New Years Eve

Happy New Year, Y'Hear!

Lethbridge, Alberta 2008

Mentor trip to Los Angeles

Post by Mick

My first mentor trip with Mike Nash down to L.A. and back went really well although the weather at times was pretty poor.
The choice to come over to Canada in winter was made with the weather in mind, as it would have been a massive shock to have a nice summer then get hit by stuff we hardly ever see in the UK, so I did my driver training in snow and ice, and then was out on the road driving at full pelt on snow covered highways.











The pictures above were taken at Idaho Falls truck stop (I think), where we had pulled in for the night.
The weather does not really stop people driving, but the American truckers seem to crawl along compared to the Canadians.

Thanks to Mike for the lessons and the laughs on the trip.

Mike leaning on the truck (don't know why!)

His usual pose with arms and legs crossed.

I could have taken this Sat Nav picture below, a long way back, but didn't realise how it looked at first.
The manoeuvre in 483 miles is not a turn, it's only a lane change LOL.



This flatdeck driver had his tractor fully chained up in the Dads truckstop, but we just powered on through all the snow and ice.









On the way back north we found that the Police had blocked the road at Dubois, so we had to pull off for a couple of hours while it was cleared and I had a chance to snap a few pictures.

The road prior to this had been solid ice and snow for hours and when you looked in the mirrors all you could see was a silver ribbon of ice behind the truck glinting in the sun.






All in all I had a great mentor trip with Mike, following a similar route to Javi, who managed to make some beautiful pictures in the canyons in Arizona/Nevada, which me and Mike travelled mainly at night.
Be sure to visit Javis blog to see the pictures by clicking here.

The main thing I noticed on my trip was the vastness of the landscape in every direction ...unbelievable!

Hopefully I will have a second mentor trip this weekend over the Rockies to Vancouver and back, then we (me and Cath) will roll together, and when we do get moving, she will be posting lots of pictures, and although her blog is not about the company I work for, I'm sure she will be happy to answer any questions from the women out there as we travel along.

Cath is not employed by the company so it will not be her business to comment about them or their methods, but if anyone wants any specific details about my job, please leave a comment and contact details.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all Caths readers, and our family and friends.

Quick one ...

Mick is back from his very enjoyable mentor trip to L.A. and back, more to follow...

Mick Is On The Road

Just a very quick post, Mick has gone on his Mentor trip today, he has gone with Mike Nash and they have gone to LA.
I will be waiting for him to bring some pictures back to post on the blog, and he will probably do a post to let everyone know how he has gone on.
Thank you to everyone for the good wishes, Happy Christmas and have a great New Year.

Woo Hoo He Has Passed

Today Mick passed his Class 1 Canadian driving test, in road conditions which would keep UK drivers at home and off the roads, so that's a little bit of his stress gone for now, but he still has to pass the theory test.
He was very happy with his instructor, Weldon at SK Driver Training who had lots of patience.
Andy asked some questions in the comments section of my last post, so I'll try to answer them here.



Yes Andy it is Christmas looking, and the decorations don't seem to get vandalised like they might in the UK.

Has the Volvo got a crash box too?

There are three tractor units at SK Driver Training Ltd, a Volvo, Kenworth and a Freightliner and they all have the Eaton Fuller 'crash box', which he says take a little getting used to.

What's it like doing your training in the sub zero temperatures? You must be spinning out all over the place?


One of the reasons for coming over in winter was so that we would not be surprised by the conditions, and Mick thought it was very important to get driving tuition with snow and ice on the ground.
Spinning out has not been a problem, but delicate use of the gas pedal is required, and minimum use of the brakes. Working outside the truck in sub zero conditions is required, as the pre trip can take 45 mins, but you should be well wrapped up and probably will end up sweating anyway.
The danger of wind chill should not be ignored even if you feel warm and all exposed skin should be covered to prevent frostbite.
It feels strange to us soft Europeans when we first feel the ice forming on the inside of our nose.

