2 RV's to Boise ID
... spending the night at Grand Island NE
The hotel we stayed at here is both a Quality Inn and an EconoLodge. The beds seem to be from the EconoLodge side. Visually the bed was very sunk in the middle which means we slept in the middle. At one point BB tried not to and bumped her head on the night stand. Not a good nights sleep.
Breakfast was also closer to the EconoLodge standards. I had yogurt and a cup of fruit, mixed fruit. I sucked the juice off the fruit first and something didn't taste right. So I ready the fine print. Included peaches, so that was the end of that.
We had been up at 5 AM but breakfast was not until 6:30 AM ... and the inhouse restaurant opens at 7 AM. We might do that sometime when we have more time.
6 degrees this AM. Car starts and we pull out.
1st stop is the shipper in Forest City. We get there at 8 AM, one dispatcher is there, we do not hear the phones ringing.
It does take us a full hour to do our inspections this AM, sometimes the smaller ones take less time but not when you need to warm up the hands and fingers.
2nd stop is the Pilot in Clear Lake for fuel. My RV showed over 2/3rds full when I picked it up and close to that when I fueled ... and I was still able to put in 12 gallons in a 24 gallon tank. Pump ran so slow that it took 20 minutes to get that much fuel and then was running so slow that it didn't kick the pump off when it was full so I ran a bit on the ground.
I was standing right there and heard it gurgle so I put my ear down closer and BB said it was running on the ground. Opps.
Coming around the edge of Des Moines ... suddenly the traffic is stopped ahead of me. I lock them up and swerve to not hit the car ahead of me. I was not following close, luckily, so I don't know if I had glanced at a billboard or what but that is as close as I have had in years.
3rd stop was the HyVee / Smokin Joe's in West Des Moines. It's a little cafe at the end of the end of their gas station. I had a chicken salad croissant and cheeseburger soup. Too much food. Good food.
Sunny today, no traffic issues. There had been a little snow overnight, maybe mostly blowing snow.
4th stop was for fuel at the Flying J in Gretna. Here BB puts in more fuel than I do again. She may not have gotten a good fill the first stop. We usually get within a few tenths of a gallon of each other.
By now we know how far we can get before dark. We make our plans.
5th stop is the Arbey's in Grand Island. The last few times we have wandered the truckstop across the street and ended up getting shelf food. They do have a Subway, Little Cezar's, Krisky Chicken and a sit down place at the truckstop.
6th and final stop is the Quality Inn in Grand Island a mile from food. Arby's used to be next door to the hotel but they moved a year or so ago so now there is no food here. The in house restaurant has been closed since Covid.
The wind assist did kick the cruise off a few times today, that was the only excitement.
Load board
US - 249
IA - 34/33
MN - 16
WI - 8
BB is watching the WY weather. It is likely that we will not get a full day of driving tomorrow. We may need to shut down in either Cheyenne or Laramie until Monday.
Load board - the trip out of UT is gone. There are new trips out of MN that would have worked for us. Always changing.