| |
PLEASANT PRAIRIE - SUPER 8
This is
not a usual route for me so I wasn't sure where there was and was not motels.
The other person I was with has a '6 & an '8 app on their phone so that was
pretty much how we ended up here.
Price wasn't bad, front desk was
pleasant.
BUT, here is why the lower rating … I believe the customer
should always be first … After we had asked enough questions that we
decided to stay, they took a call from someone I assume was a co-worker. That
put us on hold for most of a couple of minutes before they finally said 'I have
a customer' and hung up.
IMO, the first thing the co-worker should have
asked was 'Do you have a customer,' and even if the caller didn't ask, the
first thing the desk clerk should have said was 'I have a customer, I need to
put you on hold' even if it was another customer.
Also, in May 2013, this
location is doing remodeling, my first thought was to give them a pass on some
of the 'work in progress,' but the more I looked at it, the more it looked like
just sloppy work. The two that I remember were where the tub and the shell come
together, a quick wipe of a rag when it was being installed would have taken
care of it, before it set. The other was the tiles on the bathroom floor. It
was nice to see they didn't cheap out and did use real tiles, but for the
baseboard/one row of tiles on the wall, instead of using the ones designed for
that with a smooth edge all the way to the wall, they just busted floor tiles
in half and used those, sometimes with the factory edge facing up, other times
with broken edge facing up. And those rough edges catch a lot of dirt.
The
motel has a separate dirt lot for the big rigs, should hold six plus. It was
dark when we arrived and when I went out to leave, I noticed there was a nine
inch nail about two inches from my rear tire. It was laying flat so not likely
to have done any damage, but looks like sloppy work from the remodeling crew.
But the pricing being right, none of this would stop me from staying here
again. Everything was clean, room was quiet, water was hot.
Breakfast was
the basic Super 8 SuperStart.
Almost forgot … this place actually has
power outlets between the beds, above the night stand. At a lot of the older
motels you have to hunt for them and you likely have to move the mattress to
get at the only one in the room that isn't being used.
PLEASAND PRAIRIE - PERKINS
We got to Perkins in the last hour of their
being open, at some locations that means the crew is more focused on cleaning
than on customers but that wasn't a problem here.
Seated right away, came
back quickly to ask for our order and didn't forget about us when we weren't
ready the first time.
The person I was with had pork chops, I had the
Farmers Omelette, hold the sausage with breakfast potatoes and toast. Food was
hot and all good, typical Perkins.
IL-MT VERNON - SUPER 8
'One little house cleaning issue.'
And I only mentioned it to the
desk clerk because everything else in this place was pristine. It is something
I see at over half the places I stay and never take note of it.
The
check-in was great, very patient as we worked on which 'perk' would get me the
lowest rate, because it was the weekend it would be my corporate pricing.
Room was clean and quiet, water was hot, WiFi worked. Not any semi-parking, but
room for about three straight trucks in back.
Breakfast was the basic
Super 8 SuperStart.
Lots of food choices nearby, the Waffle Company is
next door (but closed at 9p when I got there), the Grand Buffet 6 is on the
other side. Plus two BBQ places, a couple of other's plus Hardee's and Tommy
T's. So no shortage of food (plus another dozen places across the freeway)
'Restaurants all close at 10p, on weekends (maybe earlier on weekdays?) plan
ahead if running late.'
IL-MT VERNON - TOMMY T's
Your locally owned and independent restaurant
That is the motto on their
menu's.
Trip advisor has the Cuisines listed as Pizza, that is only half
of their menu, they also have the basic family restaurant type of food.
Lots of choices near the motels but I was looking for a 'family style' place
and this looked like it.
I did walk to a couple others before ending up
here, everything closes at 10p on Friday nights.
Service was quick, food
was good, was in and out in 45 minutes, I like that.
I had a side salad
and a Philly sandwich. Most Philly's I've had are more juice than this one, I
think because most have more vegies (which I will pick some off if there are
too many). Plenty of meat and the bun was good too. Salad was 'my kind,'
iceberg lettuce, cheese, onion and some yummy croutons … do wish there had
been more of them, all in a cereal sized bowl..
I did take some pictures
of Tommy T's the next morning, but it was raining so hard they did not turn
out.
////////////////////////////
I had thought I would be
able to get two more Seattle runs snuck in before my time off but we are done
with those (and I'm not a happy camper about it.) So I was trying to fill those
days with something and not being picky enough about it … if I had 'just
said no,' I would might have been able to get one of the last two going to
Seattle but I didn't think it was going to be ready for a couple of weeks. And
it is really slow right now, only one car in the drivers lot a couple of
different times I've been there.
