Blackness was all around us, we had at least another hour of day light and we could see it in the far distance, we felt like we were in the film "war of the worlds" racing towards the light, it was scary!
We turned off the toll road at Cleveland and took the highway 271 through the centre. The buildings were all lit up, it looked beautiful, we were so glad we came through in the evening. We picked up the I90 and stayed near Geneva.
Saturday 11th May
We awoke engulfed in fog again, misty rain, miserable. We left Ohio staying on the I90 into Pennsylvania, past Erie and then into New York State, another toll road. We passed Buffalo to fuel up at Corfu. We were staying on the I90 all the way to Boston, Massachusetts. It was going to be a long day, not much to see but green fields and the occassional golf course. The delivery
was due 6am (their time for us 4am) tomorrow so we had to get there tonight. Just past Albany we went over the Hudson river and then it was Massachuttes, it was 4pm and we were heading for Taunton. Massachuttes was a breath of fresh air after the landscape we had had today. It was all hills with forest with different coloured trees, lakes in valleys and dark rock where the road had been cut through. The verges were coverered with orange moss and new little ferns were sprouting on the edge of the forest floor. It made you feel all warm inside at the beauty of it all. The rain had stopped a while back, there was alot of low cloud and occassionally the sun would streak through.
Sunday 12th May
After the delivery we drove out of Taunton, mostly residential, it was so pretty with their boarded houses all different colours and blossom out in their neat gardens, it had been raining overnight and everything looked fresh and new. We were on the I95 in Rhode Island, Providence was just waking up, buildings were shrouded in cloud. The port was quiet, not many cars on the road. We stayed on the I95 down through Connecticut, of course we had been on this road before. We liked it here.
The road followed the coast and you would get a glimpse of how people were living near the waters edge. The sun was out today thank goodness and we were stopping at Milford to fuel up and have a shower. Despatch had sent a message to say our Maryland drop was now monday afternoon. It was a hot sunday afternoon going through a busy New York. We were still on the I95 in traffic to go over the George Washington Bridge, we did`nt have to pay going over from this side, i was people watching, it was Mothers Day here and lots of people had flowers in their cars.
The I95 was now a toll road. Travelling down into New Jersey for our second drop near Haddonfield, a place called Cherry Hill. But when we got there the company was closed, just as well our Maryland drop was now tomorrow. We had to wait for the morning, luckily enough across the road was a river with large parkland. We took maddy for a long walk and saw some geese with their goslings, they were so cute.
Monday 13th May
We were up at 4am (their time 6am) we waited for over 3 hours for them to start unloading, its so frustrating! I took maddy over to the river again, i`m so pleased she`s with us! We set of back on the I95 to Maryland. This was a new road not just for me but dave aswell, it was exciting! We were going to go through Baltimore and under a long tunnel, our destination was Severn. We passed over a large suspension bridge (a toll) from New Jersey to Delaware, it was so high we could see Wilmington in the distance, we did think it was Philadelphia ha! Over a bridge at Susquehanna River. Reaching Baltimore, a concrete jungle with roads and flyovers everywhere,
through the tunnel and before we know it past the airport and we were at Severn, another small
inustrial park set in a residential area, unfortunately with this one we were locked in the yard with a guard on the gate, funny how some meat plants are relaxed and others over strict. Oh no doom struck again it was 1pm and everyone went home at 12 noon! Oh well we had to come back in the morning. Dave had to have a reset as he had done 70 hrs so we would find somewhere in Baltimore to stay and have some time off. While taking maddy for a walk i came across a snake,
i`m not scared of snakes so i went closer to have a better look, its tail started to vibrate and it was quite large! so i decided to make myself scarce rather quickly, dave did think it was a rattle snake!
We already knew what our return job was, upto Toronto with bananas and then another trailer over through Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan to Calgary. We were going on that terrible highway 11 again so i was bracing myself!
