1 bus to Fort Worth TX

... spending the night at Amarillo TX

Alarm awakes us at 5:30 AM. Neither of us are hungry, I don't even eat my left overs from last night. BB does grab two yogurts to go.

We pull out at 7 AM local. Some of the homeless are up already, others we can see are still sacked out.

One of my warning lights goes out after a couple of minutes driving and the alarm stops. They stop for about 15 minutes before coming back on for the rest of the day.

Heavy traffic for a Saturday AM in ABQ.

Before we got going this AM, I had looked at my logs and 'found' a few more minutes I could drive today. Legit. The shipper and I had signed off the paperwork at 12 PM and I for some reason had written 12:15. And then after BB and I were done inspecting my bus, she wanted a 15 minute head start to drop the car. So another 15 that I really was not working.

1st stop is the new CNG station in Moriarty. We had seen it last time we where through but I had a diesel. The guy who is in charge of this station pulled in right when we did. So he showed us how it works, doesn't work. 1st I tried my company card, that didn't work. Then I tried my personal card for $200. That didn't start the pump. After the guy looked at the insides of the pump, I restarted a different pump and this time for only $100. That worked.

Then we talked. He likes talking to the transporters that come through. One of the ones he mentioned was a trash truck from QC to BC. This location does not have any local companies who fuel here daily, but he said that last month they did double the business they had been doing the previous months. They have been open about a year. For us it beats the congested Loves in ABQ. I wasn't full after $100 but had enough to get to Amarillo so I did not re-start the pump.

Back on the road I had a missed call ...

2nd stop was the Santa Rosa rest area. No where near Santa Rosa, but it is called that because it is the closest city. I returned the missed call, it is the main guy at the bus tech support just checking up on me (and they all call me by name)

By now, BB has gotten a fraud notice from the same company as the card I used at the last CNG pump. Except the call back number is not the one listed on the card, our card was not blocked and when we called the 'real' phone number, they had no record of a fraud notice being sent. BB is not going to call the number on the fraud notice.

3rd stop was the TA in Glen Rio. Russell's is still the name of the cafe, it used to be the name of the truckstop before TA took it over. So far it still has a 'museum' inside. We've stopped there a few times but have not walked in to it. It also has a row of toy trucks around the tope of the restaurant. All sizes. I didn't see any that I still have.

While we were there a transporter drove in with a fire truck headed to El Paso. We asked where he was from ... FL. It has to go to ABQ first to have some final work done on it before it is dropped in El Paso. He was in after and out before us so I did not get a picture of the truck. We were there over an hour. One waitress, two cooks. And it wasn't busy yet. BB had a salad, I had meatloaf. Mine was good, but southerners like their food with a little more kick than I do. They no longer carry soup because the TA does (?) I looked a the soups later and no thanks. Pies looked good though.

4th and final stop is our Comfort Inn in west Amarillo. We stick with the knowns. If there had been something AFTER the CNG stop we might have tried something new. But the next one east of there is 100 miles east of there.

... and I log off right at my 70 hour max (if I hadn't changed/corrected my log for Friday) Cutting it close, but we made it.

Nothing new on the roads, the only wildlife is birds. There were a few more transporters today but no more city buses.

Neither of us are hungry so instead of Red Robin, we will likely just get a small Jimmy Johns. If we were hungry, there are two buffets just across the side street from the hotel.

Load board

US - 195

IA - 2/1

MN - 5

WI - 2

TX - 78

Tomorrow, leave early. 325 miles to Denton so a couple of stops somewhere in small towns. Pick up a rental, get a bus wash and then another <> hour to the drop. This drop is open 24/7/365. That doesn't happen when we get into town on a Saturday ...

There had been one old trip show up on the load board from TX to CA but that is all for the ones I will drive. We are both still watching ...