2 RV's heading to Greer SC (delivered)
... spending the night at Durham NC
Pretty skimpy breakfast for a Comfort Inn. Yogurt and juice for both of us.
We head out at 7 AM (8 local.)
1st stop is the Spinx for fuel. Once we fuel, BB parks her RV and gets in and rides with me.
Then next 'stop' is the airport to drop off BB. I had looked online to make sure my RV was not too big, it hadn't looked like it online. There were two other routes to get out of there, one was full of maintenance trucks and the 2nd was coned off. But no issue, the cover over the walkway at the airport was higher than the canopies at the fuel stops.
2nd stop was the drop. It is only 8:30 and they do not start taking deliveries until 9 AM. One driver ahead of me and one unattended travel home. I walk over to the other RV and ask if they have contacted the office yet ... it turns out I was asking the inspector. He started early this AM :)
It was taking the inspector about 30 minutes an RV so he was still working on the first one when BB got there. She had been delayed at the rental car place.
As soon as they started inspecting mine, I walked back to the Spinx to pick up the rental car where BB had left it. It's hard at first not to walk too fast and later it is hard just to walk. We haven't walked on a regular basis since sometime last fall.
No driver issues on either unit. The inspector had already signed my paperwork when I remembered that I had the 2nd set of keys in my pocket (Opps)
Nothing new on the load board. We decided to head to Shelby to get an hour behind us before lunch.
I'm watching closely for my exit but then think about something else for a minute and miss my exit. So we take the next exit, it likely added a mile or so to the trip.
3rd stop is the Firehouse Subs in Shelby. Good food. I get the Steak and Cheese plus potato soup. Too much food. Last time I got just the small and it was not enough, but the medium plus soup was too much.
While we are eating, dispatch adds two pickups going to AR. I want to call but BB wants to check cars first. Kayak says Avis has cars, Avis says no. Then Kayak also says no. Then yes. It's not a good feeling when only one agent has cars in a large city.
And the math does not work. When we drop in AR we still have two days to get home. Two days rental car, three nights hotel and we are likely to clear $100 for two people, each doing four days work. We d not call.
Nothing else is added so we decide to head to Creedmore. Usually Creedmoor is added in the AM and Shelby in the PM, but no Creedmore yet.
4th stop is at the rest area near Concord. This time BB wanted a rest area one mile before the rest area instead of one mile after.
5th stop was the Comfort Inn in Durham. We sit in the car for a while before making a reservation. It gets to the point where this is as far back as we will get if we still pick up a truck today.
We don't.
We check in and keep checking the load board until 5 PM local. No Creedmoor trips today. Rare, but not unheard of. We need to have this car returned by 8:30 (local) tomorrow. So now we are going to have a 2nd day of rental car on this end.
There aren't any good trips on the load board. There are still the two AR pickups. The AR/OK trip we were looking at yesterday were both gone early this AM.
The best one is a non-CDL going back to WI. But there is no where close to drop a rental car and we have to take the back roads through the mountains where the freeways are 50 mph because of the curves.
There is a truck going to OH but there is not a place to pick up a rental car for 100 miles and then it is still two days home.
Temps were holding at 79 degrees for quite a while today. I didn't look, but I am guessing at home it was closer to the freezing mark.
6th stop is the Pomodoro Italian Kitchen across the street. We order online and split a lasagna. Last time we each had our own, plus a piece of carrot cake. BB did not feel well on the walk home that time.
This time to get there we used the cross walk. The timer gives you 8 seconds to cross six lanes of traffic plus the median. We made it to the median. On the way back we j-walked. Because of the location of the lights it is just a matter of waiting a few minutes.
Food was good, more than enough.
We are not able to turn in our paperwork for this trip yet because we are waiting for our tolls from Louisville to show up so they can be submitted at the same time.
We really do not have a plan for tomorrow. Other than wait for something better. Taking the trips that are listed now do not pay, neither does heading back empty. Now, not only will be have the two days home but we also will have two days rental before leaving.
Load board
US - 526
IA - 320/315
LOG
7:00 - Greenville SC - Comfort Inn - leave hotel
7:15 - Greer SC - Spinx - fuel
7:30 - GSP Airport - pick up car
7:30 - Greer SC - arrive at drop
9:00 - Greer SC - leave drop
11:00 - Shelby NC - Firehouse Subs
2:30 - Concord NC - rest area
4:30 - Durham NC - Comfort Inn
5:30 - Durham NC - Pomodoro Italian Kitchen