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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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2024 01 05 IA Today they did not put out any trips until 10:15. 3 RV's, no pairs. (Now I have forgotten the rest of the RV's they put out) By noon they had put out 2 more, at least today the ones they are putting out are all new, not reworked or left ones. About 3 PM they put out a KS and a NY one. KS is less than a day trip and the return trip is finally gone after a week. The NY one would have to deal with the weather. So we sit. ... or don't sit, we head out to more cemeteries. The first one was by Randall, a quarter mile off the road. But the farmer leaves a sod path so with the ground being <> frozen we were able to drive back there. BB wasn't so sure but to me it was just another farm path. Well cared for cemetery. Next cemetery was in Story City. I had written down that there were 500 total graves, it was actually closer to 5,000 so we didn't get out of the car. It was a flat stone and I had no location. While driving, BB had found a place to eat that had both a chicken salad sandwich and potato soup ... but when we got there the first thing we noticed was all the tables were empty ... They have quit serving food and are now only a bakery. :( We did get one cookie. And we asked if there were an other cafe's in town. The one by our hotel in this town has been closed for a while and now the building is gone. The place they mentioned is only a coffee shop, not a cafe. Next stop was for gas at the Kwik Star, I realized we were getting close to E once we were off the freeway in the middle of no-where. We ended up at the Pizza Ranch buffet. Not bad food, we did not request any pizza's and by the time we left there was no one else in the building. Next stop was Gilbert, mostly upright markers and only about 10 rows deep so it was a quick walk. But we didn't find it until the second time across. The cemetery now has locations but they aren't listed on FindaGrave yet. From there we headed in the direction of home ... until we got a couple of miles down the road. Then we decided to stay out and headed down to Ames. The cemetery in Ames is huge but had an office that was open. The office was a little square building that looked like the walls were three feet thick. I asked, the building was built as an office. This marker was a flat one but was right next to the road so BB didn't even get out of the car. We have time for one more before dusk. Nevada, about five miles away. I hadn't planned on this one so I know nothing as we drive in. Office should still be open but is not. As we sit by the office we see the cemetery has location makers. AND looking online, the locations have been added to each person since I put the people in my list. Two minutes later we had located those graves. We had planned on heading to Ankeny but the hotel here in town was $10 cheaper and 20 miles closer. So we stayed at the Sleep Inn in Ames. My food was left over potato skins. Load board (weekend) US - 80 IA - 0 MN - 1 WI - 6 Load board (Monday) US - 65 IA - 5/3 MN - 4 WI - 7 2024 01 08 MN The first trips went on the load board were at 10::30. There was three of them, the first two were gone within 15 minutes. The second trips were put out at 12:30 and were gone within 15 minutes. Those two were both going to Texas, but to different locations. Not ideal enough for us to see if they would work running together. We spent the AM getting new tires for our car, BB didn't feel safe running in the snow with our current tires. We didn't ask how many miles they had on them. We got these tires the same place as the last ones. There are short trips in WI that require PPE, so I'm trying to find out what that is for this shipper. Dispatch did call back but didn't know what the PPE is for that unit until after we commit to the trip ... so likely not for us. Around 2 PM they put out three more, the first two are gone in 15 minutes but the third was has stayed out there. That one is going to MO. Short trip, not much money without it being a no-tow. At 3:30 they finally put out 7 trips and three of them were still on the load board at 4:30. There have been two to TX and two to FL but not at the same time and not to the same location. And so far, still no no-tow units. ... and those three were still there at the end of they day. Maybe tomorrow Load board (weekend) US = 77 IA = 0 MN = 1 WI = 5 Load board (Monday) US - 65 IA - 5/3 MN - 4 WI - 7 2024 01 09 MN 10 AM - Three RV's, the first two were gone shortly, the 3rd was still there at 2 PM 12 noon - an RV for OR, dated August was on the loadboard for a few seconds 2 PM - two RV's, the one to CA was gone in seconds 4 ? - At some point they put out a, just one, Tampa FL. It was gone in seconds. We've done the math on a pair of RV's that we could run together. We'd end up making $100 for the four days it would take us. So not worth getting off our chairs. Same with the 1 RV to WI, a little better, $100 for two days. Load board US - 65 IA - 5/4 MN - 2 IA - 3 |
