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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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2024 01 27 IA-OR 2 RV's to Medford OR ... spending the night at Oacoma SD Up with no alarm, out of the house at our usual time. 7:30. One day, two nights at home. 1st stop was at Wendy's in Owatonna for a breakfast sandwich. 2nd stop was in Forest City at the Kwik Star for car fuel. Still cold enough that we want to leave the car on full for extended sits. It is Saturday so we don't deal with dispatch, our paperwork is in a filing cabinet. ??? we notice that the shipper is working on a Saturday brining more RV's over. There has not been 10 RV's on the load board all month and now they are working a weekend? We don't talk to anyone but it still takes us an hour to do our inspection. As soon as we are done with the basic inspection, I call for permits. I get someone and they will be able to do all of them so we only need to pick up our WY one ourselves. But they said something about OR permits that did not make sense so I mentioned it to the dispatchers. Now that I have thought about it ... it didn't make sense because it was not correct. So Monday AM I need to call dispatch to tell them I 'opps'ed.' But I will need to find out more before I agree to take a truck out of OR. Because it still does not make sense. 4th stop is back at Kwik Star to top off our RV's before we leave town. BB has a message on her dash but she gets the OK to go. It clears after about 10 miles of highway speeds. I did not use the cruise when we first started. Roads are wet and the temps are 31-32 degrees. I did use the cruise once we were on the freeway. 5th stop is at the Taco Bell in Fairmont. BB had looked it up but I didn't really know where it was. A bill board said turn left ... So I took two lefts before I realized the second turn should have been a right. Fast food, we were done before our 30 minutes off was. As told yesterday, the SD scale was closed when we went passed it. 6th stop was the Coffee Cup BP in Brandon for fuel. But no diesel at the auto pumps so we went across the street to Circle K. Time is disappearing so we will be stopping short. Mileage was better on the side roads, 55 mph. Once we got on the freeway and driving 65 mph the mileage dropped. So far, not too bad of a headwind. More to come. Some pretty trees with the ice still on them. Rain? Heavy frost? Sunny all day and it was still on the trees near sunset. 7th and final stop is the Quality Inn in Oacoma. We are it :) The only ones here. At 6 PM. As soon as we checked in we headed down to Al's Oasis. They have a salad bar for $10 so that is what both of us got. Good food. It's been a long time since I have had a good salad. Soup was something I didn't like so more salad for me. We did get all of our permits. We will need to print out our ID permits but that's a couple of days away. Biggest city today was Sioux Falls, biggest city tomorrow is Rapid City. :) Nicer than Nashville and Atlanta. RV dispatch did put 28 more out after close of day today. They did put out more LA trips, the same as we missed yesterday. The only other pair was going to SC. So we picked right. We are closer to the buses here in OR than we would be leaving LA. Load board US - 101 IA - 30 MN - 2 WI - 8 Lots of stops for tomorrow, fuel stops don't match the two hour timetable. Either one or two permit stops. Then either 450 or 550 miles. There is a cheaper hotel somewhere between there but not one we stay at. Usually. 2024 01 28 IA-OR 2 RV's to Medford OR ... spending the night at Billings MT Breakfast for me was yogurt and a fruit cup. For some reason we were running a little later this AM. Lots of stops today, nothing lines up for 120 mile/two hour stops. (the rest is written 2+ days later) For me, breakfast was just a cup of yogurt and a fruit cup. Frost on the windows this AM, but it is off with a little heat and some washer fluid. By this AM there are six cars in the lot, last night there was only one besides us. Weather is clear, pretty sunrise. Sun is right in our mirrors for a while. 1st stop is a rest area near Belvidere. We hadn't planned on todays head wind. We are loosing too much fuel range. 2nd stop was added to buy enough fuel to get to Rapid City where fuel is cheaper. Conoco in Wall. Fuel is $1 more but we need it. 3rd stop was the Loves in Box Elder / Rapid City for fuel. We are only one time zone away and we are here early enough that they are still serving breakfast. No croissant's anymore? 