Jazzies Birthday

Jasmin booked and made all the arrangements for her 18th Birthday party, but has Dad to thank for doing the buffet... well most of it anyway.

We all had a fantastic night, and then most of us ventured into Burnley to finish the night

off :D.

Rod and I got a taxi back to Jasmins at about 3.30am stopping on the way home to get a Bibis kebab, we've missed them.

As we were looking for the key to get in the door was opened by Jasmin laughing because we were the last ones home... Yeah we still know how to party :D

I Love this photo :) x

Jasmins shoes :)


Party Balloons
Mum, John, Leon and me enjoying a chat before everyone arrived.


Catching up on the gossip with Kris, I miss you Hun xxx

Jasmin, Kris, Kyle and Holly :)

Birthday Cake, chocolate fudge yummy..

Jasmin xx

Another photo I love, my beautiful family :D:D xxx

Jasmin and Ryan, I must note this was taken at the beginning of the evening lol, you can tell because Jazz is sober lol.Rod and me xx

Gemma and Phil, just chilling, although Phil was probably plotting revenge on Rod for all the football digs at him :D, love you both x

Ryan and Rod putting the world to rights, hehe "there should be more RPG's"

Sue, Joan, me with Rod and Jordan in the background

Jasmin, beautiful babe, love you loads but miss you more xxx

Thanks for a wondeful night, you did well babe, we are both so proud of you.

A Huge thank you to everybody who turned up on the night, and i hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

Saturday at Paul and Annettes

Saturday nights, we've had some good nights at Paul and Netts over the years :D, shot drinking party games, play station "burnout nights", pool and darts then before you go home Nett makes hot chocolate and chip butties :D, luv ya hun miss you all loads..


Most of these were taken by our resident photographer Samantha :D

Samantha and Rod, on the trampoline, luckily Rod hadn't had too much beer... yet !!

Teagan, a natural photo Tigs ;) xx

Simone and Dave, what a star, he knows why :D
Rod just wishes he'd met you before we came to Canada, we could have had some cool jammin sessions :)

Cool chick Samantha, love you loads babe xxx

Some of the usual Saturday night suspects :D

Trev, what can I say luv ya dude ;)

Paul and Lil Mick,

Why am I the only 1 with a beer in my hand? hmmm maybe Vikki had already had to much lol :D

Blackpool Pleasure Beach and on the Beach

Gemma and Phil on Valhalla, plastic macs are optional and as you can see by the next photo, it didn't really help Phil :) xx

On the new promenade, its looking good now they just need to do something about the sea, it's still pretty damn dirty ;)
Phil, next time get a bigger plastic bag lol

Leon and Ryan on Valhalla

Jasmin and Ryan, waiting to get on the Big One

Gemma and Phil after riding "Infusion" cool ride :D

We had a great time on the Pleasure Beach, then walked along the front eating fish and chips with the kids loved it :) what a good night lol...

Go Ape :D

Leon taking it easy :D

John getting hitched lol

Gems going up or going down? ;)

Enjoying the view :)

Jazzi leading the troops...

The boys :D

Jazzi, always looking good babe :D :D

Getting ready... sexy dudes ;)

Ok explain why I am paying to climb trees?

Are you all sure about this ??

Although we had some very sad news, we had a brilliant visit to England in August...even going to the hospital to visit you Mum...

Two amazing ladies

Sometimes we don't voice how we feel about the special people in our lives...

I've just got back from a visit to England, and since coming back to Canada I've done a lot of thinking and want to thank the 2 most amazing ladies I'll ever have the good luck to know.

Where do I start, first, I Love You MuM :D...





My Dad died over 35 yrs ago leaving my mum with 8 children from 6yrs to 17yrs, what a handful we really were ;p. She worked 2 and 3 jobs at a time, yet when you talk to her now she says she feels guilty for not being there with us whilst we were growing up... Mum you were there! I remember you getting up early to send us off to school making sure there was food on the table and clean clothes to wear, we love you mum and I for 1 want to thank you for everything you have done xxx

Years later, she re-married and started to live her life again, only having to work at 1 job :D taking holidays abroad, I'm not saying life was easy for her, she now had 8 grown up kids to give her grief, lol.
Then it happened again, Fred was diagnosed with cancer, she cared for him till the end, not believing it could happen twice :(

A few years later she had a heart attack, and was shocked " there isn't a history of heart problems in our family" maybe not, but after everything you've had to deal with maybe its time to slow down.
The hospital weren't going to allow you home because there was nobody else in the house, I never knew this, you told us later you didn't want to be a burden :O I was so upset when you told me this, you'll never be a burden, you have done so much for us.
A friend, John, offered to stay with you till you were back on your feet, your relationship developed and he stayed :D. It was great to see you happy again, it was like you had a new lease of life, going on holidays and doing things that made you both happy.
John became a hero, and I just hope he realised how grateful we were to him. He saved your life, when your heart stopped, rushing you to hospital where they fitted an emergency pacemaker.

Then it happened again John was diagnosed with lung cancer, you were both so brave. You were going to enjoy every minute you had together, but less than a week later you had a major car accident which left you both battered and bruised, again you felt guilty because we spent our vacation driving to York to visit you in hospital...we love you Mum!!

John insisted he would beat it and live for another 10 years, unfortunately this wasn't meant to be, 5 weeks later he passed away leaving you devastated again...

I read something, that Jasmin wrote recently, it said " I love my nana she is the most courageous and brave lady I know" this is only 1 of the many messages I have read from your grandchildren, all saying the same kind of thing. :D
I think the grandkids speak for us all....

Mum number 2, lol...

Again an amazing lady, Rogers mum... love you loads.
When Roger was 18 months old, and his sister was only 6 weeks his dad survived a brain haemhorage, he had operations to stem the bleeding and spent almost 3 years in hospital, approx 60 kms away from home.
With 2 young children and elderly mum living with her, Alma travelled backwards and forwards to visit him using public transport, which 40 years ago wasn't the easiest mode of transport.
The operations left John physically and mentally disabled, unable to walk or talk. Many people would have walked away but not Alma.
When John was allowed home she was his wife, mother and carer, she had to do everything for him, washing, feeding, caring for him, and 2 young children along with an elderly mum, even rolling his cigarettes lol. It can't have been easy for her with no wages, having to live on benefits and be Mum and Dad to Roger and Zy.