The first trip I accepted was a one
way to Chicago and fly home, one day trip (I figured it would leave me open for
other things that might come up.) Then the forecast was for over a foot of snow
… this is May 2013 … so I was told not to leave at 5 AM, but to call
dispatch at 7 AM. Dispatcher had gotten 14 plus inches and more was forecast so
we were on hold until tomorrow.
Then they called back and wanted me to
take a different rig to Chicago and follow someone else and bring them to a 2nd
truck in another part of Chicago an hour away. Then they would follow me to
Gary, IN where I would drop my truck and ride with them 100 plus miles to
Bloomington-Normal where they would pick up a truck and head home. I would then
go on to Vienna where I would swap trucks and head home.
As I was
doing the math on the price they quoted, dispatch called back with a change
… I would not be going to Gary, but traveling with the 2nd driver to
Chicago and then taking a rental to the 2nd truck, the rest was the same as
plan 'B.' Less driving and the price went up by $200.
Thursday - 5/2/13
Because of the snow we were told not to leave until
1 PM which was going to make a late night. Turns out we didn't have any issues
with snow, did have a half hour delay because of road construction. We just
sat, no one moved and when we did start driving there was a trucker who acted a
whole lot less than professional.
We had been stopped and when we
started moving there was a gap in front of him that was more than a full truck
length so a car pulled from the other lane in front of him, we would have been
going 10 mph or so at the time. He then roars up to the car and gets about
three feet from their bumper and weaves back and forth blowing his horn. ???
Some little truck company out of MN, did find their phone number but not a
website.
Other than that we had fueled right after picking up the rigs
(no fuel gauges), mine took over 50 gallons of a 100 gallon tank. We counted
the highway stop as a half hour break … we were in park and if the rigs
had idle shut downs, they would have been shut off. So our next fuel stop was
in Milwaukee where we topped them off and filled them with DEF for the next
drivers.
I really hadn't found a good motel so the other driver used
his phone app for the '6 but couldn't find anything near the freeway so next he
tried the '8. There was one about 20 miles away in the right direction and the
price looked right.
I had been leading up to this point, but I let him
lead with his phone although I could have, we had the exit number and it was
just off the interstate. They even had a 'truck lot' with room for about six
trucks.
Friday - 5/3/13
Came out in the AM to my rig and
there was a nine inch nail laying about two inches from my rear tire … too
close for comfort, but no harm done. I picked it up and threw it in the trash.
I had called the delivery before leaving yesterday and told them we'd
be there 'between 6 and 8,' they said between 7 and 8 would be better. And
because of things taking longer yesterday than I had thought it was after 7:30,
I had thought we'd be sitting on their door at 7.
After we found out
where to park them I called for the rental car place to come and pick us up
… then I found out that the customer wanted us to do a little 'show and
tell,' so I called back and delayed the rental car. This is where I should have
let the other driver do the demo and I could have had the car waiting for us,
but I didn't think about that until hours later.
Instead I waited
until we were done with the customer or they were done with us, and then called
so we had another half hour wait after that. All in all, had thought we'd be at
the 2nd truck at 9 AM instead we got there at noon, so a good three hours lost.
Now he is starting to wonder if he'll make it home today or have to spring for
a 2nd motel and I'm wondering if I'll make it home tomorrow or not until Sunday
… seems that 'no good deed goes un-punished.' ??
Before the other
driver was paired up with me, he was supposed to travel with a different driver
for the 300 miles down to Vienna and back. Not sure who put that together, but
now he's doing that so his pay took a cut.
The other driver had
mentioned he might take the back roads home … well after we drop the
rental car we head west to find the freeway. We cross it a few times before
actually finding a ramp, but it did take us on 'the back roads.' : His name was
not listed on the 2nd rig we pick up so I do the driving and he falls to sleep.
At his pickup location I finally call to see when it'll be dry enough
to take my 10 days off, not yet so I call dispatch … two of them tell that
they wish I had called earlier, I could have had work … Grrr. Time is
everything and poor timing leaves you with nothing. They do come up with a
local shuttle at 6:30AM … early but work. Now I need to be back by 6:30 PM
Sat to be available for any Canada work next week.
I had planned on
stopping for food as soon as we cleared the city limits but the other guy fell
asleep so I just kept driving. Now I need to find something and the first easy
access I find is the 'new' Love's and Arby's at LeRoy. I was in and out in
about five minutes … the way I like it.
