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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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Finally Thursday morning we decided to take the first FL run there was and hope something else showed up. It finally did so now we are enroute with two RV's to FL. Left out at about 8:30 Friday morning, rest area stop at Owatonna and on to Forest City. Good thing we grabbed something Thursday because today the board is frequently at -0- and ended the day there. We will try to find work in the south. There were some good runs, but they have disappeared today and we can't speak for anything until Monday or Tuesday if we need to drive to it. Opps ... first time at this job. Missed my turn off the freeway. Not sure what I was thinking about, saw it in my rearview mirror. Once again we have one gas and one diesel so we stop different places for cheap fuel. We are going to try and drive slower to save fuel this trip, we have the time ... sort of. First stop as at the Casey's near Urbana for a quick break then on to Mount Pleasant for the night. No, we don't have a lot of time again. It's getting dark before five so we speed back up to 65 mph. Sunset is almost a full half hour before we get to the motel, could have, should have gotten going earlier this AM. Only getting to Mt Pleasant will leave about four hours Monday before the first delivery, and pushes the second delivery to Tuesday. Right now, both are set for Tues deliveries. Almost in the parking lot is a Mi Pueblo restaurant so that is where we went. Food was good, but not something I would out of my way to. We had planned on walking to the Pizza Ranch, but it was a couple of blocks away. Quality Inn is the motel of the night. We hope to make it to TN tomorrow, not sure we will make it to Nashville. Less than 10 hours of daylight I think. Two more weeks and the days will get longer. 171202 - IA to FL - Day 2 I'm guessing most days for the next month will be like this, rolling by daylight and rushing to get somewhere before dark. Pretty much down to 10 hours of daylight. We both needed fuel, BB stopped across the street at WalMart then followed me down to a BP where it was supposed to have been $.20 cheaper. It wasn't. But because of time, I filled it up. An hour and a half down the road diesel was $.20 cheaper but now I didn't need any. First stop was New London at a Love's. Mostly because we had planned on stopping for fuel and didn't change our plans when we filled this AM. Almost no traffic going through St Louis this AM. Just past, we stopped at Mascoutah. I thought there was a McD's there but it was three miles off the road so we ate at a Huddle House instead. We were in and out in 30 minutes so no time lost for a sit down. A few miles back my engine icon light came on. Luckily dispatch said to keep running and see if it goes off. Glad I haven't had to abandon the RV yet, but will likely have to drop it at an dealer somewhere closer to my drop. No issues, just a light. I didn't feel like pushing it, so I put in a couple of gallons while we were stopped. Enough to get us to Benton. I knew where the Walmart was and was looking for their gas prices. Saw the Casey's and it was less ... missed the Phillips across the street where gas was a penny cheaper and diesel was three cents cheaper. It all adds up. Enough over two hours to Clarksville that we stop one more time, this time in Paducah at the rest area. By now we know it will be dark again before we get to the motel so we speed up to 65 mph. I've gotten my mileage up to 14.5 mpg, but I don't think that will be enough to offset the 90 extra miles I go out of route to drop off BB's RV first. Supper tonight was McD's, motel is Comfort Inn. Other food tonight could have been Subway, where we ate yesterday, or across a busy street at the Waffle House. In our first room tonight, we walked in on someone who hadn't latched their door, fully clothed. Then next room they gave us, the toilet runs so we have it shut off so we don't have to listen to it all night. No scales, no traffic, no stories. Just push, push, push. Lots of the runs we were looking at for a next leg are now gone, new ones should be on the board by Tuesday. 171203 - IA to FL - Day 3 Didn't get on the road at the crack of dawn today, that would have meant getting up around 4:30. So instead we will drive 65 mph to get 500 miles today. Breakfast is supposed to be at 6 am, we got down there at 6:30 and they were still setting up. Someone hadn't shown up. Twice the variety as usual. Beyond what most places have, they also had breakfast hash, potatoes, biscuits and gravy, fruit cups and large single bottles of milk ... and Greek yogurt. I'm already low on fuel so we stop in an hour at Murfreesboro at a Speedway. Then on to Dalton at a Pilot for a very early lunch. Subway, but we ate it at McDonalds because that is where the tables were. I fueled in Jackson at a QT, but BB did not. Trying to leave, I didn't want to block traffic so a stayed back one car length, and the cars from the right just kept coming and coming. After a long time there was a break, just didn't seem like there ever would be. Too far to make it all the way to Valdosta without another break so we stop so BB can fuel at a Shell ... opps, sign said $2.19 cash price. Even with our discount it would have been cheaper to go to Pilot just down the street. Got to watch them signs. That was in Cordele. It is past sunset but still light when we