1 bus to Duluth MN (on hold)

1 pickup to Fresno CA (delivered)

... spending the night at Tulare CA

??? not sure what today will bring. Dispatch said I could have a Duluth MN bus but they never gave me the bus number.

So we are up, eat breakfast and rolling by 7 AM local. We had gone down to eat at 6 and most items were not out yet so I had yogurt. As we left I saw that they had eggs and ham.

An hour down the road we stop at the rest area near Buttonwillow. This one is open, otherwise we would have stopped in Lost Hills at one of the truckstops. We were looking at the SureStay/BestWestern in this town but there are no rooms available. Ever. The hotel is still listed on their website so not sure what is going on. It looks to be an old Motel 6 with doors opening to the outside.

Another hour plus down the road we pull off at an exit and call dispatch. Now my bus in on hold. It still has my name on it ...

We drive another 20 miles and discuss our options. We had planned on fueling another hour down the road where gas is $.20 cheaper but that only amounts to $2. So we stop at the Loves in Santa Nella.

By now we have decided to do move a pickup from Sonora to Fresno. At Loves we get it printed out. But we decide to make an extra stop to get good food instead of eating shelf food.

Back roads for most of the rest of the day. Next stop is Turlock at the In-n-Out. And we were in and out in about 15 minutes. Food to go and more back roads. We have been to Sonora before to a cemetery. Spent an hour before we realized we had been looking at the wrong cemetery. We should have been looking across the street.

Heading east, there are lots of signs that remind us that the road / passes in Yosemite are still closed. I'm seeing almost daily updates on FaceBook about the progress of trying to clear the roads there.

I had called the shipper and gotten a voicemail. When they call back, the call goes to my flip phone and BB doesn't like the speaker on that so she picks up the call (rare.) Even though this pickup has been sitting there for three weeks, the shipper didn't know that I was coming today.

So when I get there, we have to wait until they take the tools and mounted tool box out and take all the seat covers off. So it was not a quick in and out. They also didn't know I was coming so they had not filled it with fuel. There is no requirement that they fill it, just being nice.

From here we take the back roads. BB had made it sound like it was a lot of twists and turns. It was. But only two changes of road numbers, one which ended at the other so it should have been easy but instead I followed her.

60 miles and we stop for fuel. It is on the correct side of the road and I should know how much more fuel I will need. I'm a few minutes late but time to call the bus dispatcher. My bus is still on hold and now he has nothing else. Hmmm Tomorrow is Friday of a long weekend and we are 2,000 miles from home with no work.

From here I am on my own. We will be on the express way so there is no way either of us could follow the other. I have been to the this drop and BB gives me the exit number and name.

But ... as soon as I get on the expressway, the exit numbers don't add up. I had thought the whole trip was about 120 miles. Based on the exit numbers, I have 120 miles to go to get to the exit and I have only put in enough fuel to get sixty miles but the gauge went up by 100 miles range.

So for the next 60 miles I am trying to figure out which is correct.

By the time I get to Fresno, I know that the number BB gave me was not my exit number, maybe a highway number. I thought I would remember the exit but I don't. Once I start leaving town I am ready to pull off but haven't found a good exit. Then BB calls ... "I gave you the wrong exit ... you need to take 'x'"

But the exits are numbered the same coming back as they were coming down :) But this time I guess correct and am to the drop shortly. I had only gone nine miles passed my exit so about 20 miles and time wasted. On the plus side, I left the unit with more range than I picked it up with.

Smaller place, easy routine.

By now BB has been here long enough that she has found good food. (We are about two hours behind where we thought we would be when we took the trip)

Cheesestakes. Little place in a building with a gas station. Great food but no-one else came in while we were there. We ate there so we were there about an hour ... at meal time.

After we are done eating, we talk. Where are we going? BB has looked at the reviews and Fresno is (still) not good. And the good ones are close to $200. So we decide to go to Tulare where they are close to $100 for a nice hotel and there are still a couple of cemeteries that we haven't been to.

All times Central

9:00 - Leave Comfort Inn in Santa Clarita

10:15 - Rest area near Buttonwillow

12:00 - exit ramp near Los Baros

12:30 - Santa Nella Loves for fuel and paperwork

2:00 - In-n-Out in Turlock for food

3:30 - at shipper in Sonora

5:00 - fuel at Arco

6:45 - drop at Fresno

Load board

US - 201

IA - 14

MN - 8

WI - 1

CA - 10

No known plans. Sometime today we made backup reservations for a car back home. Just in case.

Santa Ana bus pays really well. Hard to turn that kind of money down. IF we do it again, we will not try to do it all in one day. We would try to be in and out before the rush hour. And we will look at getting a car near the drop. There is a Hertz a couple of blocks away but no cars this time. The only car close we could find was over $200. But, with doing a local we need the car for two days but the extra fuel at $5 a gallon.