New Brunswick & Bangor

We made the beautiful drive up to St. John, New Brunswick. I had no idea where this was even at when dispatch called us about the load. I had to get the map out and look it up. I wondered about the possibility of getting another load out of that area, but it was someplace we hadn't been to before and I wanted to see it. So of course, we took it.

The drive was pretty hectic going up through the northeast until we got into Maine, and then traffic died down and the landscape became more and more remote. It was really incredibly beautiful. Along the way, we got a phone call from our carrier who informed us that we needed a permit to go to New Brunswick. She had already taken care of it and was wondering how to get it to us. We have internet service in our truck along with a laptop and a printer. I signed up for efax service so she was able to fax it to us and I printed it out. Technology is great!

We crossed over into Canada with no problems. The scenery got better and better the farther north we went. We eventually made our way to the consignee and had a little bit of a headache getting into the place. It was in a tricky area with a lot of traffic congestion but thanks to the drivers being courteous and stopping to allow us in and out, we made it.

After delivery, we decided to head back to the US. The nearest large city was Bangor, Maine, so that's where we headed. We got there and made our way to a truckstop called Dysart's. I pulled into the fuel lane and was going to get out and fill up. A worker came up to the door and told me that he would take care of it. He also washed my windows. You don't get that kind of service just anywhere!

We got parked and went inside for showers and food. I talked to the cashier a little bit and asked her about my favorite author, Stephen King. I know from reading his books that this is his hometown. She did indeed know him and she knew exactly where he lived. For some reason, I thought it was awesome to be there in his town!

John had to buy a tshirt that read Dysart's and then under that it said Bangor, Maine. In his twisted dirty mind, the Bangor part gives him the giggles. Do men ever really grow up?

The lady who owns the truck we drive had told us we were crazy for taking this load because we could end up sitting a very long time waiting on the next load. At the time, we didn't care because we were again exhausted. We were okay with sitting a few days. Who knew? Maybe if we sat long enough, I could go look up Stephen King?

As usual, it didn't work out that way and we got a load the very next day picking up just a short ways away in Waterville, Maine. We got there and found out we were picking up a load of paper plates. We do expedited freight so paper plates seemed pretty ridiculous to us. Not that it matters moneywise, we got paid our regular rate. We were taking the plates to a Costco distribution center in Monroe Township, New Jersey. Only thing I can figure is that they desperately needed those plates to pay the rate we got.

1st Trip to Texas

Delivery to Gladstone, Va complete. Next up was a pick up in Greensboro, North Carolina with a delivery to Seguin, Texas. Yay for us, we are finally making it to Texas!

This load delivered to a CVS store. An actual store, not a warehouse or distribution center. We didn't think too much about it. We were loaded with store fixtures and shelving and most of it was just placed in the truck, not on pallets or anything. The store we were going to was being remodeled and this was the new stuff they needed to complete the job.

Upon arriving at the CVS we discovered that they have no dock. They are just a store. Their trucks who bring them their daily deliveries are equipped with a ramp and equipment to unload freight and bring it into the store. We didnt have such equipment. To make matters worse, the person who was responsible for taking charge of the freight we brought was a young girl. She couldn't offer any suggestions on how to easily unload us.

John got into the back of the truck and started handing pieces down to me and the girl and we began a very slow process of unloading piece by piece. What a treat in the Texas heat! We are drivers, not dock workers. We should have been told ahead of time if we were going to be responsible for unloading the truck. Oh well, we were there and we wanted the stuff off the truck, so we got it off.

After the delivery was completed, we headed to the nearest truck stop for much needed showers!