1 sleeper tractor Faribault MN
... spending the night at Albert Lea MN
This AM there were still trucks in the hotel parking lot that were there last night when I had to move mine. And there were new trucks taking up more than one spot. My guess is I was parked where someone else wanted to park and they threw a fit. Likely the person who tried to block me in.
Breakfast was the usual.
Once I get my truck inspected I go to check out.
The person at the desk says they can not give me a receipt because it is '3rd party billing.' I explain that we have not had an issue in the last six years ... they will not budge. I just say I will deal with it later and walk away.
Once out of the hotel I get a call from BB, she is wanting to know if I have checked out yet. I have a warning light on my truck. Too late.
It is a low coolant light. The coolant has dropped below the 'min' line. My first thought is the truckstop, but then I remember that WalMart carries a lot of these items for a lot less. And we are about two blocks from a WalMart.
After driving through the McDonalds parking lot, thanks to Siri, and some tight turns and no truck signs we are at WalMart.
They have more than one kind of coolant that meets the specs. I grab one jug and check out.
There is long list of how to add coolant listed on the tank. I just poured it in. As soon as I have filled it to 'min,' I re-start the truck and the light goes off. One hour lost but all else is good.
... some people. A tractor with a set of pups pulls into the WalMart parking lot. And parks behind the only car in the furthest half of the parking lot. The front of the car is against a light pole, so no way out. Acres of other places to have parked his truck. ???
Our 2nd stop was the rest area near Williamsburg. From there I call the drop. No special insturctions.
3rd stop is the rest area near Holt. Some truck driver is blocking the path is someone was not going to park. Luckily the parking lot is not full, at least not when we were there.
4th stop is for fuel in Osceola. I had hoped to make it further but the low fuel light came on when we came up the exit ramp. The plan had been to fuel in Des Moines where fuel was cheaper. $1 cheaper (total.) While here I also called about my plans for my time off. I will be heading out as soon as we get home tomorrow.
Fuel stop was a Pilot. We also had Subway while we were stopped.
5th stop was at the rest area in Dows. From there we make hotel reservations.
6th (kind of) stop was at Forest City to pick up our personal car. Only about 40 RV's in the employee lot. There was up to 200 last month. BUT ...
... there are also RV's parked where the un-built RV's are usually parked, plus there are Mini-Winnie's on every hard surface in Winnebago Park. Dozens? Hundreds?
Once BB starts the car I head out and she drops off the our last trips paperwork. Other drivers are heading out.
I notice that my mileage is going up at 55 mph, so I keep it at 55 mph until BB catches up. She never does. I had once mentioned taking back roads to lessen our out of route miles. BB took that route, I did not.
After last night I decided I would not park in the hotel lot. There is room to park on the street, at the dead end. I just fit.
7th and final stop is at the Comfort Inn in Albert Lea. As soon as we are checked in we head to the Erbert & Gerbert's.
Load board
US - 694
IA - 268/266
As I was idling my truck my fuel gauge went back up. Before that it was almost in the red and I was ready to fuel first thing in the AM. I may still do that. We have done good on this trip, I do not need to squeeze another $5 out of it.
Tomorrow we will drop within the hour of leaving the hotel. Another two hours and we should be home ... for a week or two.