1 bus to Grand Rapids MI, delivered 

... spending the night at Waterloo IA ...

Alarm set for 7 AM local. We were both up shortly before that.

I went down to check out breakfast, not much so I just grabbed two bottles of Jucy Jucie. The good stuff. BB found a couple of things in our past extra’s bag and I had a piece of my banana bread from Bob Evans that I didn’t eat last night.

I pulled out about 8 AM. One more car in the lot this AM than there was last night. Very slow here. Because of how I was parked in their parking lot, I had to swing wide when I pulled out on to the street made use of the two lanes going each way plus the median lane.

Next exit is a mile down the road and I am at the truck wash. One truck in the bay, one ahead of me. It did take all of a half hour and I was ready to roll. I messaged BB who was still at the hotel so she could head out.

Opps. Detour. Freeway was closed and it re-routed us miles on other roads. But I had a general idea of the area so I didn’t panic. Soon I was on a road I was going to be on, just coming from a different direction. Actually, this way may have been a couple of miles shorter. Down side is I didn’t know my exit was a left exit until I was within a mile of it. No issues.

Had forgot to look up phone numbers this AM so when I got to the drop I just pulled into their lot and saw a ‘Receiving’ door and went in there. Buzzed to get in. Someone let me in and I found someone right away that would find the correct person.

Back outside someone pulls up, gets out and asks if I have been helped yet. Then I notice they have on a Gillig shirt. It was the sales rep. So we chatted off and on while I was waiting and delivery was inspecting.

I mentioned about the noise which didn’t seem to be an issue. He was more interested in knowing if I had any lights come on, if there were any issues. There were not.

Did find out from him that Grand Rapids is getting 10 buses, Kalamazoo is getting 7 and Duluth did get 7 (I missed out on those)

Rolling home an hour before we had planned. Because we had taken the detour getting to Grand Rapids, we thought we would take the same route back. A few miles down the road I realized that was not going to work. Hard to explain in writing but where the detour started, what was our exit ramp to the detour is usually the entrance ramp to the freeway. So we had to find a different route to get onto the freeway.

Not even 11 AM local and BB is hungry so as soon as we are out of Grand Rapids, we get off at the first exit with food. Arby’s. We needed to use the restroom too, but drive thru only. 

We eat and drive and as soon as we are done eating we stop at the next rest area. While we are there we get all of my paperwork sent off so I can get paid.

Close to the MI / IN border we see something I have not seen before. Scale is closed … and because of road construction the road now goes up the entrance ramp, over the scale and down the exit ramp.

A couple of delays getting to Chicago. Not the hours I have done before but lots of stop and go. Saw lots of towaway travel trailers coming out of MI, not sure why they are taking that route.

We stop again at the Oasis in Hillsboro. Thought we would get some ice cream at the DQ. But the DQ is now a Creepes Ave and the pretzel, coffee and chicken places are all closed.

The only toll booth we have to pass is closed for cash, I Pass or pay online only. We have the I Pass so not an issue.

Early on, BB was watching the weather coming out of NE. 80+ mph winds forecasted.

We get as far as Peru and end up going to the second exit that had a Culvers instead of the first. We thought we would get some ice cream and enjoy the show. Wait it out, be off the highway.

Second Culvers ends up being a mile off the road. As we are at the drive thru, it starts to rain. By the time we get to the window the power is off and they are closing. Others ahead of us are parked waiting for their food and haven’t been told it’s not coming.

I had thought of parking facing the wind where we could see everything but we decided to park against a strip mall. We were on the back side from the wind and I could still see the other cars rocking. We moved once to get to where there was less glass directly behind us. It was too late to move very far.

We did see a couple of fire trucks and a lot of police going one way and then back the other. We sat there about a half hour.

As soon as it died down we headed out. Between where we sat and the freeway there was a semi truck laying on its side on a city street. Blown over. At the exit, one of the signal lights is laying in the travel lane. And we have to go around branches on the freeway ramp.

A few miles down the road traffic is stopped for five miles. A transporter pickup pulling an travel trailer as jack knifed on the road, trailer on it’s side split open. Tow truck gets to it about one minute before we do.

A few miles down the road we pull off at a rest area. INSIDE the rest area, there is a second travel trailer on it’s side. We have always thought of these as ‘safe places.’

As we were walking up to the rest area building we were told by someone in the parking lot that they were closed. Did notice a few trees down and other travel trailers that were OK, parked between semi’s.

Over the next 200 miles from Peru IL to the Cedar Rapids area we saw another two travel trailers rolled and 23 semi’s. Not sure if there had been more, it is over a three hour drive and some may have been cleared by the time we got to them. The second truck we saw nearer Peru already had a hook on it and it had been less than a half hour since the storm went through.

The other issue for us was rest rooms and then food. BB ended up eating the rest of my banana bread, then her leftover bun from supper and then a breakfast bar. No where was open or had power. We weren’t counting, but all of the temp orange highway signs that flash warnings were rolled over.

We finally quit pulling off when we could see that the gas price sign was not lit up.

Lots of the corn looked damaged but the worse of it was north of Iowa City once we were off of I-80 where the road is north-south. One place it looked like it had been flattened like a crop circle. Other places, the corn was completely shredded, just the stalk and the cob. Beans didn’t look damaged from the road. Also north of Cedar Rapids was a barn blown down.

… and there was the RV center north of Cedar Rapids that had a bunch of travel trailers rolled. We didn’t think quick enough to get a picture of that. BB did get pictures of a lot of the bottom of other trucks.

No place was safe. A trailer rolled in the rest area, a couple other rolled on the highway. Almost all the rest looked like they had been ‘safely parked’ on the shoulder of the road when they were rolled. A couple of them were even under an underpass.

And then it was over. No more rollovers, no more crop or tree damage.

The next town with motels was Waterloo. Next food was in Evansdale, we had McD's. While I waited in line I called the Choice motel in Waterloo to ask if they had power. Yes they had power, but no computers and only a couple of rooms left. I said OK, we'll make a reservation right away and hung up. After we make the reservation we realize that without a computer, they can't see our reservation ...

When we get to the Comfort Inn, I go in to see if we have a room. There are two desk clerks, very frazzled desk clerks. They have no idea who has made reservations and are down to just a couple of rooms left. The computer should not let anyone make a reservation once the rooms are gone, but they are also renting rooms to walk ins and have no way to update the computer. After a half hour I finally get my room.

No computer, means to internet, means no TV. And it is almost the end of a very long day so I wrote up most of the above using note-pad and finished the rest of this on Tuesday.

Loadboard was at 54 for IA.