1 bus to Lake Elmo MN

... spending the night at Crookston MN

Breakfast - eggs, sausage/bacon, hash browns and grape juice. Eggs were instant but everything else was good.

We pulled out at 9 AM for a 10 AM pickup.

It's been two plus years since I have been here and once upon I was up here five/six days a week.

Things in the entry are still in Covid status. All lunch tables are dividing to to 'personal spaces' and there is no longer a place to sit.

My contact just happened to be at the front desk when I walked in so that much went quickly. But with no where to sit and no marked place to stand, it seemed like a long wait until my contact came back and said the bus was ready.

The paperwork went quickly, then they decided to send some 'freight' along with me to drop at their other location. That took a little while longer than it took me to inspect the bus.

20 miles down the road I slow as I enter the first town ... and notice that I have lost my speedometer. Not a major issue but I am still close to the shipper so I stop and call dispatch. I am told to do the usual, turn the battery switch off and wait 5 minutes. I wait 10 and restart. Now I have other issues, one is forgetting to put the bus back in park and that causes other issues. I call dispatch again and they say to turn the battery off a 2nd time and wait again.

As I am walking back to shut the battery off, it clicks that the warning beeping is familiar. I re-check my bus and call dispatch back. Somewhere the 'shut the battery off again' got lost in the conversation and I am told to head back to the shipper. Once I am moving I call the dispatcher back to let them know I am moving without issues. Until I try to move again. it will not move. So I need to over-ride the system and listen to a warning beeper for 20 miles.

About five miles down the road, the speedometer starts working again. But the beeping goes on.

Back at the shipper, they are waiting for me. When the tech comes out to look at the bus the 2nd issue has cleared also. There is no computer record of an issue and no warning lights currently on. After checking a few things, he updates the computer system and sends me on my way.

This time I am watching the dash closely. I make it past Beltrami (the 1st town) and no issues. Because of the delay we have decided to stop in Ada instead of Fergus Falls to eat.

As I slow for Ada I loose my speedometer again. I just park near the Subway and shut off the battery. After eating I call dispatch to find out 'what if,' but they want me try starting the bus now. Same issue as last time. I am heading back to Crookston a 2nd time. And same as last time, the speedometer comes back about five miles out of town but the beeping goes on.

Once I get to the lot, BB calls to tell me that my 4-way flasher quit flashing a few miles back. But they had keep flashing inside the bus.

The 1st person I see this time says 'Welcome back' ... and then 'it's never a good thing to see you on this end of the building.' He did not know I was coming back (now,) he is one of the many employees that I had gotten to know well and hadn't seen for two years.

Shortly they had a tech at my bus with a computer who wanted every detail I could remember. Another driver had had the same issue and he was never able to find the source and sent the driver back on the road. This time he want's to find the why.

3 hours later, dispatch calls and asks if I want to head to the hotel ... I'm guessing they do not want more after hours calls. I agree, I do not want to be on the side of the road after dark just starting to trouble shoot or wait for a tow truck.

By this time the tech is setting up a computer to watch the bus computer and has one of their drivers lined up to drive the bus. I leave them my number but do not hear anything back.

Tonight the hotel in Crookston is cheaper than Grand Forks. They have two rooms left vs one of 'our' hotels in hotel already being sold out. We opt for Crookston even thou the tech had given the name of a good place to eat in Grand Forks. The

As we are bringing our luggage in, someone is carrying in their food, I ask where it is from ... the Irishman's Shanty. When I look it up I see that I have eaten there before, I just didn't remember the name. It is a block from the shipper. So after looking at the menu we head that way.

But on the way we see a food truck. Oof-da Taco's. The used to have a truck in Ada drivers would stop at, then the city changed the rules on food trucks and they pulled out. They also have a booth at our State Fair. We stop here instead. They are making the food as fast as people are giving their orders. Sometimes the food is on the counter before the money changes hands. Good food for a Swede that likes mild food :)

Closer to dark we go for a walk at the closest cemetery. I am looking for two flat stones in cemetery that has 9,000+ graves. We find them, not sure how. At one point I was looking for something on the phone and BB says to look down, we were standing right next to them.

Load board

US - 162

IA - 40

MN - 10

Tomorrow will be Friday, most likely we will be heading back sometime during the day. With or without a bus. Maybe by Friday they will have a different bus ready. They average about four buses a day and I have been the only bus since Wednesday. They are still re-starting after their two week shut down.