get to the Sleep Inn in Valdosta, motel is right at the exit so easy to find. Food in the parking lot is Indian so we go to find something else. Ole Time Buffet ... I think this is one we ate at long ago, but those notes all are gone when the closed the previous travel site. No major delays today, just the usual people cutting us off and driving in our lane. Lots of cops, but no accidents. Warning icon is still on so I will need to deal with that tomorrow. Four hours to BB's drop, then an hour to our rental car and another hour to the drop ... or shop if I need to get this fixed, which I most likely do. 171204 - IA to FL - Day 4 No early rising this AM, we got out of the motel at 8 AM local, (7 central.) The first thing I did was go and fuel up, it looked like this was the cheapest fuel we'd see for the rest of the trip. BB waited at the motel until I got back. Then 20 miles down the road, we are in FL. Three scales open, we crossed two of them. The usual number of trucks driving down the center line this AM, we just let them pass as quickly as possible. First stop was at a rest area in Gainsville. Truck area was full but we found places to park behind other short units, otherwise it's back on the highway to the next exit. About an hour later at Wildwood we exit the freeway. I have made notes of the highway numbers, but not how far on each road. We were this way once before but I don't remember enough to follow my nose. Eight turns, missed the next to the last one, I knew I should be seeing the freeway before I turned so when I saw it coming up I pulled off and looked at my phone/map. BB went on ahead to fuel. No problem, I was directly south of her drop. This opps my have cost me a half mile. The one thing I did remember about these side roads was the bear crossing signs, no bears, just signs. I was to her drop first so i asked where to park, etc and then waited for BB. It took about a half hour to get inspected after she was there. Not much to check on these little ones. When I got there someone was making a deli delivery, so that is where we ended up going. Connie's Deli. Sign says "Best Philly in the area," but they were out of beef so I had a reuben instead. BB had a chicken wrap. We'll likely be back if we make it back to Sanford. From here it is about 90 miles through Orlando road construction to get to our rental car in Lakeland. I'm not going to make it to my drop without more fuel so we stop on the way to the rental car. Six gallons should get me there, now we will see how much I leave in the tank. Hertz is not in the nicest section of town, we will likely return it somewhere else if the cost isn't too much more. I tried to find a place to park when she got the car, I finally ended up double parking near a hospital just so I could call BB. From there we met at a new Circle K a few blocks away. We had noticed this place on the way down. I needed to make some calls on my warning light. I knew there was a dealer in Tampa, but the exit before we got off in Lakeland there was another dealer so we ended up going there. Usually the 'roadside' numbers we have are helpful. This one was not, all they would do is give me the number for the closest dealer. I could have gotten that online and I told them that. Dealer may be an issue too, he want's me to pay him for the work done before I pickup. So, once the bill is ready, I need to call dispatch, dispatch calls Winnie, Winnie calls Mercedes, Mercedes calls the dealer. It will most likely take longer to get the bill paid than the work itself. Opps ... when I walked into the dealer, I mentioned I had talked to 'Jeff,' so this person walks me over to his desk and say "This driver from Advanced ..." (I'm wearing my Advanced shirt while running for Bennett) So I had to clear that up. We ended up at a Sleep Inn across the freeway from the dealer, we can see the sign from the parking lot. Next door is a Cracker Barrel where we ate. Meatloaf with fried apples, hashbrown casserole and ... grits. This might have been the first time I have eaten them. They are OK, but likely not as good as a local diner. There are four trucks out of the NC location we have been watching, all going to Edmonton. That would be a first for us. There is also one out of GA going to CA ... a week from Friday. So we will wait. Right now just hoping that they get this RV fixed and paid in time to deliver tomorrow. Didn't even think about the Super Moon last night ... until just now. 171205 - IA to FL - Day 5 No work today, RV is still in the shop. Finally a before noon I called the shop, they should get it in this after noon. We only had the first rental car reserved for one day so we drove down to near Tampa and got a second rental car. Near Tampa, I've spent hours tonight trying to find out what city it was in and can't. The address it uses is Tampa. Before we picked up the car we stopped at Sweet Tomatoe's Salad Buffet. Interesting, you come in and grab a tray and make your salad, then you pay, then you can go and get other items. Five kinds of lettuce, two sides, 20-30 foot salad bar. Six kinds of soup, three pasta's, two kinds of baked potatoes, breads, more than enough. No issues with picking up the rental, fueled and returned the original car. Then drove up to the shop to check on it. Still not ready, they hoped it would be yet today. Usually dispatch pulls us off after an hour down time, now it's been over a day. No down time, we just don't want to head back to the snow in MN. With a couple