1 City Bus to Coralville IA

... spending the night in Kearney NE

6 AM Opps ... now the road is closed between here and Cheyenne ... and if we did get get past Cheyenne, the road in NE for the first 100 miles is ice covered. But, it should be close to 40 by mid-day so hopefully the ice melts off when the sun comes out. Forecast is for the road to re-open between 10 and noon.

8 AM road are open but ice covered.

7 PM ... made it.

Sun was just coming up as we were getting going. For a short stretch around Laramie, the sun was right at the horizon and it was also reflecting off the wet road. Very, very bright. But it only lasted a few miles until we got to different pavement.

I-80 was only ice covered for a few miles in WY. But there were a lot more miles where the left lane was covered with a two inch mix of snow and sand. For some reason it seemed like most of the cars that passed me were on the stretch of ice. Variable speed limit in this area. Today it was 55 mph so I was able to go the speed limit ... and everyone still passed me. Some times it's 80, we've driven it when it was 45, not much fun.

Almost to Cheyenne I could see fog ahead, then I couldn't see the power lines over head. Didn't last for long though.

Shortly before our first fuel stop we hit fog again. Visibility was about 1/10 of a mile. Luckily I had looked at the blue info signs because when we got to the exit we could not see the truck stop on the other side of the freeway. It wasn't until I came out from under the overpass that I could see the sign and the truckstop.

1st stop was at the TA for fuel. Pulled into a line where the guy ahead of me had his four ways flashing. When he pulled out, someone from the office came and shoe'ed me out of there. That was the lane they use for filling the fuel tanks. So I moved to the next lane over and was ready to fuel when BB got back from the restroom, so it wasn't long.

Put in 60 gallons so we are getting pretty close to 8 mpg. This is the firs time I've filled it and tomorrow will be the last. Good price but will be cheaper tomorrow. If I had a fuel gauge I would have been just putting in enough fuel to get to the next cheaper station.

Somewhere before we got to NE, the highway dept listed the NE roads as clear. Used the wipers a good part of the day. Mostly mist.

2nd stop was the Taco Johns at the Loves in Sidney. This was just going to be a restroom break but it was almost noon when we got there so lunch it was. Two chicken quesadilla. We could have eaten our left over pizza from last night. Didn't think about that until we were down the road after.

A RV from IA pulled in behind us but they were still busy in their cab when we walked past. And gone before we were done eating so we don't know where they were going. By the time we left there was another RV in that spot. Another transporter from a different company.

Coming from the east we usually stop in Ogallala and then Sidney. So for a while that was our plan but then we decided to push on to North Platte.

3rd stop. Restroom in Loves at North Platte. I usually stop at the Flying J across the street but there were too many semi tractors in the RV area so no room. Not much room at Loves either, we just parked along the curb and were in and out in a few minutes.

Weight station sign said open, and to exit only if instructed. But the instruction signs didn't seem to be turned on.

Saw lots of transporters today. Two buses back at the WY POE but they didn't look like either New Flyer or Gillig. Way more tow away, pulling trailer homes.

Shortly after pulling back on the freeway I noticed a red warning light. Red usually means to do something right away and orange is for those things to do soon. But I chanced it and drove until I got to a rest area where there was a place to park. Didn't want to stop on the freeway and NE says no parking on the freeway ramps.

First I shut the bus off for five minutes but the light was still on. So I called the shippers weekend number. They did get back to me in a few minutes and after a few questions said I was OK to take it to delivery that way.

That was the 4th stop in Brady.

5th and final stop was at the Comfort Inn in Kearney. We've stayed at the Quality Inn and I don't remember any place to park a bus. The Comfort Inn is new so I hadn't seen their lot before. I did look online at an aerial photo and it looked OK. But we didn't make a reservation until we got here, in the lot and parked.

Tried to turn down the first row of parking but the turn was too tight with a light pole. With the second row I was able to swing wide into the handicapped spots and even with that I was within a couple of feet of the cars on one side and inches on the other. Finally got parked, it should be easy to get out in the AM. The lot is big, but no wide spots to turn.

After checking in, we walked across the street to the Angus Burger and Shakes. Like most places lately, it was almost empty when we got there, but an hour later when we left it was full. Haven't seen that before on this trip. Great food. I had a reuben burger. Didn't realize until I was half done that it was a reuben BURGER. Top half was reuben, bottom half was burger. We didn't a shake, talked about it, they looked good but we still have Pizza Hut cookies at the room. We didn't throw those away.

Down to six on the loadboard.

Three hundred miles for tomorrow and then the last hundred on Monday.

Usually I work for the other company the last week of the quarter. With this virus thing going on, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Find my own ride? (BB isn't interested) Or maybe I will do a solo road trip for them. Or maybe by the last week of the month private business will be closing down and it won't be an issue. If they start canceling US flights, that could be an issue. It will take days instead of hours for the drivers to get back to take their next run.