Hi folks

havent post on here for a little while, life has been a little hectic, ive been helping out and having a look at what goes on in the office. There isnt much to photograph from a desk unless you want to see the back of somebodys head so the old piccaroonies are going to be a bit thin on the ground.

I treated myself to a new car the other week so we are now a two car family again, for the first time since we left the Motherland. Ever since we have been over here i have liked the Chrysler Sebring so i thought "Sod It", and went out and got one.

So now i got a new toy......................

The weather in Lethbridge is starting to warm up now although there is still snow on the ground and some days it peeks up over the freezing point.

Alberta Bound

This hasnt had an airing for a while..............

Enjoy.

The Lomanovskis Family has Landed

Well thats it the passports are back and that night we drove down to Sweetgrass which is our loacal border crossing. We went into the States, round the flagpole, and then back into Canada to be welcomed as Permenant Residents.

So that my friends is it, we have done it. It has been a 2 year adventure, we had a dream which started back in Feb 2007 when i overheard 2 of my colleagues chatting about Canada, and now 2 years later the dream has been realised.

I really would like to offer a heart felt thank you to all of you out there who has shared this adventure with us, i would like to thank all of you who took the time to send in comments and everyone for the many emails that have been sent in.

So is this the end of the story....................................

Confined to Canada 3 (The Journey Home)

Sorry about the late update folks, its been a bit hectic recently and running Canada meant that i didnt get a wireless connection very often and im too tight to pay for it.

Anyway what can i say positive about the weather......................

Oh yes the roads werent closed 8-)

The weather was horrendous for practically all of the trip but after the first 8000 kms you sort of get used to it. Anyway it wasnt going away so on we went.

At one stage the whole road disapeared under 2 foot of snow so the intrepid Cascadian Explore decided to blaze a trail through the virgin snow. That was interesting, sometimes it was so deep that it hit the bumper and sent a snow storm over the roof of the cab.

Anyway it was hammer down for a slip slidey excursion into Montreal, that turnaround was perfect, i got into the city, fuelled and dropped the trailer, picked up the one next to it and headed back West.

I was literally squeezing every last mile out of every day and before i knew it i was crossing back into Alberta and thinking of hometime. As i got near to Edmonton i got my next dispatch.....

Oh bugger i should have booked some time off, oh well i wont make that mistake again, and this was a load going back to Montreal.

So..............................

Delivered in Edmonton, scuttled down to Calgary, got my ass under another trailer full of cow meat and started dragging it thru the snow back East. I was then told it was a switch in Winnipeg, which was a relief as the old hours were getting a little thin on the ground and i was starting to get a little worried.

As it was i trailer swapped in Winnipeg and got another Edmonton load.......

Now things were getting pretty tight on the hours, i made the delivery and headed south for home.....................

I finally got back after 14 days away on Sunday afternoon just in time for a huge Sunday lunch (roast beef).

And there endeth an epic snow filled adventure around the Great White North.

For your own perusal

Someone kindly left a comment on a previous article and i thought it was interesting enough to pass on. Im not offering any judgement in anyway, it just caught my interest.

Have a read of the story but also have a read of the comments people have left a the bottom.

Comment if you like.........................

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/561188#Comments

Confined to Canada 2 (Dashing thru the snow)

When to push your truck

(see the TomTom readout bottom right)

When not to push your luck

And when to just knock it on the head
(shut down)


The sun can glare off the icey road

2148 is a dirty little minx

Well it happened..............

tomorrow was another day

i got my load and headed on East. The road conditions were pretty horrendous, i took a few photos to emphasise what it takes to drive a "Big Rig"over here, summer driving is a breeze, its when the elements are at work against you that you suddenly realise what makes Highway Drivers so proud of thier skills and experience.

Imagine hurtling thru the mountains at full throttle, fully freighted and driving on ice and compacted snow. Its about knowing when and where to push your truck and when and where not to push your luck.

Driving in these conditions is very tiring, on top of all the usual things you have to think about while driving a truck, you are literally driving by the seat of your pants, feeling for the slightest twitch on any of the axles, monitoring the snow or ice you are driving on, one eye on the external temperature guage, looking into bends for the telltale shaddow that warns of black ice, seeing what trucks and autos are doing around you. Obvious signs like a truck in a ditch cold tell you that maybe you might want to think about feathering those brakes before you hit the curve.

Oh yes i almost forgot, i ve been here 18 months and up until this trip ive never seen a moose. Well on this little jaunt i saw 2 mooses (is that the correct word) one looked a bit weired though as it didnt have a rack, i thought all mooses had those coat hook things on their heads, unless it only wears them for special occaisons and tourists.

Confined to Canada 1 (bad start)

H&R in the snow

One huge snow shifter

Well its my first run after the Christmas break and seeing as our passports have been sent off to the CIC to be stamped and whatever else they do, i am not allowed to leave the "Great White North".

So after Santa has done his "prezzie giving thing" and all the turkey had been polished off, Lyndons thoughts turned back to cruising the highways. I phoned in and was told i was collecting a load from Calgary and taking it to Montreal, 4153 kms 1 way just to get me back into the swing of things.

I checked out the weather forcast and learnt that the weather all the way thru was to be on the whole "cold, white and shitty". indispersed with "cold, white and shitty". and later on going back to "cold, white and shitty". Looking ahead into the long term forcast we could expect it to be (yes you guessed it) "cold, white and shitty".

Okay well that solves one little problem then, no need to pack the Hawaian shirt, flip-flops or the surf board.

Well the day rolls round that must load up and head on out, i had a last minute reprieve when the load wasnt ready so it was an extra day at home, woo hoo !!!

The following morning we threw my gear into the car, took a slip slidey drive up to H&R and Jan dropped me off. I recieved my instructions via the magic talking brick (my veh-icular mounted computing wotsit) and went to look for the empty trailer to take North.

I pulled in front of it and backed up to about 2 foot away so i could check it over.

Aagh !!! bald freaking f*****g, b********g, some-of-a-birching tire, aaargh !!!

(Its good to vent sometimes)

Thankyou thankyou thankyou to the driver(s) who couldnt be bothered to pre-trip their trailer or even post-trip the bloody thing. This tire must have been like that for weeks, how many drivers have been dragging that thing round illegally.

Anyway i reported it and was told to take a different trailer (as i was working against the clock) So i wrote out a defect report for the bald tire (took me less than 2 minutes) and dropped it off in the shop.

I run round to get my new trailer, checked it over, found it to be okay, backed under it and did a check tug to make sure the jaws of my 5th wheel had grabbed it.

As i pulled away (err hang on that shouldnt happen) i realised i wasnt connected. No problem i thought so i went back again, and it still wouldnt connect.

I pulled away and checked the 5th wheel, the pin and the trailer again and i couldnt find anything wrong. I backed onto the trailer next to it and it connected perfectly so there was nothing wrong with my 5th wheel.

I phoned in and explained what had happened and that i couldnt find anything wrong, the shop went thru the checks i should have done (i had already done them)the verdict was "Open", dont know why it doesnt work, it just dont.

So it was back to the origional trailer, bite the bullet (it was half way thru the afternoon by now) take it round and get the tire changed and take that one to Calgary.

Got to Calgary and it was dark, oh yes and the load wasnt ready, i wasnt really bothered now so i pulled the curtains and shut down for the night.

Tomorrows another day !!!