1 RV to Ramsey MN (delivered)

1 pickup to Shakopee MN (delivered)

... spending the night at home

Dreams :)

I dreamt someone was after me and then grabbed me, I tried to push them away but they were solid ... solid as ... my headboard. I woke up and was pushing on my headboard.

Breakfast, it is not a Sleep or Comfort Inn. Breakfast was OK. Juice? I filled two cups with passion juice, then tasted one as I was standing there waiting for BB. Yuk, almost a soap taste, none of the passion flavor. So I poured one out and did my mix of apple and OJ. But I could see instead of OJ it was just clear water going in my cup. Eggs and sausage were not great either. If I had seen any yogurt that I wanted, I would have gotten that instead.

By 7:30 we are ready to pull out. A pilot car driver was parked next to us and we talked to them briefly. We both kind of do the same nomad kind of thing only they usually don't go as far.

Google said last night it should take 50 minutes to get to my drop. At the heart of rush hour it took 57 minutes, so not bad.

Today we were going slow enough that I was watching the EZ-Pass lane and the number of cars that get the blue light vs the cars that get the yellow light.

My low fuel light finally comes on about 10 miles from my drop, so I still had a 30-40 mile range when I got to the gas station. That is about where I like it.

1st stop - is the Holiday in Anoka for final, dealer paid fuel. $20

2nd stop - is in Ramsey at the drop less than two miles away. I am there a few minutes before when they want us so I get most of my stuff taken care of before bringing the paperwork inside.

Not sure why here, today, but two different sales people made jokes about there being dents in my RV, the one hadn't even seen the RV ???

BB thought she overheard them say this one was already sold. As we were standing in the parking lot, we could only see four motor homes, all the rest were travel trailers. And one of those four was the one that BB brought in on Monday.

No (REAL) driver damage and we are in and out in 30 minutes. Monday it took an hour and then we went back to the hotel to try and print our BL for the 2nd leg. So today we are an hour ahead of Monday.

3rd stop - Culvers in Brainerd. As we drive in we see the lobby is closed, drive through only. So we pull around to the drive thru. But as soon as it moves

... Firehouse Subs in Brainerd. The line was taking forever and we hadn't stopped for over two hours. Time for a restroom and the Firehouse was in the next parking lot.

They did have a bathroom and there were only a couple of people ahead of us. Not sure how they were doing their orders as it took 30 minutes for us to get our food and by then their may have been two dozen people in line behind us.

Great food but ...

After making a mess of my shirt yesterday, I put on one of my jackets backward to keep from spilling ... on my shirt. But I still made a mess, all over my jacket, my pants and the seat. So great food, just not great for eating and driving.

One more hour to go.

4th stop is at the pickup location in Backus. I had called my contact before we left Ramsey this AM and he wanted to be there when I picked up as their company had a BL for me to sign. So I call when I get there. My contact is now in Park Rapids, 45 minutes away. So he tells me to just grab and go. I ask about my paperwork, just leave it in the office.

Not much for numbers on these trucks so we had to open the doors of all the Ford 350's and check the VINs. We found it. Good news, it is almost full of fuel. Not as good news. It is blocked in both front and back. But all the trucks have the keys in them so not a major issue.

As I am doing my inspection I find that one of the side compartments is full of stuff, and there is stuff under the seats. So I pull around to the shop. The guy wants nothing to do with signing anything but is very interested in anything left in the truck. Lots of choice words for his former co-workers. This place is already 'closed,' as in the job is done and they are just cleaning up. I didn't ask but my guess is in a couple of weeks this place will look like Hill City. Empty.

BB stops once on US-169 at a rest area, I don't.

5th stop - The rest area near Hasty on I-94. Not sure how, but BB caught up to me. And nowhere today is the speed limit over 65 mph (other than a couple of miles between road constructions) BB calls me at the rest area, she has just pulled in and I was just pulling out.

Todays ??? driver award goes to ...

There is a place on I-494 where the entrance ramp has it's own lane for over a quarter of a mile to the next exit ramp. Someone comes down the ramp and stays right beside me. At one point they are slightly ahead of me and I do not see any blinkers. When they get to the exit ramp they lay on their horn, ??? expecting me to get over? Last time I was on this highway a person also came down the same ramp ... and exited at the next one. I'm guessing their break or accelerator would have worked so they could have gotten in front or behind me in less than a quarter mile.

Runner up would be the guy who hit the gravel shoulder in road construction. A mile later he is straddling the white line so no one can pass. When we clear the road construction, I do pass him. He is texting with both hands. NO hands on the wheel.

... and the driver that was following so close that I thought they were being towed. At about 40 mph someone was about three feet off the bumper of the person ahead of them. And all traffic was going 40 mph so there was nowhere else to go if they did get past.

And coming back from Hill City a couple of days ago. Someone was taking a left turn off of Hwy 169 and there was a 'bypass lane.' Except when they stopped they swung wide so their right tires were in the next lane. I was the first person behind them and saw the bypass lane but didn't realize they were going to swing wind. So I actually drove out in the gravel to get around them. As I did, they pulled ahead into their own lane. All the cars behind me used the bypass and the couple of oncoming trucks they were waiting for cleared, and as far as I could see that car was still sitting stopped in the traffic lane.

6th stop - the auction house in Shakopee. When I pull up, I see truck headlights so I figure a truck is leaving so I sit back. Then I realize it is being towed, backwards. So I pull ahead, leaving room for any cross traffic. Cross traffic does come, but pulls in line ahead of me blocking the opening I had left.

I throw my hands up in the air. The driver sees me and realized what the did, so they back up. 1st time there has been a line.

Third time here so I know, or should know, the routine.

After I park I realize I forgot to have them sign my paperwork, so I have to do that as I am walking out. And I ask what hours they are open. They are open until 10 PM 7 days a week. Hmmm :)

Earlier we were not sure if we would want to run again tomorrow so we didn't call before we left the hotel, or from the 1st drop, or from lunch or the pickup location. Now the trip out of IA is gone and it is too late to get work from the East coast dispatcher. So we are going home.

7th stop is the Honey Baked Ham in Burnsville :) One for tonight, one for later.

8th and final stop is home.

Load board

US - 159

IA - 50/47

MN - 3

WI - 9

We haven't done exact math, but it seems that it may pay about as well to do just an RV trip or just and auction trip as to try and tie the two together.

Earlier today there had been a IA to Brainerd trip and a Hill City to Shakopee trip but we didn't jump on it and then it was gone.

We will see what tomorrow brings.

These short trips wouldn't pay if we were using rental cars and paying for hotels, but as we are doing them ... we have made as much in four days as we usually do on a good week working seven days. And about five other trips that we didn't grab soon enough could have made those numbers even better.