2 RV's heading to Davis CA (delivered)

... spending the night at Livermore CA

Not a good sight. We wake up in the morning, look out the window and someone has parked directly in front of us.

No rush to get going this AM. We have been leaving this hotel at 9 AM local to get behind the rush hour traffic going through Sacramento.

Breakfast. Yogurt, pastries (or toast,) hard boiled eggs and juice.

Half the cars in the lot are gone by the time we leave but the one blocking us is still there. Not a big issue. I am able to get out from behind BB by backing up once before pulling out.

Traffic through Sacramento is light, we drive the posted except when the wind hits us. They have 'high wind' warnings. Up to 35 mph, that wouldn't even get a warning in WY.

We drive past where one of the light rail routes starts in the middle of the freeway. They also have a half mile park and ride lot there. Today, Monday 9 AM, that lot had fewer cars than most Sunday mornings. Empty.

Today we have decided to fuel at the Velero, the station closest to the drop. Completely empty when we get there. They only have two diesel nozzle's on one pump. BB's screen keeps asking her for her pin for her credit card. Even though she is pushing credit, not debit. Rather than move, we just use the hose from my side on hers. And with BB calling out the dollars, we are able to stop the pump at exactly $20. :)

A couple of blocks to the drop and we are there. Right behind the flatbed hauling two RV's that we have seen a few times in route. I quickly take my picture (wrong view, but it does show that there are no warning lights.) Then I grab my paperwork and go to the office as quickly as possible. I see the manager and he says someone will be right out. I want to talk to the inspector but he is still with the last person he checked in and is in no rush to quit talking.

So I walk out and BB walks in, by then there is a new gal that says she will be right out. And she is, I'm 1st in line so she does my RV first. Lots of rock chips on the hood and one on the windshield. Not driver damage but I have to take pictures. BB's RV is done a few minutes later.

As soon as we have checked in and let them know we are here, we start onloading our stuff and get ready to haul it in ... The water was the only thing we could not grab in one trip and the manger was walking past and offered to carry it for us. Didn't turn that offer down.

Once we have our stuff inside the waiting area, BB walks the block to the rental car place. The first car they want to give her has damage that was not noted when it was dropped by the prior renter so they don't want to give that one out. So they find a second one, not a big deal but it all takes time.

As soon as we have our paperwork signed, we call in the damage and then I call the bus dispatcher. "Call back after 3 PM, but they only gave us 2 buses Friday and I have had drivers in motels all weekend."

Off we head to the In-n-Out Burger. ??? No homeless sitting at the end of their entrance, but they now have a piece of carpet on the ground and a nice love seat to sit on.

And no line at the In-n-Out. I think today was as slow as we have seen it and we get here more or less the same time every time. I get a double-double and BB gets a hamburger and fries. A little windy out but 70 degree's :)

I've looked at a couple of cemeteries, one was north and the others are south. We go south. Down CA-99 and then east to Lockeford. There is one more cemetery further east but no one has found that marker on FindAGrave so I'm guessing I won't find it either. The one at Lockeford is an upright in a cemetery of about 1,000 markers. When the cemeteries get over 5,000 markers it gets harder to find what you are looking for.

Actually I had the address I had was for the church, so we ended up there first. Then we went to the cemetery but I turned in to the first one I saw and it was the wrong one. But they were adjacent so we parked and walked to the other one. Maybe 10 minutes walking instead of the hour we sometimes do before we give up.

Next was find a bathroom. The truck stops are on I-5, there is not much on CA-99 so we ended up at a Home Depot. Don't really like going into stores, but some things need to get done.

Of all the fancy computer stuff on these new cars, I would think they would have come up with some way to tell you the park is not in park when you open the door ...

10 miles down the road we are at the 2nd cemetery. This places has thousands, but a picture on FindAGrave shows buildings in the background. Once there, we quickly realize the building is the hospital next door, we just have to line it up correctly and we are at the marker. We were. The map shows we can drive to the adjacent cemetery, but it is now fenced off. We have already been to the cemetery and taken pictures a few years ago.

Timing. I have just enough time to get to Livermore before I call dispatch.

It doesn't look good. Where the buses are usually parked, there are six buses. Usually there are 2-3 times that many ready to ship. I call dispatch. "Not today, I have six drivers in the motel already. You will need to wait until tomorrow."

We drive back past the buses, slower this time. Three of the six are going to Pittsburg, one is going to Kenosha ... :) There is another Kenosha sitting that is not done. Kenosha is about six hours from my house. We have our fingers crossed.

We head to the Quality Inn. Prices are way up and the lot is closer to full. I ask. FedEx is training people and they are staying here. I don't like the higher prices, but I do like hearing that these places are getting some of their corporate business back.

We end up ordering from BJ's again. We go to pick up and no one is at the counter. Someone comes out and gives Door Dash an order but doesn't acknowledge us. The 2nd time someone comes out for Door Dash, we get their attention. Yes, our order is sitting there, and the ice cream is melting. This time we just got one cookie with ice cream instead of the trio. Good thing, we hadn't looked and this room does not have a fridge.

The rental car ... is the 1st one I have driven that has my speed, the cruse speed setting and the posted speed all displaying on the windshield. It took me lots of camera shots before I was able to get a picture of it. You have to be looking at the windshield at just the right angle to see it.

Load board

US - 198

IA - 87 (as compared to -0- last year for 20 out of 22 days in a row)

MN - 4

WI - 3

Iowa loads include 4 for CA, 5 for AZ and 8 to FL.

Homeless, it's hard not to mention the homeless when we are driving off freeway in CA. I've never tried counting but I'm guessing we likely saw somewhere around a thousand 'homes' of the homeless. Also we see lots of places where their 'homes' have been abandoned, often because of fire. Some places it is one or two together, other places it is dozens within a block.

And just before we got to Livermore this afternoon, we saw a firetruck ahead of us with it's lights on. We slowed as the truck went to block the left lane. Then we saw it, a car had somehow managed to hit the rail median head on and bounce back. Not sure how, but when we went by the driver had his feet sticking out the windshield over the steering wheel. Lots of people on the scene but the first emergency people were not out of their truck when we went past. This could very well have been someone who past us in the last half hour.

Tomorrow - not sure yet. Places are locking back down because of Covid and we have been to a good share of the cemeteries in this area. We could get a noon check out and just hang out for four hours before we find out if we get a bus tomorrow or not. IF, IF we get a Kenosha, it would add 150 miles to our route to go past and get our car before dropping. But who knows, we might be headed back to Pittsburg. Money was good going there too. Either way, any way we would go, it is now likely going to be a Monday delivery.