2 RV's to Bozeman MT

1 pickup to Shakopee (Tuesday)

... spending the night at Bozeman MT

Breakfast ? Denver omelet and sausage and juice. They had a different juice but I tasted it when it didn't look right and it tasted like soapy water. I dumped it.

At 6 AM local I call the east coast auction dispatcher. He is trying to remember what went on last Friday, how many of these trucks he gave away. It looks like there was still one in Watford City so he requests it. A while later the update list comes out. After removing mine, there are still two in Watford City going to Shakopee and two going to Maple Grove, also a burb of our city.

Within the hour he calls back to tell me I got the trip. Six hours later I finally get the paperwork so I can plan and call the shipper. Nice trips but don't wait until the last minute.

By 7 AM we head out the first time. I take my RV and drop BB at the airport. Then I missed my turn, it was listed last on a list of towns (I had to look now :) ) So I ended up on street where I couldn't take a left turn or a U-turn so I just headed into town. I had a general idea of where I was going so no big deal. It added a mile or less and a little slower.

1st 'stop' for me was the Conoco for final fuel in Four Corners. Opps, I overshot it so another $.04 left in the tank. From here it was another few miles to where we were going to stash my RV for an hour while we picked up BB's.

2nd stop was back at the hotel. Still no paperwork for my next trip so we check out and grab BB's RV. My plan had been to drop the rental car at the dealer and then walk to my RV. I remembered that plan when I was about ready to turn into the dealer with my RV.

3rd stop was the drop. By the time I am getting out of my RV, BB is pulling in behind me. I get checked in by the time BB is walking up to the office. BB decides she will walk back and get the rental car while I wait with the RV's. I am still waiting when she gets back.

When someone finally does come out, he apologies. They couldn't find their paperwork for these RV's. Both RV's were already sold (My guess is the salesman had the paperwork ??) Once someone started inspecting it took only about 15 minutes and both were done. Their big issue was on my RV, they couldn't get the key to turn. Every time you shut it off, you had to turn the steering wheel to get it to lock and then try the key again, and again. I knew it was an issue but once I knew that I didn't even think about it when I did it.

Done, and rolling.

When we pull out of the RV dealer we are short about 20 miles range to get to the shipper. I told BB not to worry. She didn't believe the mpg would go up when we were driving 80. It did, instead of being short 20 miles it looked like we would be over 150 miles by the time we fueled. We fueled early because of price. For a little while we were got up to 42 mpg at 80 mph. And this car is a nice ride.

Something new on this car. It lets you know when the car ahead of you has moved. So if you are reading your emails. Beep, Beep.

Now in addition to the signs suggesting you listen to the radio advisory, there are also highway signs suggesting trucks and high profile vehicles exit the freeway. Few do. We are following a little straight truck and he is lisping so much that we don't pass him until we are past the wind area. Should have gotten a picture, it looked like the next gust was going to take him over.

4th stop is back at Columbus, BB had forgotten to use the restroom at the dealer so we didn't make it two hours in the car before stopping. It was close to lunch so McD's it was. Lobby closed. So we had to first go across the street to the truckstop to use the restroom. Then food. McRib's were on sale, but too messy to eat when I'm driving 80 mph.

Big opps, as we are driving through Billings a truck comes down the ramp ahead of us and CRACK. A nice big, old silver dollar sized chip in the window. A half hour down the road and it has over tripled in size. We finally put tape on the window to see if it was still cracking. It is.

5th stop was at the rest area in Hathaway. From there I called the next shipper, they 'pegged the location' for me so I could find it. BB had been looking but she wasn't sure. Good thing as we likely would have ended up a half hour away. Not good when you are already pushing to the max.

I asked if 7 PM tonight or 7 AM tomorrow was better and they said tomorrow. I keep forgetting that this town is in the central time zone. It is going to be both early and dark. I could have called them back when I remembered but didn't think of it until much later.

In the SD, WY and MT we have seen over 100 of the prong deer but no road kill. Today we see our 3rd and 4th bid deer, but have seen dozens of road kill. Maybe the ones where we can't ID what it was are the prong deer, but the ratio is still not the same as the others.

6th stop was Glendive at the Flying J for fuel. We were not on empty yet but fuel was $.25 cheaper here than in ND.

7th and final stop was the Comfort In in Waford City. Down a dirt road. Our food is the next building ... up a four story hill. So we drove. Missouri Grill, to go. Philly was good but needed some au jus. Stuffed. I'm stuffed.

Load board

US - 366

IA - 188/185

MN - 7

WI - 6

Plan is to pick up the next trip at 7 AM and drop in MN around 5 PM. Maybe ??