4th stop was the Port of Entry in WY at Sundance. Closed. So I call the Gillette scale, closed. Then the Sheridan scale. Open. They tell us just stop when we get there. That is different than when I was running on I-80 and the first two scales were closed, the guy was telling me he could fine me. But not being able to stop here, we needed to find a new stop for a rest-room. 5th stop, this one had not been planned either. Moorcraft. Nice place, never been here before. Some signs had said the rest area at Sundance was closed but we didn't try it. It is off the freeway so you need to get to it to see it. 5th stop. Stopping again to put in three gallons of fuel to get to cheap fuel. Buck's Conoco in Sheridan. Plan had <> been to stop in Sheridan for the night, but once we are here we want to get our permits the same day from the same people that told us it was OK to run without. 6th stop is the WY Port of Entry. They are no longer a MT Port of Entry, they used to serve double duty. Just happened a few months ago. We are under scale weight so we may not have to stop at the WY scales once we have our permit, I will have to find out about that. 7th stop is Hardin at the Loves. We see another RV driver and he pulls in behind me. OPPS ... we are talking and I say how we are getting fuel discounts and how to do it. Later BB tells me that this drivers unit was a gas, not diesel. So now he is paying a fee to use the card and NOT getting discounts. Not sure when he if figure it out. I don't have his contact info ... guess I owe him lunch some day. BB and I were still debating to keep going or stop here for the night. Nice hotel was $150. Super 8 was half that and really bad reviews. So we headed to Billings. We will get to the hotel at last light. 8th and final stop was the Sleep Inn in Billings. Long day, almost 600 miles and lots of stops. And by now, BB has told me that the 4B's restaurant across the street is closed. I think this one only is open for breakfast and lunch. ... but still more fun tonight. The first room we get, I don't even get the light turned on and I can see that there are no sheets. Back to the front desk. They give us a different room. Closest food is McD's across the parking lot. Big Mac. Haven't had one of those for a while. By the time we are done eating, we realize that the heat in our room works. But our two choices are on and off. If the heat is on, if the fan is on, if the AC is on ... it is blowing heat on high. We move again. When I tell the front desk about the issue, I mention that I'm sorry for being their 'problem child' tonight. Nope. There problem child is a pipe that burst in one of the rooms ... This last room was good except it had coffee and no coffee pot. Didn't print permits last night so I need to tonight. This place does not have an office center at all. So they send me to the hotel next door. They are very nice about it. Only issue I had there was the printer was out of paper. It has been a long day ... Early on today I saw a few deer heading to a bale of hay. Easier to eat than grass? Or they wanted shelter? These are the bigger deer that are also in our area. Most of what we see out here are the prong horns. We also saw a 100 plus of the prong horns and a few eagles. Not much else. Tomorrow has come and gone so I don't remember what our plans were ... 2024 01 29 IA-OR 2 RV's to Medford OR ... spending the night at Post Falls ID Breakfast. They did have eggs and sausage but I went for yogurt. I did find two non-peach flavor out of the two dozen in the fridge. 1st thing I did this AM was correct my opps from last night. I had left me drugs in the RV and didn't feel like going back out at 10 PM so I did that this AM. And I had mentioned to dispatch about the OR and WA permits so I sent an update to dispatch on what the issues still are. When I was getting my pills, I could already see the hills against the morning light. But 'first light' was not supposed to be until 7:15 so that is when we planned on leaving the hotel. When BB first got her eyes done, all was good. Now that it has been a couple of years she is starting to notice that first/last light until sunrise/set is getting hard to drive. But if traffic isn't bad and the turns are few, it works. First stop was supposed to be a rest area just west of Livingston. A mile past the mile marker I realize I missed it so we pull off at the next exit. I don't remember seeing it but sometimes I space out ... but not that far out. BB is the one that makes our list of stops. And she remembered just before we got here that this rest area was ... east bound. And we are heading west. So ... 1st stop is the Albertsons in Belgrade. The DOT has closed the rest area in Bozeman, forever. And Pilot has closed the Flying J at this exit. So a grocery store it is. The new Pilot at this exit is a couple of miles down the frontage road on the other side of the freeway. The Pilot does have an exit to it for the east bound traffic. Not so easy for the west bound. 