Steve's Trucking Big Canadian Adventure: February was all Goshen.

It was a very boring month in terms of destinations this month, Goshen - Goshen - Goshen! 3 weeks on the trott. It felt as if I was being punished having to do this but at least the wheels are turning. After unloading there it was straight down to New Jersey loading fruit for Toronto. The only event of any note was the second trip to Goshen, having tipped there I get a message to head to Pennsylvania to collect a load of Mushrooms for Montreal, so i decided to head for New York City then turn off for New Jersey. Well I set off and not realising how tired I was I was driving along and before I knew it I had passed my exit, Now being tired I was not thinking straight and decided to take another way to Jersey. BIG Mistake. I should have back tracked but carried on regardless well things go from bad to worse, I found my way to the Cross Bronx Expressway then turned onto the wrong ramp and headed straight into the Bronx, this place was never designed for big rigs, so not being able to turn around I carry on into Queens and eventually end up at the last exit for the Midtown Tunnel for Manhattan. Its a 12' 1" headroom and the Truck is 13' 6" so I threw a big U-turn at this intersection and stopped on the on Ramp to try and find my bearings. I eventually found where I went wrong and kicked myself for the soft mistake I made. You dont realise how much fatigue catches up with you and how it effects your judgement in these situations. well this little excursion cost me over 2 hours and eventually cost me the backload as I could not make it to my shippers before they closed, so that resulted in stopping In Carneys Point for the weekend, which was great cos I managed to catch up on some sleep.
So now I have to call dispatch Monday at 8.30 to see what they have for me, My buddy Russell gets the honour of going to Goshen this week and leaves Sunday Night (today)

Its now starting to thaw in most places I go and the Northumberland straight which seperates PEI from Mainland Canada Is now thawing at a rate of knots and its making a nice change to see grass and water around the place instead of snow. Now with any luck I might get a change of destination monday so I will have more to write about in my next Post.

One highlight this week was my first night out in Charlottetown to see a friend playing with his band, so me, Russ and Dave who just arrived from the UK jumped in a cab and headed for what we hoped would be a good night out, we were not dissapointed, the band were fantastic, the company was great and 1 or 2 pints of Coors light were consumed.

March is going to be a busy month now our House is on the Market back in the UK, i have been to see various people about mortgages, houses etc, etc. Its very difficult to arrange these meetings when you don't know when you will be back on the Island and due to work volumes the company want to turn you straight around with another run. I dont like turning work down but I also don't like facing the prospect of living out of the truck 24/7 if I don't sort out some housing as its only 3 weeks before Russells family arrive here.
The people I am dealing with are fantastic, they are trying to organise things based on the information I have given them while I'm off the Island and all communication is done via e-mail. So for now its back to the house hunting and I hope to have more to tell you next week. In the meantime here are some photos I took on my travels in February.