Enjoying North America while earning a living...: February 25, 1990, 2010

About this blog's layout...BLOG UPDATED ONCE PER DAY...

I follow my journal daily by writing under the daily title, "FIRST 5 YEARS:" The first five years will strictly follow my 5 year journal. If I find the day I am writing about to be boring, I will either write about thoughts I remember(placed under the title of "SECOND 5 YEARS"), write a trucker tale(placed under "A Trucker's Tale"), give a helpful trucker hint, ask a "student driver" question or do something.....When a location appears after the day of the week after "FIRST 5 YEARS:", it is where I am at the start of that day((IE: FIRST 5 YEARS: (Sunday-Kansas City, Missouri))..... I would encourage those that find themselves enjoying North America to follow me day by day.....REMEMBER: THIS IS A BLOG ABOUT WHAT LIFE IS LIKE FOR A TRUCKER THAT DOES NOT HAVE A DAILY ROUTINE ROUTE(called a "dedicated" route). THERE WILL BE MANY TIMES WHEN THE ROUTING, SCENERY AND DAY'S ACTIVITIES WILL BE SIMILAR(boring???) TO PREVIOUS DAYS; THAT'S TRUCKING! THERE WILL BE DAYS WHEN THE ROUTING, SCENERY AND DAY'S ACTIVITIES WILL BE TOTALLY NEW; THAT'S TRUCKING. Frustrations? I mention the frustrations I had as a driver. I loved my job while earning a living and realized that all jobs have frustrations; truck driving is, and was, no different..... Many pictures on this blog can be left-clicked and made larger.....Questions?...Please E-mail PT at fabalt2000@centurylink.net

February 25, 2010

February 25, 1990, 2010

FIRST 5 YEARS:(Sunday-Taylor, Michigan)
Woke up and left the motel room around 9 AM EST. It was a beautiful morning; quite a change from yesterday. Back at the terminal, dispatch gave me a load going to Scarborough, Ontario due tomorrow morning. Went to hook up to my trailer and I remembered I had left my padlock on the trailer I dropped last night. I found the trailer and also found the padlock totally frozen shut. I had to go into the terminal and get a small bucket of warm water to pore over the lock. I got the lock off . Hooked up, fueled(174 gallons), did paperwork and headed up I-75 toward the Ambassador Bridge. Traffic over the Bridge was light; time being 11 AM EST. I paid my toll for the bridge and over I went. The Canadian riverfront-Windsor, Ontario-looks really nice with green grass and a walkway so that Canadians can enjoy it. The U.S. Side-Detroit, Michigan-has trees on the riverfront so that that Canadians can't see the “ugliness”(this is the year 1990...has it changed?)-old buildings, trash and abandoned vehicles. Windsor was like going into a different world and I enjoyed the change**. I had to stop at the custom's broker and get the load Oked for Canada. The broker told me that what I had on was slightly different than the broker's paperwork says but she was going to let it pass. Great!!! Less problems...at least I think so. Went through town and went northeast toward Scarborough, Ontario on Queen's Highway 401(now apparently called the King's Highway 401). Loved the drive as the country's farmland was laid out differently from that found in the U.S. west of the Appalachian Mountains. Traveled passed the big Ontario towns of Chatham, London, Woodstock, Kitchener and Toronto before getting to my exit for Scarborough. (((Back in the early '90s, the money exchange was different enough so that I could get a free dozen donuts. This was done by stopping at the first rest area on the Queen's Highway and buying a dozen donuts with an American 20 dollar bill. They would give me change in Canadian dollars and I would get back over 20 of them. Then when I went back into America I would pay the toll with Canadian money and I would get the receipt in “dollars”which I turned in for reimbursement; I would get it back in U S dollars....free donuts paid for by the company. The company knew this was being done in one way or another. ))). My destination was easy to find as it was only two blocks off the highway. The company was closed and the docking area was huge so I parked my truck there. The time was 5 PM EST so I had time to walk around the neighbor. Didn't talk to anyone as it was chilly outside and I guess they were in their homes. Went back to truck, ate munchies for dinner, watched TV(Canadian) and went to sleep...

** Please note here that I enjoy change from one area to another no matter where it is. If scenery didn't change, travel would be boring for me. I would never enjoy being a “dedicated”route driver as things would be the same all the time!!!