Sunday, 26 May 2013
Saturday, 25 May 2013
New Jersey and Maryland
Wednesday 8th May
We waited 24hrs for the load to be released at Brooks (just north of Lethbridge) It was about 2.30pm when we headed for the border, stopping at Milk River for paperwork to come through, it was now 8pm when we crossed the border. Meat inspection at Sweetgrass closed at 4pm so we had to wait until 8am for the inspection. We got there early to beat the queue, but then they decided to do a full inspection, everything had to come off, coultures taken etc, this took about 2 hrs (where as the driver next to us just had his paperwork signed and was off) this job was doomed, we had 700 miles to do each day for us to deliver in Massachettes for sunday with another two drops to follow, second in New Jersey, last in Maryland. It was hard going doing 600 miles a day. While we were waiting i took maddy for a long walk across the field opposite so we would`nt get a peep out of her today! 10am we were on our way to Shelby to fuel up. It was a lovely sunny day, shorts and flipflops on.
We were travelling on Highway 2 across Montana dropping down to Glendive to get on I94. We were hoping to get into North Dakota to stay at Dickenson tonight. It would be interesting to see how the landscape had changed since we were last in Montana. Most off the grass on the plains was now turning green and some fields had been ploughed. The trees which had looked blackened and dead before now had small buds on them which we were pleased to see. We passed Bears Paws Mountains on the right near Havre. Oh no disaster struck, we were just past Havre when we head a loud pop, a tyre had burst, which meant the tread would come off, we made it too Chinock and had to wait for fitter to come out. 4pm we set off again!
Thursday 9th May
We only made it to Beach last night, not bad considering the day we`d had, at least we were over Montana. North Dakota looked so different without any snow, real indian country. We made our way across on I94 to Fargo to fuel up. The farmers were out in force busy ploughing and spraying with their massive machinery, chucking up dust in their wake. We saw a dead wolf by the roadside, yesterday in Montana on the local radio station we heard about a farmer having trouble with wolves attacking his sheep. Just before New Salem on a hill is the worlds largest Holstein cow, you can see it for miles. At Jamestown they had the worlds largest buffalo! apparently they have real buffalo there but we didnt see any (dave has!) We made it to Fargo by 2.30pm, fueled up and into Minnesota. The sun was still shining with little white fluffy clouds. It had taken us 6hrs to get through North Dakota so hopefully we`d be into Wisconsin tonight.
Friday 10th May
We stopped just other side of Tomar last night at a place called Oakdale. We awoke to a dull and damp day. Still 700 miles infront of us again today who knows what the weather would be in the next state. Winconsin was lovely and green, it made Minnesota very drab in comparison as if spring had`nt arrived yet. We`ve noticed some brightly coloured birds and found out from the locals that they are backbirds. They have three types, plain black, black with a orange breast and another with red wings, they do`nt sing like ours but sqawk. The I94 bypassed Madison then we were on I90 into Illinois, it was a toll road, for 54 miles it was 45mile/hr, the whole of the right side was under construction, from the start until near Elgin, what a pain, we`ve never seen so much earth being moved. We did`nt have to pay any toll!
Into Chicago, it got very cold and started to rain, we didnt go through the centre this time but around on the I90 to Gary, Indiana which seemed qucker. Just before going in Gary we passed over a huge quarry, we did`nt expect that in the city! We were traveling across Indiana on toll road I80 as before. Just as we got on the toll a thick fog came down. We stopped at Elkhart the travel plaza yes we`re on the posh toll road again. A guy came up to us with some story about not being paid, yes he wanted cash for gas (or so he said) this is about the 5th time its happened, even in California. The fog lifted and rain stopped, it seemed to be brightening up, we were trying to make for the other side of Cleveland tonight. We saw a swan on her nest. Reaching Ohio the sun was back! We listened to Gareth Brookes, our favourite at the moment to pass the time on the toll.
Just pass Toledo all of a sudden blackness engulfed us, huge black clouds decended over us and the surrounding area............to be continued,
We waited 24hrs for the load to be released at Brooks (just north of Lethbridge) It was about 2.30pm when we headed for the border, stopping at Milk River for paperwork to come through, it was now 8pm when we crossed the border. Meat inspection at Sweetgrass closed at 4pm so we had to wait until 8am for the inspection. We got there early to beat the queue, but then they decided to do a full inspection, everything had to come off, coultures taken etc, this took about 2 hrs (where as the driver next to us just had his paperwork signed and was off) this job was doomed, we had 700 miles to do each day for us to deliver in Massachettes for sunday with another two drops to follow, second in New Jersey, last in Maryland. It was hard going doing 600 miles a day. While we were waiting i took maddy for a long walk across the field opposite so we would`nt get a peep out of her today! 10am we were on our way to Shelby to fuel up. It was a lovely sunny day, shorts and flipflops on.