As time went on John learnt to speak and walk again with lots of support from his family...

A few months before John passed away he was re-united with his 2 daughters from a previous marriage, he hadn't seen them for years, they had been told he'd died when he had the hemorrhage. :(
The day we were all introduced he was beaming he'd got all his family together, he didn't or couldn't talk much and we couldn't always understand what he was saying ;(, but he had us all laughing when he clearly said to Roger " oh no son,more women to nag us"
what a character!!
Sadly he passed away suddenly before Roger and I got married. Leaving Alma devastated, after caring for John for more than 30 yrs.

Two strong and courageous Ladies we both love and miss so much.

It makes you realise that no matter what life throws at you, you should learn by the experience and live life to the full, don't waste time with regrets, there is always somebody worse off...

"Do what you like, and like what you do" and if you don't like it change it!!!
I certainly will!!

Rods new obsession ;D

Rod has taken up fishing!!!
We have been shore fishing along the Bay of Fundy, river fishing along the North Shore and lake fishing.



1st attempt Lake Angevine. We threw these back because of the size.

Rod is like a kid with a new toy, lol. I don't mind as long as the sun is out and I can sunbathe :D

Smithton Pennsylvania

Rod sat at the beginning of the Cedar Creek Trails.

Two beautiful waterfalls along the trail.

Chillin :D

We had collected a wide load in West Virginia going to St John in New Brunswick but due to movement restrictions we had to park up for the weekend.
So lets get the map out and see what local attractions are nearby :)

We headed to Cedar Creek trails, which was approx 5 miles from the truckstop in Smithton, where we walked along the riverbank with Dee. After a few miles Dee was tired so we decided to take her back to truck and hire some mountain bikes for a couple of hours. :D

The rental shop only had cruisers or a tandem and as Rod was unimpressed with the cruisers we opted for the tandem :0 We had loads of fun riding the trails on the tandem, what an excellent way to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon!!
Days like these make a sometimes difficult job worthwhile ;)

Photos

Picnic in Quebec anybody?

This was taken in March !

Near Durham, North Carolina.
May 2009

Now that's what I call a runaway lane, it's in Fancy Gap, Virginia.
Not a very clear photo because it was raining and foggy, just before the Tornado warning!

Oxford Massachusetts, April 2009

It's a dogs life hehe :D.
Dee at 10 months old, April 2009.

In my next life I want to be a Shih Tzu, lol xxx

Another Englishman at Clarkes :)

Rod and Dee enjoying the sun after delivering in Oxford, Massachusetts, it was 10am and 87* not bad for April.

Adam cleaning the wood pellets from his trailer in Oxford.

And fixing his CB, well you can't drive through the States without a CB...

Adam and his lovely wife Donna

Rod and Adam, collecting our truck from Ryder before we hit the road. We had a collection in New Brunswick to make and then deliver it in Oxford, Massachusetts.
The weather was beautiful all the way, it just got hotter and hotter :)
This was Adams first solo run after completing his training and passing his Class 1 test.

Well done Adam!!

Where's Rod gone??

The last few weeks have been a little boring on the work front, we haven't been doing much distance work but we did get quite a bit of skiing done:D

On Thursday Rod received a phone call from dispatch telling him to head for the office, hmmm. When we arrived he was asked to fly to Newfoundland as they were having a few problems and needed an extra driver other there.
His flight was booked for Friday morning at 6.30am, thanks guys, sure I can get everything organised in 12 hours, lol.
I should have been starting my driving course for my class 1,on Monday but as i am here on a visitor permit, I'm not allowed to do any work or training. Bummer!! so I well spend my time making phone calls to England chasing up all the necessary paperwork needed for the Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP).


I'm having a bit of a problem with uploading photos, but anyway the first few are Cobequid Pass snowed in again, these were taken around March 20th, the photos of Dee are taken a week later at Lawrencetown beach, as they say in Nova Scotia if you don't like the weather hang around for 5 or 10 minutes cos its sure to change :D





Me and Dee had a lovely walk on Sunday afternoon the temperature was in double figures and there was no wind, a beautiful spring day :D

Ice Roads series 3 ?

or a road leading from the wind farm in Kent County, New Brunswick? After driving this road at 3am the ice roads may be easier, lol. ;) We arrived at the bottom of the hill at lunchtime on Thursday, there were six other trucks already there, oh well looks like we're going to be here for the day. Rod went to speak to the other drivers and was told the crane which was going to lift the equipment on to the trailers had spun out on the hill, along with a truck which had been following. Over the next few hours we watched snow plows and a gritter or salt shaker as they are nick named here, head up the hill. At around 6pm we were told the hill was clear and to start making our way to the top, easier said then done, with our wheels spinning and there hardly being enough room for the width of a truck, we eventually made it. Hopefully it will be easier coming down! There were now eight trucks all waiting to get loaded and it was getting dark... at 3am we were loaded and ready to head back down, there was one truck left but the container he was taking had frozen into the ground even the crane couldn't budge it. It was going to be a long night for them. We delivered the container to Moncton NB and headed back to Halifax for our next job.

Recession??

Work has been a bit quiet since Christmas, we've been kept busy up till the last week but we know of other drivers and brokers who are really feeling the pinch. Some our saying its because of the recession, others say its always quiet after Christmas, we can't comment as this is the first full winter we have been here.

We are on our way to London Ontario with a couple of deliveries and will hopefully reload on Monday.
Weather permitting and as we left Nova Scotia early we may have to time to spend a few hours at 1 of the many ski slopes we pass on our way. :D

Skiing at Wentworth NS Feb 09

Admittedly not the best skier :) but not bad for less than 20 hours on the slopes...

Our Canniversary :D

"do what you like and like what you do"

We left the Uk in Feb '08 not really knowing what we were letting ourselves in for. We had visited Nova Scotia 3 times on vacation/holiday but this
time we had sold our house, and were landing at Halifax airport with an LMO.

