1 bus to Milwaukee WI (delivered)

... spending the night at home

Up at 6:30, rolling by 7:30. BB stayed in the hotel for now so only one of us had to be getting ready.

Breakfast, eggs, sausage and yogurt.

After we had gotten our breakfast and were walking down the hall, we met a mom with four kids all under six. They were heading to get their breakfast and were all still in their jammies. When was leaving less than a half hour later, they were ahead of me walking to the door, all dressed and ready to go. That was me then, now it takes just me a half hour to eat and get ready to go ...

On the end of the hotel where I parted, there were room for <> 40 cars. When we got there, no one was there, when I left, there was one other straight truck parked in one corner. Lots of room.

1st stop is the Pilot in Franksville for fuel and DEF. Four fuel islands are empty so I know I have time to swing around and come in backwards. I managed to park so that neither the DEF or the fuel hose will reach. I fuel first, 90 gallons so the gauge was close to accurate showing 1/4 this AM. Company is paying the final fuel on this trip so I could have run down a little lower but that station had the cheapest fuel and 1/4 isn't bad without the prior tailwind the last two days.

By the time I was done, trucks had parked crossways enough that I could not drive out. The other islands all had 1 or 2 trucks waiting for them but they don't know how to make a row. When I walked in to get my receipt, I saw that no was as at the closest pump because of how the trucks were parked no one knew could get to it and the one driver who could was NA.

Next stop was across the street at the truck wash. As I got closer I could see 2-3 trucks in line, and then that there were three truck bays but only one had a line. Must be short of help.

But when I finally turned in, I could see the signs and the trucks were all in line for the washout bay. Where they are washing in the inside of the trailer instead of the outside. Some locations have a line just for that as it usually only takes a fraction of the time to do that wash. So today I was able to drive right into an empty bay. All three were open, there was just no line.

As soon as I was parked I followed the lead person inside to pay. I paid and then waited less than two minutes for them to finish rinsing and I was done. Someone else was driving in as I was driving out but still no line. New trucks were now waiting for the washout bay and there was still a line. They will not use the washout bay for washing the outside of trucks, I am not sure if they will let washout trucks use the other bays if they are empty or not. Not today when I got there anyway.

I-94 west - I-43 south - I-41 north.

I ended up getting on the wrong exit but luckily it was one of those long bypasses that allows traffic back on at the other end so no time was lost. Just me.

It was about 20 miles from the wash to the drop and even at the tail end of rush hour we were doing close to the posted going right through down town MLW. If you know when to look, you can see Lake Michigan from the top of the bridge between the buildings.

I had looked a the exit numbers for today so I knew where to exit. From there it was easy.

2nd stop was the drop in MLW. When I got there I pulled to the west side where we used to park them, next to the crashed buses. Today there was one with half the front window missing and one with the whole front window missing. But I was on the wrong side so I had to park on the east side.

At first I thought my contact meant that I was to park in FRONT of door 17 or 19. But once I swung in I could see that there actually was enough room to park between door 17 and 19, if you were exactly straight and exactly centered.

By the time I was done parking someone had walked out and was waiting for me to open the door. Here, today anyway, they just walked around once and walked inside to the back once and were ready to go inside and sign. They had seen me pull it, this location was not tracking me.

I asked and they have a total of a dozen coming over the next two weeks (that's what they think) I do not plan on getting back out there until after Thanksgiving so if they are delivered as planned I will not get a second one, this year. More coming next year.

In and out in 15 minutes.

There is one pickup in Hill City MN but we pass for now and it is gone before the next update. No trips that work for us coming out of the area of WI. We are heading home.

3rd stop is the rest area near Johnson City. I answer some messages while BB uses the restroom. BB has been also answering my messages and answering the phone and putting it on speaker. Busy morning in my non-work life.

4th stop is Tomah for lunch. We have delivered so we get a treat. :) We each get a treat and split a sandwich. It is close to 30 degrees so my leftovers from last night will still be good when we get home.

Opps.

5th stop is in Black River Falls at the Flying J for fuel with less than a 20 mile range. We had forgotten to fill in Tomah so we have an extra stop. And my perks card did not give me my discount today.

6th and final stop is home.

I quickly unpack so BB can do laundry and I am gone doing family things. First one, then another and it is about 8:30 before I have a chance to sit down and look at the computer or my paperwork.

We had sent in the paperwork from the drop and I was paid within the hour. Cpm has gone up. We would have set a new daily income record if we hadn't had to stay out an extra three days because of the weekends. Good money. Less than two weeks on the road and we have met our goal for the month.

Load board

US - 215

IA - 57/55

MN - 8

WI - 8

Change of plans, we now DO plan taking a road trip over the weekend we are just not sure where yet. We will be back before Thanksgiving so likely NC/SC if there is work.

And we are still talking about the after Thanksgiving trip. Last year BB said no more I-80 in the winter, now we are deciding when winter starts. The roads are not bad yet but the winds have been terrible this year anywhere west except the SW and there haven't been any trips that take that route.

But it sure would be nice to get another trip back to MLW ...