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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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.. the trip continues from HERE 2024 09 19 CA-OH 1 bus to Columbus OH spending the night at Santa Nella CA The only work out here was the one we didn't take yesterday AM. Today we did not want to drive that for for a 70 trip. So we slept I, or I did. I think what I have is sinus issue. I've had one spot on my face, my forehead, that has been hurting for a few days. I thought sleeping in might help. I likely was slipping in and out of sleep the last two hours and I finally got up after 10 hours. Likely could have laid there longer. We went for a walk about 6:30 local, did our hour on the city streets. Then stopped for breakfast on the way back to our room. I didn't get much, I still had a 1/4th of my sandwich from the Cheese Steak Shop from last night. Still as good today as yesterday. Bus dispatcher had said something about talking to us in the morning. He didn't call us, we didn't call him. I did call down to get a late check out. The person today would only give us until 12 noon. Others have done as late as 1-2 PM. From there we drove back to the Cheese Steak Shop, but walked next door to the Sourdough shop instead. Then sat in the car and ate, once done we drove back to the outlet mall to use the bathrooms and sit in the shade. I had thought I was going to take a nap again this afternoon but wasn't feeling it. Tried for a little bit, might have drifted off once. 3 PM I call the bus dispatcher. He says call him back in 10 minutes. I do ... we are going to Columbus OH. ! ! ! We have work. And because we have gone 'paperless,' there is no reason to wait for anyone. We had driven past earlier so when he said which bus it was, we looked it up online and we have seen it sitting there. We seemed a little lost today. Like we needed to do more at pickup. We are in the bus about 15 minutes from the time we called instead of waiting 2-3 hours for the paperwork to be ready. ... and it has been months since we have done a bus, other than this week. I have now looked at last year. I did one bus in May and didn't get the next one until November. After BB left to return the rental car, I looked for the security guard to see what he needed now that we are paper-less ... 'You don't need to see me for anything anymore ... unless you want me to let you in to use the restroom.' Things are changing. We hadn't talked about dropping the rental car. After the rental office closes, I just drive through their parking lot. But we are not that late today. So I try to make a u-turn on the street. I had traffic backed up both ways :) Traffic on the freeway was not too bad today, a couple of hours makes a difference. Santa Nella has always been our stop so we plan that this trip also. From there we know where every overnight is. We know where all the CNG stops are, where all the rest area's are. This is going to change when I work for my local carrier. I was planning on doing that starting on Monday. Now we don't drop until Wednesday and won't get home until Friday. So much for working the last week of the quarter for them. Won't happen this quarter but I should be available a lot next month. Santa Nella Quality Inn. Because I bottom out leaving, I have been trying to park on the street. Now that they have gotten rid of most of the homeless RV's it makes it a lot easier. Tonight I get my spot. Good thing as the hotel is remodeling and a lot of the parking lot is not available. Once we check in, we walk down to Anderson Split Pea's. BB gets two helpings of soup, one for tonight and one for tomorrow. End of the day and I try to plug in my laptop. No power, so I move it to where the clock is plugged in, no power (?) I know my laptop is on it's last leg, I had bought two of the same kind about the same time. The case on the other one has broken so it is no longer mobile. And this one I have taped up in the same area and have to be very careful every time I open or plug it in. But I tried other outlets and the laptop still works. Not sure why their clock works but none of our things work with in. Load board US - 222 IA - 1 MN - 6 WI - 6 With no issues, we will fuel in Button Willow and then Barstow. Barstow is my extra, better save than sorry. Hotel will be the Best Western in Kingman. Sat will be the Quality in Moriarty. Not sure the hotels after that but Sun will be OKC, Mon will be STL and then near Columbus the Tuesday. Drop is only open until 4:30 so we won't trip to make that on Tuesday. 2024 09 20 CA-OH 1 bus to Columbus OH spending the night at Kingman AZ Cats, this place has cats. Always has. This time we noticed that one cat had found a nest in a hallowed out stump. Whenever the cats were around, that is where that one cat would be, all rolled up. Other cats may be near by, sitting, laying on the grass but that one cat had a nest. Breakfast is limited here as always. When I went to check out, I commented about the changes and how soon they might be done. 'In a month or so.' Then I asked if it would still be a Quality Inn? 'Not likely.' I responded ... it's been a nice 10 year run for the price. This has been one of our go-to hotels when the hotels in Livermore get to expensive and we are just sitting. 1st stop is the rest area in Avenal. Somewhere along this route there were 50 our so motor cycles that passed us. Three of the passed on the right shoulder, not sure why. Those three seemed to want to be in the right lane while the rest stayed in the left lane. Traffic slowed quickly once and the looked like they were way to close together. That may have been why some were trying to keep the right lane clear along side of them. 2nd stop was for fuel in Buttonwillow. The CNG is now Chevron, the gas and diesel are still Sinclair. Good fill, no issues, no receipt. This time we stayed on I-5 to CA-58. They finally have it done from I-5 all the way to I-15. 