1 tree truck to Garfield MN (delivered)
2 RV's to Greer SC (tomorrow)
... spending the night at home
We've been on the east coast so we decided we could get up before 6 AM today. 5:30.
Breakfast for me was yogurt, two of them. BB had the other half of her meal from last night. I should have. I don't need to be eating that much.
We have pretty much decided on leaving again Friday for the Carolina's. But we have hit the road at 7 AM and can't call in to dispatch until 8 AM. At first BB thinks we should wait until our 1st stop to call. That will be close to 9 AM.
Then she starts looking at cars, rental cars, in the Carolina's. There are not any. And she doesn't want to head that way without a known way out. Finally she finds there are cars, airport to airport. Just not location to location. So if we don't find any cars by Monday, we will have to do some extra backtracking but it will work.
So BB calls in about 10 after 8. One of our RV's is gone. We are still doing the same trip, but we will be making $150 less doing it.
1st stop today was Menomonie at the rest area. The fuel tank has already dropped below the 1/4 that I need to deliver it with. Now I am trying to calculate how much more I need to add. It says the average is 6 mpg but it seems to be running most of the time at around 9-10 mpg.
In MN I need to cross the scale, most others are getting the by pass. I pull on, then the sign changes to 'Drive slowly.' I think I am clear. Then it changes to 'STOP,' so I hit the breaks kind of hard. I'm stopped. A few seconds later I am cleared to return to the freeway.
Next 'stop' is to drop BB off near our house so she can drive chase car for the day.
2nd stop is for fuel at the Pilot in St Cloud. We have guessed I should need 22 gallons. As I am turning on the street to the station, the low fuel light comes on. IF I am getting 10 mpg, I should need 22 gallons. What I decided to do was to fuel an hour before my drop, then there is another station 10 miles from my drop. By then I will know how much I am over / under.
Half way to the next fuel stop I am back under the 1/4 tank of fuel that I need to leave in the RV.
3rd stop is at the Pilot in Alexandria. The pump takes my card and all my info, but it doesn't see that I have taken the nozzle so I can't start fueling. I have to go inside and they start it from there. I add another 5 gallons.
By now BB has caught up to me so we move all of our stuff to our car and I head to the drop.
3rd stop. The RV dealer in Garfield. Only two people working today and no customers. One of them comes out and drives the RV into the building and then says it will take 'an hour or two' to inspect the unit.
They say to wait in the office ... I ask if I can wait in my car.
When they said it would be an hour or two, I ask if I can leave and come back. They ask where I am going to go (?) ... 'I just like to drive around, my family was from near here.' They take down my number so they can call me when they are done.
4th stop - We didn't just drive, we went back to Alex and got food at Culvers. Then came back and ate in our car. I am half done eating when they come out side, they are done inspecting.
But they are missing one item of paperwork. Opps ... I still had it, I hadn't looked at it to see it was theirs.
The person wasn't much for talking, but I asked them 'When I called, you asked WHICH RV I had. Does that mean you have more coming?'
"We have 18 there are supposed to be here by the end of March (2 weeks.) So now we only have 17 more coming."
Then we talked for a few minutes. He grew up west of Princeton, my family was from east of Princeton. There used to be a custom RV company in Zimmerman MN that made million dollar RV's. This place is the 2nd largest dealer of this brand in the US. They usually have about 100 new and used RV's on their lot. They are down to about a dozen. Most of the 18 RV's coming are already sold, mine isn't.
Then the conversation ended abruptly. I took the que and left.
One thing we didn't talk about was family. One of Mom's double cousins is buried in his town of 350 people. And he shares the last name of one of Dad's double cousins.
One the way out of town we drive past the cemetery where Mom's cousin in buried. Down a dirt, and today, very muddy road. There are also two other cemeteries near town with family buried in them.
5th stop - Rest area near Monticello
6th stop - Zupa's for food.
7th and final stop. HOME
... for about 20 hours before we are back on the road.
Load board
US - 417
IA - 173
MN - 2
WI - 25
Lots of options. Even some of the long CA runs we like are still there from yesterday. But it doesn't do us any good to look back.
Now we are looking at the options of getting out of NC. There are 13 trucks going various places. Earlier today there had been two pickups going to Syracuse. Now there is only one. Indiana is at 34 trips, 3 of them to WI.
And Marion WI has a truck that would come right past and deliver near our house. Plus a 2nd one going to ND. I think they are shop type trucks. I'd like to drive one. Right now there are about 20 of them on the load board, some going to CA. Not sure what is going on, but the trips from this location come in batches and then we don't see any again for a month or two or three.
Plan is to leave about about noon tomorrow. We didn't come through IA so now we will have two cars sitting at the lot.