1 Tanker to Bismarck ND (delivered)

... spending the night at Fergus Falls MN

Eating that lasagna last night that had been in the cooler all day turned out to be a bad idea. No the food wasn't bad, but too much of that kind of food too late at night does not agree with me. :(

This AM I just had some eggs, potatoes and juice. No meat. Again todays juice was good.

The parking lot is full this AM but I am parked where I can get out. And the one person who may have made that more difficult pulled out while I was doing my paperwork. BB was going back into the hotel to get more coffee so she did the key return honors today.

I'm barely on the highway and I realize that my DEF is getting very low. Not sure why I didn't put some in in Hudson. 15 miles down the road I get my first warning to add DEF. The first truckstop is another 20 miles away but the truck did not 'de-rate' before I got there.

I wasn't sure that the Big Chief had bulk DEF but they do. And at these small stations they let the driver pay at the pump. So I put in two gallons and was ready to roll. Those two gallons almost brought the tank up to full on a 10 gallon tank. So the gauge showing 'E' is not really 'E,' but it all goes by what the computer reads.

This extra stop got BB ahead of me, she didn't know I was stopping so she kept going past the station at the posted speed.

Then I get a phone call so I pull to the side of the freeway, I rarely do that but I need to find out from the drop what their hours are. I tried calling their main phone number this AM and it has four choices. New account, existing account, pay bill and emergency. And they all are automated beyond that where you have to give the computer additional information before being connected. So when I got a call, I took it.

But this one was my tank dispatcher. They wanted me to take a truck from Bismarck to Kansas City. Sorry ... it's a tractor and I don't do tractor's ... over 50 miles. This dispatcher was OK with that.

A few miles later and I get another call, this one is from the correct area code so I pull over again and take the call. This time it is the drop. He will not be in today but will make sure someone is there so I'm good.

My next stop is an hour down the road at the Loves in Valley City. That is where I told BB I would stop so I did. I wasn't sure if I needed more fuel to get to the drop or now. I've never filled the tank and it does not have 'miles to empty' so I'm just guessing. And these digital gauges don't always move smoothly.

After washing my windows I decide to add more fuel. I add half enough to get to the drop and assume what I have in the tank will cover the other half.

While I am here, I see a motor home on the hook. Looks like a transporter. I didn't see them until I was on the way out so I didn't talk to them.

Snow. They still have snow here in ND. Most open fields are still completely covered. And in some area's the center guard cable posts are covered, the fences along the edge of the freeway are covered, the reflector posts are covered. I hadn't been following the weather, but they may have had more snow here last week. Where the freeway was closed for 2-3 days (?)

Today it is 44 degrees here and four hours southeast of here at home the temp is 84.

BB had said she was stopping at the Jamestown rest area so I pulled off there and she was waiting for me, kind of. By now she knew that she was a good half hour ahead of me so she was going to wait at least that long before heading out again.

When she got here ... a police had passed her and pulled in front of her and hit the lights for the truck BB had been following. Took a while to get the drivers attention and by the time he did, they were at the rest area so he pulled them in here. Sounds like he got the complete inspection. Police was still in the lot when I got there, I let him go first :)

A few miles down the road he had another car pulled over ...

I had told the drop I would be there by 2 PM, we were there just before 1 PM. From the areal photo's it looked congested so I parked on the street and walked in. They were expecting me. A quick walk around, a signature and I was ready to go. This place was about a mile off the freeway at a 'known' exit so no written directions were needed today.

No good trips on the load board so we decide to sit and eat. We've never tried this place before but it was right across the street from the hotels we stay at in Bismarck.

This place has one soup a day, any other day I would have gotten the soup but we didn't know what today's was. So we asked ... they guy thought we were joking ... until we said we were from Minne-sot-ah. Then he understood and explained it. It is a German potato broth soup. I ended up getting a chicken salad croissant sandwich. Good but different.

There is still no good work on the load board so we head in the direction of home with plans to stay in Fargo. There was a good trip FROM MN. It was heading to Miles City MT. Something BB could have taken and then we would have both had work, right in route on both ends. But that was on the load board a day late.

We need fuel by the time we get back to Valley City so we stop at the same Loves again. Cheapest fuel we will see.

BB has been wanting to get the oil changed in our car for a while so we decide to do it today in Fargo. It will also kill a few minutes so that we don't go beyond Fargo before all the dispatchers are closed/gone. One car ahead of us, I didn't time it but I'm guessing less than 15 minutes.

We had a late lunch so we still are not hungry. Then we talk about it and one of the reasons I had picked to shut down in Fargo was in case my local dispatcher had work. But doing the math, we will make more money deadheading to work from our main carrier and getting work from them.

And they have work. Three trips out of MN for about 200 miles each. We are not sure which trip will we pick or which we will get but we head in that direction.

Water is sitting in Lake Agassiz today. Not sure when farmers will get out in their fields here either. The Red River in Fargo-Moorehead is still frozen over. Not sure where all the water from the MN side is heading.

After a few miles and some conversation we decide to stop in Fergus Falls tonight. The fact that the Best Western in Alexandria is full tonight made that an easier choice. And so that we are not eating at 7-8 PM again tonight, we go through the drive thru at Taco Bell before heading to our hotel.

Other hotels at this exit have changed names, the Burger King is empty. The Mexican place has been repainted but apparently has never opened. This used to be one of our stopping options when I was with the crew that went to Crookston on a daily basis so we got to know the exits well.

1st stop - Big Chief in Fergus Falls for DEF

2nd - Loves in Valley City for fuel

3rd - Rest area near Jamestown

4th - Drop in Bismarck, then the Country House Deli for food

5th - Loves in Valley City for fuel

6th - Instant Oil Change in Fargo

7th - Taco Bell and Comfort Inn in Fergus Falls

Load board

US - 207

IA - 8/7

MN - 10

WI - 8

The rental trucks board also has one trip that may work as a 2nd leg. It also has other trucks heading out of MN, but those don't work for us today.

Tomorrow ... we will likely take one of two trips out of Dodge Center that has the later close time. Because we want to keep ourselves open for a longer RV trip, we do not want to commit to any work that will bleed into Friday yet.