Rod is working for Clarke Road Transport, Halifax in the flatbed division, and would still recommend them as an employer to anybody looking for truck
driving work.
It hasn't been always been a bed of roses, but overall we are glad we are here.
We also used an Immigration Consultant which I know a lot of people feel they do not need, I fully agree you may not always need to use them but after 3 visits and getting totally frustrated with the whole process we made the decision to let somebody else take some of the stress. Make your own decision we feel we wasted 3 years trying to do it on our own!!

So here goes a brief summary of the last year...

we landed at Halifax airport with Rods offer of employment and LMO. The custom officer directed us to immigration where it took approx. 30 minutes to complete the paperwork and receive his 2 year Temp. Work Permit (TWP), I was issued with a 2 year visitor permit.

We were met by our immigration consultant and arranged to met the next day, so she could introduce us to Vaughan at Clarke Road and arrange Nova Scotia ID cards and medicare insurance.

Unfortunately or as Rod thought fortunately, the driver coach was with another new starter so wouldn't be able to take Rod on a trip for 2 weeks. We used these 2 weeks to go snowboarding, Rod took his driving test and do some more snowboarding
After a 10 day trip with his coach, Rod was given the thumbs up and was ready to roll. Some drivers do another trip with a mentor, but that is dependent on your experience and confidence. Rod was also paid a training wage for the time he was with the coach.

We eventually headed out on our 1st trip to Virginia at the end of March, and haven't looked back since.

Usually drivers work for approx. 10 days and then take 3 or 4 days off, its just a matter of letting your dispatcher know when you are ready for your next job, but remember whilst the wheels aren't turning you're not earning!! the best guide line is driving 2500 miles a week. It sounds a lot but once you're on the open roads you'll eat the miles for breakfast lol.
We've driven from Nova Scotia to Alberta, and through most of the States in America.

Personally we love it, BUT I travel with Rod, so if he gets delayed it doesn't really matter we just claim layovers Our kids have stayed behind in the UK, their choice not ours , we may feel differently if I was at home waiting for him? and we haven't bought property here yet but we are looking now, cos this is where we want to be.
Also we may feel differently in another years time but so what, its been an experience and we've loved it, so bring on the next adventure please....


How did we celebrate, well we spent the day skiing/snowboarding and had a brill day :)

We love and miss our families and friends a lot :( but we are so glad we took this opportunity.
XXXX

Sept 08, just found these

Just found these on the other

camera... Ryan, Gemma and Phil, visit in Septembe 08 camping at Dunroamin Digby.

North Carolina in February :)

Hows this for advertising, lol

Shorts and T.Shirt, although he would rather be snowboarding

Dancing Dee, hehe

and of course a beautiful sunset...

We headed to North Carolina with a container/spreader, leaving the snow in Canada, it was +78* in North Carolina, a nice change from the snow. We both enjoy the snow but it is nice to be in shorts and t. shirts in the + temperatures :) especially in February. You can see Dee loves the snow as much as we do.

This was the night before we headed to North Carolina !!

Victoria Park Truro

We enjoyed a couple of days of work this week, so we went exploring Truro, we'll be looking at property around here when it gets a little warmer.

We picked a lovely day it was about -10 but sunny, Victoria park was beautiful we'd had a 10 cm snowfall overnight, so the ground was lovely and crisp, and its funny to watch Dee jump into the drifts and disappear.
There were different sport fields, an open air swimming pool, a childrens play area and a few walking trials that led to waterfalls, beautiful.

We also took Dee to the vets to be weighed, 9lb 6oz.

so its low fat yoghurts for you now...hehe


Doesn't Dee take good photos, lol

Anybody got any tips how to keep a dogs bootees on... before we get any clever comments I mean on the dog ;D

It was soo cold the shutter didn't open properly but I like the photo.



There's a bandstand in the background, we're going to check out what kind of music/bands play here during the summer.

and then to Timmys for a chilli combo, Rod had better watch his waistline though, he enjoys the Boston cream do-nuts a little too much, lol. (only kidding babe :D)

Inukshuk

We have seen some many of these symbols/statues when we are driving out west I thought I would find some information on them.
I've also included a link to the Canadian Encyclopedia, where the information is from.

Inukshuk (singular), meaning "likeness of a person" in Inuktitut (the Inuit language) is a stone figure made by the Inuit. The plural is inuksuit. The Inuit make inuksuit in different forms and for different purposes: to show directions to travellers, to warn of impending danger, to mark a place of respect, or to act as helpers in the hunting of caribou. Similar stone figures were made all over the world in ancient times, but the Arctic is one of the few places where they still stand. An inukshuk can be small or large, a single rock, several rocks balanced on each other, round boulders or flat. Inuit tradition forbids the destruction of inuksuit.

Inukshuk in the form of human beings, called inunnguaq, seem to have been a recent development, perhaps only appearing after the arrival of European whalers in the 19th century. One of the most important types of inuksuit are those that helped in the caribou hunt. These are usually built with 2 or 3 rocks piled up and placed in converging lines along the migration route of the herd. The Inuit placed arctic heather among the rocks to simulate human hair. The figures were intended to spook the caribou and stampede them towards the places where the hunters hid.

http://http//www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=ArchivedFeatures&Params=A29

Explanation...........

Just to set the record straight, i had absolutely nothing to do with the previous post




Thank you :D

Coming Home ??

Well we thought we were on our way to Wembley, just a click of the finger to book our flights,
3-0 to Burnley in the second leg of the Carling Cup....

the game goes to extra time because the aggregate is 4-4...

Spurs score not once but twice in 2 minutes!!

GUTTED.

Excellent effort Burnley

http//soccernet.espn.go.com/round?league=eng.worthington&cc=5901

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gAo31ASFKCmSohLrprJpnp88KFdQ

Friends :D

As we drove out west to Edmonton, we realised we had time to visit Jackie and Ian who had moved to Saskatoon in September 2007.

Unfortunately Ian was working but we met up with Jackie and the boys and had supper (that Jackie made) at their house. Thanks Jackie , it was really appreciated, although how you cope with the temps, I don't know it was bloody freezing, lol.

Our next collection was at a Canadian Forces Base, it was really cool to see all the yellow ribbons round the trees as we approached the base.