2nd stop was the Pilot in Rocker for fuel. We are not getting a discount here so just enough fuel to get to Missoula. We each put in four gallons. Plan had been to then park and eat ... but a few miles before our stop I remembered the 4B's in Deer Lodge. :) BB agreed that she could wait that long to eat. There is supposed to be an Arby's here but no sign on the building or on any other signage. There is a McD's and Subway and these MT Pilots are Town Pumps and they usually have pretty good shelf food. I did call the WA Port of Entry and they said I need a permit over 1,000#. Different than the 1,200# the permit company says. 3rd stop is 4B's. This place is busy, by no line waiting. I got soup and a piece of pie. BB got a cup of soup and a dinner salad. Their tomato soup is why we come here. Down side today is it was so hot that my tongue is still sore eight hours later. I had though of having two bowls but we need to keep moving. This is already an extra stop. Pie was French Silk. I thought about getting a piece of lemon meringue pie but decided one piece a day is enough. Somewhere today we hit fog, thick fog. I could see about 1/4 mile in any direction. We were in and out of the fog many times all the way to Post Falls. 4th stop is the Loves in Missoula for fuel. Things have changed. The Loves is new, not sure we've stopped here before. Next to it is the TA, that used to be a Ma-Pa truckstop with a 4B's inside. And next to that was Ma-Pa hotel with an attached restaurant. After 20 years of being a Ma-Pa hotel, it is now a Motel 6. And that restaurant is now a dispensary. I used to stay at that hotel when this corner was the only thing at the exit. Now across the freeway there is a Pilot that's been there five plus years. And across from that is a Ma-Pa truckstop that has a Wheat Ridge Deli ... our go-to food at this stop. But new here is a Taco Bell in their parking lot. Not much for wildlife today. One eagle and lots of cows. Before we get to the exit scale there is a sign that says our rest area is closed. I hadn't though they had got that much snow but later when we drove past there was still maybe four feet in the parking lot area. So when I saw the sign, I pulled off at the next exit to talk to BB. She says she will be OK to do the 180 miles without a restroom stop. So back on the freeway. This scale says 26,000# and over must exit ... so we sail on. At some point in the next 20 miles I realize the 2nd reason we wanted to stop at the rest area. To wait until our ID permit is good. Seems I planned that, or didn't plan that, awful close. We are early so I follow the slow trucks up the hill. Timing was close enough, we crossed the state line with less than five minutes before we should have. Before we get to Post Falls we see a pile on the oncoming traffic. They are getting ready to two a semi tractor away. The trailer is somehow upside down on the opposite/ditch side of a four foot high concrete wall. ... and about here ... CRACK ... four work pickups had pulled on the freeway ahead of me. Very load crack but can't see any damage on my unit yet. Today, coming into Coeur d Alene I was wondering why people think this is such a beautiful area. Well for travelers, it is likely the first tree lined lake they have seen in the last 1,000 miles. :) I-90 brings back lots of memories. Our family came out west in the 1960's when they were first starting on it. And I brought my kids on a trip west in the early 1990's and they were still working on it. 5th and final stop is the Sleep Inn in Post Falls. BB had not made a reservation because we hadn't stopped. Plenty of room. Down side of this one is the only close food is Zips. A fast food burger place. It is a major local chain out here. They were around when I was out there 40+ years ago. We walk there, food's OK. There is also a Mexican place in the old outlet center across the street. One of only a couple of retail businesses in that mall. The rest of the mall has been vacant for 20+ years. And at this exit ... the Ma-Pa hotel I have stayed at is now a Red Lion. There is a walking trail right next to the hotel but we got here right at sunset and it was dark before we were done eating. Nice trail. As flat as it is, I am guessing it is an old rail trail. Load board US - 95 IA - 4 MN - 4 WI - 5 Tomorrow - less than 500 miles. 1st stop will be a Maverick for fuel. Their posted price is less than any discounted fuel we get. Then two Loves and one rest area before the hotel. ... the trip continues HERE |
