Connecting In Connecticut

Okay then team, we've been burning some serious rubber, the second part of this multidropping extraviganza is taking us to Connecticut on the Atlantic coast and were going via Milwaukee, this is turning into an epic adventure going from ocean to ocean…. Country to country… and time zone to time zone.

So the it was time to go so after saying our "fare ye well's" it was time to point 2148's bow into the wind and set sail for the Promised Lands.

We were making good time as we scorched thru Chicago, down under the Lake, across Indianna and climbed back steadily towards Toledo. We made a 15 minute stop then pressed onwards again towards New York.

When people hear "New York" they almost always assume you mean the City not the State.

Let me tell you a little thing about that dangerous little word "Assume"

Never assume anything……………………….

"Assume" is a word that makes an "Ass" out of "U" and "Me"….. Think about it.

Anyway we crossed the beautiful State that is New York and eventually appeared out of the other side in Connecticut……………………………..

Here's another thing, I never knew there were 3 "C's" in Connecticut, isn't that amazing, I don’t think my life will ever be the same again, or will it?

Okay so we got to Connecticut and we saw the C, oops sorry I meant the sea, just in case anyone was wandering, yes its just like on the TV, all wet and wavy.

Once we were unloaded we got a message that we were to get a backload from Philly, sorry I don’t know how to spell Philadelphia, which was going to Montreal. That sounded like fun as I had never been to Quebec before and I now had the chance to use my extensive knowledge of the French language.

I was going to write (my extensive knowledge of the French tongue, but I know you filthy minded people out there would leave rude comments…………………………..)

Anyway my knowledge of French extends to the following statements:

Shut your mouth…………

And

Open the window………….

Oh yes and I know how to describe a window cleaning cloth…………

Shammy leather……………

I have been in Quebec nearly a day now and as of yet I have not managed to find a way to use any of my extraordinary linguistical talent.

I also know how to tell you it is one o'clock which can be useful up to twice per day but I don’t know what it sounds like when someone asks you the time, I can only hope that they point to their wrist and they ask me anytime between 12:55 and 13:05.

Oh yes I almost forgot, to get to Philly we had to drive straight thru the centre of New York, Adrian was a little nervous of driving thru Cities so I thought it would be good practice for him, arnt I kind mwuhaaahaaahaaa ! (that was an evil laugh)

So we crossed New York, saw the Empire State Building, took loads of photos and drunk some coffee and ate some dogs (that’s hot dogs to the uninitiated, not real dogs).

So now I've drunk coffee in New York, which makes me some sort of trendy globetrotting international travelling man, don’t laugh I bet you've never had coffee in New York before, especially not with hot dogs.

The girl behind the counter said she loved my accent but she still charged me for the coffee and dogs.

And while were on the subject of "me", who can say they have driven a big rig down the New Jersey Turn Pike with their arm out of the window playing Alan Jackson songs on the radio. I can although I did have to wind the window up as it was raining and my arm got wet.

I am now sat in Montreal and I'm going to get some sleep as we pick up our load in 6 hours and run it straight into Calgary.

Talking about "me" and coffee, I have also drunk coffee in Montreal……………

Being a trucking man I take my coffee strong and black, I chug it down and ask for more, I have diesel in my blood and caffeine in my veins…….. Grrrrrrrr !!!

Well okay I obviously put a bit of Splenda in it and you cant drink coffee without some of that nice creamer in it (non fat of course, you have to watch the cholesterol) and maybe a little French vanilla and a choccy biscuit…………………………………………….

Seeing as I was in Quebec I sent my dispatcher a message in French………………….

And guess what, she replied in French, ha-ha, what a good sport.

"Merci Debbie, mon petit cuir de shammy, ouvrez la fenêtre"

Lyndon & Adrian Cruise America In Style

Okay we discovered this little button under the dash and WOW!

H&R Driver - Adrian Hall

Adrian has returned to H&R after a couple of years break. We are driving team at the moment and doing some serious mileage, we managed to be 6 hours early for a delivery in New Haven Conneticutt so we are taking a few hours out at the TA just outside New York City.

This man has got some serious stories to tell, he is ex-Canadian Navy and also used to be a "Smoke Jumper" these are the guys who parachute into forest fires and put them out.

Team multidrop Milwaukee and New Haven

Hey its all go as a Highway Driver in Canada, you just get back on track and your little world gets turned up on its head again………………………………..

Okay, where did we leave off ?????