We delivered the army vehicle in Manitoba and headed into the States. The photo is Mille Lake in Minnesota, if you click the photo to enlage it you can see it better. There must have been 50 buildings and cars on the lake, not somewhere I would like to spend my winter weekends :0. Local hotels had ice fishing retreats, all I can say is whatever tickles your fancy!!

Happy New Year xx

This is the cobequid pass where we spent New Years Eve, instead of going to a party at our friends. Not by choice but its ok we had our own party, lol.

Rod looking evil, probably because I was laughing at the snow plough which had just piled a 3ft snow drift beside the truck :D

and look on New Years Day, Rod had the pleasure of digging the truck out of the three foot snow drift, hehe.

We managed to drive approx 100kms in 4hrs to the next truck stop and then we got stuck in the snow there!!

All fun and games, because the next day we hit slopes, I had a skiing lesson and Rod got to use his new snowboard.

Happy New Year Everyone, and remember this life is not a rehearsal so go and enjoy it!!

A Dear Friend and Mentor

No matter how far people travel or what paths new and exciting they choose to take one thing remains the same..... Life itself.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Seventh of January 2009, Dave Beers, my Flatbed Manager, Halifax Division, sadly and extremely suddenly passed away at home after returning there to collect some equipment for me and another colleague.

Dave was kinda like that favorite Uncle, or Older Brother who knew his stuff, the one who people looked up to and would ask advice of.
He loved our little dog Dee Dee, having the same breed himself, lots of advice was given to us about her. The funny thing was when we arrived back at Halifax after a Road trip, Rosie would get out of the truck, put the dog on the floor and Dee Dee would run across the parking lot to meet Dave who would have been out of the door the moment the truck turned into the yard to see the Dog and Rosie lol, i was a third on the welcome home order but it was so cool to see them like that.

People still sometimes ask me why i made the decision to do this job in another Country, well the answer has to lie in what has happened over the last few days, i would regret not doing it if i had made the decision NOT to come to Canada while i was still young enough and able to do it.
if it doesn't work out in 1 or 10 years i know that i did it and tried my hardest, no regrets, it just didn't work out........ but the bottom line is you never know what is around the corner, i was given a chance to fulfil a lifelong ambition and i took it, and damn have i had a hell of a time so far.

For the people who read this blog who i work with and for others who also knew Dave, i hope he made the same impact on your lives as he did on ours, we only knew him for a few short months but he will be Sadly Missed and Dearly remembered.

RIP Buddy

Rod and Rosie

on our way home :D

Still smiling :D
and so is the snowman!

Eventually the road is re-opened and we're off again.We head into Toronto to start our deliveries. We are on a roll :D, until we got to our 7th delivery, the last one of the day. We have seven snow mobiles for them but they only want one!! What the hell do we do with the rest?I'm sure they'd make cool Christmas presents, lol, but dispatch arrange for us to leave them at Big Freight, Toronto.
The next day we finish the deliveries and head to truck town to met a broker. We transfer his load onto our trailer, its a salt box and snow plough ;0, collect a delivery for Newfoundland and head back to Dartmouth. Its snowing again, maybe we should have fastened the plough to the front of the truck instead of loading it onto the trailer.
We arrive back on December 19th, almost five weeks after leaving for our first trip to Nebraska!
Now all we have to do is deliver the snow plough and salt box in Dartmouth and go Christmas shopping.Overnight it has been snowing, but we head to Burnside Ind Park to make the delivery.
Our destination was on a hill with a set of traffic lights :( unfortunately the temperature had risen turning the snow to slush. As we approached, the lights turned red, oh no the car in front starts sliding in all directions, we can see where we need to be but there's no way we're going to get round the corner now.Rod reversed back to have another go, whilst a pick up truck is throwing salt/grit under our wheels, he just gets the truck going again when the car drivers behind us decide " oh the lights have changed lets overtake" which would be fine but as soon as they get past us they also start to slide and lose control :0
eventually after about thirty minutes of trying we got round the corner and turn into the delivery yard.
We finish the delivery and head home for Christmas. What an adventure, lets hope the New Year is as interesting,lol.

Continued

First we had to take the trailer to Moncton, New Brunswick and then we were on our way again.

We headed back through Ontario to cross the border at Sarnia, it is now the 4th of December.
We had to go via Indianapolis to return the hire truck to Ryder and collect 3558 again
Trucks exchanged and on to Nebraska, an uneventful trip. After we had completed the delivery we were dispatched to Winnipeg (or Winterpeg as it is affectionately? called).

We were loading at Big Freight in Steinbach, the temp. was -35 plus the windchill, bloody cold !! whilst loading you have to complete the serial numbers on a form they give you, great, the ink in the pen keeps freezing. We took it in turns to memorise a number, jump back in the cab and write it on the form, lol.

We had some space on the back of the trailer so we agreed to put another delivery on, well we were going to Toronto anyway 2 deliveries instead of 1 not a big deal, is it?

Eventually we were loaded, collected the paperwork and were good to go. Hmmm " load up for Essex, near Toronto" so why does our paperwork have 10 different delivery addresses?

A quick phonecall to dispatch and they confirmed, yes there were 10 deliveries, to say we were slightly peed off, is being polite. We just want to go home now, remember no tv, dvd and a repaired PS3 with us, but no electric,lol.

The weather forecast was predicting snow storms right across Ontario, so fingers crossed we could get through.

Suddenly the check engine light is on, we pull in to the Husky at Dryden and Rod gets out to have a look. He removed the oil dipstick to check the oil level, oil spits out everywhere. Ok phone dispatch and ask them to send somebody to have a look.

We didn't wait too long and a mechanic was with us with a hammer and a blowtorch? Interesting?
He explains the oil breather pipe has frozen up,which is why when Rod removed the dipstick the pressure forced the oil to blow back, it's a common fault with the freight liner. He heats the pipe with the blowtorch, and gives it a quick clout with the hammer, hey presto an icicle drops out.
Well I guess we know what to do next time it happens!

We stay at the Husky ready to go early the next day, lets get a good head start in the morning and we'll be back in Halifax for Christmas.

