The Siege of Richmond

Just finished delivering this brand new ambulance to Chester, Virginia (suburb of Richmond). It was my first trip as a driveaway driver.

It was a lot of travel! On Wednesday I flew from Salisbury, Maryland to South Bend, Indiana (via Philly and Chicago), where I stayed overnight at my Uncle Tom Doyle's house. The following morning, Tom took me downtown and dropped me off at the Transpo station (local bus service). Three buses and 2 1/2 hours later, I arrived at the Walmart in Goshen, Indiana, just a mile or so short of the Quality Drive-Away terminal.

Can you say "bitterly cold" or perhaps "lake effect snow"?

After picking up a winter knit cap and scarf at Walmart (forgot the ones at home!), I started trudging towards the terminal. Not a lot of fun, but I got into a rhythm, and then about three quarters of the way there, a fellow Quality employee pulled over and offered me a lift.

Anyway, by the time I checked in and got my assignment, it was about 1:30pm. I went out and fired up the diesel engine (it sure does help in really cold weather to have a brand new engine, brand new battery, and the fuel treated with anti-gel!), and was on the road by 2pm... headed in the wrong direction, because I had to backtrack to South Bend to get my big suitcase from Tom's house!

Google Maps told me that the distance to Chester, Virginia was around 750 miles and about 12.5 hours of driving, so I knew that I wasn't going to be going all the way there without stopping. Looking at the map, it looked like I could make it to Frederick, Maryland, where my good friend Kathleen lives, by about midnight, so I gave her a call and confirmed that her spare bedroom was free. It sure is good having friends with spare bedrooms!

With that arranged, I hit the road, taking the Indiana Toll Road and the Ohio and Pennsylvania Turnpikes. Not a lot to report about that, other than the lake effect snow was pretty constant until about halfway across Ohio. I would add that the Ohio Turnpike has to be one of the most endless, boring roads in existence!

It became pretty clear to me at about 8pm that I wasn't going to make it to Frederick before about 2am, so I called Kathleen and let her know I was going to stop sooner. At that point, I was still thinking I'd go as far as Breezewood, which is where I-70 leaves the PA Turnpike and ducks down towards Maryland. But by about 10:30pm I decided that I was getting too tired to stay on the road, so I pulled off the Turnpike north of Pittsburgh and got myself a room.

Bright and not really early (as I legally had to be off the road for ten hours!) I pulled back out onto the Turnpike and continued on my way, lunching at Breezewood (an old family tradition from childhood trips to the Midwest) and getting down to make the delivery in Chester (just south of Richmond) at about 4pm.

Now, the thing about driveaway is that after you deliver the vehicle, you're on your own! Many if not most driveaway drivers use a tow car ("toad" in driveaway lingo), attaching it with a rig that clamps onto the frame of the driveaway vehicle and pulling it behind, much like you'll see when someone with an RV is pulling along a small car. Those who DON'T have a toad are basically on foot, using taxicabs, rental cars, buses, trains, planes, etc. to get from the drop-off point to either home or the next pick up.

I had arranged to pick up a new Volvo bobtail (a tractor-trailer without the trailer) in Dublin, Virginia this morning, getting there from Richmond via Greyhound, but unfortunately for me, a HUGE snowstorm hit here last night, and nothing is moving. I'm stuck in Chester, staying in a Days Inn! Needless to say, I'm also paying for it, and between the airfare to Indiana and this, I didn't actually break even on this first trip, at least not yet.

What I've learned is this: I NEED a toad! I could have driven out to Indiana for under a hundred bucks (vs $238 for USAir), and last night I could have unhooked and driven back home to wait out the storm there! My present car, unfortunately, isn't suitable, being a nice older Volvo 240 wagon with an automatic transmission, which can't be towed more than about twenty miles without damage.

Oh well.

Now, it looks like there will be a Richmond area pick up on Monday afternoon, taking a vehicle up to New Castle, Delaware. I can fairly easily get home from there, where I think I'll be buying a small car ASAP!

Here's the view out my motel room at about 10am today: