2 RV heading to Davis CA (2 delivered)
1 bus heading to Medford OR
... spending the night at Vacaville CA
Bus dispatch called me before I could call them. Three buses going to Medford OR. 350 miles one way. Later talking to dispatch he asked if we would give the other two a ride. No rental cars back and flights are $400 for a $175 trip. $$$ will be a little more than that, but that is the base.
Then we will head out somewhere longer tomorrow night (or Thursday AM)
(The rest is written three days later)
Breakfast was last nights leftovers from ToGo's.
The truck that was blocking me in last night was gone this AM. I noticed that someone had taken down some smaller branches when driving through the lot. I had been very careful to stay away from them. But I sure noticed this place was not big rig freindly.
We have about 30 miles off non-freeway before getting to I-5. Not bad, it was flat, but narrow and I rarely was up to 55 mph.
Halfway to the drop and I get the error message that I had been getting before the check engine light came on. Now it is back. That put me on edge for the rest of the trip.
1st stop - Velaro - I made it to the fuel stop. $60 of dealer fuel and on to the drop.
2nd stop - the drop - I know where to park from yesterday, but today they are painting lines in their lot and the inspectors are moving RV's. Today it takes twice as long as yesterday.
3rd stop is BJ's in Vacaville. We had had our In-n-Out on Sunday. At BJ's we were told they did not have enough staff to service the outside tent. They seemed surprised when we said we did not want to eat inside. Then I asked if we could get 'to go' and eat in the tent. They were OK with that. No one else did that while we were there.
Then we headed up to two cemeteries where I wanted to take pictures.
4th stop was the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery near Dixon.
5th stop was the Winter Cemetery in Winter.
When we came into town we saw a sign for cherry's. So we followed the sign, to a bakery. We got a pound of fresh carries. I also got a lemon bar and a piece of cheese cake and BB got a donut. Sometimes advertising pays, even with me.
Today is Tuesday. Dispatch has been telling us how many drivers are in hotels ahead of me. So we have decided to be in position when it is time to call dispatch tonight. If dispatch says still no buses, we are heading home. We will be parked partway between the buses and the next rental car.
Dispatch calls me ... If I will take a Medford OR bus and come back, he will give me a longer run. We are in no rush so we agree. But before that happens, as usual, dispatch is on one topic and I am on another. But we get on the same page quickly.
6th stop is for fuel in Dublin. We were going to need fuel to drive another 700 miles tomorrow. We end up at a grocery store gas station. That seems to be a thing in some parts of the country.
7th stop is at our bank. We had noticed earlier that I had no cash. So we used BB's cash. Now neither of us have cash. And one of our bank branches is within a mile or two of the gas station. Unusual thing here. Instead of a drive up cash machine and no bank. There is no drive up windows for anything. We have to get out of our car to walk to the bank wall to get cash.
8th stop is the bus shipper. Again, we can not find out bus. He has told us the bus number and we find other buses with that name but not ours. We drive the lot again and again. And the dispatcher is late showing up.
Once the dispatcher gets there, we get our paperwork and go look again. Dispatch has been doing this for close to 20 years and if they say a bus is ready it is, somewhere.
Turns out it is a white bus, no markings on the outside. No 'do not enter' sign like other buses and a swinging door that makes it look like it is not done. But the bus number on the inside matched, as did the VIN and the large rule of something was labeled 'Medford.'
I call for my OR permit right away. The permit company is open for another hour plus but OR is not.
This is not the usual trip. Usually I head to the rental car place to pick up BB. This time BB follows me out of the lot.
I have put my license plate in the front window because last time I crossed the OR scale someone walked out to the bus to look at my plate that was mounded where it should be, before they would let me cross the scale.
But the tape came off my plate and the plate fell before I got to the toll booth. And all booths are non-manned since covid.
Then I had to cross a CA weight scale without a plate. But they didn't stop me. That is the only scale I know of in CA that has a sign saying 'All buses must weight.' Even the scale on the other side of the freeway does not have that sign.
9th and final stop was the Quality Inn in Vacaville. Large truck parking is on the street. I back in where I have parked before and BB points to the sign that says 'anything blocking this gate will be towed.' So I go into the office and ask where I can park. This location has camera's all over that rotate on a screen in the office. We had to watch for the correct screen to talk about where I could park.
Once I am parked I check in, then BB who was still driving drives around the hotel a couple of times looking for our room. It is getting late.
We haven't eaten since the call so after 8 PM local we head to McD's. It is the closest food. As usual I pay with my credit card. But somehow when I bring my card back into the car, I get something with it and it goes flying. I'm in the drive thru so I have to keep moving but BB is looking. After we get our food we are both looking. Finally once we are parked back at the hotel, I am able to find it. It is between the seat and the center counsel on edge.
Load board
US - 373
IA - 102 - 100
MN - 9
WI - 14