I had met up with Jason and old 3045, picked up a new load, met with Christian on the way to the border, camped out at Milk River and woke up next morning with a mission firmly fixed in my head. I had to get across the border, clear meat inspection and I had 3 days to get across Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and down into Illinois ready to get right into the centre of Chicago and make the delivery.

And then the Qualcomm beeped and Lyndon's little world was turned upside its head again. The message said there was a late load that had to be in Milwaukee the next day so could I jump in to another truck to make a team to get there in time. Now considering I had just got a brand new truck I said I could do it but would be using 2148, this was accepted so it was a done deal !

I met up with the other driver, we switched trailers, he threw his gear into 2148 and we set off. Now just as a reminder for those of you who are not familiar with Team Driving here is how it works.

One truck, two Highway Drivers, lots of miles and not much time to do it in……………..

Basically the truck only stops for fuel, deliveries and collections, everything else works around that and even fuel stops are kept to a maximum of 15 minutes so bathroom breaks, food, coffee, smoke breaks (I don’t smoke so I don’t let people smoke in my truck) all happen then. Showers happen once the delivery time has been met and the pressure is off. You are either driving, asleep in the back or directing in the city to get to a customer, that’s the theory anyway, the truck rolls 24-7.

Okay so it all stared well, we rolled East across Montana along highway 2 and all was going great till 20 miles before Fargo North Dakota. It was about 6 0'clock in the morning and snow started to fall, then more snow, then the wind picked up…………………

And then dear friends, we had mayhem………………….

Roads closed, trucks in ditches, cars bouncing off cars and more tow trucks and cop cars than you could shake a stick at.

We managed to get into Fargo and fuelled up then got going East again just before they closed the roads off it was 40 mph all the way and we knew the roads in front of us were already closed but pressed on regardless. When we got to Alexandria where the road was supposed to be closed we found that the ploughs had done their job and got everything rolling again.

The new problem was that the old up had made us late, we didn't have any spare time to begin with anyway so now we were an hour late for the delivery time.

Okay new plan, we drive to the customer and try to make the delivery anyway, if the take it then good, if not then we scoot round to the Flying J at Oak Creek, fuel, shower, food sleep and get back round to the customer an hour before they open the next morning, it puts us back a few hours but its not the end of the world.

Well we got to the customer and they booked us in and we joined the line up, It looked as though there was one truck in front of us so we should be tipped and gone in a few hours.

Okay its now 06:15 the next morning, we are still waiting to be tipped and apparently so is the truck that was in front of us, and on top of that the receiving guy is telling me the paperwork isn't in order.

Oh joy of joys…………………………..

H&R Driver - Christian Bloom

Christian is from Australia, or to be more precise, Hamilton in Victoria (4 hours West of Melbourne). He's been in Canada for about 2 and a half years and drives for H&R although he's going back to Oz for a few weeks after this trip.

We met up on the run down to the border from Brooks, Christian followed me down the 36 and shouted me on the CB so we had a good old chat on the way down to Milk River and he came over to the truck when we parked up. We chatted about the usual stuff drivers chat about and he mentioned that he knew an ex H&R driver who was back in Oz.

I wont mention any names but you know who you are although you probably know him as Outback Thunder cat, so I'm sure you will leave a comment.

Anyway after a good old chat it was about 03:00 in the morning so we called it a night as we both want to get thru the border early in the morning, Christian is going to LA and as you know I'm going to Chicago.

3045 & Jason

Well I was just backing under a trailer in the Calgary yard this afternoon and guess who I saw sauntering around the corner. She looked chuffed to bits with her new driver Jason.

I waved them down a jogged over to say hello and to make sure everything was okay when he took her over. Jason tells me he's been driving for H&R off and on for about 10 years.

Safe Journeys both of you.

Vancouver then Chicago

Just got my next job come thru and is collecting on Friday to go to Chicago, thats not too good as its only Monday today, time off is nice but it dont pay the bills.

I asked if i could do a short run in the mean time so ive been sorted out with a run across into Vancouver and a load back to Calgary, that should keep me busy for the next week or so and give me a chance to run 2148 up and down the "Coke".

It looks like we have been accepted onto the PNP program, cant remember if i already told you that but anyway thats stage one out of the way.

Tonight we are just relaxing and watching a bit of TV, went to see another house today and it was very nice, pretty reasonably priced too.

Some puppies never grow up.

