2 RV's, 1 to Reno NV, 1 to Davis CA

... spending the night at Sidney NE

Alarm at 6 AM, breakfast at 7 AM.

For our exercise we walk down the 7 floors, but not back up them.

Breakfast, scrambled eggs, real ones. Someone else was dishing up the eggs so I could see them. I haven't usually been even looking at the hot food lately. And we were down early, so only one or two people ahead of us (touching the common surfaces.) So I had eggs and sausage, an orange and juice. No yogurt today, it was all diet.

It was snowing when we got up, likely had just started.

1st stop is going to be a couple of miles down the road for fuel.

Within the first mile on the road we see three spinouts. Traffic is going slow and so are we.

We get to the BP and fuel, but BB's wipers are freezing up so that she can't see so we decide to sit for a bit. Once we are done fueling we pull across the street to the McD's truck parking but it isn't well marked and we can't get WiFi like I had hoped so we move down the street to Cracker Barrell and park.

At this point we are wishing we stayed in the hotel a few more hours. We look at the weather, the road cameras and sit. After an hour frustration gets the better of us and we decide to head out. In 20 miles there is a truckstop, we plan on stopping there.

We followed a snow plow onto the freeway leaving Omaha. Looked like a good plan, the plow will set the pace and the roads should be clear(er.) But a couple of miles down the road, the plow pulls to the shoulder and stops so we have to keep going.

At this point the roads are like they get in the snow, one travel lane is clear from the constant traffic, but that lane goes where ever, from one lane to the other and from there to the shoulder. We were in the right lane where the plow had been, but the 'clear' lane was the center lane. And then the clear 'lane' came over to right lane. And that is what the semi next to me did, came right over on me. Luckily the snow on the shoulder was not too deep. The stripped line was easily seen and he should have been able to see me, and hear my horn, but he just kept coming over. Other than that, traffic was moving, but slow.

1st stop is Greenwood, 20 miles in a half hour. BB cleared off her wipers, used the rest room. And we decided to push further. 25 miles this time. To a truck stop in Lincoln.

On this leg we got behind traffic that was going mostly 45 mph so the ride wasn't too bad. The right lane is mostly clear, the center lane is hard packed, and the left lane has not been plowed or driven on. The 3rd lane ends at the truck stop so it will be interesting ...

2nd stop was in west Lincoln at a Shell truck stop. The car parking hadn't been plowed and the snow was six plus inches deep. A quick restroom break and we push on. The weather and roads have changed, gotten a little better, so we shoot for a 60 mile stretch.

Back on the road and for the rest of the day the roads are ...

a surprise. Some places both lanes are clear. Others one is clear and the other is hard packed. And other places both lanes are hard packed. It seems to depend on when the plows plowed vs how much traffic drove before the road was plowed.

After Lincoln it stops snowing and less blowing.

3rd stop is the Petro in York for Pizza Hut shelf food. We both get a macaroni dish. It is still cold and windy outside so we find a corner with a table and eat inside. It is right next to the outside door so we get fresh air every couple of minutes. I forget to get water, but it is soft food and no issues. When we get to tonight's motel, I realize that all I drank today was the small cup of juice this AM.

4th stop is in Cozad at the Casey's so BB can get more fuel.

There is a trash truck sitting there and the driver is walking to it. I catch up to him before he gets into the truck and talk to him. He works for our company and is heading to SLC, but the truck he is driving is a CNG ... and the pump in Cheyenne is down so he has to go through Denver and take I-70 where chains are required. He doesn't have chains so he will need to buy them, and the re-route will add 200 miles to the trip.

Other than the trash truck, we saw two other RV's from another company that passed us. And one center drive mixer, driven by our company. We didn't meet any transporters heading east. Or we didn't see them, because we were watching the road in front of us.

When I get back on the freeway, I set my cruise. And it stays. 1st time in 500 miles that the weather has been good enough that I want to set it and the weather is good enough that the weather doesn't shut it off. The cruise works the rest of the day, but often the road is not good enough for me to want to use it. We did drive 60-65 mph most way, even on hard pack. Most places at least one tire was on dry pavement.

5th stop is Ogallala for fuel. The Walmart sign says fuel is $.03 more than the other stations but we head there anyway. It is our usual stop. The price at the pump is the same as the other stations, just the sign is wrong.

We make reservations for our hotel and push on.

6th and final stop is Ogallala at the Comfort Inn. The person at the desk comments that it has been a while since they have seen us. It has been a few weeks since this was our stop. Tonight there are already four vehicles ahead of us. This is about a 100 room motel and often there are less than a dozen cars. So we may be one of their 'known' regulars.

Once in the room, we call the SIDNEY 3 Margaritas (not the one in Denver) :)

10 minutes later we pick up our food. When we leave the restaurant, we see that the Walmart lot is quite full of trucks. As had been the truckstop back in Ogallala. Unusual at this time of day.

My little write-ups don't do justice to the stress of the AM drive. Now we look at the road ahead.

I-80 is now closed in WY starting at Cheyenne. This AM and yesterday the road had only been closed to 'high profile vehicles' starting at Laramie. The winds near Laramie are supposed to die down Monday AM (not tomorrow.) We will get as far as we can tomorrow and if the road opens we will go for it.

If we don't get past Cheyenne tomorrow, we will not deliver until Wednesday.

The partial closure this AM had been from Laramie to Rawlins, about 100 miles. Now the total closure is from Cheyenne to Rock Springs, about 200 miles.

Load board.

US - 336

IA - 156

MN - 6

WI -0-

So dispatch added 22 more RV's than were taken off and we aren't near the end of the month.

Because the bus dispatcher said there may not be work this trip, we are doing the math for if we have to head back in a rental car. There is more work in IA.