1 bus to MN (Thursday)

... spending the night at Mojave CA

Ring, Ring ... middle of the night calls are never good. It was one of our grandchildren just saying something that didn't make sense. Then sorry for waking us.

... the the AM we found out it was part of a game they were playing and they didn't realize we would pick up. Yes, we always have our phones on and will answer from people we know if not driving.

BB was so confused, she had been in a deep sleep, that she had to turn some lights on to remember where we were :)

Up before the alarm. Breakfast is leftovers from last night. We don't have paper plates so we nuke our stuff in the styrofoam containers they came in.

It always takes us a little longer to get out of the hotel than planned. And then we both grab to-go food to eat on the road.

The transporter that was there when we got there was gone when we got up. But the parking lot had almost filled up, it was almost empty still when we came back from getting food.

1st stop was a couple of miles down the road at the Flying J for fuel. It would be the cheapest the rest of the trip. Worth the extra stop.

Today when we went passed Gallup, we looked at where the horse/cow was hit. There is a railroad track with a steep grade on one side and businesses on the other side for miles. Not sure where they could have come from.

2nd stop was the Welcome Center in Lupton AZ. Sign said closed, but we pulled in and the rest rooms were open. The 'welcome' area was closed.

It was foggy and frosty by the time we got here, might have gotten some nice pictures if we had stopped in the correct place.

I've been running I-40 for almost 20 years and I've never been able to see Mt Flagstaff before Holbrook. Even on a clear day. Today BB and I did see it. Befor Holbrook, Mt Flagstaff is over our right shoulder ... after Holbrook it is ahead of us :)

3rd stop is the Flying J for fuel and food. Some guy hits me up for gas money and in the process I forget my receipt. We end up getting shelf pizza. Mine was of the breakfast type.

4th stop was in Selegman at a Shell just for the rest room.

We did pass one tanker truck driven by my local company. We sit too low o see who the driver was. Later we did meet one Denver bus, then a couple of semi tractors. The Denver bus was likely mine that failed on Saturday.

Trains - For a good part of the day we could see trains. Container trains. Dozens of them. It wasn't until the end of the day that we saw a few, five, non-container trains.

5th stop was Lake Havasu for fuel at the Pilot. The last two fuel stops we were only down to a half a tank, but fuel was cheaper at each than anywhere forward and we needed a stop so we filled.

From here I called dispatch and said we would be back on Thrusday/tomorrow.

6th stop was near Newberry Springs at a rest area. I called dispatch but they didn't pick up. Just down the road they called back ... he'll have one for MN waiting for me when we get into town mid-afternoon. :) Now to decided how far we will go Thursday night. It really doesn't look like we can shave a day off this trip so we aren't really gaining anything but piece of mind.

Most of the freeway in AZ was 75 mph, CA it is 70 mph. Then when we get on the non-freeway it is 65 mph. At one point the truck ahead of me slowed quickly so I signaled and got over to pass. The car coming up on my left looked like a cop but I didn't want to slow and stay behind the truck and I was going the speed limit ... the cop was not.

The cop was right behind me before I got over in the right lane again and then he was gone. So he must have been doing about 70-75 mph.

We had the GPS on and it later said 'speed check ahead.' And we saw the 2nd cop when we passed it, no where to hide out here in the desert.

We could still see the 1st cop when a car went sailing past us 80-90 mph. And I commented ... 'catch up to that copy quickly.' :) A minute later the 2nd cop we had seen went flying by at the same 80-90 mph with it's lights on. Both cops and the car caught up to trucks trying to pass trucks and had to slow ... when the road cleared, it didn't seem like the car realized the cop was after THEM. Interesting to watch.

Beautiful sun set. Not so much fun looking into the sun, but beautiful sunset. No pictures.

Final stop was Majave.

7th stop was The Works, a kind of fast food place. Good food. Philly. Good to the last bite. Also got a mango smoothie. To go.

8th stop was the Best Western in Mojave. BB looked at the Comfort Inn but the last review was almost a year ago. And the BW was rated #1.

744 miles today. All daylight. And I didn't fall asleep. So I must have gotten some sleep last night. I do know I did because of the dreams I was having.

We have another 300 miles to go tomorrow before we get back to the shipper.

Bus should be ready, we'll drop the rental car and be on our way.

Load board

US - 190

IA - 7/3

As of 3 PM parts of I-80 were still closed in WY and NE. So we don't want to get there too quickly. We won't be there until Sunday so another four days with no more snow coming in, just the snow that is there blowing around.

I'm only in contact with one other bus driver and I mentioned I was heading out again tomorrow ... they were told there was no work. Opps.

There better be for me, we have deadheaded 1,500 miles to get this bus.

If all goes as planned, we should be in Rocklin Thursday night. Wendover Friday night. Laramie on Saturday night, Lincoln on Sunday night. Monday night we will be near the Twin Cities but not early enough to deliver. Tuesday AM deliver and home ... or work for the local company.

... as of 9 PM the roads in WY and NE are still closed. Even where the roads are not closed, semi's are being turned away as all parking spots are full closer to the closure.