1 truck heading to Houston TX

... spending the night at Houston TX

BB went down for breakfast, very little there so I did not go down. I ate my left over chicken and potato salad from last night.

Last night the parking lot had been pretty empty. 3-4 times as many cars this AM. But no more trucks. A cop is stilling right across from us on the street, I hoped he was not waiting for us. And luckily he stayed right there as we left.

PROBLEM. This truck has a manual parking brake and no park so it has to be set every time you stop. It is supposed to be so that as soon as you click the handle to release the break the warning light goes out. This AM, the handle was all the way in the 90 degree position and the light would stay on. IF someone held it down further, the light would go off. So that is how we started down the road. After a while we took pressure off the brake and the light stayed off and no more issues the rest of the day.

1st stop was in Junction at a Pilot. A Pilot that is often very congested. But right now it is Sunday morning and we are able to get in and park in the car area, but as we walk back to our truck a few minutes later we are blocked in. They leave before I am ready to, so no harm done this time.

When we left this AM we had enough fuel to get to San Antonio plus 40 miles. And yesterday the range had been going up so I didn't see an issue. Shortly after we pulled out of Junction I realized that we had only gone half way to San Antonio and I had already lots over 20 miles range. Before we got to the next truckstop we had lost all the excess range.

2nd stop was not in the original plan. Fuel at Comfort TX at a Loves. I put in 10 gallons that had not been planned on yesterday. Fuel mileage had been up to 8.5 mpg last night but by mid-day it had dropped to 8.2 and my range was showing it.

Somewhere out here we see our first Buc ee's of this trip. Not sure how many gas pumps this location had, some have over 100 pumps, but this one was huge and still had people waiting for pumps.

The road construction looks the same in NW San Antonio as it did two years ago when we were here. Maybe it has moved, maybe not.

There are lots of ways to get through San Antonio but I choose one that the computer does not list. Just stay on I-10 through down town. That was the plan, but it didn't happen. I missed a turn and ended up on I-35 heading to Laredo. Lots of spits and upper, lower routes. Not sure how I missed it but I did. BB saw a sign off to the right too late, and then we realized the highway signs only read I-35.

Took the next exit and made a TX U-turn. A lot of the TX frontage road only go one direction and then at the next over/under pass there is a U-turn lane to get to the other side of the freeway without waiting for the stop lights.

They are still working on the road by our truck stop but we remember from last time and get on the right exit.

3rd stop is at the Flying J for fuel at the RV pumps. I had already put in 10 extra gallons but still put in the same amount of fuel as I had planned before that extra. This Flying J only has a Denny's so we head back across the freeway.

3rd stop, part two. We stop at the TA which has a Fazoli's, Popeyes and Burger King. I like Fazoli's, but it doesn't always set well with me so Burger King it was. We saw an outside table but ended up eating at our truck. We noticed a few cars in the lot that looked like they have been sitting there a couple of years. But in TX weather, they may have only been sitting the last rain/wind storm.

4th stop is at a rest area near Columbus TX.

We couldn't figure out why the computer was routing us on the frontage road near Houston until we got there. We were on the frontage road. When they are working on the main freeway here, they just route everyone onto the frontage road and block the cross streets.

5th and final stop is the Comfort Inn in Houston. We had looked online at the areal photo's and it looked like lots of room to park. What it didn't show was the gates across the parking lot. And a couple of them are closed. So I had to turn around in the parking area and do a little backing up. It is a pain when you can't see the thing behind you until you are so far out of straight that you have to pull ahead and try again.

But I got parked and lined up to head out in the AM. Plan now is to store everything in our hotel room and BB will come back in the AM after she picks up the car. Otherwise we have to deal with it all at the customer and I have to stop and let her out the drivers side when I park on the street by the rental company.

The motel shares a driveway with Pape's Cafe so that is where we got food. Chicken Enchilada = good. Philly = good. Potato soup = good. Now stuffed :)

BB had rented a car before she knew the address of my drop and this motel is directly across the freeway from the rental car place. It is in the Embassy Suites but their parking is a parking ramp and I wouldn't have fit. And this is likely cheaper. We are right on I-10 so no out of route. Then tomorrow I go 10 miles north and two blocks off and I am at my drop. Simple. The way I like it.

I may end up adding more fuel tomorrow. I am supposed to leave 1/4 of a tank and with the money I am making on the fuel I don't want to short them any. Right now it looks like it should be flat on 1/4 at the drop. We'll see after another 10 miles.

Ahhh ... we got a call this AM that the two staying at our house ... will be getting tested for Covid on Tuesday and won't have the results until Thursday. So we likely are not going home at all between trips. If we can find work from here we will. Otherwise based on history ... the load board should get busy this week and we can be picky. Maybe another trip to CA.

I'll have current pictures posted on my personal site after I drop.