1 tanker to Gary IN

1 flatbed to Columbus OH (Thursday)

... spending the night at Rockford IL

No alarm, no rush.

We leave the house at 8 AM. Breakfast was the last of our apple crisp ... and ice cream.

It's the week between holidays, there isn't a rush hour. We get to the shipper in 45 minutes.

1st stop is the shipper in Plymouth. My truck is outside but I go inside first to let them know I am here. The people I am looking for are not at their desks. So I call in and ask for them. That person just rings there phones (?) I finally decide to ask one of the people working in the shop. I used to know a few of them but none of those people are here today either.

They walk me into the office. This building has a strange layout and I had forgotten who I talked to last time. They do know which one I am looking for and can help me. BB and I check out the truck and get things signed. Truck is on 'E' so I head to the station before I am done with my paperwork.

2nd stop is a block away at a Holiday station. I'm not sure how empty 'E' is so I put in 10 gallons, that brings it up over a quarter of a tank. More than I need to high priced fuel. I just need enough to get to Hudson.

I call the drop and dispatch and I am ready to go.

The first few miles was interesting. This is a Hino, they have some kind of retarder on the engine and the cruise control will not work depending on what setting it is on. Not sure what I did but I finally get the cruise set. By then I was way ahead of BB, I'm guessing I was speeding ... a little ... while I was distracted.

Before we get to Hudson, I pass one of our 60 ft buses going about 56 mph. Driven by a female driver I do not know.

3rd stop was the TA in Hudson. Another 30 gallons. The Country Pride restaurant has closed since we were here last.

Early on, I see two sets of dual semi tires lying in the ditch. No signs of any accident nearby. Lots of evidence of ditch traffic :) Later on I see what seems to be a crew cutting wood in the ditch. They were, but because of a crash. All I could see today besides the wood was an axle.

We had thought we might make more time this AM but we decide that food will be at Black River Falls. Arial maps show Culvers has a big parking lot.

4th stop - Culvers in Black River Falls. I make it into the lot but the lot is full. I had thought there was a rear exit so I could drive straight through. Not with the snow. I have to wait in the drive thru lot until I can get turned around. BB is behind me and someone comes out to there car and starts backing up, right towards BB. She blows her horn, they stop, sort of.

We decide to drive a couple of blocks down to Kwik Trip. Road is a little icy, I fish tailed a bit. No one close enough for it to be an issue.

This place has a 'cafe,' they allow us to eat our shelf food at their tables. Rib sandwich for me, burger for BB. Both on sale.

Somewhere in WI I need to pass someone, I check the mirror and see there is a nice gap. But as always I am watching my mirror as I switch lanes and there is someone there, I missed them. They back off and won't pass until I pass what I was trying to pass. I have a second mirror on each side but I must not have looked at that one.

5th stop is in Poynette at a rest area. From here I do my PM check in call ... and ask about work. This dispatcher does not ask the others, he has trucks in MO going to OH he needs moved. BB and I talk a bit, these are not money making trips but it will keep me out of the trash trucks so we agree to take it.

As I sat down in the car to talk to BB so we would be out of the wind ... RIP ... I ripped a huge hole in my pants, just by sitting down in the car ??? And these are my newest pants I have. Maybe I should be carrying a few more pairs.

Not sure what we will do in OH after we drop. We still have a rental car that needs to be returned on Monday. Not sure we will find anything that will work with our time table. Most of the short trips in MN have been taken. There is one $$$ close to home, but we are not close to home. We'll keep an eye on it.

6th and final stop is the Sleep Inn in Rockford. I had hoped we would be closer to the drop by sunset but it wasn't to be. We check in and walk next door to eat.

Tavern On Clark. I end up with a burger because it costs less than some other things. BB doesn't look at the price, I didn't realize that. Food is good. Beats lunch.

When we get back to the room after an hour the temp in the room is still 60 degrees, we ask for a different room. We have now been in our 2nd room for two hours and the temp is all the way up to 67 degrees. And in this room we ran the shower for about a half hour to help get it warmed up enough so we could take our coats off 44 degrees when we walked in the room.

Load board

US - 288

IA - 2/0

MN - 20

WI - 6

IN - 11

Tomorrow I will likely need to stop for more fuel, and we should still be able to drop by about 10 AM. From there it is about five hours to the next shipper. Dispatch did not send my paperwork yet so I don't know the hours for pickup. Most likely we will pick up Thursday AM and drop Friday AM. Then home.

There is one trip <> close to the next drop heading back to MN. Things change.