hours to kill, we went to the Circle B Bar Ranch, it's a nature park. The guy at the desk said if I didn't see an alligator I could get my money back ... (it's a free park.) I did see my first alligator ... it was mostly in the water but I guessed it to be about 2-3 feet long. Lots of birds, a few turtles. But we did not go out prepared. No water, no cap, no food. After we were a ways out we realized what we had done and took the 'shortest' route, about 2-1/2 miles. Someone stopped and told us there were lots of alligators out today ... on the trail we had planned on going on, but didn't. Just as well, it took us most of two hours with stops and I wanted to call the shop before close of business today. As we got to the car they called me. More or less a fluke warning ... but they still want to be paid. Email didn't work, fax was busy. I finally stopped and picked up a copy of the bill and we 'tiny scanned' it and sent it to dispatch. Dispatch still doesn't understand why they can't just charge warranty. Neither do I. Hopefully it does not take more than a couple of hours tomorrow AM so we can finally get it delivered. Website for the motel wasn't working, kept saying the rooms we wanted were no longer available. They shouldn't show if they aren't available. Price went from $47 to $62 before we finally got it to work. Back at the same place we were last night, Sleep Inn. When we were going to leave to eat the door wouldn't latch, until we had all our stuff out. Then it latched ... until we brought our stuff back in and were going to leave. We ended up switching rooms. Meal was at Five Guys a mile or so away. Saw on the map that there is a Safari Wilderness Ranch about 10 miles away. $90 each so we likely won't go, but it looks interesting. Oh, it is $180 each if you want to ride a camel through the safari instead of riding in the bus. Some work has come and gone on our board, but we aren't going to take anything until this one is delivered. One going to ND that was on and gone a few days ago is back. Not sure if it wasn't ready or the driver was a no show. 171206 - IA to FL - Day 6 No alarm clock this AM. Mid-morning we got a call that the shop should have been paid. So we give them about a half hour and then head over and pickup the RV. It is ready, nothing to sign. About two hours drive to my drop. I had put in plenty of fuel to get to my drop but the shop drove the RV about 20 miles and now it is showing I will only have 20 miles to spare. I don't like only having a gallon to spare, so I back my speed down to 60 mph and I get to my fuel spot with 45 miles to spare. On coming traffic had a back up a few miles long, that could have easily any spare fuel I had. Directions to my wash were not clear, but I did finally find the one they were likely talking about. I had a different one pegged, but that one didn't have enough clearance and I had to back out of the area. Once I got to the right one, I had a foot extra clearance, but climbed up on top to make sure. (It's a long way up to that first rung on the latter.) At the drop it took about a half hour to get inspected and we were done. Almost two hours to spare. By now it is 2 pm local and we haven't eaten yet. We find a little diner a few miles away. Joseph's Diner. BB had a chicken wrap and I had a Philly, both were really good ... water, not so good. I just can't get used to the water, the smell, the taste or the feel. We talked about going out to the beach there but didn't have any place in mind. We ended up going to a cemetery for ancestry. This is the first time I have been across the Tampa-St Pete bridge since they made pier's out of the old bridge. The old bridge was hit by a ship in 1980. I'm guessing it was in 1988 that we drove across the new bridge and the remains of the old one was still standing. Also been across it a few times since. Didn't have the address for the cemetery quite right and ended up in a park. One street too soon, but it's easier down here to take a right and then a U-turn than to cross two lanes of traffic. All the markers in this cemetery are flat and the markers are close enough together that everyone here must have been cremated. There is a computer at the main building that searches where anyone is buried, and then prints a map of cemetery listing the sections. We found both graves we were looking for and then walked. We still haven't found work that we want ... or we don't want to leave FL. We were going to find a place near the rental car place but I found one in Clearwater Beach for a good price. (Didn't know there would be an $18 valet parking charge added) We missed the sunset, but we are right on the beach, with a deck over looking the pool and 'the band.' (It's free) After sitting down at the bar and grill we went across the street to an Italian place. I had lasagna and was able to eat it all. Both dishes were really good. BB brought her's home and put it in the fridge. Not likely there is a free breakfast tomorrow. But there is an IHOP in the same building. Not sure what our plans are for tomorrow. Need to have this rental back by noon, then we will likely head north. Maybe to Atlanta or Savannah. By Friday we either need to have work or be heading home. No pairs of work at home either which is one of the reasons we are in no rush to go back. Right now everything is short and would keep us sitting over the weekend so the math doesn't work. The math doesn't work to sit either, but at least there is no damage risk in sitting. |
