The Tappan Zee Bridge

That was the bridge crossing the Hudson river north of New York City in the previous post.
Mick took the photo on one of our visits to family who live in Yonkers.

Hubby received his contract yesterday so it will be on its way back to Canada tomorrow, and hopefully it will not be too long before we get a definite start date.

This weekend we are going to the Algarve for 5 days for a break and to visit a couple who live there, stopping in the beautiful seaside village of Cabanas.

Name That Bridge.

Well done to Mike for passing his test in Alberta, I'm sure is the real start of a new life for him, Dee and their daughter.
I know my hubby will be a nervous wreck when he does the test, but it has to be done.

Here's a test for the drivers out there.

Hubby took this shot a few years ago of a well known bridge in the USA, but what's it called?

He also has a question for a visitor to my blog from Waterford in Ireland ...are you his cousin?
If so, leave a message and tell him where his uncle Pat has gone to live.

It was nice to see a return to blogging for Javi, who had been blogging from North America (with great pictures). but he disappeared and had gone back to Spain.
He has now got an interview with H&R in Lethbridge and has started to blog again, so maybe we will meet up with him in the future.
He's a great country singer as well, check the video on his page.

A Sunny September Day In Bradford

Today has been a really lovely day. The sun has been shining all day and it has been lovely and warm. I have been taking advantage of this, sitting the garden most of the day, but in the afternoon we went for a drive around and hubby took a picture of this which is being built in our City.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In words spoken in 1997, Erdogan made mosque construction seem like part of a strategy of Islamization: "The minarets are our lances, the domes our helmets, the believers our army."

Hope tomorrow is gonna be another good one, only thing is I will not get anything done in the house.

George from The Big Trip left a comment about the weather in California, but maybe he's forgotten already what the normal weather is like here in England.
Here's a reminder from my hubby's truck in July ...

Big Rig Rollover On The Donner Pass

It's not all fun.
This crash on the Donner Pass I80 in California claimed two lives, the video was from a camera on a Walmart truck.
Stay safe out there.


Find more videos like this on CDL of it


This was posted with the full story on Jims blog, thanks.

Christmas In Canada

A phone call from Eugenie in Canada to my hubby today, gave him welcome confirmation of the job offer. With a view to starting at the truck driving school at the beginning of December, so it looks like it is going to be Christmas in North America.

A couple of new blogs here, one just starting out with trucking ... Starting Block--Trucking and one returnee ... Where's Al Now?

Good News, Bad News

Some useful and interesting posts from the bloggers on my sidebar, including what phones to buy and use in both Canada and the USA from The Professional Tourists, and from Mike at Mike's Jolly In Canada you can see lots of pictures from where he (and all trainee drivers) stay, at the Sandman Hotel in Lethbridge.

Unfortunately it's not all good news as the readers of Spirited Away, and British Truckers Abroad will know, GREMMIE (Graham Parks) who disappeared for a while has now posted here ...Spirited Away the reason why he was absent.

He was both unlucky and lucky, and I'm sure everyone will visit his blog to wish him all the best, and a speedy recovery.

No respect for fallen heroes

Following a post on the Coppers Blog, (he moved from the UK to Canada), I arrived at this story in the Daily Mail, which may explain why so many ex-squadies make a new life in Canada.

Don't forget to read and comment on the Mike's Jolly In Canada blog, as he has now arrived in Lethbridge and is detailing his progress.

Helpful Bloggers

We are still very excited about our move to Canada, and now we are just waiting confirmation of the job offer, but as far as we know Steve W only went back to Canada last week, so he will be a bit busy after his 60 odd interviews.

Hubby has got the design of the blog how I like it, so now It is up to me to post more regular. The problem is, the whole idea of going to Canada is to have a more interesting life, so until then my daily life is the same as many other people in the UK, get up go to work, come home and chill out, still, I suppose I should make the best of my relaxed life, because I know when we start working in Canada it will be long days/nights, and hubby will be working harder than he does in the UK.

