Frolicking in the Frozen North

DATELINE: ST. ALBANS, VT, 7:00 p.m. EST

I'm back! Back in the U.S. after 3 Canuck nights. Which means I can get back online and tell y'all about it. So here goes.

SATURDAY, 396 Miles:
You no doubt recall my brief update as I waited for customs clearance before crossing the Ambassador Bridge from Detroit to Windsor and Canadian points east. As is usually the case, they had a SNAFU and I was delayed there an extra hour. By the time I was cleared to go, I had to boogie because my 14-hour work window for the day was closing. Happily, traffic across the bridge was very light and I sailed right on across and through the customs booth on the far side. Then it was straight to the 401 and on my way. I came across a Pilot Travel Center in Tilbury, 30-ish miles from Windsor, and pulled in there to spend the night.

SUNDAY, 500 Miles:
I woke on Sunday to see rain had been and was still falling. That sent a shot of dread through my body: with the freezing temperatures it could well disrupt my plans for the next couple of days. You see, with clear sailing I could make it all the way to Montreal on Sunday, then have plenty of time to sit out a 34-hour break to reset my 70-hour counter before heading to my Tuesday morning delivery. Otherwise I'd be short on hours on Tuesday and unable to get far on my way back home. But with freezing rain potentially making the going hazardous, that 34-hour break seemed ready to become unavailable. When I got out of my truck to head inside the truck stop to get ready for the day, I could tell that the pavement was not yet icy. So I got myself and my truck ready and hit the road. This was at 6:00 a.m.

The further I drove, the road got more and more treacherous. By the time I got to London 2 hours later, I (and all the other traffic around me) was crawling along at 30 MPH or less. I pulled off at the Flying J in that town to sit out the icy conditions, thoroughly frustrated (to put it mildly) that my grand scheme was gone with the wind. I turned on the radio to find weather updates, and heard that the temperature was supposed to rise above freezing--up to 5 degrees Celsius--in the afternoon, so I was encouraged. While I waited for the thaw, I took the time to head inside for a shower. I could have skated across the parking lot had I had ics skates with me--the ice was that bad.

All cleaned up, I skated back to my truck to await the warmth, read, and listen for further weather reports. I kept an eye on the rain that was falling and the condition of the ice that had built up on my truck and the pavement. Eventually, I could see that the ice was softening and not building up any more. I gave it a bit more time, then headed back out. My ice delay had been 2-1/2 hours long.

I was right--and relieved to see that the roads were, for the most part, just wet and not icy. There were patches here and there where cars got themselves in trouble by going too fast, but I kept my speed steady and a bit slower than the posted 100 kph and had no troubles.

As the afternoon wore on, the rain gradually let up and the roads got better. By the time I was far past Toronto, I was driving back at the speed limit. But then evening came, the sun went down, and the rain caught back up to me. I reached Quebec just after the sun was completely down, and with the drizzle on my windshield, it became difficult to read the traffic signs. Their being in French didn't help matters any. That didn't cause me any real problems, but after a long day of stressful driving, my eyes were getting quite fatigued. Fortunately, I didn't have to go very far into Quebec. My goal was another Flying J less than 30 kilometers into the province, and I reached it at about 6:30 p.m. Plenty of parking was available, and I snagged a spot.

I decided to reward my accomplishment (making it all the way despite the weather) with dinner in the Flying J restaruant. This one had some menu items not found at their U.S counterparts, including individual-sized pizzas. I decided to go for the bacon and onion one, and it was pretty darn good! I also decided not to visit the "Bar J", a "lounge" tucked in another corner of the building--something also not found in U.S. Flying Js--although a good belt would have hit the spot.

MONDAY, 0 Miles:
Break time. But without online access (no poker!), it promised to be a very boring day. I woke up early, around 5:30 since I'm in that cycle these days. After lying around a while trying to fool myself that I was going to go back to sleep, I finally sat up and read for a bit, though not with any great conviction. Then I got all the way up, got dressed, and went inside to shower and shave.

Back in the truck, I really didn't know what to do with myself. I just sat in my driver's seat contemplating my options. I could see a sign just down the road that indicated a shopping center of some kind, though it was too far away to read. I decided to walk over and check it out, since the weather was actually kinda' nice, warm enough to set the ice on the ground a-melting. So off I went.

