Gary Indiana to New Hope Minnesota

There wasn't anything good on the load board in northwestern Ohio, so we opted to deadhead 250 miles to Gary Indiana. We spent less than 20 minutes on the Schneider property, trading trailers. 

  For lunch, we stopped at the Hinsdale oasis, on the west side of Chicago. Panda Express always has delicious food. 

  Travel went far faster than expected. Although I wasn't out of hours yet, I decided to stop for the night at the Flying J in Black River Falls Wisconsin. For dinner, we had cold, leftover pizza from Findlay Ohio. We took showers and washed lingering dishes from the truck. As usual, we watched an episode of Prison Break before going to sleep. 

   About 45 minutes after midnight, I received a text from my mom and another one from my dad. My 93-year-old grandmother had passed away. This was my dad's mom. She was receiving hospice care and has been surrounded by lots of loving family for the past several years. 

 

  Arriving at our destination, just outside of Minneapolis, I followed the signs for where to check in. None of the workers seemed to be present on the property. Given the apparent absence of everyone, I called my company to see what we can do. While I was on hold, I did some exploring. Lo and behold, I found the receiving clerk. His station was behind an unmarked, obscure door on the blind side of the building. I hung up with the folks at Schneider. When I got back to the truck, I discovered that they were going to have me relay somewhere else. Yay, I got to make another phone call. It took a bit to get things straightened out. During all this drama, another driver showed up. He approached me, asking where the employees were hiding. Apparently I'm not the only one who has struggled with their false and absent signs.