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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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.. the trip continues from HERE 2023 11 05 IA-CA 2 RV's to 1,000 Oaks CA ... spending the night at Barstow CA Up early but not rolling early. Time change was today so things are off. We spent the night at the Comfort Inn in Richfield UT. Last night, shortly after we shut the lights off there was a flash in our room. We both saw it, still don't know what it was. Then sometime during the night I heard a half a ring, like a phone. Neither of us had missed calls so either that was the hotel phone or I was dreaming that one. Bacon, eggs, potatoes. Good way to start the day. Way too much food last night but it did not keep me awake. Could have just had yogurt this AM but not with these choices. I hadn't done my log last night because my note pad battery was dead and I use the notepad for checking the math. So this AM I have to do that before we leave and that was enough out of the routine that we got going a little later. We pull out at 7 AM local. Again we get to watch the sun as it hits the snow covered mountain peaks. No, I did not take any pictures. That would be distracted driving. Not many other cars out this AM. We were surprised when we saw three squads on the median. Not sure when we had seen the last car. We did see a few cars after that but not enough for three squads. Then somewhere down the road a squad pulls on in front of us and does the weave across both lanes with their lights on to slow us down ... and then is gone. My guess ... is there was a 'live incident in the oncoming lane that they thought might end up in our lane. Once it was resolved there was no reason to stop traffic. In the on coming lane there were four squads, but by the time we got there, officers for two of them were running (?) to their cars and leaving. We couldn't see anything but we assumed whatever was happening was happening down in the ditch. Traffic on that side was backed up for a mile so they may have had it stopped and we hadn't noticed. 1st stop was the rest area in Kanarraville. It was still cool this AM so we took a 15 minute walk around the rest area on their paved walks. We are finally out of the below freezing in the AM and are now looking at it being too hot. :) Ah ... this is why we haven't stopped at the UT/AZ scale. 26,000# and over. We are under 10,000#. There used to be nothing in AZ on I-15. Now they are putting up truck stops and other things. They are putting up truckstops lots of places. Not just Loves, but also TA and Pilot/Flying J's. Must be good money in them, at least right now. 2nd stop is in North Las Vegas or Garnet about 20 miles from Las Vegas but there are no other towns out here. We stop for fuel and for food. This is the first time this trip that I have had an issue paying for my fuel. The clerk need help turning on my pump and then when I went in to pay, neither of them knew how to process it so they had to call a manager. Usually a personal pizza is enough for the two of us but today BB wanted a veggie and I did not. So we each got one. That was OK as the pizza crust was very brittle as if it has been under the warmer all night so the crusts did not get eaten. Did notice a young couple and a pre-schooler walking the parking lot. The whole time we were there, about 45 minutes. Just walking and talking to each other, nothing suspicious other than that is a long time to walk a parking lot. Nicely dressed. ??? And the fun begins. Las Vegas at any time. Really it wasn't too bad today. Even down to Primm at the border was not too bad. The freeway is three lanes each way until there. Did see an IrIzar bus today. Had to look that one up to see what it was. Doesn't look like anything they would use driveaway for. Once we cross into CA it narrows to two lanes. Now there are signs that it is OK to drive on the shoulder ... The fruit check people were just waving us through today. 3rd stop was in Nipton at the rest area. Lot is full so we park in the gravel. No grass grows here so just stay off the sidewalk. Some who had been parked at the EV charging station was getting towed. Didn't ask the why. Without realizing what time it would be, we decide to just stop in Barstow. It is a known and they have good food at the attached Mexican place. BB makes the reservations from here. It may have only been an hour from here to the hotel, but not today. Rare that we got up to the speed limit. Lots of jockeying for spots. At one point I had been getting 13 mpg going down hill until I caught up to another truck ... then it was 25 mpg :) Followed them for a ways but I like to be going closer to the speed limit. No reason to today. It looks like we have put in enough fuel in Las Vegas to get us to our drop ... a few miles of 25 mpg can only help. At one point I pulled out to pass after 100+ cars had passed us, BB does not. And within a few minutes the left lane slows and goodbye BB. She gets over a mile ahead before traffic loosens up. No matter