2 RV's heading to Greer SC

... spending the night at Columbus IN

Breakfast, we both had breakfast this AM. Eggs ... plus I had sausage and juice.

We pull out at 7:30 - It is just us and the other semi that was having issues backing in last night.

Yesterday I wasn't able to use the cruise control at all. The wind caught me before I got on the freeway before Floyd and after Floyd I was not even up to cruising speed when the wind got me. On these Ford's the unit has to be shut off before the computer will reset.

Today I was able to get the <> 100 miles from Cedar Rapids to Davenport using the cruise ... and then wind finally caught me as I went across the freeway bridge to our stop.

1st stop was the Loves in Davenport. Both of us fueled there. My RV is so long that I have to full at the back pump of the island or my RV will be sticking out and blocking traffic.

I do not remember how far I got using the cruise on the next legs of the trip today but it wasn't far. No cruise, both hands and white knuckle driving most of the day. I went over the white line a few times today, luckily no one was there when I did. Most of the day BB just had her cruise set and her radar would keep her far enough back from me.

2nd stop was the Steak and Shake in Morton. No snow today, I think the last time we saw snow was in Cedar Rapids this morning. Last trip this way was just after a huge storm so there was snow and rigs everywhere. The snow and rigs are both gone now. Still lots of debris on the shoulders. We were at Steak and Shake shortly after 11 so there was only one other couple eating when we got there and just before we left a few more came in but mostly we had the place to ourselves.

I missed this, but BB said there was a pickup that pulled in between us at some point ... with the sheriff right on it's tail.

We hadn't looked at this before tonight, but we were just a couple of hours ahead of the one of the convoys crossing the country. We left our next stop about an hour and a half before about 700 ... 700 were planned to arrive to stop and eat at the Pilot. I read that a local group planned on having about 2,500 hot dogs ready to feed the truckers. (We'll check later to see if anyone has closer numbers after the fact)

3rd stop was the Loves in Oakwood. We did see signs on the overpass, a few flags on vehicles, 'no parking' signs were posted along the streets and as we were leaving we did notice that a portion of the Pilot was blocked off with stands, at the time we didn't know what.

(We also were ahead of the tornado warnings for IA)

4th stop was for me to fuel in Whiteland at the Pilot. I still haven't figured out what kind of mileage I am getting. When I start the RV it looks like I should be getting about 700 miles on a full tank (350 on a half, etc) But by 50 miles down the road it adjusts down to about 6 mpg. Tonight at the hotel I have a range of 300+ with almost 500 miles to go tomorrow. I will have to add more, later.

It is not even 4 PM but as we look for where to stop we decide ... now. We had planned on going another two hours and shut down closer to dark. But we have been fighting the wind all day, it has been a long day. So we make a reservation at a hotel a half hour away, it is cheaper than those that are 10 minutes away.

5th and final stop is the Sleep Inn in Columbus. It has a nice sized extra lot at the end of it where we fit. There is also lots of room on the other end of the building but we would have to go past/under the entry to get to it.

As soon as we check in, we order McAllister's from a couple of blocks away. Earlier when we were looking all we saw was IHOP, Culvers and McD's. So we knew we did not need to stop for food. No cookies from McAllister's today, we have brought our own Girl Scout cookies with.

Our company has shut down our FaceBook page so we can not post. On the one hand I would like to start my own, I have thought about it long before this. But on the other hand I do not want to moderate any group again. I did it for a number of years, pre FaceBook.

Load board

US - 504

IA - 304/297

The best looking trip after we drop is a chipper with a trailer for me going to AR and a pickup for BB coming out of a different location going to OKC. Doing the two of them together would add about 20 miles to my trip and six miles to BB's trips so they are right on the way. But I am not a big fan of the trailers and doing this would end us up on OK not back in the midwest. We do want to keep moving the RV's but we also need to follow the money for us.

And if we end up in OKC that doesn't leave us much time to do another RV trip before the March 15. That is <> the date I gave the other company as when I would start working for them for a couple of weeks. I can move that, some, but they are counting on it.

As I am sitting here typing this it feels more like 8:30 than 6:30. It's a good thing we got off the road when we did.

LOG

7:30 - Cedar Rapids IA - Comfort Inn - leave

9:00 - Davenport IA - Loves - fuel

11:15 - Morton IL - Steak n Shake

1:15 - Oakwood IL - Loves - fuel

3:30 - Whitewood IN - Pilot - fuel

4:30 - Columbus IN - Sleep Inn

5:00 - Columbus IN - McAllister's