2 RV to CA - Davis and Vacaville

... spending the night at Lincoln NE

No alarm but up close to usual time. Rolling by 8:30. Before we get to the freeway, we see a car laying on its side in the travel lane. Not sure how it happened, it's a 30-40 mph zone. 1 cop was there directing traffic.

Quick stop at the clinic, signs say for faster service, make an appointment. I'm in and out in about five minutes so not sure how much faster it could be ...

By stopping at the clinic we are less than two hours from the shipper so no more stops today.

Corn is coming up in IA, or not planted ... depending on the farmer. Water is going down, the last rains must have come after the corn was planted.

We get to the shipper, find our RV's, move them to the inspection area and then ... talk. I asked one driver where he was going ... 1,000 Oaks (so he got our trip) He wasn't leaving until tomorrow so he had plenty of time to talk. And we drivers have plenty of things to talk about :)

He was moving a 'Rome,' it is a wheelchair accessible RV. We hadn't seen one before, but when we left we saw two more in the line up and there were visitors looking at them.

This driver also told us that our drop in Gilroy CA has closed. We just drove past it last trip and didn't realize it (?) And this driver was one of the test drivers when they upped the fuel surcharge we get paid on the 4WD RV's. The shipper/carrier told them how fast to drive, where to stop, what route to take. This guy did OK, but the other driver lost $130 on the old fuel rate. We weren't taking them anymore because of what they were paying for fuel. But we do now.

We did finally get inspected and out of there. BB looks online and the cheapest fuel for me is right here in town. So we back track a mile and I fuel at Kwik Star. And we eat shelf food at Kwik Star. They are giving away samples of chicken macaroni. I take one, not bad. I also have a rib sandwich. Was going to get soup too but that seemed to be too much.

We ate outside on the curb. This place only has 3-4 stool for people to sit and it is a nice day.

BB leads from here, cheapest gas is at the Loves in Ellsworth but she isn't sure she can make it. We don't. We stop 25 miles short at a BP truckstop. Turns out that gas is the same price there so it works.

Next stop is Adair rest area. We've seen lots of transporters today. Box trucks, semi tractors, others. But not any Buses, RV's, trash trucks or mixers.

I had hoped to make it to Loves in Omaha but when we stop in Adair I realize I am loosing range and the low fuel light will be on. So we look at other options and see that the Sapps in both Omaha and Council Bluffs are less than the Loves. I go for the Council Bluffs as it is another 10 miles closer. Then my range goes back up so I could have made Omaha.

Once we fuel we decide to eat. BB isn't up for Burger King so we eat at Apple Barrel. It is Sapps sit down food. We both had breakfast. It was good. We were in and out in 30 minutes. The Apple Barrel in Omaha closed and now has re-opened as a Burrito Bros. As has the one in York Sapps.

Another hour and we are at our hotel in Lincoln. Quality Inn. It is after 7 PM and there is still plenty of place to park. BB had wanted to wait and eat here so we wouldn't be driving so late but then she got hungry ...

And she had wanted to go for a walk tonight but she is feeling the smoke for the fires in Canada. It is hazy here, didn't realize it this AM but someone posted a picture of the sunrise over Forest Lake and it was hazy then too.

1st stop - Burnsville clinic

2nd - Forest City Shipper

3rd - Forest City Kwik Star (Trip) fuel for me and food for both of us

4th - BP for fuel for BB

5th - Adair rest area

6th - Council Bluffs Sapps for fuel and food from Apple Barrel

7th - Lincoln Quality Inn

Loadboard

US - 160

IA - 19/15

MN - 4

WI - 5

From here it is about 500 miles to Laramie WY. We aren't using fuel at the same rate and fuel is not the cheapest for diesel and gas at the same places so we are partly stopping based on fuel needs.

I posted the below on Face Book today

20 years ago yesterday I moved my 1st driveaway truck. At the time I was working a temp factory job and thought driveaway would be more fun than that. So I took the job until I could 'find a real job.' At some point I quick looking for that real job.

This line of work has a very high turnover, but there are a few of us who have lasted 20+ years. There is one driver who has been there longer than I at my local carrier.

Here are some mile posts ...

2003 - May 16 - First day doing driveaway

2005 - Back to back trips, wife laid off all year, only family income

2006 - Moved 1st city bus

2007 - Finally reached the 48th state, plus 8 provinces

2008 - Housing crash - only moved 8 units all year (found 2nd job)

2012 - 3 mo as dispatcher

2013 - Most trips were as a shuttle driver

2014 - My wife starts traveling with me

2015 - 1st trip with 2nd company

2016 - 1st trip with 3rd company, last trip with 2nd company, wife gets CDL