We left Dryden and drove for approx an hour, oh no not again, the check engine light is flashing, we pull onto the shoulder quickly, as we are losing power.
What a lovely colour the snow is, no, that's radiator fluid. the radiator has burst and we're not going anywhere. While Rod is on the phone to dispatch again, a pick up truck stops to see if we need any help. Yep we sure do, they arrange a wrecker to come and get us, I wonder how long this is going to take, you can see on the photos within half an hour it was freezing in the truck!! Even Dee looks cold and not impressed.
Within an hour the wrecker/tow truck has arrived and takes us to Ignace, the only way to describe Ignace is "it's a one horse town" or "blink and you'll miss it".

It's Friday, the truck will be ready Sunday afternoon! we head to the motel, which strangely enough is also owned by the guy who's repairing our truck ;) The good news is it's warm and there's a tavern just round the corner so even at -35 we can walk there...the weekend is looking better.

We collect the truck on Sunday afternoon, the predicted snow storm is approaching quickly but so far so good.

We drive for two hours and it starts snowing heavy, we manage another two hours stop to fuel up and the police have closed the highway. Oh well at least we are in a truck stop and can get food and drinks.
The next morning the truck stop is crammed full, there are cars and trucks abandoned everywhere.
Rod asks the policeman when he thinks the road will be opened, " you'll be good to go within a couple of hours the snow ploughs are clearing it now."
Later that day, we're given the green light.We leave the truck stop in convoy with a police escort, lol.
They stay with us for approx 30 kms and then wave us on, we soon realised why they weren't going any further! As we rounded the first bend we are hit with a whiteout, it has stopped snowing but the wind is whipping the snow up making visibility zero in places.

We drive for a further 3 hours and decided to stop for a coffee, and clean the lights.
But we ain't going nowhere soon, there's been an accident about 30 kms up the road so they've had to close it again!!!
Oh my, we were starting to think we'd never get these things delivered, never mind be back in Halifax for Christmas.

And there's more :D

An Epic Journey

Dee age 6 months, with her new coat :)

Beautiful sunset over Nebraska

We were almost back from Ontario when an injector went down on our truck #3552. So as soon as we arrived in Halifax we took the truck to Ryder for repair, it was friday and they told us it wouldn't be ready till late Monday, cool a weekend off. We headed back to the office to let dispatch know before we booked into a motel.
When dispatch say something like " do you mind or can you just" its time to get out quick lol, only joking dispatch. We were asked if we would take truck #3558 to New Brunswick for a load going to Nebraska, we couldn,t wait for our truck as it had to be collected on Monday morning. The trip would take approx a week and then we would be back for own truck, " sure no problem". or that's what we thought.

Rod checking the wide load

We arrived at the collection address and realised it was a wide load, cool extra pay but not so cool we haven't got any wide load signs or flags etc that are required when you move wide loads. A phone call to dispatch and problem resolved, they will send a courier with all neccessary equipment to us. We continued loading, fastened it down, still no courier. After many phonecalls and 2 deliveries from 2 different couriers we still haven't got the right stuff!! Its now too late to get the rest as everywhere is shut, so we can't move until morning. I'm glad we'd got some grocery shopping earlier, chilli and rice for supper yum.
The next morning we collected the signs etc and headed to Ontario we were crossing the border into America via Sarnia in Ontario.

You realise after a couple of days what you miss about your own truck, we have an invertor in 3552 which converts the battery power into electricity. There isn't one in 3558 which means no tv or dvd player, no fridge and worst of all no PS3 which we'd just got back from Sony after being repaired, never mind Rod it's only for a week, hehe.

As we entered Nebraska, Rod said the clutch was slipping, but we'll be ok.
We delivered to a Power Station in Hastings, Nebraska, on Friday lunch time, contacted dispatch and were told to make our way to Tucson, Arizona. We were 1200 miles away and the clutch was getting worse :( The collection was booked for Tuesday morning, so if we can get there do the collection we'll worry about the clutch later.We drove through Colorado, which was beautiful, watching tumbleweed blow across the highway, into New Mexico and then Arizona seeing signs that warned of Dust Storms and zero visibility, this was November and we had left snow in Nova Scotia and minus temperatures.:)

Rod has already posted some photos from Tombstone Arizona, we had an amazing afternoon there, it's somewhere we had never even dreamed of visiting.

We phoned the company we were collecting from to see if the collection would be ready on Monday, but no joy they had a crane booked for Tuesday. The lady who answered the phone was originally from London,England we had driven across Canada through America to meet up with a cockney, lol.
We started back on Tuesday afternoon, driving through places like Amarillo, Tulsa, all the places we'd heard about. Part of the journey was along Route 66, or the highway ran alongside the old Route 66, not the mode of transport we had envisiged using to travel this route but what the heck we were getting paid for doing it, how cool is that.

As we approached a place called Dillon the fan belt tensioner siezed up, this meant we couldn't stop the engine or it wouldn't start again! we headed for the nearest truck stop and phoned dispatch. No problem somebody will be with you in approx an hour. Two hours later we get a call to say the repair truck has broken down, as we say in England "it doesn't rain it pours",lol. Eventually he arrived fixed the truck and we were ready to leave the next morning. The clutch is still slipping, I didn't know a gear box could make some many noises. Suddenly it crunched and grinded, ok it's time to do something about the clutch. Another phone call to dispatch, we were given directions to the nearest Ryder,in Indianopolis which luckily was only a few miles away.
Now truck #3558 is poorly and won't be repaired for a few days, but they'll lend us a truck until ours is ready!!

Ok Rod this is the third truck don't break it!!

Cacti in Tucson, although we didn't see any rattlesnakes or road runners

We continued our journey back to Canada, the load was going to Labrador but we were only taking it to St Germaine, Quebec then we were turning straight round with another load to Nebraska as we had to return the hire truck to Indianapolis.

We stopped at 145 truckstop, which is about 25 kms from our destination, on Saturday evening, twelve days after leaving Halifax with the first load. We noticed a Clarke truck with a load of Artic Cats parked there but when we left early on Monday morning we hadn't seen the driver once, very strange!

Arrived in St Germaine dropped the trailer and were about to leave, when the phone rings, its dispatch, " can we go to 145 truckstop and collect the Clarke truck and bring it to St Germaine?" Sure we replied.

