1 bus to Minneapolis MN

... spending the night at Wendover UT

Breakfast, two kinds of eggs, sausage, french toast, lots more. Juice was lacking. No OJ and the apple juice was a different flavor of apples.

Last night when I came in, I had a short bus so I didn't park in my usual spot. Somehow a semi got in that spot and used it all.

I had forgotten to call for my permit last night so I called right away at 6:30 AM when they opened. Someone answered and took down my info. The only thing I wasn't ready for was the 'what time' question. I said starting in one hour. But it takes us two to get to the border. No issue, we will be across the state and gone today.

We are still able to pull out a little after 6:30, lot is only about half full. Often it is full, they do a good job here.

The only time this bus slowed to below 45 mph is when I got behind a truck. With the 40 footers I'll get down to 35 mph in the mountains.

Snow, it is still here. It's been a few days so the snow should have settles some. It is still four feet over our heads at the rest area. We are up in the fog today so not a lot of good pictures.

1st stop was Donners Pass.

It is only 30 degrees and it does not get warm in this bus. Some buses have where I can set the exact degrees, others just have heat, vent or AC. BUT someone last year showed us where to set the heat degrees on any bus, wish we had known that years ago. But this bus has some new kind of lock on that area and I don't carry a key for that.

Fernley is usually our 2nd stop, cheapest fuel in western NV. BB looks at the prices while I am driving and says fuel is cheaper in Wells. But I ask how much cheaper, is it worth only putting in enough to get to Wells? $.20 cheaper in Wells, then she says the dollar amounts ... no, it is not $.20 cheaper ... it is $1.20 cheaper a gallon in Wells. We will only put in enough to get there.

Wells is not our usual stop so we adjust the whole day.

2nd stop is in Lovelock for the rest area.

Somewhere down the road after Donners, I remembered there are a few parts in a box over the driver. When we stop in Lovelock I look, there is a key and we can now set the heat. For a minute, I thought BB was going to hug and kiss me right there :) Didn't happen, but almost.

3rd stop is in Battle Mountain for Port O Subs ... always fresh and good. While there, I stuck the tank even though I do have a gauge on this bus. Gauge says half full and I really don't want to drop below a quarter. I decide to add eight gallons of this higher priced fuel.

I almost always take a picture of what I am driving at every stop and then post the best one online. BB doesn't like being in those pictures so she followed me past the bus and said ... 'Something is wrong with the bus.' Yes there was. We had driven it 400 miles, freezing ... with the window open. On the last bus we noticed the window open as soon as we got on the freeway.

All these little things should help the bus stay a little warmer. Still lots of drafty gaps.

4th stop is the Pilot in Wells. I put in 61 one gallons in an 80 gallon tank. Fuel gauge said one quarter so it was very close. After I got my receipt I realized I did not get my rewards points ... almost $2. So I went back in and asked. Opps, my error. I have two Pilot cards, one is for gas and the other for diesel. I had used the gas one. At one time I had used a marker and written on each one because I have done this before. But those markings are long gone.

Running hard all day and we will only make it to Wendover. We are almost to the shortest day of the year. BB makes reservations from here.

There is now a SureStay/BestWestern here in Wells now. It had been a private name/Mom and Pop place for as long as I have driven this route. Freeway sign is still the old name so this just happened. It would have saved us $20 but cost us an hour of daylight.

5th and final stop is the Quality Inn in Wendover. We did look at the BestWestern here but it is sold out. It's a Friday night in a casino town. Also the place has a small parking lot which you need to enter under a canopy.

Food truck is back in the parking lot. I think it has been at least the last three times we have been here, it was not. It makes the question of where and what we are going to eat easy. Tonight we ordered a quesadilla and three small taco's and split them.

Water in the pool is cold tonight ... still trying to figure out how those big chucks of ice got on the top of the solid ice.

Yesterday it was 65 degrees and tomorrow AM it will be 10 degrees.

Load board

US - 219

IA - 4/0

Tomorrow we will get into WY. But will likely shut down early. The forecast is for 65 mph winds. It makes for a good tailwind but the roads are straight it's not as much fun as a cross wind.

Lots of fellow drivers commenting online about the weather. Five drivers are stuck in Sioux Falls since Tuesday. Haven't heard if the storm changed directions or just that no one was watching.

Lots of roads in NE and SD are still closed. Even roads that are open are plugged with accidents. Hopefully another two days will give it a chance to clear up.