How are you coping Cath?

I am finding it very difficult to cope in the nice, warm cosy, Lethbridge Lodge Hotel, with free wireless internet access, full size fridge, microwave, large TV in the living room, TV in the bedroom, coffee making facilities and swimming pool and hot tub a minute away, but I struggle on lol.
On a serious note I am quite content and even thought it has been as low as minus 23 we have been getting out and about and enjoying the City and the Canadian hospitality.
As you will have read in earlier posts we have also been lucky enough to meet some very nice people since we have been here.
My feelings and emotions may change completely when we start to travel around Canada and the lower 48 US states in the truck (Mick has been lusting over Dave Caldwells new truck lol), but so far I am very happy.

Is the winter clothing expensive?

Mick bought some strong, warm, comfortable steel toe cap boots for $69, but his other clothing he brought with him, although the material on his English winter coat takes on the consistency of a crisp packet after 5 mins in the sub zero tempratures, but he did bring it strictly for work, and during the pre trip it gets pretty dirty.

He also has a couple of smaller jackets which, when combined with a hat and scarf are ok for short trips.
Tell Amanda to forget about fashions during Canadian winters as the choices seem very dull, and warmth and comfort seems to be more important.
I brought jeans, jumpers, tee shirts and long johns (not joking) because you will need them, the cold will cut straight through denim. My winter boots came from Walmart, they were graded to withstand temperatures of minus 20, they cost $40, they are nothing to look at but keep my feet dry and warm. I also bought a winter coat at Walmart, again it is not a fashionable one but it does the job, that cost $85.

Thanks for the best wishes guys.

This is just after Mick finished his test today.

The Bland Christmas House, Lethbridge.

Hubby was training today until lunchtime so I just chilled out making a few phone calls back to the uk using Skypeout whilst we have internet access in the Hotel, as it will be a little harder when we get moving in the truck.



This evening we decided to call on Inga and take a walk to the Christmas house in Lethbridge, which is on 4th Av S and 13th street S, home of the Bland family.



The camera does not do the scene justice, as it's really very pretty with the snow and the thousands of lights, and the family allow you to walk around their garden, as long as you close all the gates to stop the dogs escaping.


Even though it was minus 7 there was no wind chill and we had a very pleasant walk and now Mick is going to bed early to try and study for his written test.

-43

The temperature outside the Hotel this morning was between -20 and -23 with a promised wind chill this evening of -43...argh!

We took a stroll to the shopping mall today with Wolf, who is leaving first thing Monday morning for Mexico, and it's probably just about time for him after having to hang around with the old farts (Mick) for a week lol.
Good luck with the mentor trip Wolf.

This was taken in downtown Lethbridge whilst we were out shopping.
Mick is smiling here but he was in tears later when he found an audio cable for $4.99 and he had already bought one for $16 ha ha.

Still Driver Training At S And K In Lethbridge

On Thursday we had a visit from Kerry of 'professional tourists', she was kind enough to come to the hotel and meet me and Inga whilst Mick was out driving.
She gave us a lot of useful information and advice whilst we were drinking lots of coffee.
Mick snapped this little picture of us when he met us at Timmies, it's not a very good one I'm afraid.
Thanks again Kerry it was a pleasure to meet you, hope we meet up again soon. Enjoy your visit back to UK at Christmas.

Congratulations to Wolf who passed his test yesterday, he has been training in the Volvo below. Mick has been training in a Freightliner and hopefully he will be doing his test next week.


The weekend arrived early yesterday as Mick finished his training around lunchtime so we had a walk to the Mall and had a chill out in our room.

We met up with Wolf in the early evening and then I went to Ingas room to see if she wanted to join us for some food in the bar area which she did, and one of the boys behind the bar was kind enough to take a photograph of us and even Jay and Nathan (nice lads) from the hotel managed to get in on the act.