Rod left with instructions where to find the keys, guess what the keys weren't there. Another phone call to dispatch and Rod was sent to buy a new key from the International dealers in St Germaine, approx 3 hours later he arrived with the abondoned truck.

Now it was the famous, there's been a change of plan, lol.

Can we deliver the arctic cats to New Brunswick, so off we went to New Brunswick, two deliveries, the first one was in Edmunston. Nobody told us is that the delivery was approx 4 days late, not too bad, but they had missed a big Artic Cat event and the shop owner was not a happy chappy. So when the tyre came off his fork lift truck the air was blue, at this point both me and Rod got in the truck and made a cup of tea, hehe.

The second delivery was uneventful, what a relief lol.

We then headed for St Laurent to swap trailers with the load for Nebraska.

To be continued at the next truckstop...

She did it!!

Jazzi at 14,000 feet.

Well done babe, glad you enjoyed it lol.

Jasmin managed to raise about 350 pounds, or approx $700, for the When you wish upon a star foundation.

We're both really proud of you but Bradley would think you were crazy ;D

luv ya babe xxx

Is this the way to Amarillo?

Well, if it isn't we're lost but don't tell dispatch lol. How can driving through places like Amarillo make you feel that little bit homesick? It's ok I went onto you tube and had my fix with Peter Kay lol, for our canadian friends I've linked to a song he did for comic relief a few years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6liAimpfH3k

Mmmm eating fish and chips on Blackpool front, then there's friday night chippy tea, steak pudding, chips, mushy peas and gravy, scrumptious, my mouth is watering lol.

How many other foods are difficult to find in Canada?

Yes, I know you can get wagon wheels, but they're not the same and I can show you more of my photographic genius haha.

24 hours from Tulsa, ok 30 miles really.

You go girl! :D

Jasmin, our youngest, is doing a sky dive on December 6th. for the When you wish upon a star foundation, in memory of Bradley Dean.

http://www.whenyouwishuponastar.org.uk/foundation,

We Love you babe xx

Tombstone, Arizona

This is the burial place of the Clanton Gang




Wow, wonder what is Illegal hanging then ....

Well, what is there to say about this then, as a child watching some ledgendary Western movies, Gunfight at the OK Corral was one of my Dad's favourites and i have been lucky enough to be able to stand on the site of the Gun Battle itself then move along to the Cemetery where the victims were buried, the also legendary Boot Hill Cemetery.

Tombstone was made famous as the place where a feud between rival families the Earps' and the Clantons' came to a head on october 26th 1881 resulting in the famous Gun Battle where Marshall Wyatt Earp along with Doc Holliday, Brothers Morgan and Virgil came face to face with the men who Hated them, Frank and Thomas McClaury, with Brothers Billy and Ike Clanton.

Approximately 30 shots were fired in a matter of seconds and it was all over, Billy, Thomas and Frank died where they fell, and are buried in Boothill Cemetery, Ike was killed resisting arrest 6 years later.

Morgan Earp was killed from an Ambush while playing Pool in a Saloon March 18th 1882, buried in California.

Virgil Earp died of Pneumonia in Nevada October 19th 1905, buried in Oregon.

Doc Holliday died from Tubercolosis in a Hotel in Colorado November 8th 1887.

Wyatt Earp himself died from er... *cof Chronic Cystitis January 13th 1929, LA California, buried in the Hills of Eternity, Colmas, California.
He outlived them all long enough to tell his version of the Gunfight without fear of being disputed

We left the snow in Nova Scotia and headed for Arizona :D

Especially for Leon, yep there sure is lots of Red Barns ;)

No, we didn't stop here for lunch, lol.

The old railroad runs parallel to the highway in Colorado.

Wow, the views are amazing, this was taken in Colorado.

As the title says, Rod was all ready fo the snow hehe, but we headed south with a delivery to Nebraska and then on to Tucson Arizona, with temps of +80* :D

Cape Breton Nova Scotia

Aulds cove weigh station

highway 104 ;)

Look a gas station with a view, lol.

We spent most of the summer moving scrap metal to Quebec, not very interesting but it paid well :) The trailers of scrap came on the ferry from Newfoundland to Sydney Harbour in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

Of course the first time we went to Sydney we went the scenic route via highway 104, not recommended but beautiful :D, the better route is via highway 105.
Newfoundland is an island which must be floating about a foot higher, there has been that much scrap removed from it, lol.
Yes, i know another sunset, but they are amazing or at least I think so!!

Niagara Falls :D

Niagara falls during the day, amazing, and again we were paid to have a day off, even better! lol.

Niagara is very touristy so we spent the day being tourists then we had supper at the Hard Rock Cafe and took more photos of the falls at night, cool

The American falls are the smaller ones, Canadas are so much bigger, or as they are called the horseshoe falls.

Even the racoons like Timmy Hortons, lol.

Labrador again, continued

Then it started to snow, the 8th October and it was snowing, lol, luckily we were on our way back to collect a wide load in Quebec.

It was the first time Dee had seen snow and she loved it, trying to bite it and catch snowballs :). The photo of Rod with Corey and Coreys dad, was taken when we stopped for a doggie break, and realised haha we've got another flat tyre, not again!! This time it was on the back so we continued to Labrador City, where the just had to change a valve, it cost us 5 bucks for coffees :) which was a cool within 15 minutes we were ready to go.
The rest of the trip was uneventful, we got to Quebec collected the wide load and headed to Sydney in Cape Breton.

Labrador again

We were dispatched to Labrador with another driver (Corey), we had been warned they had already had snow in September, so we packed the summer clothes away got our our winter gear and set off. Me and Rod loaded both trailers with insulation at Varennes in Quebec and waited for Corey to join us. This was Coreys first trip to Labrador so he was in for a surprise cos it certainly is an experience!!

The drive through Quebec was beautiful with all the Fall colours, brilliant red, orange and golden leaves, but as we got nearer to Manic 5 it was getting colder, and there was snow on the mountains. Ok lets get there and back quickly but with no mishaps :) somebody should have told that to Rod !!

