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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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2- New RV's 171116 - IA to IN - Day 1 See bottom of write-up for the way we were off a few days ... This trip had been out there on Weds, but we waited until Thurs morning to take it and then headed down to Forest City a little after 8 am. First stop was in Faribault, for food, we didn't make it to Ottawa like we usually do. Hardee's for breakfast. Once in at pickup we are in, inspected and out in less than an hour. Maybe record time. BB wasn't having any luck getting her plate put on, it's one where you are screwing right into the plastic.I got it, but inhaled one of those little chips of plastic in the process. I was feeling real lucky to have almost a half tank of 'free fuel.' BB was on empty so we both stopped in Forest City to fuel as she was on 'E.' Even thou we were tight on time, we took the time to take our half hour break at Floyd. This is the first time we have stopped at the new Loves, otherwise we have always eaten at the Wagon Wheel across the street. But we wanted to make sure we were in and out in 30 minutes. We were. Don't like the intersection to get on and off the highway there, so we don't stop often. A quick stop at the rest area south of Cedar Falls and on to Moline. We had done all the math and we can make delivery without driving in the dark so we don't. Moline is the Quality Inn with Montana Joe's a few blocks away. Tonight I had the French Dip and BB had the reuben, Both were really good. Can't sub any sides. I get the salad bar if the soup is something I like. Some day I will try their lasagna. THE PERFECT STORM Last week when we were coming home we had planned on leaving back out again last Sunday. But Friday morning when we would have had to pick a run we thought we might like an other day off so we didn't take anything. Later on Friday we again wanted to leave on Sunday but by then the only trip that would work for us was to Idaho and the rental car was "$400," (We would have still made money, we just usually try to get cars for $200-$300.) Then that trip was gone. Now the issues are getting a trip that we can deliver by before or after the weekend and still get home by Thanksgiving. Monday we drive south as far as Burnsville watching the board. Tuesday we again drive south to Burnsville and watch the board. Wednesday we just sit in the house and watch the board. We now have sat for four days ... waiting for something better. At this point the other factor is travel, prices have gone up because of Thanksgiving. And there were weather issues. FLIGHTS We even looked at flying, which we have only done once in three years. We run everything thru a spreadsheet and nothing was working ... or we were afraid we would commit to something and something better would come along :) After looking at the math on flights we decided the only way they will work is if we have already delivered, the flights are cheaper than driving ... and there is more work to come back for. An example of a fight gone bad would be we buy our (2) tickets for $400, we miss the flight so we have to pay rebooking of $200 ($100 ea,) and flights go up to $800. We would quickly not make any money. By driving, we have -0- commitment on the car until we pick it up and we have the option of picking up more work enroute. 171117 - IA to IN - Day 2 It is just getting light when we get going in the morning. The closest fuel is $.20 less than at the major truckstops so we fuel here. I'm using a discount card that cuts me off at 20 gallon so I quit there. It's not quite full but we will need to fuel again before delivery. This is another one of those vans that says I can go 600+ miles when I fill it and then is empty after 250 miles. So that 'range' feature is pretty worthless. One rest stop today at Goodfield, IL then a food and fuel stop at Covington, IN. We don't need a DOT break today but we do need to eat so we inhale our food at Arbey's after we guess on our fuel. No waiting for food here, our sandwiches were ready before the chip reader was done. Greenwood, IN, the final fuel is at a Road Ranger Pilot across the freeway from our drop. It's a fast pump and I put in $.10 cents more than I will get paid back for. I did over fill last stop, my low fuel light was not on yet but I was down to a quarter tank. So I could have put in a couple of less gallons but then I risk having to stop again. This trip we were watching the time more than the money. Avis is about four miles away so we stash BB's RV at the truckstop and pick up the rental car. Original plan was to pickup a rental at the airport which is about 30 mile away. But by picking one up not at the airport and dropping in Waterloo instead of MSP it was half the price for the car, no taxi needed and less time. I had my RV inspected before going to get BB's, it took them about a half hour to do the paperwork but not much time doing an inspection. When BB was going to park her RV, I was walking with the inspector and we heard a loud crunch and then saw someone take the corner off of someone's RV. Tail swing. The guy moving didn't stop so the inspector ran after him and I finally yelled. He stopped.He hit the RV about a foot before the corner, pushing it sideways until it was past. No damage on ours though. Lots of wind today so watching the trucks closely as they pasted or we passed them. We drove 65 mp this trip to make delivery before the weekend. My rpm's tac about 2,500. It looks like I'd have to drive 55 to make the range / mpg that it shows when I fill. I ended up loosing $.36 and that was with getting almost a half tank of free fuel. BB lost $3 on fuel on her RV. Opps, they are still working on the road at I-65 and I-465 and I missed my turn, ended up going into Indy and taking I-70 back to the beltway. By now it was long past lunch so we stopped at McDonalds in Brownsburg. I hadn't planned on getting anything, but they had the McRib so I just had to have one. mcriblocator.com From there we made it back to Goodfield rest area and ... Knoxville, IL. For our fourth meal of the day. Hardee's and a quesadilla for me. In order to get the car delivered in 24 hours be needed to get back as far as Cedar Rapids. Quality Inn in Cedar Rapids was our motel, we usually stay across the street at the Clarion but it was a few dollars cheaper at the Quality Inn tonight. But they don't have much for parking so if we have more than a rental car we will be at the Clarion. 171118 - IA to IN - Day 3 Go, go, go. The car was cheaper but we need to keep moving to get it returned within 24 hours, so leaving by daylight. No work on the board that matches our needs, the weather is an issue for most of the country. High winds. We need a pair going to the same place and about 600 miles. Nothing. Lots of long runs, the board it up over 60 units by the end of the day so lots to choose from. We stop once in Floyd for a break and then Forest City to grab the van, BB doesn't quite have enough fuel in the rental car and stops in Garner for fuel, I stop in Clear Lake for fuel for the van. We stop about every half hour to look at the board for more work, the office keeps adding but nothing that works for us. BB's stops at the Kwik Star (Kwik Trip) in Janesville to top off the rental car before dropping it in Waterloo. Then we go to 'The Other Place' in Waterloo. Great food. I have a French Dip and she has some type of cold cut. Then we stop at two cemeteries in Waterloo to look for graves from my family trees. The first one has almost 11,000 graves and no office and the second one has almost 8,000 graves with an office that was closed. So no luck there. Not much on US-63 heading back to St Paul, we did stop at Lime Springs for a quick break and then on to Stewartville to another cemetery. Found who I was looking for, took pictures but now down want to post them on the tree for personal reasons. The Stewartville cemetery has what I wish every cemetery had, they have a board that lists everyone that is buried there and which section they are in. I found that after we drove around all the streets, we did find it on the final street, the one I was looking for, just inches from the blacktop. No more stops and we were back home after dark. Our plan now is for me to work local if there is any Monday or Tuesday. I have an appt on Weds and Thursday is Thanksgiving. Weds we may commit to taking a couple of RV's to southern California, right now there are 13 going to a single location. If we can be one of the first six callers we might get a pair ... or someone else could take them Mon or Tues. Last year work was really slow in Dec and Jan so we want to get a couple of trips in early Dec before I work for my local company for their year end. |