Once I got out to the road, I could see that there was a Wal-Mart over there, about 1/4 mile down. That was good enough to occupy my time, so I trudged on over. I had to walk in the street because the sidewalks--if there were any to begin with--were covered with plowed snow. But the lanes were wide enough and traffic light enough that it wasn't any problem. The problematic part of the walk was through the Wal-Mart lot: it was very icy and slippery. I spent about an hour slowly meandering through the store, and grabbed a couple things I could use. Then it was back down the road and into the truck.

I spent the balance of the mornind and afternoon in my truck, reading and playing Freecell on my laptop. I also loaded and played a couple of poker game demos from a CD I had gotten with an issue of a poker magazine. Lunch was heat-n-eat mac-n-cheese (macaroni et fromage--I was in Quebec, after all) in the cab. Lunch 2 a couple hours later was a heat-n-eat Taco Bell Salsa Chicken Bowl and Doritos (the "bowl" food, all stirred together, makes a pretty good dip for the chips, what with refried beans, rice, and chicken). Hey, I told you it would be a boring day--eating was a viable option to fill the time.

After more poker demos and more reading, I finally reached dinner time. That pizza from last night was so good, I had to have it again. So I did. And again I stayed out of the Bar J. Then it was off to bed.

TODAY, 148 Miles:
I again woke up around 5:30. With my delivery not scheduled 'til 10:30, and it being less than 25 miles away, I had some time to kill. So I killed it with some more reading (poker books, which I'm now re-re-reading) and a shower. Breakfast was a heat-n-eat swedish meatballs entree.

By 7:45 I was tired of just killing time, so I figured I'd just get going and make the delivery early. I pulled around to the fuel islands to top up my tanks, and was rolling by 8:00. It's a good thing I got started early, because I hit a goodly traffic jam on the way that added 30 minutes to my drive time, which wound up being 60 minutes when I arrived at the company.

On the other hand, it wasn't such a good idea to go that early, because I had to wait there 'til my appointment time anyway. That really doesn't happen at very many places. So I had to park over to the side of their driveway and wait for almost 90 minutes. More reading. Finally it was time to pull into their docks to get unloaded. And that process went nice 'n quickly. Then I headed down the road to find a place to wait for my next assignment.

I had 2 choices: Head back east and return to the Flying J, or go west back into Ontario to a Welcome Center/Service Plaza just across the border. I chose Ontario because I figured my next load was likely to be down that-a-way. It only took 30 minutes to get there, but then I had another l-o-n-g wait before the assignment came in. About a 3-hour wait. I passed that time lunching at the plaza's Wendy's, reading, and taking a brief nap. Finally the assignment came in: Head to Florence, Vermont for a 7:00 a.m. Wednesday pickup.

Naturally, I had picked the wrong direction when I left the delivery site, so I had to backtrack a short ways back into Quebec before crossing to the other side of Montreal, then turning south to head back to the good ol' U.S. I hit a couple of slowdowns along the highways around Montreal, but I made it back to the homeland. There aren't very many truck stops in Vermont, so I picked the largest of the 3 on my route and made for it. And made it to it.

So that's where I now sit, at a non-brand-name truck stop along I-89. By the way, I do believe that this is my first time ever in this state, and it definitely is the first time as a trucker. So I get to buy another fridge magnet to commemorate it. (I buy one of each of the states I've trucked in.)

By my measuring on the map, I have about 80 or so miles to my pickup in the morning, so I'll be up and rolling early again. Then it'll be time for me to drive like all get-out because the load is headed for a Friday noon delivery in Milwaukee, WI, 950+ miles away. I expect that I'm expected to take the load the whole way, even though I'm due to go home on Friday. I know they (Dispatch) figure it's just a hop, skip, and jump from Milwaukee to Ann Arbor, as they've had me make that trek on my way home in the past. If all goes well, I should be able to complete the assignment, and I sure can use the miles. Let's just hope that everything does go well. No weather/road issues, please.

And now you're up-to-date with my wanderings. Thanks for following along. Drop me a line, and keep on truckin'.