1 Bus to Austin, TX ... spending the night in Deming, NM.

Finally back to current.

Juice machine wasn't working this AM so I had a little milk, very little. Other stuff was good.

All the other truckers were gone by the time we left at 6:15. At this place breakfast started at 5, wish more places did. Some places don't start until 7 AM on the weekends.

First stop was six miles down the road at the AZ POE / port of entry. When I told them at the window I would need a permit, they said someone should be in the office shortly. Turns out they don't open now until 7:30 ... but this time of the year they are in a different time zone so by the time we got to the door they were open. One person ahead of us, then when the only person in the office got to us, they asked the next person in line if they already had their over-sized permit. They did, so the desk gal said she would quick look at it ... turned out not to be so quick as it took us almost a half hour to get out of there and we are watching every minute.

When she was done with us she asked the now next person what they needed and go kind of short with them when she realized they were parking in the travel lane. But once she realized they were not a trucker (and had likely never seen a POE before) her tone changed and we were gone.

2nd stop was for fuel. it's been 650 miles and the low fuel like came on when I parked at the pump. Put in 90+ gallons in a 100 gallon usable tank. This stop was the TA in Tonopah, AZ. I had pulled off at the prior exit because miles back I could see the colors of the TA sign ... and then when we were closer I was watching a set of pups ahead of me that were swinging from one white line to the other. Didn't look at the sign again until I was on the ramp and saw it was a Chevron, not a TA. Could have still jumped back in the lane but it seemed safer to stay on the ramp and come down the other side. A few more minutes lost.

After I was done fueling I went in to buy DEF as these and all pumps are on the wrong side for buses and this place was too crowded to come in backwards. They only had one box and I wanted two. Turns out they had to go to another building to get the second box so that filled out the rest of my 15 minutes. Didn't gain any drive time at this stop.

3rd stop - 2-1/2 hours to Tucson for our meal break. That is just where the food is, not much closer with parking. Sailed through Phoenix at the posted which was a huge plus.

At Tucson we planned on eating at the Taco Bell in the Pilot. We've fueled and parked here a few times with RV's but had never been in the back with the trucks. After I was parked, I realized that everything was 'reserved' parking. Didn't stick around to see what that meant. We went across the street to the TTT where we have eaten before. They have new signs up now, $15 per overnight parking.

We ate at Omar's ... since 1954 ... and Omar was still working. Handing out menu's, clearing tables, filling in. Food was good, BB had a BLT and I had a chicken salad sandwich and potato salad. Mine came on bread instead of a croissant. They seemed to be short handed and this whole stop took an hour. Doesn't effect our hours but does make for a longer day.

4th stop - Another long rest stop at San Simon, AZ just a few miles before the AZ-NM boarder.

NM scale is miles in, I pull up to the window and without opening her window the gal behind the glass is motioning for something from me. I reach out to had her my permit ... she takes it, looks at it, hands it back and nods. Didn't say a word. I left.

5th and final stop today is in Deming. Another half hour past where we had thought we would be stopping. We are making good time, no issues so far. We are at the Quality Inn in Deming, we have stayed here also at least a couple of times before. And we ate at the Lazy Lizard. We both had Mexican, again. Couldn't eat it all.

At one point we thought we would have to get up at 5 AM on Friday to make delivery, now it looks to be a more normal day, we are making good time each day. But we also realized that the closest truck washes are 45-60 miles out of route, still waiting on an answer from dispatch on that. But we'll have time if we need to go that route.

25 RV's left on the board last night and up to 37 RV's tonight including four going to Sacramento where we like to go. But we are in route to TX and these will be long gone. Earlier today there were trucks out of TX, the best one heading to Sioux Falls but that one is gone. We'll keep watching the board to see if something works for us, otherwise we have a rental car reserved and we will be home Sunday afternoon.

If we get home, we will likely stay for 24 hours ... unless something really good is on the board.