Cadburys Flake

This post is for Jim and anyone else who didnt know what a cadburys flake was.........

It is a really nice, crumbly chocolate bar that has been around in UK for eons. Its possibly the nicest (and messiest) piece of candy the company has ever made. if youve never had one then you are missing out.

As well as eating like a normal candy bar it can also be stuck in a snow cone (ice-cream cornet) and normally drizzled in a sauce, normally rasberry or strawberry, i dont know what this would be called in the States but in the UK its called a "99", dunno why, maybe it was because a one time thats how much it cost.

Lyndon Goes Team...........

Yep its true, due to unforseen circumsatnces Lyndon has volenteered his services to go "Team" and save a load.

As you know, last night Montedarlo (Phil) broke down trying to collect a critical meat load that needs to get to Pensylvania by Wednesday morning. I was asked to abort my Edmonton journey and scoot into Lethbridge to provide the exta power, all went well till this morning.

I got to the truck this morning, logged on, colleced the paperwork and backed under the trailer to do my pre-trip checks. Everything seemed good so far so i sent my "Loaded" macros and went to drive round to the scales. This is where the problems started, trailers brakes were very weak and the combination was unsafe.

I did a few emergency stops to make sure it wasnt my imagination but there was definitely something wrong. I had 2 choices, go and hope for the best or go get it checked out. I decided on the latter and limped into the shop.

The fitter there confirmed my suspicions, the trailer brakes were working but no where near as powerfull as they should be. I was told to park in the shop where it was warmer and copious amounts of antifreeze was poured into the braking system.

2 hours later the brakes were working but the problem was i had missed meat inspection and it doesnt open till 16:00 tomorrow, bearing in mind the load needs to be at the customer on Wednesday and im not leaving till Monday lunchtime, the distance is 3590 kms or 3 days and 8 hours driving for a single driver.

I made a suggestion and it looks like we are running with it, i am going to be running team which means 2 drivers and 3045 will only be stopping to take on fuel, i reckon that we can do the trip in 41 hours straight driving which means we should be there at lunch time on Wednesday.

Ive never done this before so it should be fun, not sure when i will be able to get internet connection so please bear with me and i will update whenever i can.

Stay tuned, this should be interesting.............................

Pensylvania or bust

There are monsters up in the mountains and they are killing the animals there, the RCMP are trying to control the monsters but it looks like the monsters are winning.

Jan wont let me have one of these, loads of trunk (boot) space but not so easy to park at Walmart
A Truck stop in Washington

This is going to have to be a quick post coz things have been happening pretty quick around here:

3045 and i made good time getting back from Portland (very good actually) and were racing towards Edmonton then the computer beeped and i got a message to spin round and head for Lethbridge and rescue a load from Brooks.

Well i spun round (in the middle of the road) and when i got back to the Lethbridge yard there was Montedarlo (Phil). He had broken down and limped into town with a load from Brooks and it was going to Pensylvania, it had to be there for Wednesday.

I dropped my trailer, we had a little chat, very nice to meet you at last Phil, then we moved his trailer axles and i went home for the night.

Woke up this morning and its going to be another hot load, not sure if i got enough hours to get it there but time will tell.

Life on the edge eh?

Aaron The Trucker (and film maker)

Okay so you know im in Portland Oregon and im collecting in Portland too but tomorrow evening, so what shall i do in the meantime.............

As if there was any other option, if your in Portland you have to meet Portlands own prodigy film-maker, editor and budding soap salesman.

Who else could i mean but Aaron the Trucker............

Okay so how do you contact such a celebrity a short notice, i decided email.

So i sent the email and waited, and waited, then finally went into the Flying J facilities and succesfully managed to stick a paper bath mat to a mirror (sorry cleaning guy) this was my tribute to Aaron, i was in his town so i would create an artistic masterpiece.

I actually created a bath mat stuck to a mirror but i filmed it all the same.........

Anyway next day i had a phone call and we aranged to meet at Jubitz truck emporium for a chat and some coffee, that was a fantastic plan as i had to get the trailer washed out as there was about half a ton of potato starch all over the trailer floor.

I spun round to Jubitz, drove thru the wash and parked up.......

My plan was to get food and coffee but Aaron had already thought it through and turned up complete with camera and all the tripody things that go with it.

To my surprise i was presented with a gift, 3 bars of Oregon Soap (hope that wasnt a hint) from one of his business enterprises. After a split second decision i returned the compliment with a special chocalate treat that you just cant get in the States, most Americans have never even heared of them.............. Cadburys Flakes.

