1 bus dropped in Granite City/St Louis, IL.

... spending the night in Charles City, IA.

Another rough night, but I know I slept because of all the weird dreams I had. Too much coughing to get my blood pressure reading down. :(

Got up an hour before I planned on leaving, BB was still sleeping.

Only had a glass of juice this AM before pulling out. I did notice that they had turkey sausage as something different. Thought of grabbing some stuff for the road but didn't feeling like I'd want to eat it later either.

1st stop - two turns and six miles down the road I am at my first stop to get my inspection done. He had said he opened at 8 AM so I was there at five minutes to. Just as another new bus was pulling out. They didn't stop to talk and they were gone.

Quick basic inspection, a sticker and $30 later and I am good to go.

2nd stop - six more miles and I am back up to the Blue Beacon. The other driver is not in line ahead of me so they must have either washed earlier this AM or yesterday. Four trucks ahead of me, 45 minutes later I was pulling out of the wash. By now there were seven or more trucks behind me so got there at a good time.

Yesterday we had seen where the buses were pulling in when we ate at the Hen House, but something didn't look right this AM so I decided to go my original route. BB tried to go the way we saw the buses going but it must be waiting area, it was not a through road.

3rd stop - Once I was on the property, I started dialing my contact but another bus came by and told me where to park. Once I got to where I was told I did call my contact but I guess I'm not very good at giving my location and they don't have their doors numbered. Finally he asked if a golf cart was pulling up to me. I said yes and he told me to stay were I was.

A few minutes later I was re-directed to an open door and pulled inside. We tore the plastic off the front, they may or may not have looked at a couple of other things. They signed off and I was clear to go.

It wasn't noon yet so we decided to put some miles behind us before we ate.

4th stop - Closer to noon we stopped at the former Golden Corral in Hannibal. We had eaten there a few times as a Golden Corral but noticed a month or two ago that it was now called something else. It is now called the Saints Avenue Steakhouse & Buffet. Per Wiki, Avenue of the Saints is a 500+ mile highway that connects St Paul and St Louis.

BB looked online and the reviews so far were good so we stopped in. Food was good. I wasn't exactly hungry today so I didn't stuff myself. The only big change I guess is now if you want a steak you have to pay extra, it used to be included. But I have never had a steak at a buffet.

5th stop - Wayland, MO - Flying J, fuel, $1.99. We knew the price was going to go up as soon as we crossed the border and we might not have enough fuel to get the car returned so we filled here. Had only been 30 minutes instead of two hours but for a few cents a gallon it was worth it ???

As long as we were stopped I called to get a new rim for the car we call 'crash,' the rim had gotten bent when it hit the curb in an ice storm. We thought they had straitened it but I guess not good enough. Then I called to get a eye appointment for Thursday before my DOT on Friday. I tried to make the appointment online last night and couldn't. As soon as I said I wanted an appointment for Thursday ... or maybe I didn't get to the word Thursday ... they said 'no.' NO? No, as in the staff is going on strike Wednesday. So I asked about my appointments on Weds and Fri and they said same company two different unions. I'm OK for the other two. I should be OK for my eyes, it's just been a year since my last appointment.

The highway is putting in a huge new up and over intersection in Iowa City where I-380 meets I-80. And I've seen others like it. I doubt these intersections don't get half the traffic that the I-94, I-494, I-694 intersection gets in St Paul and they just re-did that one with little or no improvement.

6th stop - Cedar Falls rest area.

Plan was to get to Mason City tonight. One of the reasons I didn't get up early this AM and do the wash first was we still wouldn't have time to get past Mason City. BB doesn't want to drive after dark and we don't need to. But later in the day today BB is watching the weather and decides she wants us to stop before the snow in Charles City. I mention the only food there is the Kwik Star / Kwik Trip so we were back to going to Mason City. Then we saw a service sign in Waverly that said there was a Jimmy Johns there so we stopped.

7th stop - Jimmy Johns in Waverly to go. BB got a slim and I got an 8 inch.

8th and final stop - Charles City, Sleep Inn. They have cookies. By now it is snowing so I had cover my paperwork and work under the truck to get organized.

By the time we get to Forest City, pick up one car and then drop the rental we have about two hours of driving left. And we don't have to have the rental back until 11:30 AM, but we will likely get it back closer to 10 AM.

Then back to get our van and hope the hood stays down. We've only driven it two miles since the windshield was replaced.

Load board is still not going up, 29 at last call. They are putting good stuff out but it is going quickly. We aren't going anywhere until next Tuesday, maybe this Saturday if everything falls in place and there is work.

Won't know for sure how well this run paid until we see the end pay and what extra's they paid for. But we are doing OK.