1 box truck to Sioux Falls SD (delivered)

2 RV's to Boise ID (Saturday)

... spending the night at Albert Lea MN

After breakfast we are ready to roll. 6:45 AM. It is just getting light. I do head out before we are packed to make sure the truck starts this AM. It does. It did hesitate for a fraction of a second ... long enough for my heart to sink ... before firing up. I don't shut it off the rest of the day.

1st stop is just over an hour down the road at Janesville at a Kwik Trip for the restroom.

BB watches trips come and go, but nothing we call on. One trip out of Fort Wayne shows up ... two days too late.

2nd stop is for fuel at the Pilot In Clear Lake. Hadn't thought I would need any more and not sure how much more. I don't like leaving too much and I keep second guessing myself as I am fueling. I should need 20 gallons from here but I still have some in the tank. So I end up putting in about 12 gallons. I can always stop again.

3rd stop is our shippers lot in Forest City to pick up our personal car. The RV's that were in the employee lot are still there. And there seems to be way over the 50 RV's that are listed on the load board. We don't talk to anyone, we just throw our stuff from the truck into the car and go.

4th stop is the Kwik Star/Trip in Blue Earth. It is still early but it is the last 'fast' / shelf food before the freeway. BB stops also. I grab my rib sandwich and eat on the go.

Sign at the SD scale says trucks over 10,000# must weigh and I am under that. But I have a permit and know of people who have had issues here so I cross the scale. I hold up my permit but still get flagged around. By the time I grab what they will want to see and open my door ... they are standing there. That often means they want to see my log book :) before I can change anything.

Not this time. They just walked out so I didn't have to walk in. All they wanted to see was a closer look at my permit. And wish me a good day. Whew ... no comment about my windshield.

5th stop is the drop. I still had my 1/8th of a tank of fuel when I headed past the last fuel station. But it dropped just a hair by the drop. Brand new building. 100 (?) dock doors. I don't see an office so I go inside. The 'office' is a temp fenced in area with a gate for a door.

Only two people in the building and one that seems to know what is going on. This is a drivers truck and they are contractors so he has to call to get permission to sign for the truck. Not sure who I left the message with because the person who's truck it is wasn't expecting the truck for two more weeks.

It is 2 PM and the truck is dropped. Can't send in paperwork yet because we are waiting on the toll amount from the IN toll road.

No work in Sioux Falls so we head east.

Wow. Earlier this week there was 20+ rental trucks just out of MN. Tonight there are five in the whole US.

We keep watching the load board. It is now have of what it was last night. Our first choice had been Boise, ID then Fife, WA. 3rd choice would be MI and fourth would be a single truck from Brooklyn Park to IN. With that one BB could ride with and we could drop our car at our house leaving town.

The Boise RV's and the Brooklyn Park truck disappeared. That makes our choices easier.

I keep hoping IA will add all those RV's that are just sitting there. Finally at 4:30 I call to see if they will be in the office Saturday so we can call in then. Both because I have hopes that they will add more trips after close of day and it will give us 12 more hours to look at the latest weather.

They will be open on Saturday but their will not be any new loads. After I say which ones we want, we are told that everything is on hold until later in the day on Monday. Nothing is leaving.

I rarely take what they say without a comment so I did tell them we will find work, if not with you ... somewhere else. (in a nice way) After telling us we are 'special' and my telling them there is more than one meaning to that word :) ... Finally they put me on hold and then come back and transfer me to the terminal manager.

He knows us well. He explains the situation and we get two trips to Boise. Now we have a plan. AND by leaving tomorrow we should still have enough time to do a bus on a return trip.

6th stop is the rest area near Adrian.

7th stop is the Quality Inn in Albert Lea. This adds about 30 miles to our trip. The shortest route would have been staying in Blue Earth and taking back roads from there. But by morning it will be cold, icy and winding. High wind warnings overnight to night.

This place has an attached restaurant so that is where we eat. Philly with au jus. No soup to my liking so it is fries with tarter sauce. Tonight was all you can eat fish but BB didn't go that route either.

Load board

US - 257

IA - 37/36

MN - 16

WI - 5

IN - 24

Tomorrow - out of the hotel by daylight. Do our inspection in the near -0- weather and then hopefully get to Grand Island by dark. We should be able to deliver by Tuesday and be to either SLC or Livermore by Wednesday.