Jan and Lyndon

Mick has been out on the truck training, it was his first day on Monday and he was worried that he would not pick the gearbox up too quickly, but when he came back he was really pleased with himself as he thought it had gone very well.

Mick is training in the truck which is arrowed here...



He did his training in the morning, and Wolf's was in the afternoon, and when he came back we went to the shopping mall for a walk and had something to eat.
The only problem with the shopping malls is that you have to dress up for the low temperatures outside, but when you walk into the mall you immediately break out into a sweat and have to start pulling layers off.

Its the same everywhere you go indoors, but one thing I have noticed, is that even though it's cold it has been bright and sunny.


In the evening we met up with Javi, Inga and Wolf.
Javi has now gone on his mentor trip with Jim, one of the professional tourists.
He and Inga were in the Sandman Hotel but moved into The Lethbridge Lodge where we are based, Inga will be better off here whilst she is on her own because it is nearer all the amenities.
Hopefully Inga will keep me company and we will get a bit of exercise in the hotel pool.



Mick decided to give Lyndon a ring and say hello yesterday, as he has given a lot of info on his blog about coming out here to work. He got in touch with Lyndon using Skypeout and when he came online he sounded a bit groggy, but it was because he had just woken up, but after a short chat he said he would ring us back.


About an hour later Lyndon rang us back with a plan!
Another couple from Ripon were in the Sandman Hotel on a recce trip, and they were kind enough to pick us up in their hire car so we could all go down to visit Lyndon and family.

Jan and Lyndon had gone to a lot of trouble to put a spread on for us all, and they had insisted we stay the night, so we had a very good feed and drink and a good chin wag before turning in.
The other couple, Mick and Barbara, are hoping to travel together in the truck next year across Canada and the lower 48, the same as us, so we wish them all the very best.

We also got to see their (Lyndon's pride and joy) wood burning furnace in the basement, which keeps the den at a constant 400 degrees!
There was also a nice young Canadian sounding lad in the house, who we think was a Brit at one time, many moons ago (Hi Luke!).
Thanks again to Lyndon and Jan for the hospitality.

In the morning, Mick and Barbara brought us back up to their hotel and we had a walk back to ours, collecting our laundry at 'King Koin' on the way back, then after some breakfast and a bit of a chill out, Mick went off to driver training again, and I am slobbing about in the suite.

Meeting Nice People.

Mick had a day off from School today, so we went to stretch our legs, around Lethbridge.
He starts driving lessons tomorrow (monday), so, depending on the weather I may try to get out and about to take some pictures around town, but at the moment it is snowing so who knows how far I will get.

We took the picture above, on our little walk, and the same picture is also on Javi's blog here.

The picture below is The Sandman Hotel where most of the other drivers from the company stay when they are reseting their hours or having their trucks serviced etc, and it is also where Javi and his lovely wife Inga are staying.


For people who read Javi's blog, they will already know he was trucking in Canada earlier this year so there is no need for him to retake his Canadian class 1 test, hence they will soon be away down the road, and we may not meet up with them again for many months, so good luck guys, it has been an absolute pleasure to meet you both.
Myself and Mick feel that the future holds great things in store for two such talented and beautiful people.


This picture is of me and the old man.


My best friend Paula will be going off tomorrow to take part in a very well known British game show (Deal or no Deal) so...

GOOD LUCK PAULA

We hope you win a fortune for you and your family, you deserve it love.

Finally Here.

My emotions have been all over the place in the last few days. We have not sold our house so we have not burned our bridges but I take my hat off to all of you who have.
Seeing my son and his beautiful wife Joanne, to say goodbye was awful, I was sick inside just waiting to hug them and say goodbye but..... only for six months as we are going home in May to see what decision to make on whether we want to be in Canada permanently or to just work until the work permit expires.
It takes a lot of guts and courage to give everything up and start a new life and to those of you who have done it, I wish every single one off you the best of luck, because you deserve it.