At approx 4.30 pm we got a puncture, some of you will remember our last experience in Labrador hehe, this time its worse, its on the steering axle which means we are not going anywhere, till it is repaired. Slight problem we are on the dirt road approx 160kms from our destination in Happy Valley and 500kms from Labrador City, we don't have a phone signal or satellite signal. The only thing was for Corey to head into Happy Valley, find a public phone and get help :( things weren't looking good.

Then like our guardian angels, a truck/pick up stopped and asked if they could assist us, smiles of relief all round, we gave them names and contact numbers and they left to make some phone calls.

It took 12 hours for the tyre repair man to get to us and he had driven 400kms, unfortunately with the wrong tyre, he'd brought a drive tyre instead of a steering tyre, we weren't going to let him get away though we let him changed the tyre and we decided to swap it when we got back to Labrador City.

To be continued......

Prince Edward Island

The bridge is 15kms long, almost 10 miles, and links Prince Edward Island to New Brunswick. The island is beautiful, well what we saw of it as we didn't have any time to explore but we will definately be visiting next summer.

You can see by the first photo it had been a long day for Rod and Dee ;) when we arrived at 4.30pm we were told all the warehouse staff had gone home so we couldn't get unloaded till the next day :( About an hour later we took Dee for a walk and got talking to another dog owner, who's hubby was a manager at the warehouse, an hour later we had unloaded and were on our way back to Nova Scotia for a well earned rest.

Back to work

July in Port Bruce, Toronto, 90* we were asked to wait till the next day to load so we hit the beach in Port Bruce, and got paid for the inconvienence lol. :)

Why can't every job be like this ?

Rod's birthday present

I said to Rosie one afternoon that I needed a dog, she wouldn't let me have a Rottweiler in England so I pestered her to get me one here. As you can see I got a Rottweiler Cross Breed, goes by the name of Deanna, Dee for short, or for all the Next Generation Trekkie fans out there she is named after the Beta Zed Ships Counsellor Deanna Troi :D. Shes a savage little thing and looks after me when Rosie feels tired and grumpy, she won`t let her near me to kick my ass, instead she just bites her when she least expects it, kind of a stealth killer really,( the Red spoon in the second photo is made from Steel and she crushed it in 2 bites..*cof)............, having said that Dee makes a good attempt to stealth kill the both of us when its time for sleep lol

Any way, joking aside Dee is a great Cab mate, most of the truck drivers here have a dog to keep them company and she always breaks the Ice when we meet new people. My boss at work cant wait to see us when we get back to base and comes out the office and usually get Rosies attention by shouting wheres the dog.......lol, nevermind how we are, the dog gets all the attention, now if i could get her to drive..... i would make a fortune lol.

Ok, will be back soon with another update and more pictures, but for now take care and have fun whatever you do...

yeah vacation time with Jaz, Ryan and Leon :D

Tourist for the week, we had a brilliant week with the kids we spent a few days camping at Kejimikujik and chilled for the rest of the week, going to Oakfield park for a swim in the lake. We went to a drive in movie and watched Kung Fu Panda and the Guru both funny films but we had to wait till it was going dark at about 10pm before they could start to show them. We also had to visit Freaky Lunch Box and the Citadel in Halifax but I think we spent more time in Freaky Lunch Box than the Citadel. FLB is an amazing Candy Shop with so many different kinds of sweets and gifts, from nodding Darth Vaders to a nodding Jesus.

Labrador

We received a message on the satelite telling us to load in Toronto with a load going to Labrador, cool we haven't been there yet. Hmmm then we looked at the map, do we want to go there!!

It wasn't the best load we'd ever had and we had approx 600kms to Labrodor City and a further 550kms to Goose bay on an unpaved road, but we would be back for Jasmin her boyfriend, Ryan and Leon arriving.....lets go.

We headed through Quebec, crossing over an estuary at St Catherines to Baie Commeau turn left and head to Mannic 5. DO NOT LEAVE THIS ROAD UNTIL YOU REACH Labrodor City, lol. Yep 1 road in and the same road out.

Mannic 5 is a huge hydro plant, there are 5 of these along the Manicougan River, the biggest being Mannic 5 it is so deep you could stand the Eiffel Tower in it. This is when the unpaved road starts, we were told the people from Labrador prefer to drive it when its thick with snow, :0 the dust was unbelievable but as our air conditioning decided to stop working we had to have the windows open. We were covered in dust and there was nowhere to clean up till we got back to Halifax. We also realised we had a flat tyre, we were in the middle of nowhere without a phone signal! When we arrived at Goose Bay we phoned the office, for them to arrange for somebody to come out to us and repair it, haha, we were told there wasn`t anybody available to repair it for 2 days and to continue with the delivery then continue back to Labrador City..... lmao, this was approx 1100 kms on a flat tyre.

We arrived at Sheshatshit (prounounced like...SHESH-A-SHEE) I just wish somebody had told us how to pronounce it before we arrived :) the first nation people or as Rod kindly calls them Eskimos, thought we were hilarious.

Delivered to a new school and headed back to Labrador City to repair the tyre and pick up our return load back to Nova Scotia. Now this should really have been straight forward you would have guessed but about 200 kms into the return journey we decided to get out of the truck and take a few pictures for the blog, Rod went to the back of the truck and heard a strange noise..... yep, he had picked up a broken bolt along the way and now had 2 tyres with problems.... we arrived at Labrador City around 19.00 on Sunday evening with 2 flat tyres, discovering that just around the corner literally from where we had our collection was a 24 hour tyre outlet, stressed out we managed to repair the tyres and get to bed :D

We also saw a Moose with her babies which was really cool, we don't see too many Moose because we don't drive a lot at night I suppose that will change during winter with the shorter days.

I'm back :D

RIP Bradley

Some of you will remember I had my head shaved last year for Bradley and his family, unfortunately Bradley passed away on August 22nd, eventually the neuroblastoma was too much for his little body to take. He was so brave right to the end, RIP little man, we have the fondest memories of you.

Being homesick hits hard, I don't think either of us expected it but boy it hit with a vengenance.

Neither of us miss the UK, just the people we love, our kids, family and friends.

We Love and Miss you all !!!

Lots of things happened, recent bereavements, kids struggling, trying to work through the paperwork for a mortgage (which has now been postponed till early next year). I suppose just general shit but being in a new country it became a night mare.

