Our first Ferry Ride

Waiting in line for the ferry 

We left our comfy hotel room on Monday and made a pickup in Maple Grove, Mn. We delivered that load to Lebanon, Ohio and immediately made another pickup in Cleves, Ohio with a delivery in Athens, Tn.

From there, we next picked up in Anniston, Alabama and delivered in Colchester, Vermont. This was not the most pleasant of drives as it involved a LOT of small two lane twisting winding highways. Some drivers prefer those kind of roads for the scenic view, but I'm not one of them. I prefer to stay on interstates and large highways.

After our delivery we found a so called truck stop and headed there to wait for the next load. We went inside to eat and they had some brochures near where we were sitting that happened to catch my eye. I picked up a couple and they were ferry schedules. I took them back to the truck with me and studied them. For some reason, they were interesting to me.

The ferry pulling into the dock

As luck would have it, our next load was picking up in Liverpool, NY. I studied the map and saw that there was a big lake between where we were and where we wanted to go. We could either take the highway down, around and back up the lake, or......we could take the ferry across!

I was pretty excited about it. John was not thrilled at all! He did not like the thought of taking the truck onto a ferry. This was a new experience for both of us. I had read about other drivers having to take their trucks on ferrys to get where they needed to be so I wasn't too worried about it. I had to convince John of the safety though.

Our view out the windshield while on the ferry

I got my brochures back out and figured out which ferry we wanted and took off. John said since it was my idea, I could do the driving. Fine with me! I found the ferry with no problem and we got in line. As luck would have it, we were first in line which meant that we got loaded onto the ferry first. They motioned me forward until I swear I thought we were going to go right off into the water, but we didn't. We now had front row seats to enjoy the view across the lake!

We made it to the other side!

Luckily it was a pretty calm day and there weren't a lot of waves. After John's nerves calmed down, he actually was able to enjoy it also. The ferry took us across to the other side and we drove off and continued on to our next destination. Simple!

Working Hard

Nothing much to really write about. The truck has kept running and thankfully we are building our savings back up.

After the 4th of July that we got to spend at home with friends, we went back into service and immediately got a load. We kept busy the rest of the week. The loads went like this:

Mayport, Fl to Anniston, Al
Rome, Ga to Wapakoneta, Oh
Dayton, Oh to Lansing, Mi
Lake Station, Il to Avon, Mn

Because it is so hot out and our truck isnt equipped with a generator, we decided to get a hotel room for the weekend. We found a nice Red Roof Inn. They allow pets for no additional charge. It really is a nice place. It almost seems like a campground atmosphere here. Some of the guests have grills outside and we were invited to join in with them, but we declined. Sometimes, we are just not very sociable.

Family Camping Trip

After delivering in Brampton, Ontario we went to a truckstop in Missasauga. How very entertaining! The place doesn't have a lot of room, but it does have a lot of trucks who want to come in and fuel up. They end up stopping out on the road while they're waiting for their turn to come in. Traffic gets backed up and tempers flare. Horns are honking, fingers are waving. Good stuff.

We ended up getting a load picking up nearby and we took it Ithaca, New York. Not sure that I like New York much better than Canada, but at least we can use our phones and internet.

From there, it was a pickup in Archbald, Pa with a delivery in Waterloo, Iowa followed with a pickup in Anoka, Mn and a delivery in Montreal, Quebec. We had a hometime request in for northern Indiana. We have a family camping trip planned so I turned the Quebec load down. Of course, dispatch was desperate for it to be covered so they agreed to pay us for the load and for the deadhead back to Indiana. Grr. Didn't really want to do it. But we did.

Anyway, we are now in Indiana and getting ready to enjoy a much anticipated family vacation! Can't wait because I know we will have a blast. We are taking our truck to the campgrounds and other members of the family will have their campers and tents there.

One of Our Busiest Weeks

After the last Canadian debacle, we had a nice peaceful Mother's Day off. Time to rest up and get ready for the next adventure.  We didn't have to wait too long. Next up was a pickup in Syracuse, NY. And, true to form, a delivery in Ontario. This time in Ottawa. The capital of Ontario. It was quite a drive, but nothing too exciting. 

After that load was completed, we turned around and went right back to Syracuse for the next pickup but this time we were spared the return trip to Canada and instead we headed for St. Paul, Minnesota. The scenery along the drive was beautiful.

It was a busy week with no breaks. We delivered and immediately went to Eagan, MN for the next pickup to be delivered in Hartland, Wi. This was followed by another immediate pickup in Elkhorn, Wi with a delivery in Fredericktown, Ohio. From there we went to Groveport, Ohio and that one delivered direct to Asheboro, North Carolina. 

What a week! We actually felt like real truck drivers this week with all the nonstop action.  Now that it's Saturday, we'll see if there's any freight for the weekend or if we manage to get a couple of days off.

Heading Home for the First Time

After our delivery to Winnipeg, we deadheaded back down into the states. We delivered on Friday and had to wait until Tuesday for our next load. This one picked up in Mounds View, Mn and was delivering in Wrightstown, Wi.

I enjoyed the drive through Minnesota and Wisconsin. Very pretty scenery. A lot of references to cheese in Wisconsin. It brought back some good memories of a family vacation that we took with my sister and her family a few years back. We all rented a condo in Wisconsin Dells and had a great time. We went in August and it was already chilly outside. We visited an indoor water park, rode the ducks, John, Shelley and Rob got tattoos and Shelley and Johnny did a tandem skycoaster together. Those two are crazy!

From Wrightstown we headed to Portage, Wi for a pickup, Delivered that one to Morenci, Mi. We highlighted for hometime which at our carrier means that they will look for loads for you that get you closer to home. We are so ready for our visit home after being out here on the road since February!

Dispatch came through for us and we next picked up in Wyandotte, Mi and delivered in Opelika, Alabama. This still left us almost 500 miles from home but it was a Saturday and experience has shown that we wouldn't get any other load offers until Monday at the earliest. We decided to deadhead home and get started on our hometime vacation.

We plan to stay home about two weeks. We have a lot of catching up to do there!