1 Tree truck to Menomonee Falls WI (Delivered)

... spending the night at Waukesha WI

BB is up at 4:30 ??? I get up when the alarm goes off at 6 AM.

Good breakfast but this AM it is grab and go for me. This place has the yogurt where the only label is on the top and hard to read. At first it looked like it was all peach but I finally found two raspberry and grabbed them for later.

I could have gotten going even earlier, it is already starting to get light. While I am inspecting I pour in the anti-gel that I should have dumped in last night. The truck did start and no frost on the windows yet. Computer says it is snowing but not here yet.

DRIVERS, lack of common courtesy. All of these are from today.

1) There is a stall on the right shoulder so I move over. Most times when I move over I only move over half a lane to stop people from passing between me and the stall. That is what I did this time, but someone still tried to cut between me and the stall, in the half a lane. So I just came back over into the right lane and they stayed right with me until they were completely on the shoulder. They drove there for a bit and then dropped behind me and then passed me. There was no traffic in the left, 3rd lane, so they could have passed me on that side.

2) In Louisville there was only a short notice of which lane I had to be in when the freeway split, I was in the right lane and needed to be in the center lane. There was a truck in that lane so I turned on my signal to get over. At 55 mph the next truck should have been <> 5 truck lengths behind. Nope. He was about a half a truck length behind the first and would not let me over. So I had to slam on my breaks or take the other freeway. I hit the breaks.

3) Next time it was a stalled Greyhound on the shoulder, mostly on the shoulder partly into the right lane. This time I get all the way into the center lane so the trucks behind me can see why I got over. And one of them cuts between me and the bus ... but to get past the bus the truck has to be partly into my lane.

4) I can see cars ahead of me exiting my lane to get around a slow moving truck. I miss guess the speed of the truck and when I try to move over a lane the car in the next lane stays right at my tail. As I come over, they move over enough not to hit me but they will not back off to let me in. It is their lane so I pull back in my lane and hit the breaks. Kind of hard this time as this truck is almost stopped. In this case I was able to pass the truck on the right because there was a merge lane right there.

(if I remember the others from today later they will be added)

1st stop was the rest area in Henryville. BB left the hotel a half hour later and still got there before I did. And today I didn't get lost.

2nd stop was in Lebanon at the Flying J for fuel and pizza off the shelf to eat as I drove. I didn't get lost today but BB missed a turn coming into Indy and had to double back. When I get the the Flying J the trucks look like they are backed up three to a lane. So I call BB to see how much I will be saving with our fuel discount or if I should just fuel somewhere else. As I am on the phone a lane opens and I'm fueling. Not sure what the back up on the other pumps was.

From here I called the drop. They have Covid so I can just drop the truck in their driveway and leave. Anytime.

3rd stop was supposed to be the rest area but I noticed early on that the signs were showing 'X' for the truck spots open so I was wondering what that meant. It meant the rest area was closed.

So 3rd stop was at the Flying J in Hebron at the next exit. When I get there I get a text that BB is already at the same station.

Chicago. The 'safe' speed in Chicago construction zone is 10 mph OVER the posted. I was doing less than that, but still over the speed limit and I passed two vehicles in 30 miles of road construction. It was a casket truck followed by someone who couldn't get past him, yet. I guess that driver was no more interested in getting to someone else's funeral than he would be to get to his ...

The average speed seemed to be 20 - 30 mph OVER the posted.

No major slow downs.

I had my I-pass in my window but so far the tolls have not shown up. We have to submit them with our paperwork or we will not get paid even if we submit them later. My truck has the long over hang on top because of the lift bucket so the toll readers haven't ever seen my I-pass, but I keep trying.

I get the bypass on my final scale. There have been three weigh scales a day open and it was only at the first one that I had to weigh. Other than that I would either get the bypass message on the highway or get the first arrow to take the bypass once I had exited the freeway. I'm always glad to get the bypass but this time I am also wondering about how the tires are loaded on my truck. They are not centered which may have meant I was over width. The two tie down straps they used stayed tight. But there was something rubbing on one of them and it started cutting into it so I had to use tape to tie it away from the strap.

4th stop is at the Kwik Trip in Pleasant Prairie for fuel. I'm guessing I will need another 10 gallons. It is cold here. This was one of our two hour breaks so I fueled here instead of waiting until closer to the drop.

I have written down the final turns to my drop but once I get off the freeway it is dark and I can not see any street signs. So after a couple of miles I pull into a parking lot and talk to BB. We still have one more traffic light before we turn.

5th stop, the drop, his house. I call when I am in the yard to make sure I have the right place. I do.

... but when I try to take my placards off the tape won't come off. BB tried to help me but we finally just left some of the tape on the truck. Painters tape. No more, we will use something else.

6th stop is the drive thru at Culvers, BB is hungry. Too hungry to wait to get food from the two nicer places next door to the hotel.

7th and final stop. The Comfort Inn in Waukesha. When we walk in there is a customer on their phone. They tell us they have been waiting an hour for someone to come to the desk and have been on the phone with Choice customer service trying to reach someone.

That isn't working. So I try something else. I see on the wall who owns the hotel. I Google that name, nothing the first time. But I keep trying. Finally I see a unique name, so I Google the persons name. I get LinkedIn but that is of no help so I Google the name for a phone number. Bingo.

I call the number and ask if I have the right name. I do. Then I ask if they are associated with this hotel. Their tone chances completely. Like ... who are you and how did you get my home number ...

He does ask who I am, I give my first name and tell him that there is no desk staff at this location and others have been here an hour waiting. He says he'll handle it and hangs up.

By the time I can tell the others waiting what just happened on the phone the desk staff walks in ... 'can I help you?' The person who has been waiting is not happy, another person in their party is at the hotel next door getting ready to check in there because they were tired of waiting. This person wants answers and details. We had only been there a few minutes, eating our Culvers so no big deal for us.

... when I do get waited on, yes, the person I had called called the person at the desk on their cell phone. Seems the hotel phone had a dead battery so they could not hear when someone was calling the desk ... but why be gone from the front desk for an HOUR during major check in time. It still doesn't add up.

Once we are unloading our stuff from the car into the hotel I see something that doesn't look right. I have a pouch that I carry some paperwork in, this one is the same style but a different size. In the dark I grabbed paperwork from the truck that is not mine. I will need to return it to the customer before we leave town tomorrow. Time lost, but it could be worse.

Load board

US - 318

IA - 71/65

We have no plans for the weekend yet. We still have a rental car and I still want to get to the dentist before leaving town. AND the person living with us who didn't test positive for Covid on Monday but her two friends did ... now has a temp of 100+. So Covid or no, we don't want to head home.

LOG

6:30 - Inspection and leave Holiday Inn in Horse Cave KY

8:45 - Henryville IN - break

11:00 - Lebanon IN - Flying J - fuel and shelf food

1:30 - Hebron IN - break

4:00 - Pleasant Prairie WI - fuel

5:00 - Menomonie Falls WI - drop at customers house

5:30 - Waukesha WI - Culver's

6:15 - Waukesha WI - Comfort Inn