We were travelling on Highway 2 across Montana dropping down to Glendive to get on I94. We were hoping to get into North Dakota to stay at Dickenson tonight. It would be interesting to see how the landscape had changed since we were last in Montana. Most off the grass on the plains was now turning green and some fields had been ploughed. The trees which had looked blackened and dead before now had small buds on them which we were pleased to see. We passed Bears Paws Mountains on the right near Havre. Oh no disaster struck, we were just past Havre when we head a loud pop, a tyre had burst, which meant the tread would come off, we made it too Chinock and had to wait for fitter to come out. 4pm we set off again!
Thursday 9th May
We only made it to Beach last night, not bad considering the day we`d had, at least we were over Montana. North Dakota looked so different without any snow, real indian country. We made our way across on I94 to Fargo to fuel up. The farmers were out in force busy ploughing and spraying with their massive machinery, chucking up dust in their wake. We saw a dead wolf by the roadside, yesterday in Montana on the local radio station we heard about a farmer having trouble with wolves attacking his sheep. Just before New Salem on a hill is the worlds largest Holstein cow, you can see it for miles. At Jamestown they had the worlds largest buffalo! apparently they have real buffalo there but we didnt see any (dave has!) We made it to Fargo by 2.30pm, fueled up and into Minnesota. The sun was still shining with little white fluffy clouds. It had taken us 6hrs to get through North Dakota so hopefully we`d be into Wisconsin tonight.
Friday 10th May
We stopped just other side of Tomar last night at a place called Oakdale. We awoke to a dull and damp day. Still 700 miles infront of us again today who knows what the weather would be in the next state. Winconsin was lovely and green, it made Minnesota very drab in comparison as if spring had`nt arrived yet. We`ve noticed some brightly coloured birds and found out from the locals that they are backbirds. They have three types, plain black, black with a orange breast and another with red wings, they do`nt sing like ours but sqawk. The I94 bypassed Madison then we were on I90 into Illinois, it was a toll road, for 54 miles it was 45mile/hr, the whole of the right side was under construction, from the start until near Elgin, what a pain, we`ve never seen so much earth being moved. We did`nt have to pay any toll!
Into Chicago, it got very cold and started to rain, we didnt go through the centre this time but around on the I90 to Gary, Indiana which seemed qucker. Just before going in Gary we passed over a huge quarry, we did`nt expect that in the city! We were traveling across Indiana on toll road I80 as before. Just as we got on the toll a thick fog came down. We stopped at Elkhart the travel plaza yes we`re on the posh toll road again. A guy came up to us with some story about not being paid, yes he wanted cash for gas (or so he said) this is about the 5th time its happened, even in California. The fog lifted and rain stopped, it seemed to be brightening up, we were trying to make for the other side of Cleveland tonight. We saw a swan on her nest. Reaching Ohio the sun was back! We listened to Gareth Brookes, our favourite at the moment to pass the time on the toll.
Just pass Toledo all of a sudden blackness engulfed us, huge black clouds decended over us and the surrounding area............to be continued,
Sunday, 5 May 2013
Washington cont.,
Wednesday 1st May
The delivery was done and dusted by 7am. We already had a reload back to Calgary (we were lucky it was such a quick turnaround) we had to go back the way we came stopping at Quincey for a load of frozen vegetables. At 9am we were travelling back through the Wenatchee Mountains, what a difference the sun makes, the reflections on the lake were mesmerizing. We waited all afternoon for the trailer to be loaded. By the time this happened dave was running out of hours so we stayed the night at Ernies truck stop in Moses Lake.
