1 pickup to Shakopee MN (delivered)

1 RV to St Cloud MN

... spending the night at Owatonna MN

By this AM we had decided to do another RV trip once I dropped the pickup and we decided to wait to leave until 8 AM so we could make that call before we got on the road.

Breakfast was scrambled eggs with cheese and ham mixed in. Plus some good cherry yogurt.

We are out of the hotel and in our vehicles by 8 AM. BB is the first call of the AM so she gets the St Cloud trip, then they ask if I want the Bemidji trip. No, not today.

We have done the math and we would run into Thursday if we were going to do that ... and then take a pickup back to Shakopee. But it would be good money.

I still gain range for a while but then it starts to drop. So I know that I will need to stop somewhere for fuel.

Not too many changes on WI-29. I used to run this a lot when we had a shipper in Medford, just north of Abbotsford.

1st stop - Menomonie Loves. By Menomonie the low fuel light had come on so I decide to stop at Loves and add fuel. I have about 100 miles to go and when I look at the current, I am making 25+ mpg. Screen still says 9.something. So I add four more gallons.

Less than twenty miles down the road I realize I am slowing. We are in a construction but I am able to coast to the shoulder. I didn't realize right away that the engine had stopped, lanes are narrower so I was watching the road. And I didn't think of putting it in neutral. I manage to get to the side of the road at an entrance ramp so I was a little further out of the travel lanes. I might have been able to get further off but again, I wasn't thinking fast.

Dead. I put it in park, turn the key off and then on again. Nothing. No sounds, nothing. My first call is to BB to get her stopped. I call and call again. She has her phone turned off again.

Mental telepathy meaning or something, same as yesterday. After I call a few times, she answers. She realized that she had left her sound shut off again ... as I am calling.

She is ahead of me so she will come back.

Next call is to dispatch, then a call back for the owner of these pickups. They have them all on GPS tracking so they know where I am and that I am stopped. But they still need to like up the closest person to come and fix or tow it. As we are talking they tell me that another truck they own is just passing me in the other direction. We ARE being watched.

After the first couple of tries to re-start the pickup, I have been trying to restart it about every 10 minutes and trying not to touch it between times.

I try again ... it starts. Just then BB calls so I tell her I am moving and for her to follow.

I pull back into traffic and drive to the next exit and stop. I call the shop so they do not send anyone. They wouldn't have. They could see that I was moving and have now stopped again. They give me the OK to keep driving if I am willing. I am.

So I guess that was my second stop of the day.

Third stop - the drop. I now know the routine. What to get signed, where to park, what to do.

... dispatch calls just as I put the pickup in park. 'How are things and has anyone been there yet?' So I explain that I made it to the drop without getting fixed. Then dispatch asks if I want to do another trip from Tow Rivers? This one is going to IN. Nope, not me.

4th stop is Honey Baked Ham in Burnsville for lunch to go.

5th stop is the next shipper in Forest City. This trip is BB's so she does her thing while I make phone calls. I have to leave messages, just like they have done twice to me today. With two of us inspecting it goes quickly.

Before we leave, we make reservations in Owatonna. If all had gone well, we could have made it north of the cities tonight. But again ...

6th stop - for me, is the Fleet Farm in Owatonna. Gas is $2.99, the cheapest we have seen anywhere. I come in with a range of 8 miles. (but I did not have to walk)

Final stop is the Comfort Inn in Owatonna. BB is already there, she doesn't need to fuel. Todays RV came with almost a half a tank of fuel, more than enough to get it to the drop. Usually the shipper charges us for fuel if it is much over 1/4 but she looked through all the paperwork and it looks like it is free fuel.

When we check in the offer us an upgrade but we pass tonight.

Once checked in we call to El Loro Mexican place. The food will be ready in 10 minutes. By the time we walk over the food is ready. I thought the building behind us was a Holiday Inn, it is now a Motel 6 with a restaurant. Hmmm

Load board

US - 229

IA - 60/54

MN - 5

WI - 10

Tomorrow we will head to St Cloud. I will go out of route and pick up some medical supplies needed for next week as BB goes head to the drop.

After that we will watch the load board and if anything really short shows up we might take it. Otherwise we will be heading home. We have made more in four days than we average most weeks. And we still have Friday that we may work of anything looks good.