1 step van to Burlington WI

... spending the night at Lincoln NE

BB ate her leftover salad from last night for breakfast. I had the usual scrambled eggs, sausage and juice. Fruit cups included peaches so I passed.

Headed out at 7 AM local just as the sun was coming up. Full moon was right over my truck depending on where I stood but it never shows up well on pictures.

We had pushed last night to stay ahead of the weather. Today we saw an additional plus. We were on the outbound traffic instead of the inbound during rush hour.

Weigh scale last night was closed for us. Today it was open but no issues, #2 of the CO scales.

Right before we were going to stop for our first stop, my DEF gauge dropped to one so I need to put in DEF when we stop.

1st stop is at the Loves in Brush. Strange layout, lots of extra parking lot to get to the building and pumps. If I use my company card here, then I have a fee the 2nd time I use it today. But to use my personal car I need to go inside which takes more time. I decide the money is worth the time saved.

I have no idea how much DEF this thing will use so I put in three gallons. On some units that brings it up to full. This time it added two (of four bars.) When I paid at the pump it didn't ask me all the questions so I knew something was wrong but it did start the pump ... so good.

But no receipt so I had to go inside, 1st person couldn't get it to work, 2nd, then a 3rd person was there. I ended up putting it on my personal card so no fee's today. But this all took time I thought I was saving.

2nd stop was near Brule/Ogallala at the new rest area. I called dispatch while BB used the restrooms. The person I need to talk to is out to lunch again today.

3rd stop is in North Platte at Penny's Diner. Breakfast for both of us. In and out in our required 30 minutes and much better than fast food. We each had eggs, meat and hash browns. Lots of food. BB got a to go box for the rest of her ham and hash browns.

While we were waiting for our food, I called dispatch again. They have not checked on my RV that broke down for a week. They said they would check on it and call me back but they never did. I don't get paid until it is at the final customer. :(

For a while it looked like we could make it to the cheapest fuel in NE in Grand Island. But with 50 miles to go, the low fuel light came on at 1/8th of a tank. We went past a couple of truck stops before deciding the few cents difference per gallon was not worth the risk of running out.

4th stop was the Sapps Brothers in Odessa. I used to have a perks card, but I looked today and couldn't find it. So I lost out on both rewards and price by stopping here. But saved time and motel by not running out of fuel.

But now I am sure I won't make it to Rockford tomorrow before fueling. Plan is now to stop in Davenport and likely again on Friday a few miles from the drop.

We have time to keep going today but we are catching up to a storm so Lincoln it is.

5th and final stops are in Lincoln. First at the King Kong. It is a Gyro Philly place. We have eaten there before and last time was an issue. The person taking my order insisted my sandwich came with a side. So finally I said <> 'All I want is the sandwich, nothing else.' When we got to the hotel, all they had given me was the meet and the bread. Nothing else that usually goes on a gyro.

This time I got everything. Way too much food for the bread and just too much food. BB ate her leftover lunch/breakfast.

Final stop was the hotel, cheap tonight. Now we see why. They are re-doing it so some stuff is closed and breakfast is a to-go bag. Nice guy, might be the owner. We've seen him many times and tonight we got the upgrade to a suite.

The issue we had with the rental car in Grand Junction was not taken care of today so I'm guessing it won't be. It's a few dollars but not enough to spend hours on the phone for and BB wants a break from those calls.

We did get a notice today that that same rental car company has bumped us up in status because of our usage. Now if they would just give us a dedicated customer service agent.

The major issue today was BB was too hot. Lots of glass on a sunny day and she was on the sunny side while I kept my jackets on all day. A few times she opened the door to the cargo area to cool herself down. We don't know how to open the windows on this thing.

We saw lots of transporters today. When we first got on I-80 we saw one a mile, but that didn't last long.

Load board

US - 111

IA - 11/9

MN - 13

WI - 1

Tomorrow ... we watch the weather. There is a storm coming up from the south that is supposed to dump snow from Des Moines to Davenport. With the half way point getting <> 8 inches mid-day. We are hoping to leave at our usual time and come in behind it.

Tomorrow I need to call the drop and call my dispatcher to see if I can come up with extra money seeing this unit is not <> what the said.

We've looked at all kinds of ways to get home costing less, but we finally decided to just plan on it taking the extra day and pay for it. The money has still been good but always doing what we can for a great :) trip.

Family is meeting up on Saturday so because we don't have anything lined up yet we plan on being there. We may head out right after or head home. As of now we don't have anything we need to be in town for until the end of March.