Its dificult for the average "Limey" to comprehend a whole nation that have not sampled a "Flake". We who were bought up with those adverts from the 70's, and a "Mr Whippy" ice-cream isnt complete without a flake, strawberry juice and crushed nuts.

Anyone who is about my age will remember the old playground joke whereby if you ever saw another kid with an icecream you would ask if they wanted crushed nuts for that.

What normally ensued was a naive nodding of the head (by the victim), a swift kick in the balls, he afore mentioned victim wrything in pain and the ice cream aquires a new owner.

Oh, we were such scamps then....................

Oh dear i digress

Yes Aaron it was a great honour to meet you at last bud and i really enjoyed filming the interview, i really cant wait to see the end result.

I totally agree, next time we will have to grab some food next time though, but are you sure that the Sugar Shack doesnt sell candy................

Take care matey.

Lyndon.

Memories of Pitter Patter

Wow i had a fantastic nights sleep last night. It was absolutely throwing down with rain last night and i could hear it on the cab.

When i was a child we used to go caravanning all round UK and one of my fondest memories was of sleeping to the noise of the rain landing on the tin shell of the van. I used to fight to stay awake just so i could listen to it, unfortunately this struggle would only last for about 2 minutes then the next thing i knew it would be morning again and everything was fresh, you could smell the grass and the trees. You could hear the birds singing and the chink of a metal spoon on the side of a cup that told you that mom had just made some tea.

Damn, that memory just cuts through time, it reaches out through the years of driving, serving my country, meeting my wife, being a father myself and takes me right back to that old battered little white caravan that we used to drag around behind a Ford Zephyr, a Sunbeam Rapier or what ever car we had at the time.

sorry, words escape me ..................................................

Washed Out In Washington

Woke up this morning at Ernie's Truck Stop in Moses Lakes to a very wet and miserable Thursday 13th, last night i sent a message saying i was going into the delivery at 07:00 unless told otherwize. I did my pre trip inspection, did my paperwork, sent my morning macros, had a wash, drunk a tin of milkshake then stared at the computer screen in disbelief. My new appointment was 14:00 local (15:00 Albera time).

Buggershitbuggershitbuggeryshit & shittybugger, that had just screwed my day up completely so i kicked off my sneakers, climbed on the bed and pulled the sleeping bag over me. Just as i was dozing off (2 mins) i heared a faint beep so i pulled the satellite over so i could read it without putting my glasses on, the message said.

"oops sorry that was the Vancouver, del asap and get to Vancouver"

Well that was good enough for me, i kicked off the sleeping bag, pulled on the sneakers, gunned the mighty detroit and screamed off the truck lot and into the delivery yard which was 10 mins away.

Once there i got tipped within the hour and headed west to Vancouver. I got into the next delivery, backed on the door, the 1 skid came off, doors were slammed shut then it was back round to he TA in Troutdale to fuel up then a quick hop next door into the Flying J to claim the last parking space again in the name of the "Big Red Team".

My paperwork is done ready for tomorrow.

Im showered and scrubbed all my important little places.

Stuck the disoseable bathmat on the mirror so i could photograph it for you.

Cleaned the mirror after said bathmat stuck to the mirror.

I havent eaten yet but i have got $16 worth of J vouchers so double steak and eggs might just be in the offing tonight.

Ive alredy got my next job which is collecting for Sobeys across the other side of Portland and im taking that up to Edmonton where i am planning to try and get a load back to Lethbridge, reset and straight back into the States.

As usual we will see....................................................

Jonny Likes Popcorn

Went back to the truck next morning and Jan & I were sat in the cab chatting and a familiar face appeared next to us. Jonny Goulding drives 3059 and we hadnt seen him for a while, Christmas in fact when we sank a bottle of Jack Daniels between us and made fools of ourselves at pingpong.

Well Jonny was heading down to Sutherlin in Oregon with some Pinto Beans so we decided it was convoy time again. I said my goodbyes to Jan and waved her off then we grabbed some fuel and headed east for Crows Nest Pass and Eastport into Idaho.

Just short of Cranbrook Jonny got pulled in at the scales for a routine level 3 (paperwork check) so i trundled on a few miles then pulled over to wait. He must have been only in there 5 mins as he soon came round the corner and pulled in at the turnout.

I made up some popcorn and offered Jonny a bag, as you can see he got quite atatched to it, well till the contents had gone anyway.

The border crossing was pretty unaventfull and we parted company at Ritzville when he turned south and i carried on west to Moses Lakes.