Radio Station - CJOC FM Lethbridge

Anyone wandered what we listen to over here in the 'Bridge. We have a number of stations to choose from but this one is our current favourite.............

The Lounge.

Here is a link to their website and ive also copied one of their pages (hope they dont mind but it is a bit of free advertising)

http://loungeradio.ca

Listen Live!

The New CJOC "94.1 FM The Lounge" is on the air at 94.1 FM in Lethbridge, covering all of Southern Alberta with 100,000 watts. If you are outside of the Lethbridge area or don't have access to a radio in your office, we are also Streaming Online.Our 64k Stream uses technology from Abacast and requires download and install a small plug-in once.

Abacast guarantees it is free of any spy-ware or ad-ware, but it may use some of your available upstream bandwidth while you are connected. The plug-in is designed to share the streaming experience, eliminate "Server Full" messages and provide a higher quality stream with fewer breaks, skips, and buffers to improve your streaming experience.You can listen to our Standard 32k Stream without the need to install the Abacast plug-in.

Listen to our 64k Stream

Listen to our 32k Stream

Download Windows Media Player if you do not have it on your computer

H&R Shop goes the extra mile

I like saying thank you in this blog, if anyone helps me or does me a good turn then they get a mention.

Well now its Terry and his shop team who get the thanks. When i took over 2148 i tried to wire up the CB radio but there was no wiring and also it had to be bolted in properely.

I didnt want to make a mess of it myself so i put a worksheet (Cry Sheet) in when i parked up. There was only 2 jobs, one was a damaged work lamp and the other was to install the (CB) radio.

Now i didnt have the power lead with the special plug but put the job in anyway while i tried to get hold of the part i needed.

Unfortunatly i couldnt get one anywhere, i could have stopped by the Flying J in Calgary but never thought till i was nearly in Lethbridge. Anyway i spoke to Terry this morning to tell him not to bother with the CB and i'll get hold of a cable when im out on the road.

Well Terry got hold of a plug from somewhere and the jobs done.

Also thanks to John Penney for stopping by the Flying J in Calgary this morning to get a plug to replace the one that Terry managed to get hold of. I phoned John up this morning hoping he was going up there and it paid off.

I know it may seem a small thing not having a CB but once you are used to having it on, you acually feel a little isolated when you dont have one. You would be surprised how much you do use it on a daily basis, even a lot of customers are starting to use them to call trucks onto doors.

Anyway i think im back out in the morning but i dont know yet, i think im going over to Chicago but i'll call in later and find out whats happening.

April Blizzards

While we were down in Barstow, a message came thru on the Qualcomm warning of severe weather in Southeastern Alberta. This wasnt good news as what usually affects Southern Alberta, usually affects the Northern Montana region and thats where we were heading next.

So after buying Tshirts, mugs and other bits and bobs at the factory outlet, we headed north so Luke could see Las Vegas at night and parked up in the Petro for the night. What an awkward place that is to park, there were a couple of spaces in the herring bone but its laid out so you have to reverse in on the passenger side, never mind, a couple of shunts later and we pulled the curtains.

Next morning the weather was great so it was a quick bowl of cereal, a coffee for me and we were off again. This was a nice but pretty unaventful drive and we got as far as Idaho Falls where we pulled into the Dads" truckstop, got some hotdogs and doughnuts and settled down to watch Evan Almighty on DVD.

Next morning it was deidedly chillier and it was jackets all round.

As we headed up into Montana the weather started to get a lot worse and by the time we got to Butte it was snowing heavily. As we got higher into the mountains the roads got slippier, i dabbed the brakes to see how bad it was an nothing happened, yep it as slippy.

Luke was watching a film on the bunk so i called him forward to strap in, just in case!!!

The weather deteriorated even more and it was chaos, cars in ditches, cars on roofs, we saw a SUV slide down a bank and flip onto its roof and pulled over, this huge beardy guy scrambled out of the window and dragged his spotty dog out. He signalled to us he was ok and not to stop so we waved back and i pulled back out onto the road. I could have got a fantastic photo but this time i thought it was inappropriate and the camera stayed where it was.

These conditions stayed with us all the way up to Lethbridge, i swung into Raymond to drop Luke off then carried on North to get up into Calgary and shut 3045 down for the last time...

Farewell old Girl

She served me well, we did 170,000 Kms together and covered a fair old chunk of Canada and America, we drove through baking deserts and freezing blizzards.

