailer still in the ditch. The fire had gotten so hot that the trailer frame was now in two pieces. Another place there was an Amazon trailer still parked in the ditch with yellow tape on it. I would think those 'shipment' trucks would be hot/priority enough that they would get pulled right away so people would get their shipments. Recently we saw a semi below us. We were high enough that we were looking down to the inside of the trailer. Another place there was just a pile of tin. Looked like someone had clipped all the top and sides off and stacked them in a pile and only took the frame. Roads today were not bad. 3rd stop is the Pilot in Urbandale. Fueling is easy, but this lot is shared with a trucking company and most of it is reserved for them. I do find a parking spot that is partially blocked by a pole but I will be able to get past it. This place has a Subway, but it is blocked off ... the one person working will help the rest of the people in line but not anyone else before break. So it is shelf food for us. BB gets a chicken salad sandwich, but I thought it looked too dry so I got two, the last two, hot dogs instead. The only tables are in Subway so we head back to the lounge and then back to the bus. As I am walking around the bus, I have to wait for someone to park next to me. The prior truck has left. This person makes sure that I can not get out going forward. So I need to back out. It works but wouldn't need to have been. 4th stop is Forest City to pick up our car. Lots of RV's still in the employee lot and in the overflow lot. Almost none in the active lot. Car's been sitting for three weeks plus but starts right away. But it is covered with snow and I drive it out without being able to see anything. No one around, I made sure before moving. With both of us scraping we had the windows cleaned shortly. It will be snowing again when we get north and it will be dark by the time we get to Albert Lea so that is where we will stop. 5th and final stop is the Comfort Inn in Albert Lea. Not the cheapest and we could have used points but we are making good money on this trip. We are almost back up to 300,000 rewards points with the Choice brand. At our hotels, we should be able to stay 20-30 nights free with those. The desk clerk knows us by name and seen that we like the top floor so that is where they put us again. Before we go in, we move everything from the bus to the car. I'll only take my backpack with me to delivery. Also before we go in, I call the truck wash. It will be near -0- tomorrow so I want to make sure they will be open. They plan on it. Once we are checked in, we walk next door and get 'served food.' This place used to have a buffet but since Covid, they just have the food on display behind a counter and someone has to dish it up for us. And we pay per item. I get the meat loaf and BB gets the chicken. We each get too many potatoes. Food isn't great but our other choice is fast food or sit down from the menu. If the weather was good we'd drive into town. Load board US - 201 (238 by AM) IA - 8/5 MN - 2 WI - 6 Plan was/is to work for the local company the rest of the year. BUT BB is watching the weather is not going to be good. She doesn't want to drive or even be out in such weather. So if I work, she won't. This week anyways. Tomorrow I need to wash and fuel before delivery and I have about 90 miles to the drop. Once we drop, we need to get some food for staying in until the next snow and cold snap blows over. We have no idea what the driveway looks like. My guess is there are two tracks into the garage :) There is one RV on the load board tonight heading to FL. We'd like to take it and send our family a card from FL :) Last year we left after Christmas with one RV and didn't make any money on that trip or the next trip. Poor planning. 221220 CA-MN 1 bus to Minneapolis MN (delivered) ... spending the night at home We are overlooking a truck stop and didn't hear a thing all night. Breakfast was ? eggs, and ring sausage. definitely Instant. I head out to start the bus before grabbing breakfast. Weather in the area is -3 degrees. When I am ready to leave, the bus has been running for over a half hour and is up to 20 degrees. We head out at 7:30 AM. I head out and BB goes back in for more coffee. I spend most of my trip at 62 mph, as fast as I can go. BB is just a few minutes later, to start with, and spends most of her time at 45 mph. The 'tire tracks' were glazed so most of the trucks I was following were running in the left lane, until we caught up to 45 mph trucks passing 40 mph trucks. 1st stop was the Holiday truckstop. I can't turn on their pump without a frequent fueler card so I go inside and get both fuel and DEF turned on. Steady line of trucks coming in but I was able to get a pump. I started running the fuel pump slow but it was cold so I 'set' the flow and waited inside my bus. Too slow, so once I was warmer, I braved the cold and ran the nozzle. I was only putting in 15 gallons this AM. I had stuck the tank before I fueled and again afterwards, but not at the drop. It should have been pretty close. When I pull around to the wash, I see a sun dog. BB sees them later and gets a good picture of them while waiting for me. One washout in the truckwash, three bays. So I am in and out quickly. I did hop out and take a picture of the bus when it was clean to show I had had it washed. I didn't realize it would be steaming. Interesting picture. I know the area where the drop is, so no notes today. There was a crash just before the exit so I had thought about exiting one exit sooner but by that time traffic had merged and was moving again. 2nd stop was the drop. I called my contact instead of walking around looking. Someone picked up and directed me to the correct place. Found the person and they did a quick inspection. They asked about one panel being off. I admitted it. We had taken it off to adjust the temp and this AM I couldn't get it back on. This guy did get it back on. Then commented that it hasn't been taken off enough times to slide back on with ease. Too cold today. I did not take off the plastic, they can do that once it is inside. Once the paperwork is signed he drives me to my waiting car. One driver dropped yesterday and the other, likely the one I talked to, called and said they would drop later today. I did the following math on this trip. 1,986 - shortest miles/time 2,048 - paid miles 2,050 - Google miles << we took this route 2,055 - miles driven ... stops included Port of Entry - 1 Rest Area - 3 Hotels - 4 Truck stops - 11 Forecast for the rest of the week is 3 of 4 days the highs will be below -0-. So we stop and get food, sometimes we eat out the whole time we are home. This time we may not leave the house for four days. Local dispatch will find out in the AM if they are even going to be able to pick up buses. The shipper won't release them in bad weather. But they still want them delivered by the end of the month. We stopped at Walmart and then Bub's for food. 'cept Bub's is now closed on Monday's and Tuesday's. So we headed home to shovel. Too frozen to shovel where it had been driven on, which was most of the driveway. It'll be warmer next week, when I am working. Load board US - 225 IA - 5/2 MN - 3 WI - 12 No plans yet to work again. Spent the rest of the day catching up on paperwork. |