Our journey begins, our lovely daughter in law Joanne took us to Manchester Airport for our flight to Gatwick, the plane was half empty and it was a nice flight, clear skies so good views all the way down. When we arrived we stopped into one of the bars to meet Wolf form Bonnie Scotland. I left Mick chatting to him while I went to do a bit of shopping,when I came back Javi was there as well.
We had a four hour wait for the flight to Calgary, but because we were all chatting the time passed very quickly.
After our long flight we had to queue to go through immigration, where there were only 2 officers on duty, we only had to wait about half hour before we got to see one, but poor old Wolf and Javi had to wait about an hour and half to get through, and Javis wife Inga had been waiting for him for a long time as she had got a different flight to him so got into Calgary early (9 hours).
After the two and half hour drive to Lethbridge we finally got to the hotel (Lethbridge Lodge) at about one in the morning, and boy were we tired.


The next day the boys were being picked up at quarter to nine by Hans from VRV Global, to go for medicals and switch their driving licenses, and get social security numbers.
Hans, what a funny guy, he is great, very down to earth, we had a good laugh with him.
In the afternoon they picked me and Inga up and we all went to open bank accounts, and stop off for the drug tests, after which Hans gave us a short tour around Lethbridge, and after a quick stop off at Tim Hortons for doughnuts, myself Mick and Wolf were dropped off at the shopping mall while Javi and Inga went back to the hotel.
Wolf got himself a phone, we had something to eat and then we headed back to the hotel in the very cold Chinook wind chill, with our eyes and noses streaming.

Javi has posted some nice pics around his hotel, and also of Hans and Wolf, here ...click

I'm posting this late on, as we have just been down to our hotel reception area to meet Mike Nash, from Mikes Jolly In Canada who had just rolled into town with George Anderson of 'The Big Trip' fame, who were both really nice friendly guys.



Mick and Wolf are in class tomorrow, and on Monday, the road work begins.

Woot, Eh!, finally got here.

Post by Mick
Time to change the picture up top, of Bradford, and Listers Mill.
Cath will be posting later today.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow.

Just a quick post in between rushing about trying to say goodbye to everybody.
Opened the curtains this morning and could not believe what I saw, Snow!
It's the most snow I have seen in years up here.



Here is a picture of Mick saying goodbye to his mate Mr Whippy, the famous DJ, radio broadcaster and Ice Cream Man.


I'll also say, that apart from friends and family, the other thing we will miss is Chris Wainwrights beautiful Fish and Chips, served by a great bunch of girls at Beacon Road Traditional Fisheries.
We took a picture to remind us of fish chips and a scallop, but please note, they are not full portions of chips on show here.

We found out that the other driver who is on our flight is meeting us in Gatwick along with Wolf, and it's Javi, who has a blog ...click here.
Javi and Wolf have both been trucking in Canada before, so Mick will be asking a few questions when we all meet up.
So, it's finally arrived, time to go, and it only seems like a week or two since we decided to go in April.

Leaving do, and Reindeer poo!

Well, I've been a busy bee lately.

We went to meet Tony T and his wife Jill (pictured on the left) on Sunday, they had been to Leeds for the New Zealand Expo, so we met them at Frankie and Benny's in Birstal for a drink afterwards.
It was good to meet them and we talked about what they are deciding to do in the future , and about us going to Canada. Tony's brother is already a long haul trucker in Canada, so they mey even end up there, but they are a very nice couple and we both wish them all the best for the future wherever they get to.



Monday was my last day at work which was sad, as I have been at WA Shearings for three and a half years and I have been very happy there.
I had a great boss and great work colleagues who have all become friends and I would not have left my job if I had not been going with Mick to travel North America.
On Thursday evening I went out for a meal with my friends from work, we had a very pleasant evening and here's a picture of all the silly things they bought me as an "emergency kit" for Canada.

