1 bus to Milwaukee WI
... spending the night at Ogallala NE
Breakfast ... made to order omelettes. Always good. Today there are two cooks and they are still not keeping up. Full house, not sure everyone stayed here last night. We saw one family walking across the parking lot that came in to eat. If we had been two minutes earlier we would have seen where they were coming from.
Because we had to wait for food, we were running a few minutes later. Actually we wouldn't have had to wait, this place had plenty of food including sausage, bacon and potatoes.
As we are leaving the hotel, I see someone in an RV that we had noticed earlier. So I stop and talk to them, they are from Vancouver, they work for the RV dealership who flies them to the manufacturer to pick them up. The person was polite but as soon as they were done with their paperwork they were ready to go.
That little interruption was enough. I forgot to do a complete pre-trip ... and a few hours later I would remember that I forgot to go back in to check out.
1st stop is Rawlins at the TA for fuel. All pumps were full but I was near where the first one that cleared. Today I am able to get a full tank of fuel with only running a few bubbles over the top.
Nice wind today, teens to twenties. Tail wind, it should help our mileage.
2nd stop is usually Laramie. But we are not hungry so we push on a few more miles to the rest area. There we have a piece of fruit and a cookie each. I had a tangerine and then another ... but the 2nd one lacked flavor so I split it and threw it to the prairie dogs. BB had thrown them an apple core, which they liked but it was too big to carrier. The tangerine slices fit in the mouth and off they go.
When we had stopped here the alarms were going off again ???
While we are stopped I call the drop, they have more questions that usual. I also found out they are not open on Monday so no reason to push it.
Then I call my local dispatcher and said I am NA for the safety meeting but will work M-W the last two weeks of the month. This person says they are busy with trash trucks ... I didn't them them that my other company is offering a bonus for doing back to back out of the same location.
Third call is to the hotel to check out and have them send me a receipt.
Just a few miles after we pull back on the highway, BB tells me one of the escape hatches is flapping in the wind. So I pull off at the next exit and get it re-latched. Actually it was in the open position, not latched. Luckily it was the front hatch, not the rear, it is much easier to get at.
3rd stop was going to be the rest area west of Sidney but it is gone, even the building is gone. But it looks like they are going to re-do it? Maybe? They are also re-doing the road in this section.
Before we get there, I have traveled over 200 miles and the fuel gauge is still on full. (by the time we shut down for the night, we have traveled over 300 miles and it has just barely moved) So it is likely not working.
4th stop ends up being the Loves in Sidney instead.
5th and final stop is the Quality Inn in Ogallala. Opps, as I do my walk around my bus I see a scratch, or a scuff. I may be to the point where I do not back my bus without someone standing back there ... or the scuff could have been there when I picked it up.
Once we are checked in we call to the local Italian place and walk the few blocks to pick up our food. A place we used to eat at, the Urban Farmer, seems to be closed. No cars, no Google location, no Trip Reviews.
Back at the room, BB dumps hers upside down before she is done eating. I offer her some of mine but she has had enough, I should have quit at the same time ... too much Italian. Too much Mexican last night. I did not sleep well, also had very detailed dreams. but wasn't sleepy today.
We got to the hotel with 30 minutes to spare. I am out of hours for the day. Tomorrow I will have enough hours to run 9 hours instead of the 8 hours I have had the last few days.
This AM I saw 5-2 transporters :)
1 - RV
1 - Semi tractor (single)
1 - Stack of semi tractors
1 - Delivery van
1 - boom truck
2 - short buses
This PM I saw 5-2-1-1-1
5 - RV's'
2 - Semi stacks
1 - trash truck
1 - Cement truck
1 - Boom truck
Load board
US - 518
IA - 239/233
It is a holiday weekend, we have made a reservation for tomorrow night in Des Moines. I haven't stayed there with a bus before but it looks bigger than our usual stop ... we will see.
There is an RV going to Milwaukee, we have talked about taking one if there is one. And a rental car home is $70 so that price is right.
Plan is to deliver on Tuesday, we should be able to get home Tuesday night if we head straight home. That leaves W-Th-F to work having an insurance appointment on Saturday followed by a graduation. Then we have S-M to work before we need to be heading to VT for a 'celebration of life.'
Plan is to get RV's heading to VT and then getting a bus from NY back to CGO. BUT ... we have to get one almost right away because we need to be back in MN The following weekend we have a re-union. And then a week later another family event. After that we do have two weeks before a family vacation. So some time to work but not much for long trips after we get home from this one.