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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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.. the trip continues from HERE 2023 11 09 IA-CA 1 bus to Lubbock TX ... spending the night at Amarillo TX Spent last night at the Clarion in Winslow AZ ... from walking the streets of Bakersfield to standing on a corner in Winslow AZ :) Breakfast was leftovers from last night for both of us. I ate half my chicken last night and the other half this AM. Never did eat my noodles, too much food. We thought not going down for breakfast had saved enough time to get rolling a few minutes early, but something else must have slowed us down because we got going at the usual time. Just before sunrise. So lots of time looking into the rising sun this AM. We did see a lot of transporters today, I should have counted. I'm guessing we saw two dozen UPS vans and another dozen while vans. Lots of RV's, dozens of stacks of trucks. A few tree trucks, mixers and one city bus. Not much if any mixers or school buses today. 1st stop of the day was just before Gallup NM at the welcome center. Three people behind the desks and they all had to talk to us. All we wanted was the rest room. At the scale, first they motioned me to 'swing around back,' but then they saw my permit and I was good to leave. Before we get to Gallup, I see a billboard that a new one9 truckstop is coming. I was hoping that they were re-doing the one by the TA and Loves. It is a huge place that started out big but wasn't tied to a chain. It died and a few have tried to re-start it. We stopped in once. It seems the only things being fixed are things that would shut them down. ... but, when I get to the exit, I see that One9 is building a brand new station on the other side of the freeway. This is the 2nd-3rd new One9 we have seen this trip. 2nd stop was Casa Blanca at a casino travel stop. Big signs saying not to drive in backwards, so I didn't. I swung around and backed in. I'm not sure how that is safer, but I didn't ask them. Personal card wouldn't work at the pump so I had to go in to get the pump turned on and then again to get a receipt. I think there were eight pumps. Only three, including me were being used while I was there. Oncoming traffic was having some road work done so traffic was down to one lane. That caused a few mile back up even out here in the desert. When we were leaving, I noticed the the sheriff was now screening traffic at the exit and not letting semi's go the back roads. 3rd stop was for fuel and food at the TA in Moriarty. Ever fuel island had a line. I pick one, the slowest one. Finally the guy comes back out and starts pumping. By the time he pulls ahead, the one that came in behind me on the right is fueled and gone and the one on the left is fueling. When it is my turn I find out why. The pump doesn't respond. I had to go in to get it turned on. BB had done the math and I will be putting in 35 gallons here. If I need more for delivery, I will be stopping at the Loves near the drop to move luggage from the bus to the rental car. BB goes in and gets food and is back before I pull ahead. Today's food is a Whopper Jr. Because of the wait ... today took 45 minutes at this stop. I am in the habit of moving over one lane anytime I can when someone is on the side of the road ... I did that today and then realized it was a bus ... one of ours. So I pull over quickly and start backing closer. The other bus pulls around me and stops again about a quarter mile ahead of me. As I get closer, I see they are waving me on ... 4th stop is at the rest area near Newkirk, just before Tucumcari. While we are there, the other bus passes. Somewhere before Amarillo, I catch up to the other bus. We are going close enough to the same speed that I'd be blocking traffic for quite a while to get past and it would only save me 1-2 minutes. So I follow. We would have had time to wash the bus yet tonight but that would change where we stay and where we eat. So we wait until tomorrow. It is supposed to rain and there are usually fewer people at the wash if it is raining. Tonight we are at the Comfort Inn on the west end of Amarillo. Once we are checked in we walk across the street to the Red Robin. Good thing we did not order desert first. Our meals were more than enough. Oh, when we got here, I was too busy watching where to turn and not how to turn. I ended up going over the curb without knowing I was going to. I do hit the curbs once in a while but I usually know that I am going to. Load board US - 128 IA - 1/0 MN - 9 WI -0- We were mapping out plans to pick up a truck in KS on our way back and then looked to double check the mileage ... it's gone. After hours we think. Now we have nothing. I could still call on the Sioux Falls, but those are usually chassis. Plan for tomorrow is leave out at the usual, get to the wash. With any luck we will be in and out in an hour. So we'd be to the airport by 11 AM. The airport is just off the freeway and across from the Loves truckstop. And then another couple of miles, just off the same freeway and we are at the drop. Should be dropped by noon ??? 