The general reaction (to our move) from our friend and family has been mostly positive but there has been the occasional bit of negativity from those who would never move outside their own comfort zone, and think we are crazy.

Anyone else reading this blog who is contemplating going to work for a Canadian long haul trucking company will find the links on my sidebar of great interest, as they are mostly by Brits who are already ’walking the walk’ whereas we have only just left the ’talking the talk’ stage.

We would once again like to thank all the other trucking bloggers who have been an invaluable help, even though we do not always get the chance to comment on their own posts.
Whether you are married or single and are contemplating a move to Canada they are all worth a read, and if you are a truck driver, this is a good site to start you off…

British Truckers Abroad

Ta Ta for now.

P.S: It'll be a shame to leave our vibrant city ...

9/11 : Never Forget

Posting a few hours early, because I might not get chance on the 11th.

We will never forget the events of 9/11 ...we were there.

Hubby took this picture a few days before the towers were struck by Islamic terrorists, it's a view from the South Tower looking north up the West Side Highway, with the North Tower on the left.



The picture below was take outside the Good Shepherd Church in Inwood New York on the 5th anniversary of the attacks.

Top Lass

I am sure most readers already know that there is another Yorkshire couple already trucking and
blogging around Canada

This is their site...

Kev & Lisa's Life From UK to Canada & USA

Lisa has just sent me a fantastic e mail with lots of useful information which will be a great help to us on our journey, for which I am really grateful, so thank you Lisa and Kev.

A Bit Of Background

Hubby's Family

When we get to Canada, hubby will be following in his ancestors footsteps because his Hillary and Jones families emigrated to B.C. around a hundred years ago.

This is a view of the Jones house on Jane street, Port Moody about 1920.


His grandparents and close relatives settled in the area Port Moody, Vancouver.
Some of hubby's relatives (Hi Betty) are still in British Columbia, and we are looking forward to meeting them.

This is Robert E Jones and family outside the house he built which is shown on the other picture.

My Family
All my own relatives in North America live in the USA, in New York, New Jersey and Florida, so hopefully we will get to meet up with them again, even though we already visit them regularly.

Here is a picture of me near the 231st subway station on the elevated section of the 1 and 9 train route in the Bronx New York.



This is a picture of hubby on the balcony of my cousin Paddy's apartment in Yonkers, a lovely area near St Vincents College on Riverdale avenue.

Britain 2008

Whilst I was messing about on Google search, looking for truck driving jobs (hubby is a class 1 HGV truck driver) I came across one particular site, which was a blog by an ex pat British driver living and working in Canada.

Here ... Living the dream

After we had both read Lyndons blog, and following links to other blogs, we made the decision to do some serious research into living and working in Canada, and we have both become regular readers of all the blogs listed on my sidebar.

With a lot of soul searching we finally decided that Canada could be for us, which brought us to August 2008 and the interview up in Newcastle, with the Canadian trucking company

The reasons for wanting to leave Britain are many, but for me the defining moment came a couple of weeks ago, in the city center, at my place of work (travel agency), when a man threatened a colleague and I , with a chair.
As soon as the man became abusive and threatening, we pressed the panic button, which is connected directly to the local police station, but it took them 15 minutes to turn up, in which time, the man had finished his rampage and after causing some damage to our computer monitors, and frightening the life out of the two of us, he simply sauntered out of the shop leaving us shaking with fear and anger.
The fifteen minute wait for the police seemed like an eternity, and when they eventually did arrive they did very little. The man was located and ‘spoken to’, but no action was taken.

As well as the little incident above, it wears you down seeing drug deals being made outside the store, and having to mop up vomit and urine, from our shop doorway on many mornings.

The positive aspects of living in North America seem to far outweigh the negative aspects of living in Britain in 2008, and, yes, we know there are drugs and crime over there.

On the way back from Newcastle, we stopped off in the beautiful city of Durham for something to eat, but after having to step over three comatose drunks, with their attendant bottles of White Lightning and Special Brew cans littering the area around them, we decided not to bother.