Thursday 2nd May
On our way this morning message came through for us to change trailers (with an empty) at Cranbrook, and go back and reload with onions at Warner. Dave was not happy about this as there`s not alot of mileage in this particular run anyway and we were doing it twice! He expressed his views to despatch and we were promised a good job next week.
We saw a couple of dead deer by the roadside, it is so sad. But then a red squirrel ran infront of us ah cute.
Friday 3rd May
The load of onions was`nt going to be ready until 12noon so we had a slow run down stopping a few ties to take maddy for a walk in the sunshine. We were`nt due back to Calgary until saturday so we ad plenty of time. I did`nt need to look at the map anymore as i knew all the lakes and towns off by heart (and the truck stops!)
Saturday 4th May
This morning after going through customs (again!) we stopped at Moyie Lake. We took maddies photo for facebook, she had a great time sniffing in the long grass, their was a deer path along the side of the lake.
Driving back over the Rockies was lovely, the sun was out and the roads quiet In the Rockies the railway mostly follows alongside the road, sometimes dissapearing into a tunnel in a mountain. They have around a hundred open carriages, we`ve seem them filled with grain or coal dust. To pull these there would be three or four locomotives, usually three at the front and one in the middle.
At Crowsnest Pass we saw some wild goats having a drink from a puddle at the side of the road.
We passed through a small mining town called Frank. Either side of the highway were massive boulders, this was due to a large section of limestone rock breaking away from Mount Turtle in 1903, this area was now known as Frank Slide. A portion of the sleeping community below was crushed, the size of the rock which fell was 500 ft deep, 1400 ft high and 1km long.
On our way back to Calgary on Highway 3 we saw a sign for "Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump".
This is where native indians used to stamped buffalo over a precipice.
We arrived back in the yard early evening, we had sunday to ourselves so were looking forward to skyping the children, our job for next week came through, New Jersey!
The delivery was done and dusted by 7am. We already had a reload back to Calgary (we were lucky it was such a quick turnaround) we had to go back the way we came stopping at Quincey for a load of frozen vegetables. At 9am we were travelling back through the Wenatchee Mountains, what a difference the sun makes, the reflections on the lake were mesmerizing. We waited all afternoon for the trailer to be loaded. By the time this happened dave was running out of hours so we stayed the night at Ernies truck stop in Moses Lake.
Thursday 2nd May
On our way this morning message came through for us to change trailers (with an empty) at Cranbrook, and go back and reload with onions at Warner. Dave was not happy about this as there`s not alot of mileage in this particular run anyway and we were doing it twice! He expressed his views to despatch and we were promised a good job next week.
We saw a couple of dead deer by the roadside, it is so sad. But then a red squirrel ran infront of us ah cute.
Friday 3rd May
The load of onions was`nt going to be ready until 12noon so we had a slow run down stopping a few ties to take maddy for a walk in the sunshine. We were`nt due back to Calgary until saturday so we ad plenty of time. I did`nt need to look at the map anymore as i knew all the lakes and towns off by heart (and the truck stops!)
Saturday 4th May
This morning after going through customs (again!) we stopped at Moyie Lake. We took maddies photo for facebook, she had a great time sniffing in the long grass, their was a deer path along the side of the lake.
Driving back over the Rockies was lovely, the sun was out and the roads quiet In the Rockies the railway mostly follows alongside the road, sometimes dissapearing into a tunnel in a mountain. They have around a hundred open carriages, we`ve seem them filled with grain or coal dust. To pull these there would be three or four locomotives, usually three at the front and one in the middle.
At Crowsnest Pass we saw some wild goats having a drink from a puddle at the side of the road.
We passed through a small mining town called Frank. Either side of the highway were massive boulders, this was due to a large section of limestone rock breaking away from Mount Turtle in 1903, this area was now known as Frank Slide. A portion of the sleeping community below was crushed, the size of the rock which fell was 500 ft deep, 1400 ft high and 1km long.
On our way back to Calgary on Highway 3 we saw a sign for "Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump".
This is where native indians used to stamped buffalo over a precipice.
We arrived back in the yard early evening, we had sunday to ourselves so were looking forward to skyping the children, our job for next week came through, New Jersey!
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