2023 11 10 IA-CA 1 bus to Lubbock TX (delivered) ... spending the night at Weatherford OK Spent the night in Amarillo at the Comfort Inn. When I go to check out, the person a the desk asks for my drivers license. I don't think that has ever happened before. BB does the reservations so I don't always remember what the rate is. I know last night when we signed in, it was a $160 charge, but they explained that part of that was for incidentals. That is normal. When I handed the receipt to BB after we were in the bus, she says it is still $20 too high. It's done, I want to get moving, so we will deal with it later. Also my home address on the bill has been changed ... I want to call the hotel chain about their last promo so now I have two reasons, I will wait until I see if we get any points for this stay ... with our address wrong, I doubt it. The computer says that the closer of the two washes is less busy right now so that is where we go. BB had put the info in the GPS but it had it wrong. I only half listen to that thing and pay more attention to the signs. And then starts the 'almost opps.' (No damage done) When we get to the bottom of the ramp there is a stop sign. I assume that the cross traffic had been stopped ... because as soon as the first truck from the right went through I started to go ... but the 2nd truck from the right did not stop. Not a big issue as neither of us were going 10 mph ... and that gave me enough time to realize that I wanted to take a right at this sign so I just took a wide right turn and no one was the wiser. At the wash there are two lines. I pick the one with only a pickup in front of me. And then the truck in the other lane pulls in so now there are two waiting by one door and no one by the other door. But in the end, both the pickup and I were done when the truck in the other bay was still sitting there. Opps #2 ... I mis-read the freeway sign and miss the exit. Looking online now I can see how I could, but I still shouldn't have missed it. So on to the next exit and make a u-turn and come back. Opps #3 ... There is a broken down semi right in the narrow exit ramp bridge. I should have straddled both lanes when getting near the semi. Instead I tried to ride the white line to stay as far away as possible without using both lanes. And so did the car who decided to pass me. They were going a good speed and wanted to stay away from the concrete median so they were on the same white line. Opps #4 ... Then at the bottom of the ramp, my lane exits onto a city street. I can't get over right away so I come to an almost stop. Finally a few cars move over so there is an opening in the right lane for me ... and for a semi that was in the left lane. When he seen it open up, he came over. By hitting the breaks again, I missed the semi and the median. That was all within five miles or less. Two hours to Lubbock. No more issues. We get to the airport and I drop BB off. Then I get back to the freeway and stop at Loves. I stick my fuel tank and I am still good so I park and wait for BB. I have written down the steps for the drop. I get to my exit but things don't look right. But I can see down the cross street the street I want to be on and in the next block they merge. Not how I remember it ... I keep going, waiting for the streets to split again and get away from the freeway. They don't. I finally stop where I can as there are no shoulders on their frontage roads in most places. I am miles past my drop. Grrr ... I know this is an issue. Google maps. No matter how far you zoom in, the print size of the exit number does not change. I had seen exit 3, it was really exit 5. So I was two miles past my drop when I exited the freeway and kept going away. I find my way back. Someone at the shop sees me come in and stop so they call to let someone else know I am here with a new bus and tell me where to park. The guy who signs off has a lot of questions for me, about what I do. All because I said it was a good drive because there was no snow here. So how does a driver from MN get to CA (where the buses are built,) and his last comment was do I need a ride and how am I getting out of here ... then he said ... too many questions. So I didn't answer the last question. Sometimes when I pick up the bus I look at the 'extra's' on the list, sometimes I do not. This time I did not and the list said there was a spare tire. There is not. In the past the shipper has said just go, but I should have at least mentioned it to them at pickup. My brother had called today while I was driving asking about meeting up. When I had dropped, I replied ... sure, where in Lubbock do you want to meet? :) He wasn't here, but it is where his wife grew up ... By now BB had found us a place to eat a few blocks away. A little hole in the wall in a industrial area. We go in and there is a line, and there was a line the whole time we were eating. I doubt we or anyone else waited five minutes in line. Service was fast, food was great. In some cases I think they had the table bussed and the next people sat before the prior ones got to the door. When we ordered our food, the server said if we want desert we should order it now. We didn't. Then we noticed that some people from in line were carrying their desert to the table, others were getting it before they ordered their main meal. So we ordered desert before we had our food. Good desert, and by the time we left, they were out of what we had. For food BB had green chili and I had a chicken sandwich. And onion rings. Not sure what the rings were dipped in but too spicy. Katchup made it worse. They were really good with ranch. Still no work so we are headed home. I did call the dispatcher who had the one truck going to MN that I wanted. Called to see when more trips would be put on the load board. I didn't want to head away from that area if there was a chance for more work. Turns out that we were not getting far enough tonight to be too far away. BB did have one option which would have taken us straight north but that was hours of non-freeway. Instead we made our own route of all freeway. This rental car is only getting 25 mpg and about a 10 gallon tank so we didn't get to far on the first tank. Loves in Elk City. $2.99 so that helps. On BB's spreadsheet she uses 30 mpg so we are going to be spending more than that. Final stop is the Comfort Inn in Weatherford. Right at sunset. We have stayed here before but the building next to the hotel has always been out of business. Now it is open. I thought it was good, BB likes more kick. And they required a minimum order so we ordered something we are not going to eat. The hotel is also right next to a little strip mall. They have put in three more buildings within the parking lot since the last time we were here. I'm guessing since covid that the cities have changed the number of parking spaces required per square foot of store space. Load board US - 141 IA - 0 MN - 8 WI - 2 Tomorrow ... drive. More work would have been nice but this 12 day trip will cover us for the month. We do plan on being home for a week from Saturday and then again a week from this coming Thursday/Thanksgiving. ... today ... the rental dispatcher put out a trip from less than an hour from where we dropped the RV's going to less than an hour from where we picked up the bus. Easy money. Wrong timing. 