But now dear readers, this particular chapter of Lyndon's Trucking Life draws to a close. 3045 and I have different roads to travel and different adventures to enjoy, now is the time we part company.

Im glad that our last trip together included Luke and im glad it was as far south as we could go, it was a great trip and i will treasure the fond memories of my first Highway Truck.

After moving all my kit out and giving her a last scrub out, i left her parked up at the H&R yard in Calgary. I hope her new owner treats her well and has as much fun as i did exploring this great continent with her.

My new truck is a brand new Freightliner Cascadia, 38 kms on the clock when i took her over and all sparkley and shiney.

The weather as horrendous while i was moving my stuff across so there arent many pics at the moment but you can rest assured that there will be quite a few shortly.

So wishing 3045 many more happy miles with who ever will be driving her.

Safe journeys pet !

See you out on the Interstates.....................................

Big Boy at Barstow

Luke fed and watered

Would you like relish with that sir?

Oi Big Boy, What you lookin' at?

The return journey written by Dad !!!

Lukes adopting his usual position so i guess its up to me to carry on the story.........

We made the delivery and got our next asignment which was pickles out of the Port again, whooo hoooo !!!!!

We decided to take the most direct route through Los Angeles as there was no way we were going to make the collection tonight. We went straight through the centre of LA, camera clicking as though it were posessed, by the time we apeared on the other side of town the camera was glowing and swelling out with hundreds of candid snapshots.

The idea was to take in as much as possible, shoot as much as possible then delete anything that didnt work. anyway drove through Hollywood and a few other famous places, saw Jennifer Anniston eating a bag of chips outside McDonalds (actually no we didnt but admit it, you were impressed for a while werent you???)

We got up to Port Hueneme about 18:00 and they turned us away, i told the security guard i knew it was all closed but i just wanted to park up. He said that was the reason he was turning us away. I didnt reall have a sarcastic response to that so i smiled, spun the charriot around and we sauntered off to find a bit of road to park against

I know that sounds like roughing it but dont forget 3045 is pretty self sufficient so we dodged down a side street and pulled the curtains. After nuking (microwaving) some food and watching "Troy" on the DVD it was time to get some kip.

Next morning i spun round to the Port again and was third in line, loading was pretty quick and we scooted round to Barstow for showers and to play on the internet.

The next plan is to show Luke Las Vegas at night then park up then it North North North to Canada and back to reality for Luke (and normallity for me)

Ghostly Eyes

Luke was taking photos of himself and when we reviewed the images we noticed a ghostly pair of eyes watching over him...............................

Hope they are friendly.............................

And no, this photo hasnt been altered in any way !!!!!

Wheres Lyndon - 012

These buildings fascinated me for some reason, cant think why !!!!!

But where are they.

And No its not Bristol City.........

Luke's First Road trip Part 1

Hi my names Luke and as you know this is my first road trip with my Dad. It's been pretty fun so far, we started in Lethbridge which wasn't all that fun since I've been there a thousand times :P, but then they said we had to go pick up our own trailer thing so we had to drive all the way up to High River to pick up the load then to drive all the way back to the American border , but we only managed to get Milk River because they said they ran out of water ….. Well we stayed there for the night and then the following morning we set across the border.

Our first stop would be Montana and that was what I was looking forward to as I love to eat at Montana's in Lethbridge! There we just stopped at a flying J and I had my first Flying J Buffet, I only had a salad buffet, but it was still pretty nice. After that we drove down to Idaho, there I think we just stopped for the night watched a DVD and fell asleep. Me and dad bought a load of DVDs so we wouldn't get bored and it's keeping us entertained so far :).

The next morning, we drove down to Fort Hall where I got my really cool t-shirt and arrow-head necklace there we bought some Bison jerky and Dad bought some jalapeño bread, and well you know what happens when you eat spicey food ;), and we had to make quite a few stops over the next few hours.

After that we stopped Parowan in Utah and there we stayed the night and watched another DVD! The next morning we stopped off at Bastow for fuel and showers, and another buffet which was my first main proper buffet with meat and stuff. That day we drove well dad drove through Las Vegas it wasn't as big as i thought but there was huge building which looked really cool, on the way back i get to see the cool lights because were driving back through it at night.

From Barstow we skimmed Los Angeles then headed south to San Diego, where stopped the night in a grotty truck stop. The next morning it was an early start (for dad i mean) and we went round to make the first delivery! :D

Wait for the next installment for the return journey. :)