1 tree truck heading to Effingham IN (delivered)

... spending the night in home

No breakfast at this place still, and they are not sure when they will start again.

Rolling at 8 AM.

Before we leave the hotel parking lot I call central dispatch about some IA trips. They are the only trips under 200 miles. They are paying $150 each and we might be able to do two a day ... but we have a four hour deadhead to get to them. My local company is 15 miles away. Something to think about over the weekend.

1st stop is at Wendy's in Iowa City. The hotel was cheap enough we can afford to buy our own, and it's better and fresher.

2nd stop was at the Flying J near Waterloo for a restroom break. And some pop but they were out.

BB has a big birthday on Monday, one of the reasons we are taking that day off, and we were discussing where we could go to eat and sit outside. After a few local places were mentioned I said 'Grandma's.' (It is in Duluth) Within a couple of minutes we had hotel reservations in Duluth for Sunday night. (Later we find out the forecast is for highs in the 40's and rain :( )

... so what do drivers do when they don't have to work? They take a road trip :)

3rd stop was at the Kwik Star/Kwik Trip in Clear Lake for another restroom break. We both got something to drink here. We might have gotten some of their free samples too but the person was deep in a conversation with another customer.

We noticed the 'mask' signs on the doors were all gone. So when we got to the register BB asked about the 'masks,' This company stopped requiring them on Friday ... today is Saturday. BB immediately took hers off. That left only me and one employee that were still wearing masks. There were 10-20 people in the store at that time.

4th stop was at the lot in Forest City to pick up our car. Oh Oh.

I use BB's FOB to go and get our car and it doesn't work. The battery has gone dead. There is a key in the FOB but that only opens the door, not way to start the car without a live FOB. Luckily I have one also which is not always the case. Mine works. We are down to one week left of the month, the quarter and the RV company is still not dumping RV's on our lot. Same ones are still sitting in their employee lot and others, missing parts (?) are sitting on the build side of the road.

Just a few miles after I got on the freeway I noticed a young woman walking down the freeway in a dress. When I got almost to her, she started walking from the edge of the shoulder to the travel lane where I was ... then I noticed it. A little teddy bear on the road. I didn't think quick enough to stop and give her a ride back to her car. By then I was half way to her car.

5th stop - We have issues where my Mom lives again and I had talked to my brother before he headed over and now he has called back so I take the next exit and park on the shoulder. Nothing major. This time.

6th stop was at the airport. Cemetery for me. No flags up yet. Not sure when they put up flags for Memorial Day. Because of my extra stop for a phone call I only have time to walk and find a couple of graves. I get my walks in that way.

7th stop is at a Dino's for a gyro. We eat outside.

8th stop is at a Batteries Plus for a new battery for BB's FOB. $10 and a few seconds later and we are good to go.

9th stop ... home again, safe at last :)

... then I got in some more walking. We hadn't been gone a week so I didn't think I would need to mow. Wrong. Two hours and the grass isn't think yet. That was my workout for the day. The week.

Some of my garden is up, it rained at some point.

Load board

US - 391 (includes 79 non-orders - Ron)

IA - 104

MN - 8

WI - 8

We aren't sure what we are going to do yet for work next week. Monday we will be off. Maybe Tuesday? We don't plan on being gone over night anywhere for work. We want to stay local enough that we can use our car. Or, we can get a local rental for a week for $50 a day in town. But if we are renting a car we better be working every day.

There are six IA runs that are 300 miles or less, only one is an RV. My guess is the rest are tractors. I'll do OK for a short distance. Nothing under a 1,000 miles out of MN or WI. I was hoping there would be some round trips. And there may be round trips by Tuesday.