2023 11 11 IA-CA 1 bus to Lubbock TX (delivered) ... spending the night at West Des Moines IA Too much Italian food too late in the day, even though we split it. I didn't sleep well and decided it was a yogurt day. All they had was 'lite' yogurt. We spent the last night at the Comfort Inn in Weatherford OK. Today we got going at our usual time. We are now in cattle country so we see lots of cattle, but mostly open space. We were not going to drive as far between stops today but that is where the food and the cheap gas were. 1st stop was at a Loves in Tonkawa. I fuel, BB uses the restroom and we head out. Kansas is going to open road tolling by next year. Not sure how that will work for driving with a rental car. My guess is we will be stuck paying the toll, plus the <> $10 handling fee through the rental car. They have their own state transponder and we aren't going to get one for every state. 2nd stop was Spangles in Emporia. They have some basic things, but put them on Texas toast style bread instead of buns. I had a philly, it was good but too much of some kind of spice. We also had a apple pie 'slide.' Soft serve ice cream, a piece of apple pie and caramel in a glass. Not great, but different and filling. Bruffs was across the parking lot but BB hadn't looked at their menu yet. I used to eat at Bruffs when I would stay at one of the hotels here. I remember one time when I was walking in, someone walking out held the door for me. We got talking ... he was the cook and the kitchen was shut down already. But he went back in to make me a sandwich that night :) We would stay at either the Motel 6 which I think is now just closed. Or we would stay at the former Holiday Inn/Holidome. I stayed there when it had various names, but most often when it was a Guest House. Then it changed a names a few times and then during covid it was re-named a Clarion Inn. I don't think it ever opened with that name. Then it was re-named again. Now it is in pretty bad repair with junk stacked around it. Not sure why it can't make it, the EconoLodge down the street has been there for 20 years and is still open in the same place. The freeway through Kansas City was closed today so we took the beltway, it added a few minutes but no slow downs. No slow downs in Oklahoma City either. 3rd stop was at the loves in Cameron MO at a Loves. We are still only getting about 26 mpg so buying fuel for under $3 helps a lot. We had hoped someone would add work that would work for us today, that didn't happen so the plan was to call my local company on Monday AM. Then I get a call ... I have work for Monday and Tuesday. Just not in a truck, those days will be spent in a tractor. Haven't done that for a while in the fall. Not sure why this year. But I was available and someone asked. We did meet a couple of RV's today heading out. It is November and they are rapped, ready for the sand and gravel they put on the roads in the winter. Saw a whole bunch of deer tonight before sunset. Must not be deer hunting season yet. 4th and final stop of the day is the Sleep Inn in West Des Moines. As soon as we check in, we go for a half hour walk on city streets. We shut down early enough to do that before dark. Once we get back, BB orders online from McAllister's Deli. Food is ready when we get there, only one table eating inside at 6 PM on a Saturday. Load board - weekend US - 151 IA -0- MN - 2 WI - 2 Tomorrow we should be able to pick up our car and be home early afternoon. Drive tractor on Monday and Tuesday and then do something local if there is work the rest of the week. Plan is to be ready to head out on Black Friday (no shopping for us) 2023 11 12 IA-CA ?1 bus to Lubbock TX (delivered) ... spending the night at home Shorter day today, no alarm. Spent last night at the Sleep Inn in West Des Moines. Quick breakfast and then we were rolling. Made it as far as Dows before our 1st stop. Stopped at the rest area. Did get the car up to 30 mpg for a few minutes. And we never paid more than $3 per gallon so half good. 2nd stop was in Forest City to pick up our personal car. Three of the small RV's where often there is 100's. The shipper is starting to stack RV's in the holding lot so there should be a few by the end of the month. We are hoping for a few after Thanksgiving. We turn in our paperwork and head out. The road from Forest City to the freeway is open again, it has been closed most of the year. Somewhere along there I stopped and picked some milkweed to plant in my garden. We'll see if it works. So far I haven't had any luck with what I have planted. BB manages to stay ahead of me. I get to the cemetery and have enough time to find one marker before she calls me to get picked up. We had not been paying attention. We had planned on finding work on the way home and changing the rental car info. We ended up having the car for two days and one hour ... and no one there to check the car in, so we will likely get charged the three days on the agreement. We could have easily shaved an hour off this trip and made it a two day rental. On the way to the airport we had seen food trucks in a parking lot so that is where we headed back to for food. It was about 20 miles backtrack but we like to drive :) All food was good. Shrimp (for BB,) Philly for me, cheese curds and brownies. Places were out of chicken fried rice and apple crisp brownies. Both said they had 'just ran out,' so if we had decided sooner. Off now for a couple of days. |