which lane / line I am in, it is going to be the slowest lane / line. 20 miles later I finally do catch up to her as she has stayed behind the truck I was behind that was going under the speed limit ... Final stop is the Quality Inn in Barstow. As we are walking in ... someone at a picnic table starts talking to us. Someone off. Then as we are going to our hotel room, we can see someone talking to them saying '... all I know is they want you OUT.' Didn't see them again. We had gotten to the hotel at 2:30 local so we had lots of time to get further today. Not sure how long it would have taken in traffic, but we could have gotten further. By 3:30 local we go to eat. Still too hot to walk. It was 90+ when we were coming into town. I'm thinking it drops pretty quick once it starts to get dark. Only one trip that could work for us here in CA right now, but things change fast. We will try to drop by noon and depending on what work there is and what dispatch says ... we may do ... something. 2023 11 06 IA-CA 2 RV's to 1,000 Oaks CA (delivered) ... spending the night at Bakersfield CA Too much food, too late? Not sure the why but I did not sleep great. We were at the Quality Inn in Barstow last night. BB was up at 4 local, 6 home time. We went for a mile walk once there was daylight. There were three big rigs that pulled in last night. Not as many as some nights but a fair amount of cars. In our walk we saw two small vans with placards, I didn't know that carrier did anything but decked units. Now I do. BB thought that breakfast was not until 6:30, I thought she was just pacing herself. Breakfast here is made to order, we both get eggs, hash browns, bacon and juice. I ended up taking some of the juice to go. I think there were about a half dozen people for breakfast when we were there, plus some to go orders. We pull out a little after 7 AM local, the first 30 miles today is freeway. Then next miles are mostly two lane highway. Up and down, not hills, just like that is the way the sand had blown and they paved on top of it. The road seemed to be more up and down the land around it. Noticed a lot of dirt trails of the highway. Some were graded, some were not that smooth and others had grass growing between the tire tracks. One place three cars turned down and one was pulling out. Not sure if these are shortcuts to somewhere or their only way to the hills. Today I had written notes of highway numbers. But I had most of them memorized. 1st stop was the Pilot in Palmdale for a break. While we were there, BB was looking at the traffic times and GPS suggested a longer route. But as we talked, the time when down so we thought the whatever was clearing. It was now 9 AM local. So we decide to take CA-118 where the slowdown was. First there was an accident with someone stalled in the center lane. That was the lane we were in and I didn't see it until I was only a few cars from it, then the highway helper followed BB past the car so others could see it. But the big reason for the slow down today was a cement truck was on it's side blocking three lanes of traffic. BB looked online and it looks like it took six hours to get the road cleared. Five lanes down to two. The GPS warned us. We could have saved ourselves a half hour of sitting in traffic. We stop for fuel at the Union 76 and then drop at the customer. We've been there and the inspector actually remembered that I had brought in the RV with the windshield that had cracked in the summer heat ... AND that we walk to the rental car place. Someone remembers us. :) The other two RV's like ours were not there yet. They got them off the load board on Wednesday, should have left Thursday and should have to drop on Monday. The one odd RV that passed us did drop earlier today. Today the rental car place has cars stacked three deep. We get a Cadillac. We drive back to the RV dealer and wait. We are there an hour and a half today. No issues. Talking to the inspector, they are selling a new brand of RV. He said their location was the first in the nation to sign on with that brand. Storyteller Overland. There had been trips on the load board that would have worked, but they are all gone by the time we are done here. So no rush to go anywhere. I suggested a nearby cemetery and a hike but at 80 degree's that was too hot for BB. Instead we drove a few minutes to Moorpark and ate at the In-n-Out Burger. We we got there, I called dispatch to let them know I was now available. We ate inside and then planned on stopping again before the I-5 / 99 split. Wheelers Ridge TA was where we stopped next. They just finished taping off all of the fuel pumps. We don't need any yet, but we could have gotten it here. This TA has five fast food places. There are a lot of places now that do not even have one fast food place. I call dispatch again ... call back in 15 minutes. So we did while I was driving. We talked and when they realized I could pick up first thing in the AM they said they'd have something, call back again in five minutes. Nope, nothing today. At the split we had hedged that