Anyway we've taken a deep breath, had a few beers and are ready to go again :D The adventure continues.....

We left Edmonton and headed for Winnipeg, there was nothing for us there so we were despatched to Sioux City in Iowa to collect 5 tractors. The temp in Winnipeg was +9 and sunny, we crossed the border into USA and headed through North Dakota on interstate 29 (i29), you can see on the photos how the weather changed.

We drove through South Dakota in blizzards and white outs, eventually stopping in Watertown for the night.The next morning we spent 2 hours digging the truck out of 2 ft of snow :0.
A few miles down the i29 and the snow had cleared, we collected the tractors and headed back to Canada across Iowa into Wisconsin skirted Chicago, through Michigan and back into Canada. The snow was continually following us.

We crossed the border at 1000 Islands, the islands are a millionaires paradise, these photos don't give the right impression but I've seen some that are beautiful.
The tractors were to be delivered in Norton, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. We couldn't even find Norton NB on the map so we inputted the address into our faithful Tom Tom and found the route. We discussed taking a slightly different route but after the Virginia trip decided to go with Tom. As we waited for the ferry to cross the river, we began to doubt the route Tom had sent us. The truck just about fit on the ferry, and hitting icebergs as we crossed definately made it interesting ;). The deliveries in NS were completed and we headed home for a few days rest.

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This was our trip to Fort McMurray:

Once we left Edmonton the road to Ft Mc seemed endless, there was only a couple of garages/fuel stops.

When you get closer to the oilfields you can smell the crude oil, the wages may be good but it's not somewhere I'd like to live. There are lots of work camps where the men stay during the week and if they live near enough will go home at the weekend. Some of the workers will stay for months at a time before going home! There's lots of male entertainment available for anyone who may be interested ;)

Contrary to popular belief, and as the photo shows I don't just sit on my backside haha :).

Huge apologies to everyone who's been waiting for updates, here's our trip to the oilfields in Fort McMurray at the end of April.

West Edmonton Mall

On Sunday we went to West Edmonton Mall, it is huge! There's a theme park, water park, 18 hole golf, sea life centre plus so much more and thats without the hundreds of shops.

We spent the best part of the day in there and didn't see it all. Rod was really impressed there was sooo many things to see I only bought a new set of hair straighteners, Rod bought anew game for the PS3 and a rock band lol, the photos of the rock band will follow.

I can't wait to go again, next time we won't bother with the shops we'll head for the theme park and then the water park :)

Crane parts to Edmonton, Alberta

file://

The drive from Nova Scotia to Edmonton Alberta took us 5 days. We went through blizzards to glorious sunshine and back to blizzards! but what an amazing journey we've seen loads of sights from indian reservations in Ontario to the prairies in Manitoba and Sask. It makes you realise just how vast this country is.

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1st trip

We left Nova Scotia on Saturday 22nd March and arrived back 6 days later after driving through Nova Scotia, New Brunswick across the border into Maine, USA.
We travelled through Maine, New York State, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia to deliver Wood to Ikea in Virginia :).
We bought a TomTom to make life easier but then decided by looking at the map it would be easier to use the route we had already planned,well, it was a beautiful scenic route but not one we'd recommend, next time we will follow 'Sir Toms' instructions ;0

As you can see the weather was gorgeous (+29) and the views amazing.

We are now heading to Edmonton in Alberta, approx 3,400 miles. It will probably take us 5/6 days to get there then we'll have 3 days off before we can return or head into the states again.

Lawrencetown Beach

Last time we were here it was approx +28* on day we took these photos it was approx -15* with the wind chill and there was still some guys surfing.

Nova Scoia

Here's a few pictures of our minivan and our friends house where we are staying. The ones without snow are when we arrived, then a couple of days later with snow and one after clearing the drive.

Rod is away in the States right now, leaving me to occupy myself, boy there's only so much shopping a girl can do :) only joking babe. I'll upload the photos he's taken when he gets back.

http://

We've done it :)

Well, here we are in Nova Scotia.

Our house sale eventually completed on February 15th and we flew into Halifax on February 19th. The flight was excellent, we were moved to seats at the exits so we had more leg room, the food was good and best of all it only took 10 minutes at Immigration to collect Rods 2 year work permit and my 2 year visitor permit.

The following day we meet Vaughan from Clarke's transport, which stopped Rod from fretting ;). After lunch we collected ID cards, Rods SIN number (equivalent to the UK NI number) and sorted out Medicare Insurance, all in all a busy but productive day. We also went to meet June from Mumfords B&B, who pointed us in the right direction for cell phones and laptops. June and Mark are expats who have lived in Halifax for about 12 years.

Vaughan arranged for us to meet a lady from the Pontiac car dealership where we bought a Pontiac Montana minivan at a steal, Annette then contacted an insurance broker who arranged our auto insurance at a really good price and after 1 years insurance we will get the equivalent to full no claims discount. Another weight of our shoulders as I hadn't brought a copy of our no claims from the UK, and when we contacted the UK insurance they said it would take 14 days to get the information to us. We were hiring a car which was costing about $750 a week, arrgh, paying the extra for a year seemed a better idea as the insurance quote was still very competitive.

A chain is only as strong as the weakest link!

Selling a house in the UK is crap!!! We have an agreed sale since 15th December, but our buyer asked if we could complete on January 11th. Ok, cool, gives us a bit of time to arrange everything, enjoy Christmas in the UK and book our 1 way flights.

It is now January 25th and we still don't know when we will complete.

Do we cut our losses and pull out of the agreed sale, then sell to an investor, losing thousands? Or do we wait and see? and hope that Rods new boss is happy to wait for him.

Going, going, nearly all gone

Most of the furniture has gone, as you can see the computer desk went today. We will be spending this week taking other bits to my sisters, cheers Jan, and our eldest sons' house.
I think it will be a busy week ;)

We're counting the days now, although we wont book our flights until our house sale is completed!

New Year 2007

Our house sale should have completed tomorrow but has been delayed until next friday!

Never mind, we've waited nearly 3 years to get this far and it gives me another week to get organised and Rod an extra week to play WOW.

Here we go :)