Saturday 28 February 2009

Vancouver

We have just been looking at Javi and Ingas pictures of Vancouver which they managed to visit whilst they were delivering near Delta.
Once again they (I am not sure who takes all the pictures anymore, LOL) have got some great shots , which are worthy of a travel brochure.
They have both been in Canada trucking in 2008, where they had not such a good experience with the company they were with, so we hope they are enjoying it better with the present company.

Whilst we were in Vancouver the other week we managed to take some pictures of the house Micks Great Uncle built around 1911 when he emigrated there, and the lady who owns it now was kind enough to invite us in for a tour and a cup of tea.

This was the house in the early days ...




This is now....

The owner, Lorraine, showed us around the house, which was really spooky considering that Micks Grandmother and grandfather had walked through the same rooms many years before.

He still has many relatives in Vancouver who he hasn't met, but he keeps in touch with his cousin Betty who lives with her husband, Don on Vancouver Island.

Thanks Brother Truckers

Since we have been on the road in Canada and USA, we have met a great number of friendly people and we have been given lots of advice, tips and help from other people on the road, in particular:

Mike Nash

Martin and Val

Martin and Debbie

Lyndon

Phil Henderson

Kerry

A couple of Canadian drivers

And especially George Anderson, who has e-mailed Mick with a lot of information.

I am sorry if I have forgotten to mention anyone else.
It has been one of the nicest things about being here so far, the fact that ordinary people have been so helpful to us

Weather Advisory

Since our last trip to the Rockies, we were offered two other jobs, but Mick turned them down because they could not be done, so we were stuck in Calgary for Nearly 3 days without any work.

When we eventually got a load, we ran it to Lethbridge and parked up for the night .
After a none eventful first day, we planned on setting off early and running to within a hundred miles from the drop.

The first few hours of the journey went well, then we ran into some really bad weather, high winds and snow drifting across the highway. we had a few trucks overtake us blinding us with their snow clouds, but as one truck passed us, he hit a snowbank in the second lane, and completely blinded us causing Mick to swerve as we too hit the snow bank, the next thing we were heading towards the central reservation(median).

Mick managed to keep the rig upright, and, as there was nobody on the opposite highway he went straight onto there and got across to the hard shoulder where he pulled up.
He tried to drive slowly to the next on ramp so he could get off the highway, but decided to stop because the visibility was getting too bad.

If there had of been something coming towards us on the westbound side when he swerved he said he would have had to just bury it in the snow in the centre, like we had seen two other trucks further back.

We had to wait for the Police to arrive to escort us to a crossover point, back to the correct side of the road.

After Micks documents had been checked by the Police officer, we went up to the next exit where Mick checked for damage and cleared snow out of the engine compartment, then we carried on driving for another two hours.

At this time a traffic advisory had been issued, and with two foot snowdrifts in places across the road, we pulled off to a truck stop, where we were lucky to get a spot as an hour later the place was packed with sensible drivers.

Whilst I was quite shook up by the whole incident Mick was fine, so he sent a message back to the company giving them the information about the incident. Today we left the truck stop at 3am, to try and get the load delivered as soon as possible, as we knew it would be late because of what happened yesterday.

As we got on to the highway, we were soon passing other cars and trucks which had ditched in the bad weather, including one semi on it's side, so we were indeed very lucky.

Thanks to my husband Mick for, no truck damage and delivering the load (even though it was late), and for the way you handled this incident.

We sit in the truck stop waiting for another job now because we were asked to do two different pick ups, which we could not possibly do because we started at 3 in the morning, and finished at
2.30 in the afternoon, and they wanted them doing in the evening.

As I type he has been offered a run to be picked up 300 miles from where we are on Monday morning which he has just accepted.

To all you Truckers, be careful out there.

Sunday 22 February 2009

Canadian Internet

Hello Folks.

It has been some time since I have done even a half decent post, but we seem to be running back and forth over the Rockies,and seeing as we paid 25 bucks for a months flying J internet access, we have only used it in one truck stop in Canada, the Calgary one, and Mick says it is like being back on a 56k modem (whatever one of them is).
It is too slow to even send pictures up. I thought I would be seeing more of the USA ( and getting my moneys worth of internet) but for some reason, even though Mick is US capable, we seem to be stuck in Canada.

I should not really complain though because at least the wheels are turning which means we are earning.

If Mr Broon is reading this and he sees us on the road in 3093 he can give us a shout and he can collect his bits and pieces which he left in the (spotless) truck when we stole it from him lol.

Belated Birthday wishes to Mike Nash, tried to comment on your blog Mike but I could not even send that up with this damn slow connection.

Apart from all this, we are enjoying the stunning scenery of the Rockies, it looks different every time we go over them as the snow is melting, and the rivers and lakes start to thaw.

As soon as I get a good internet connection I will do some more posting.

Wednesday 18 February 2009

Icy Lethbridge

Another short post due to time and internet restraints.

We have just returned from our third consecutive run across the beautiful Rocky Mountains of BC and Alberta, and are currently having a reset in Lethbridge, where we managed to meet Wolfs wife Clare and go for a nice meal with them both last night.

They also took us out for a spin to Taber where they are hoping to settle eventually, and it gave Mick a chance to chill out after 1800 miles of hard mountain driving.

View from the Sandman yesterday

Rockies on a clear day.

Gid (Wolf) and Mick having lunch in a Taber Deli.


The lovely Clare, and Wolf

Hopefully my next post will be a bit more informative, and I will have a nice story about Micks ancestors home in Port Moody which we visited.

Friday 13 February 2009

Attacked by bears

We are currently in Calgary waiting for a run, and have bumped into Mike Nash who has just returned from a visit back to the UK.
Mr Broon should also know by now where his truck disappeared to whilst he was visiting the UK... yes, we were allocated it and we now have it hidden away at a truck stop.
Internet access continues to be sporadic and I have taken way too many pictures, but here's one from Oregon (I think) and a few from our last run from Vancouver through the Rockies.






Sunday 8 February 2009

Snow in the rockies.

Running at 60mph on the snowy mountain roads.

Las Vegas, and the Virgin River Gorge.

This is near the town of Baker where you will find the worlds biggest thermometer, northbound on the I15 on the way to Vegas.


Viva Las Vegas







A few shots as we ran through the Virgin River Gorge.




We then went up through Montana where we met some snow and ice conditions but then got to clearer weather.


Truck front all iced up, and it stayed that way for two more days.



A proper post to follow soon, but we are on a quick re-set and will be off out again tomorrow morning.

Friday 6 February 2009

Wot no posts?

Now I see why the trucking bloggers here in North America sometimes don't post for a while as it's sometimes a bit difficult to get time for the internet!
Post to follow...