Somewhere along here is
where I really start to do the math and know it is going to be close. Then I
hit rain … and road construction around Effingham. Signs warn of a 26
minute backup … I think it was more like a half hour … ;) And it has
been so long since I've been in this area that I forgot which towns were where
and hadn't really looked at the mileage. When I finally see the sign that says
'Interstate 24 - 48 miles' I really think I am in trouble. If I can't make it
back to Mt Vernon I won't make it back on Saturday, I'll run out of hours.
And it is still raining.
I have been to this location once
before five plus years ago so I knew the area, it's only a mile off the
Interstate but they use an address that is not on the maps. I know I have to
make a quick swap WITHOUT messing up, which is what usually happens when I
rush. (Didn't mess up there, but now realize I did leave stuff with the rig
when I dropped it …opps.) The rain helped me rush, I did the inspection
and swap in about 10 minutes and during that time my jacket took on about 10
pounds of water, so now I am cold and wet and nowhere to change for an hour. I
crank the heat and get out of my jacket.
No one here to meet but I was
asked to call to confirm the swap was done. I did the call but kept it short,
time is slipping away. If I don't make Mt Vernon, not only will it mean an
extra motel, but also I won't have a restart/day off so it will limit how much
I can work next week.
But things are looking up, the swap only took 10
minutes, the rig has a half a tank of fuel (enough for tonight) and it runs 65
mph, ever mph counts. And traffic is not as bad heading back north, I end up
with about five minutes to spare as I pull of the interstate.
I did
stop and grab coupons on the way down and had time to check to see what there
was. I didn't have time to call as todays traffic back up was a 'rolling
delay,' not the dead stop we had yesterday. There was one coupon for the Super
8 that was in my price range, not that I had a choice, I have to stop.
At this exit I do have choices, next to the Super 8 is a Best Value, Motel 6
and a Cozy Inn (former Motel 6) plus a whole bunch of motels on the other side
of the freeway and a few down town. Not sure what is going on just north of the
Super 8, I think it used to be more motels, now all that is there is a Stake
and Shake and a bunch of open ground that looks like recently bulldozed
buildings.
Saturday - 5/4/13
Still raining.
I
ran the mileage last night and I am down to 650 miles to home, so if I am lucky
I'll be home. As in no road construction.
I fuel at the Pilot in Mt
Vernon, one of the few Pilot's that is a zoo to get in and out of … again,
not remembering the area I did not want to push it. I could have made it to
Effingham but with road construction that would have been worse. I used all of
a half hour to do my inspection and fuel, should have been 15 minutes or less.
I'm sure the TA is worse, if I wasn't getting double perks points, I might have
tried the Huck's truck stop.
About half way into the day the rain lets
up, nothing being planted yet in IL, lots of ground still under water. Traffic
is pretty light this AM, the no back up either way at Effingham today.
It is about four hours later when I get to Minonk, that is where I had thought
I'd be spending the night. The truckstop there is now a RoadRanger/Pilot.
Doesn't look like any major makeover from the outside.
I'm trying to
limit my stops for today but I don't remember where the Pilot's are, I know
there is one more before Rockford, so I stop at the first one which is in
Mandota. Turns out there are two more, I forgot about the one at exit 99, where
there is both a Pilot and a Petro. The Mandota and other one are
RoadRangers/Pilots.
Now I should be able to make it to Black River
Falls and home. Scales not open, another clean sweep. I am almost to the WI
state line when my math finally tells me that I'll be home a half hour sooner
than I expected … I can go to Canada next week … if there was only
something going there. Not sure where my math was off earlier.
It's
been a while since I've been to the Flying J in Black River Falls, the first
thing I notice is the restaurant in the front parking lot is gone. But I don't
notice the little fuel office in the middle of the pumps is closed until I get
to the door so I have to go inside (times a wasting). And the inside now looks
like the other thousand Pilot's/Flying J's. Nothing unique anymore. This
location has a Denny's and Boss Shop. As I'm leaving I see that the Kwik Trip
across the street doesn't have diesel right now, pumps and canopy is gone, but
I see that they have a Hearty Platter Café, so I had to look it up when
I got home. There are five Kwik Trips with them and four with the restaurants.
Today is Saturday, from Fridays May snow storm there is still snow
covering the ground from Eau Claire to Baldwin, a swath about 30 miles wide. Go
another 15 miles either direction and there is not any snow. It was a very
narrow band.
Made it home with a half hour to spare, really three
hours to spare or an hour depending on which way I want to look at it. Now to
see if I can drum up any work for next week. I didn't get last weeks trip to
Canada until after 4 PM on Saturday … so maybe … or maybe not. |
|
