Not Fun Driving in the Snow

Hay, still here, I have not fallen off the other side of the planet ..yet
. The only two places I thought I would get internet these passed couple of weeks, just would not give me a strong signal, and one of them I was really close to the building, so I could not understand it. I need to invest in a Wi-Fi booster.

Well I went out on the Saturday after having five days off. I should have had only three days as normal, but for some reason, the team that was in my truck was really slow, and did not get back till Saturday morning. By the time they had done loads to the truck in the shop, I did not leave till the evening again. This time all by myself. Scott was due to take his test on the Monday, so I expected to come back for him, but after my load to Virginia, my reload took me to Winnipeg. It was not fun over there with the bad weather. Im so glad I don’t live out that way. Our weather in the East is milder. I switched trailers in Winnipeg for an empty to reload an hour down the road. The back roads that is, where they where not clear and very icy. Having nothing in the trailer makes it hard work trying to stay on the road. Once loaded, it was going Chaska, Minnesota. From there my reload was two pickups in Minneapolis for Hartland, New Brunswick, which is only a few miles up the road from Woodstock. I had to cross back into Canada at the Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. I was not looking forward to that either. Its usually bad for snow there. I wanted to cross the border that night. It would have been about 1am, but by the time 11pm came around, I was in heavy snow and could not see the front of my truck, never mind the road. Lucky this back road I was on had rumble strips in the middle of the road, as well as on the shoulder, so I just drove on those so I knew where the road was. Luckily not long after, I came across a gas station that had room for me to park. So I stayed there hoping the following morning, things would be a little clearer. I was so glad I was not with Scott. Been on my own allowed me to park up for the night. Had Scott been with me, we would have been expected to move the first chance we got. that’s why I prefer to be on my own. If it gets bad, I can just park up till the morning. Teams are expected to carry on as they have loads with urgent deadlines. My mate driving team, told me, it took him 9hr to only cover 4hrs worth of driving, with the roads been really bad out west. that’s not good when your wage is based on the miles you drive and not the hours, so he was earning less than half his normal wage that day, not good. Its one of the things you have to accept, driving in North America, hold ups not only cost the company, it gives you a cut in your wages too. Anyway the following morning, although I could see with it been daylight. It was still snowing, with plenty on the ground. With it been my first time this winter parked in snow. I forgot when you open the door, you get a big lump of snow on the back of your head,  one way of waking up  You can see the snow now missing above the drivers door that hit me.

By the time I got to the border, the snow had stopped and the sun came out drying the roads, so it was foot down. There was about six diggers rushing around clearing the snow in the truck stop where I stopped for a shower. A bit over the top, but they was fast.

Once back in Woodstock on the Sunday after covering 4200 miles in seven and a bit days. I had to take Scott back out with me. Good job really as doing all those miles, left me short on driving hours. I was not please with Ayr as Scott had sat around all week waiting for me to get back after he finally passed his test. I expected him going out with someone else, with me been gone for a while. I was hoping  I said I would take him on his US training but only till I was due back at the end of the week. Then he would be teaming up with my mate, another British dude. We did a load to Niagara Falls, then switched trailers in Toronto for a load back to Woodstock, where we switched for a load going to Oxford, Pennsylvania. On the way down, I remember thinking, while bouncing around in bed trying to get to sleep, on the bad New Jersey roads, ‘im so glad its my last few days teaming trying to sleep in a moving truck‘. I used to have no problems with it last year, but not any longer. Its much better parked up at night. We reloaded down the road in Pitman, New Jersey, going to our yard in Montreal. Then picked up in Joliette, Quebec, which we took back to Woodstock, getting back Thursday afternoon. While I have been off, we went and picked our real Christmas tree and put it up,

along with the lights for the outside of the house, during which time the tree fell down

Emma was not happy, a few pine needles and water everywhere. I cracked the base last year getting the old tree out. Turned out its not so stable now  so its shopping for a new base today. Artificial trees are really expensive here. I could have a real tree every year for 15yrs for the same price as an artificial tree. I like real ones, but Emma doesn’t, so we will see what we get next year.

Its rained for days none stop here, and the UK has had all the snow. Nice exchange  but then it snowed over night so back to normal. Storm days are a pain when you are on the road. In Woodstock, we may only have ten to fifteen snow storms through the winter, but because I cover such a huge area, I can be in a lot more storms then Woodstock gets. The snow does stick around for four months though. In other places it can come and go. Nova Scotia gets snow one day, and rain the next.

I go back out on Tuesday for a couple of weeks, which should time it right for a few days off plus Christmas Day off too before going out again on Boxing Day. So till my next internet connection, have a good dayyyy

I want to get one of these for our drive. They fasten to Garage and cover drive.

That way Emma would not have to clear the drive each time it snowed

The temp was -15 Degrees C which is why the windshield is iced up

Poshest plow I have ever seen

Chicago

Their Tube system runs in the middle of the highway

Goods are mainly transported by road, so when there is a traffic jam, this is what you see

This is Brookston, Indiana. There is a couple hundred of these windmills

This winter we are all suited and booted

couple of pics I took when I was off last, of the St John River behind our house

I was stood on the bridge you cross to woodstock