dispatch would have something for us and I-5 is fewer miles. So once we knew there was no work, we headed cross country to CA-99. We looked at our options and decided to stay at the known place in Bakersfield. The Comfort Inn. As we are checking in, two kids come in with their luggage while their mom parks the car. Each of them took five cookies, then their mom took one. BB had only grabbed us one each. Once we got to our room we spent about an hour looking for food, it's harder when we have a car because we can go further. We end up driving 15 minutes to get a sandwich. Every other place we looked at, we came up with some reason not to. This place we had been to before. Deli Delicious. We've been there before, I knew about where it was but I was not zoomed in far enough while looking. But BB found it on line. By now it was dark ... Not sure what happened, BB was paid almost right away and now we see the computer shows our carrier never received my paperwork for this trip. So we had to re-send it. Load board US - 158 IA - 6 MN - 1 WI - 1 We will head in the direction of the buses tomorrow, find some cemeteries or parks to walk on the way. 2023 11 07 CA-TX 1 bus to Lubbock TX ... spending the night at Bakersfield CA (written up two days later) We had spent the night at the Comfort Inn in Bakersfield. After we had been in bed for an hour plus, the phone rings. By the time I answer, they have hung up. It was the bus dispatcher. There wasn't a voice message so I assumed it was a mis-dial and went back to sleep ... After breakfast we get kind of an early start. It is cooler today and we want to stop at a couple of cemeteries and maybe a couple of parks before getting near the shipper by 3 PM. We are NOT heading in the direction of the shipper when the dispatcher calls. Yes, they have bus for me, ready to pick up now. I wasn't expecting that they would still be dispatching at 9 PM ... that's mid-night eastern time. While we were on the phone, we missed where we could have turned so it was a few more miles to get heading the right direction. We are still almost four hours from the shipper. IF, if I had called back last night, we would have been 2-3 hours ahead in heading out this AM. 1st stop is in Tulare at a Loves for fuel. Not cheap, but cheaper than other places. 2nd stop was in Merced at another In-n-Out. I got mine without lettuce to make it a little easier to eat while driving. No malt today. Finally at 12:30 their time we are at the shipper. All goes well, no issues, no real rush. I give BB a 10 minute head start so she can return the rental car and walk to a strip mall. When we drop after hours I just drive into the rental lot but during the day it is quite congested. I usually come in one end of the strip mall but today there was a cop coming out and I would have had to 'make him' move so I could turn in. I decided to try a different way in. There is, but it is harder to get out. ... and by us not knowing we were working today, we have an extra days car rental. If we had known last night, we would have been back with time to spare on a one day rental. Traffic is not bad, pretty much drive at the posted at this time of day. 1st stop with the bus is at Westley at the rest area. Plan had been to stop somewhere on I-5, but as the day went on, we realized that we'd have more cushion if we made it back to Bakersfield tonight. And it should still be daylight. Should be. There was an accident earlier today so there might be a slow down. There was. Tonight we lost 45 minutes. AND ... when we went past, they had one more 'lane closed' sign to pick up and traffic would be back to normal. :( In this case it was a semi that had gone in the ditch and lost it's industrial sized battery he was hauling. Not sure why they had any lanes closed. All the work they were doing was way out in the field on the other side of the fence. So it was dark. And I usually do not drive after dark. But we had just taken this exact road last night. We get to the hotel and yes, the big lots are theirs. But by now I had come in the wrong way. And didn't fit the 2nd place I tried so I had to turn around in the dark and get parked. As we are carrying our things in, we hear 'crack.' We both stop and start look to see what we had dropped ... then someone across the parking lot shouted ... 'that was me ... I promise.' :) Tonight we do not have a car so we we walk across the street to bar and grill inside the Double Tree. We decide to split a chicken sandwich and some onion rings. Great onion rings. Not sure what was going on at the Double Tree but there were a lot of people at the bar ... I'm guessing a couple of tour buses maybe? Load board US - 184 IA - 15 MN - 3 WI - 4 2023 11 08 IA-CA 1 bus to Lubbock TX ... spending the night at Winslow AZ Spent the night in Bakersfield, same as the night before. And ate the same breakfast, egg and cheese omelette plus yogurt and juice. This place has their juice machine set to fill one cup. I'm used to filling half the cup with each so the first time I did it, I drank some of the cup thinking I had held it too long and then tried the 2nd juice, of which half went into the drain. I had two trip permits to print this AM as I had forgotten last night. First couple of times I went down to print, there was someone eating their breakfast at the desk and cruising the internet. Finally it was open and then I realized that I did not need the computer, the jump drive plugs right into the printer like the place a couple of days ago. Got them printed. When we went out to start the bus, a warning light was on. We re-checked everything and then I called the shipper. Got the head trouble shooter, he knows his stuff. He had to walk me through where to even find what I should have been checking. It is different on a hybrid than on the other buses. I didn't know that. System is OK, sensor is set wrong. I'm good go to, just keep checking. NOW we are ready to go. I soon find out that this bus does not have any get up and go on the hills. Yesterday was mostly flat so not an issue. Today I was down to 30 mph a few times going up hills. No way I was going to pass anything going up hill. 1st stop was the Loves in Boron near the Borax mine. I park with the cars, lots of room. Restroom break only. 2nd stop is at the rest area near Essex. Not much to say about this area, any farming ends at Bakersfield and won't start again until Texas. Hills, brush, rocks, a few cattle. Somewhere around Needles I saw what we think was a huge drone. A UFO to us. Not shaped like either a chopper or a plane. It was in the distance, I'm guessing a mile away at first and finally lost sight at five miles so it had to be fair sized. I do need to cross the scale coming into AZ, they just looked at my permit through the window and I was good to go. Recently, within the last few years, someone had put in a Pride truckstop selling one9 fuel just past Lake Havasu. Now Flying J is putting in a truckstop at the next exit. Somewhere east of Kingman we see a brand new one9 station going up. It seems most one9's are existing stations who join the fuel network. 3rd stop is the Petro truckston east of Kingman. My low fuel light comes on just before I get to the exit. Gauge still shows over 1/4 tank and when I stuck the tank I still had 3+ inches of fuel so I was not ready to run out. All fuel island were full with some having lines when we got there. When we left, half the islands didn't even have a truck at the pump. BB only leaves $500 on our company credit card when we are done with a trip ... in case I don't get paid soon enough on the next trip. Like today. $460 went in the tank at this stop and this dispatcher hasn't dispatched me yesterday or today, so no new money on my card. I did put in 90 gallons in a 125 gallon tank. Not sure how many of the 125 is 'usable.' When I'm done fueling I call dispatch looking for money and where to wash before delivery. Amarillo. ??? That adds a few miles and a few extra hours to our trip. We were already looking at delivering with only an hour to spare on Friday. We need to adjust. While I was fueling, BB went into the station and grabbed two sandwiches off the shelf. Chicken salad for me, egg salad for her. On texas toast style bread. I took most of one slice off the sandwich. It is already 2 PM local and we only have two hours to our hotel. DID only have two hours to the hotel. We decided to get another hour down the road. So all the research BB did for hotels in Flagstaff is now for 'future stays.' Instead of Flagstaff tonight, we will get to Winslow. Instead of Santa Rosa tomorrow, we will make it to Amarillo. Now we will stop in Bellemont at the rest area. Closed ... but truck parking is open and there are port-a-potties. While BB is using one, a semi-tractor pulls up right in front of them, the driver hops out and runs ... leaving his tractor blocking the travel lane. When you gotta go ... Final stop for the day is Winslow ... The Quality Inn is now the Clarion, the EconoLodge is now the Quality Inn. We stay at the Clarion. Still no food inhouse. Sign is still up but they closed in 2016 per the desk clerk. Lots of place to park. No large truck parking up lots of empty car parking. Once we are in our room we walk to the asian place. We will likely waste half the food but we can't agree on what we want. Not sure the difference on eating a $20 meal or throwing half of a $20 meal away because it is too much. Load board US - 145 IA - 7/6 MN - 2 WI -0- Plan is to eat leftovers so we don't need to wait for breakfast. Desk clerk listed off what was for breakfast and neither of us heard eggs or bacon. I should still have enough hours to run tomorrow and Friday. We should be able to get to the hotel in Amarillo before last light if things go like they did today. Plan after the drop is to head home, the three trucks that were there last night are all still there. I haven't had time to call on any of them yet. Likely we will take the shortest one, it is the least pay but by far the fewest out of route miles. Oh, more local rental trucks on their load board ... when we are not in town. ... the trip continues HERE |
