1 bus to La Crosse WI

... spending the night at Albuquerque NM

Breakfast, we point, they bag. OJ, yogurt and a nuke sandwich.

Sun is not up when we go down to get breakfast, it is up by the time we are done with breakfast and leaving.

About a half hour from Needles is the AZ Port of Entry. It is closed so we sail on past.

1st stop is the TA in Kingman for fuel. This is likely the quickest we will ever get in and out of this place. But 1st, When I go to turn into their drive I pull into the 'Exit Only - Do Not Enter' driveway. No one was coming so no big deal. There are pumps open but the one I grab has a screen that doesn't work so I have to go inside to get the pump turned on. No wait then, no wait later to get a receipt.

As we go to leave, we meet a car, coming in the 'Exit Only - Do Not Enter' driveway. I did not honk at them :)

One of the last times we went this way, it was very foggy. Sometimes we were above it on the hills, other times we were in the thick of it. Today it is sunny and warm. Did see a couple of clouds in the distance twice today but that was it. I'm guessing temps in the 50's? Nice, but still want a jacket.

2nd stop was in Williams at the Loves for DEF and a rest room break. Somewhere got mixed up when I used the company card for fuel and my credit card for DEF so I have been filling them at two different stops. Today I messed up and used the company card for DEF. No harm done, they didn't charge me a user fee and it is still on a separate receipt.

We finally see snow on the ground once we get above 7.000 feet. It's still there, but not completely covering the ground. Once we drop back down out of Flagstaff the snow is gone again. We do see some on the north side of the hills later when we are in NM.

3rd stop is Holbrook at the TA for Popeyes. I try to find a place to park that is out of the wind so we can eat at the bus. So I drive around the lot once and then decide to park. Once I am parked I decide to move again and squeeze between two parked trucks ... opps, someone is trying back into the spot that I was moving into. Someone blew their horn at me. Not sure who, it wasn't the guy backing as he wouldn't have been able to see me. I was able to get out of the way. No harm done, but not something I should be doing again.

Popeyes. They stop taking orders about the time we get in line, for the next 5-10 minutes they are just filling the orders that they had gotten backed up on. Once they are caught up, they start taking orders again. We are 3rd in line and ours only takes a couple of minutes to fill. On the way out I look at the TA's other hot food. We might try that next time. No line and it is either hot shelf food or they dish from a bowl.

Even with the wait, we are in and out in 30 minutes.

As we were leaving I saw my first transporter today. A Penske style truck parked in the TA lot. Later we see two RV's, one semi tractor and three mixers. I'm guessing the mixers were transporters as they were clean, new trucks with no logos. And they had their plate in the dash. But they did not have their placards where I could see them. Pretty slow for transporters today.

NM scale is open, I have to stop and hold the permit so the person can read it. Then I am clear to go.

4th stop is Jamestown at the Pilot for the restroom. This mapping software won't find the town so it is listed as Coolidge.

I had thought we might get further than ABQ tonight, but, if the traffic flows, we will be in ABQ about 10 minutes before sunset. And the motels in the next town are $30 more. Plus BB does not like their heaters.

5th and final stop is the Quality Inn in ABQ. It has been a while since we have been here. But have stayed many times over the last couple of years. Once checked in we order online from the Mexican place a block away. Then we walk and get our food. The place is packed.

We past a number of casino's today and they were all still closed. Except for the one closest to ABQ. It is open ... to NM residents only.

We also went past an area that was all barricaded off ... 'residents only.' Not sure what road they had to take to get in.

Weather - We chose well (so far)

Donners Pass and WY were both requiring chains again this AM. By this afternoon, WY had issued a 'high wind' warning for Sunday morning through Tuesday morning. Because of the prior chain restrictions, we would not have been past the warning area yet and would be sitting, likely until Tuesday AM. Then we would still have two plus days to go. As of now, I am hoping to deliver on Tuesday PM.

Load board

US - 421

IA - 194

MN - 1

WI - 5

We'll see how far we get. Pratt KS is about 500 miles. And the next town past Pratt is another hour. The days aren't getting that much longer overnight.