2 RV's to Grand Junction CO (delivered)

1 step van to Burlington WI

... spending the night at Wheat Ridge CO

6 AM local ... we call the rental dispatcher on the east coast. "Sorry, that trip from Grand Junction can not be picked up until tomorrow" No thanks, we pass.

And shortly after that, the two trips out of Denver heading to CA are gone. So it looks like a rental car all the way home, for now.

Breakfast was real plates. We didn't want that, so we found some paper bowls and used those for our eggs and sausage so we could take it back to our room.

Just before 8 AM local we both get in my RV and head up to the airport to drop off BB. I head to the drop.

1st stop was the TA for fuel. Signs on all of the pumps say pumps are running slow. I used to think of a slow pump being it would take three minutes instead of two. But after it took BB a half hour to get two gallons I decided I would fuel somewhere else.

2nd stop was the Pilot for fuel. Final fuel. Then I headed back to the TA to stage it for later.

3rd stop is at the TA, BB is there by the time I get back. I park and get in the rental car. And head back to the hotel.

4th stop is back at the TA where I now stage the rental car and pickup my RV to take it the last two blocks to the dealer.

5th stop is the dealer. By the time I find the correct person, BB is there with her RV. Some one is out to start inspecting mine before BB is out of hers. I had to quickly grab my backpack so they could take it and wash it.

We sit inside and start watching the load board. As soon as we open the board we see a trip ... and we are so excited that we trip over our thoughts and words :) There is a truck IN Grand Junction heading back to WI.

I call right away and put the truck on hold while we talk about it. One of the issues is weight. If the truck is over 16,000# we need chains. I even call the CO DOT to make sure. But the dispatcher 'guessed' it was about 9,000# and the person I was picking up from thought it was about 11,000#. So no issues, right?

Another issue was it is a step van, UPS delivery kind. Except this is a tool truck. But most of them only have one good seat. The other seat is a 'flip seat' that is usually fabric wrapped around wood and that person has their feet dangling over the step area. 1,000+ miles .

1st the owner couldn't find the truck keys, then they couldn't find the keys for what was blocking in 'my truck.' Lots of calls back and forth before I decide to take it.

Finally, after over two hours, the dealer is done inspecting my RV. We've had locations that are done in 15 minutes. So I call the owner of my next truck and let them know it may be a while yet. They still need to inspect the 2nd RV. I'm done, so I walk back and get the car. I had thought I would do that right away and then we saw the trip on the loadboard and have been busy ever since.

6th stop is the Loves for getting my paperwork printed and for food. First I find the email address and forward my trip paperwork. Then I go to Hardee's/Carl's Jr and order food. BB's was easy. Then I ordered chicken sticks, they hadn't made any yet today so there would be a 10 minute wait. So I ordered a ham and cheese, sorry they don't make them anymore ... so I said, I'll just have the smallest cheese burger you have. I ended up with a 'kids cheeseburger.'

7th stop was back at the dealer and BB and I ate in the car. By the time BB was done eating and went back in to the dealer, her paperwork was done and we were free to go.

8th stop was the shipper of the 2nd truck. It was in a residential area about 10 miles across town. We talked a bit to the owner before they left us to do our thing. Then I noticed that the check engine light was on and the back up alarm wasn't working. I call him back to the truck. The light has been on since he got the truck new, 10 miles from the dealer. Back up alarm is sticky, it worked for him and for me since, but not when BB and I were inspecting. I had to call dispatch and they had to call the buyer about the check engine light. In about two minutes they called back, go.

9th stop was back at the Loves for fuel and scale. The low fuel light was flashing and fuel at the TA was $10 cheaper but by now we were watching the time. Once I fueled, I scaled. I wanted to know for sure the weight. :( It is 1,000# over what is needed for chains.

At first we talk about options. Then BB leaves to return the car to the airport. Oh, this step van has two good seats so BB will be riding with me.

The bad news is the person who handled returning the car in Grand Junction did something wrong so now she needs to deal with that. Our car from last week still has not been returned in their system so BB took the time waiting for me to deal with that. Today she got someone who could/would and did something about it. But before one problem was cleared, another was taking it's place.

While we were waiting at Loves in the parking lot, another tool truck guy comes over to talk. He knows the driver I picked this unit up from and has a slightly different story.

I finally decide to go and get chains/tire socks. they do sell them here at Loves. Likely cheaper at WalMart if they have them. Not cheap, almost $300. For something I will never use because we can't install them. And ... they did not have the correct size so I bought what they did have. The law is that we 'must carry.' But we are driving a different truck every week, I'm not going to carry eight sizes of chains with me at all times just so I can show the officer that I have the correct ones for that day.

After picking BB up at the airport, finally, at 2 PM local, we are ready to go.

Truck does 65 mph with no issues. Ride is not too bad. Mirrors aren't great, too much reflection off the sides of the van.

10th stop is the rest area in Glenwood Canyon.

Just a few miles before last light ... I realized that I ... I ... had been driving without my lights on. Running lights were on so I had some headlights but no dash lights or tail lights. Opps.

11th and final stop is the Comfort Inn in Wheat Ridge. It is last light.

We walk two blocks to get food at the Taco Bell. For some reason everything around here has six foot high spiked fences.

Load board

US - 105

IA -0-

WI - 3

MN

We have two days to get the next 1,000 miles. We plan on dropping Friday. What happens after that is much talked about. IA still has no work. Going home from the drop is either one very long day or an extra hotel and rental car day. It will be the weekend so can't pick up extra work. We'll see, things can and do change.