A lot of thought went into it, so, thanks to Paul and the girls, you brought a smile and a tear to my face.




It wasn't just silly stuff like hand warmers and reindeer Poo, they also bought me a beautiful wristwatch



















It was Micks last day at work today, he has been there for over 10 years, and he will be sad to leave his colleague 'Jimmy G' behind, and also the lads at Redhead International.

Mick has also been speaking to 'Wolf', he is on the same flight as us so it will be good to meet him, and I think we will have a good old chat and laugh on that flight.
Wolf also sent Mick a picture of himself playing in the snow on a fertiliser bag (hope you did not twist your ankle too badly lol).
If any of our mates are reading this, and don't have our Skype/MSN details, just leave a comment and I'll let you have them because you know Mick is too tight to use the phone.

Furry Hats And Druggy Rioters

After posting the picture of the furry hat on the last post, I was in Matalan and bought a similar one for a fiver, so at least my head will be warm when we get off the plane in a couple of weeks.
Mick says they are not the real McCoy, but will do till we can get some proper winter clothing sorted out that will keep us warm in the low winter temps.

Hubby was talking to 'Wolf' from Scotland the other night, who is going to be on the same flight as us, and has already worked in Canada as a trucker, so we should get some tips off him when we meet up in Gatwick.

Mike Nash, from 'Mike's Jolly in Canada' was on Skype with Mick this A.M, whilst he was in his hotel room in the Sandman, and it was great to hear the usual upbeat positive attitude which he has got, and which helps to put me (and Mick) more at ease with our move.
His wife, Dee, is over on the 19th to join him for a week in his truck, so no posts from him Lol.

Micks Mum had her shopping bag stolen from her shopping cart at Morrisons, Mayo Avenue branch on Saturday, and although the store manager was very sypathetic, the Police will not take any action whatsoever, so that s another reason to get the hell out of here.
There was also a mini riot in Bradford City centre last weekend involving two ethnic drugs gangs, but when it was finally reported in the local paper it was played down and no crimes were either reported or detected, so, like Micks Mum's bag theft ...it never happened.

Javi and his wife Inga should also be over at the same time as us, so we are looking forward to meeting them, as I have been following his blog since he was in Canada previously, and if you like nice photographs, he takes great shots for his blog, here... 'On The Road Again !!!'






Here's a picture from smack in the middle of our town, just one of the neglected unloved buildings which are being left to deteriorate in our once proud city.

Ice Road Truckers Wife?

Mick received his emigration papers today, so every thing's on track for our move to the 'Great White North'.
He was on the phone yesterday to another driver, ' Wolf', who will be on the same flight as us, who gave him some good tips and advice because he has driven over there before and knows what to expect.

My biggest problem is what things to take and what to leave, you know what women are like, and even though there is a fair bit of storage room in the truck, we may be traveling from temperatures of -30C in Canada to parts of the USA which are still hot at this time of year, and back again within a few days.

Winter survival clothing is essential at this time of year in the northern United States and Canada, and they take up a lot of room when they are not being worn, so I have had to leave my Louis Vuitton suitcase full of expensive beach wear, shoes and designer ball gowns at home , LOL. My Tiara will have to stay home too, as the first thing I am going to buy on arrival is one of these ... and I'm not kidding.


You may well laugh (I'm sure you will when you see the pictures), but it will stop my head freezing in the chill factor of those Northern Arctic winds.

After receiving advice from people on the British Truckers Abroad forum and other trucking bloggers, we have decided to use calling cards to phone home from across the pond, although I will be taking my own phone and using a SIM card which I will activate when we hit the USA.

Hubby got the SIM off E-bay from cellplan4u123 and it was £11.49 with $10 credit already on it.

The seller provides full instructions for activation, so we will post here about it's use, once we get using it (or not, Lol). The stories about mobile phone charges are quite astonishing, and I will miss my O2 text and talk freebies.