1 Bus to Salt Lake City UT
... spending the night at Wendover UT
will deliver in the AM and head back to CA.
Up before the alarm. Lots of food for breakfast but it was going fast. A lot of construction crews here and they pile it on.
The semi that was in our spot last night was blocked in this AM, but he had left enough room to get out. Drivers have to park that way or you may be stuck for a while.
Before breakfast I call for my NV permit, that is the only one that does not need to be printed so just so it is on my phone by the time we get to the border.
1st stop - We had talked about stopping at Gold Run because it has a bigger parking lot but I remembered that as I past it. So we stop at the Donners Pass rest area. The parking lot for the ski slopes were full on Saturday when we past, today they are almost empty and the hills are no longer covered in snow. It is somewhere between a heavy fog and a light mist today.
Today we are still four miles from the border when the permit becomes effective. We are timing this pretty close.
When we get to the first NV inspection station it is open. 8 inspectors lined up in their vehicles and not a single truck pulled over to inspect. Fine with me.
2nd stop is the Flying J in Fernley for fuel. This bus has no fuel gauge and I haven't 'stuck the tank' often enough to know what it would mean so we guess. I settle on 30 gallons. This is the cheapest fuel we pass this trip. All fuel islands are being used when we get there with other trucks waiting. When we leave, two islands are open and no waiting. Just timing.
3rd stop is in Winnemucca at the Loves / Carl's Jr. Too much food but better than another Subway or McD's.
Sometime before or after lunch BB looks at the weather. SNOW. One area of WY will be getting slow from tomorrow through Friday. Roads may close. We re-think going back to CA. That is the topic with all the pro's and con's for the next couple of hours. Snow forward, snow backward. Even if we bypass WY and go via MT we will hit snow by MN.
4th stop is in Elko at the truckstop. We had talked about shutting down here, but the Comfort Inn has real tight S turns and this is a 40 foot bus. We will push on to Wendover even tho it will be after dark when we get there.
We have decided. We are heading back to CA. So I call dispatch to let them know. We have also done the math and IF we can get out of SLC early enough tomorrow, we may head back via Las Vegas. It is less than three hours further and we don't have to deal with Donners Pass. But that route will also have snow if we don't get out of town in good time.
Otherwise we just sit and wait and Friday the roads and the skies will be clear.
I also call the drop again and this time they answer. Now I know where and how to get into the drop.
5th and final stop is the Quality Inn in Wendover. Half the price of the last few nights but not nearly as nice a hotel. But never an issue for us. Other than turning around my 40 foot bus in one row of car parking spots. It just takes a few tries but it can be done.
No food trucks tonight so we go to the Mexican place down the street. Today we see the sign that says open 24 hours. It is next to a AmBest truck stop and the casino. It was still busy when we were there. All walk ins, no one at the drive thru.
Load board
US - 297
IA - 128/126
MN - 1
WI - 4
Two hours to SLC, fuel and DEF first in Tooele at the Flying J. 2nd cheapest fuel in the area. Then drop BB at the airport. I have looked, the Greyhound picks up there so I should be able to get in and out. Then to the bus wash which is right across the street from another Flying J. BB will meet me there and move our luggage from the bus.
Then it is straight down the street to the bus garage ... then back to CA.