3rd stop was in Tehachapi, not Tucumcari like I wrote on my logs. BB had her salad, I had two pieces of meatloaf but no sides. In and out in a half hour. Bus did get down to 40 mph on a couple of hills. That should be the worst of it for this trip. Still some in AZ and NM but not bad. 4th stop was in Barstow. Not a suggested stop but with the luck I've had in Williams I want to make sure I can get to Winslow if needed. When the tanks got close to full, the pump started making a real racket like it was going to blow. BB finally said I should shut if off and I did. There had been local drivers there earlier but not when it started making that sound. Or I would have asked them about it. No receipt here either. 5th stop is the rest area in Essex. Website had said it was closed earlier today so our stop had been planned for Needles. But by the time we got there it was open, and full. Had to exit for the scale, but I just showed the person my permit on my notepad through the window and they waved me on ... 6th and final stops were in Kingman. BB found a Safeway before the hotel. She went in, I stayed in the bus in case I was asked to move it. When she got back she wanted to make a hotel reservation, finally. $180 instead of the $120 earlier today. But she wanted to know why, and to make sure all the dates and location were correct so she re-entered it all. Back to $120. Hotel tonight is the Best Western. I knew there were two Mexican places next door, but I didn't remember a Sonic. So that is where I went for food. I ordered a garlic something ... they were out of the garlic part. So I ordered something else and a small malt. Wish the BJ's was still open, it's been closed for years, decade maybe. Not sure if any of them are still open. It used to be a larger west coast chain like Country Kitchen, Perkins and Denny's. ))) without me to stop her, BB bought a can of beans at the store ... we don't have a can opener :) ((( Load board US - 183 IA - 1/0 MN - 0 WI - 6 2024 09 21 CA-OH 1 bus to Columbus OH spending the night at Moriarty NM Alarm at 5 AM local, it will likely be an alarm daily as we are heading east. BB did her walk this AM. We both went down for breakfast. Good breakfast. Two kinds of real scrambled eggs, potatoes and meat. I ended up with a plate full as I hadn't seen both kinds of eggs before taking the first ones. Two hours to get ready is not long enough. We didn't get rolling until 7:15 local. Pretty quiet for a Saturday AM, until we hit the freeway. There the trucks are rolling. 1st stop was for fuel at Loves in Williams. Now that they have put a Meverick in next door there isn't quite as many cars in the car area. 'My island' looked empty from the street, and it was ... because they were power washing it. So I headed to the back hoping that it being Saturday AM there would not be a line. But there was a line at all pump ... so back to the front. Now one of the cars that had been blocking the inside of my pump is gone. I am able to come in at an angel and get to the pump. But I park lined up with the other side, but that one is dis-abled because of the cleaning. So I need to move. Pump works good up to 3,000# but then slows. I was hoping for 3,600# like I get most places but that looked like it could take an hour so I cut it off. I have enough to get to my next fuel as long as they are open. We saw a city transit bus at the Loves ... 2nd stop was the TA/Popeyes for lunch. The truck side said their special was salisbury steak but they were out. So I got Popeyes. When the called my order 'Joe,' I asked if it was mine, it was, but they said I said my name was Joe ... those conversations go no where. But if they would think about it, how many people forget their own name when placing an order? ... and we saw the same city transit bus twice more later in the day. So my guess it is a El Dorado. Purple, heading east. Long line at the NM Port of Entry. When it was my turn at the booth they just asked if I was running on a permit ... I am. Didn't even get a chance to open my notepad to show them. 3rd stop was the Pilot in Jamestown. BB had looked at her GPS to see our ETA and it showed a detour. When we got to the exit, traffic was still free flowing so we kept going ... another 10th of a mile or so. Then it was stopped. After that we only moved when people made u-turns in the median. The truck next to me would not go back into gear when we started to move one of the times. Finally trucks started going around him. Then he moved ahead to where traffic was stopped again. But when traffic broke loose, he was still sitting there with his four-way flashers on. Shortly before traffic started moving, I saw a cop car in the on-coming traffic and I was watching to see if they would do anything about the people taking u-turns. They did not. Then a couple of minutes later I look in my mirror again and there is a semi in the median. Then traffic started to move, I was surprised he was able to pull back into traffic without getting stuck or rolling over. When we first stopped in traffic, the GPS said it was supposed to take us an hour and a half to get to the next exit. We were only stopped 10 minutes so I'm glad we did not get off the route. I rarely do with anything other than a car. One time in OR, the GPS had us cutting through a gravel pit ... except the gates were locked on both ends. We had looked at a map so we didn't try that option. 4th stop was the Route 66 Casino Hotel, about 10 miles before Albuquerque. I missed turning where the cars go so I ended up in the truck parking. But posted 'No Parking' at the pumps. But the place was almost empty so after dropping BB off I go park at the pump. 5th and final stops are in Moriarty. First at the grocery store. BB goes in and gets food, I wait in the bus. Last stop is the Quality Inn. Tight getting in, they do not want trucks in their parking lot. They have two driveways gated off that once made things easier. And they have signs in the office as to where trucks can and can not park. My spot is still open. Once we get our room and unload, I walk down to Blakes Lotaburger. After I pay, I look to the west ... it looks like I just missed a great sunset. I did walk out into the middle of the street to get a picture but I'm guessing it was better a few minutes earlier. Load board US - 180 IA - 1/0 MN - 0 WI - 6 ... the trip continues HERE |
