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!

Getting Tired of Canada

With the  air conditioners off our truck, we had no desire to stay in Canada any longer. The weather was miserable and so were we, so we deadheaded back into the US. We stopped at the first truck stop we came to inside the US border and enjoyed a nice hot meal and  then a nice long sleep.

We were in no hurry for another load which was a good thing because we didn't get one for 3 days. The next load picked up in Aberdeen, South Dakota. South we went and made the pickup We then continued south to Newton, Iowa with some supplies for a wind turbine factory.

A wind turbine on its way to its final destination

Our next load offer came quickly. We picked up in Chicago, Il with a destination of.....once again...back to Canada. Kinsley Falls, Ontario. After delivery, our next load offer took us back into the US. We exited Canada through Vermont on our way to Somersworth, NH. The weather had been nice while in Canada but as soon as I approached the boder snow flakes started flying.

An unwelcome sight!

Continuing on into the states the snow started flying harder and harder. I was driving up into the mountains through a national forest. Eventually the roads were completely snow covered and I had to reduce speed to 30 mph. I was gripping the steering wheel tightly and fighting the nerves. As I started down the mountain on the other side, the lower I got, the less snow there was and eventually I drove completely out of it.

I made it to the factory and found my way to the dock for the pick up. Then for the bad part. The load was going right back up into Quebec. This time to Montreal. I have found that we don't enjoy going to Canada anymore and especially into Quebec. Montreal has some horrible roads and it felt like our truck was going to be ripped apart by the potholes and uneven surfaces of the roads.

Pretty..if you like winter

We may need to reconsider doing Canada loads. We would really like to see more of the western United States.