Posts Tagged ‘Portage La Prairie Manitoba’

Once again I have been far too lax about posting to this blog.  Maybe I can beg off with the excuse that I’ve been out gathering new material.  Anybody buy that?

Well it’s partly true.  Marilyn and I decided that in order to afford a holiday this year and spend some time together we would have to combine business with pleasure.  So on the 21st of June she threw her kit bag in the truck with mine and we headed off on our great summer getaway.

Hartland Covered Bridge

First stop Florenceville, NB where Marilyn met some of the Fastrax office staff for the first time, including the lady who was in charge of my orientation, and my dispatcher.  From there we went to Grand Falls where we picked up a load of frozen pizzas destined for Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. (Marilyn says “Don’t forget the garlic fingers”).

Northern Ontario

Marilyn kept the camera clicking all across New Brunswick, Quebec, and Northern Ontario into Manitoba.  Sure glad we got the 16 GB memory stick.  Of course, the wildlife I’ve seen on previous trips decided not to appear this time, but she did manage to snag a lot of scenery and at least one deer.

After delivering our load in Portage we had time to visit the Fort la Reine Museum, and she was able to get many interesting photos.  It just so happened that they were holding  Heritage Day celebrations and we had the opportunity to sample cinnamon rolls baked in an authentic outdoor clay oven.  A little burnt on top but tasty nonetheless.

Covered Wagon Fort la Reine Museum

After spending the morning at the museum we picked up our load at McCain’s and headed west for Edmonton.  With a bit of time to spare we stopped in at Ste. Rose du Lac, Manitoba for a visit with my aunt and uncle.  We enjoyed a delicious supper and a nice visit which included a couple of cousins of mine and their families.

We arrived in Edmonton Sunday evening and met up with a whole herd of family at the Yellowhead Truckstop.  My brother and his wife and one of their sons, two cousins and their husbands, and a nephew with his wife and children whom we had never met before as they came on the scene after we last left Alberta 23 years ago.  Sure doesn’t seem that long.

We delivered our load in Edmonton early Monday morning then dropped the trailer in the yard, and with the companies kind permission headed off bobtail for the north country.  First stop Grande Prairie where we had a nice visit with an old family friend and his recent bride and adopted son.

Come and get it!

Then, on to Spirit River to spend a few days on the farm with my sister and her husband.  First on the agenda was supper at a niece’s home in Wanham where we met her family for the first time, as well as another niece and her family and a nephew now 19 whom we had never met due to our move back to Nova Scotia.  A total of 13 of us at table including three grand nephews and one grand niece.

On Wednesday we accepted an invitation to the home of another cousin of mine on their farm near Woking.  Her husband had build an outdoor brick oven and we enjoyed a feast of home made pizza cooked to perfection in five minutes flat.  Since he had built it some distance from the house and at the bottom of a hill, he also got his exercise between pizzas.  It’s not every day one gets pizza delivered by scoop shovel, but it was delicious nonetheless.

Pizza on a shovel

Thursday morning, Canada Day, saw us bidding a sad farewell and starting on our return to Edmonton to go back to work.  A short visit in Wanham to allow the young ones a visit inside the truck and get a couple of treats to remember us by and then on the road again.  We stopped for a visit and supper with a cousin and her husband in Spruce Grove then on to the truck stop in Edmonton to await a load assignment in the morning.

More of our working holiday adventures to come ,and more details of our farm visit for you animal lovers out there.

It has been quite some time since my last post to this blog and if I had such a thing as regular readers I apologize. Between a lot of pressures on the job and a lot of other things going on, this blog got sadly neglected. None of it was really a good reason but most certainly a good excuse.
Hopefully, all that will change however, as I have moved my truck to a new company. As of Friday the 19th of February I am officially a driver/broker with Fastrax Transportation out of Hartland, New Brunswick, a division of Day & Ross.
I owe a deep vote of gratitude to Fastrax Broker Manager, Gerry Betts and his very capable assistant Andrea Grant for making the transition painless, if not downright enjoyable.
My previous employer, while acceptable in many aspects and even above average in a few, just didn’t seem capable of allowing me to meet their expectations without breaking the hours of service regulations on a daily basis. To be honest my last few months with them had me almost to the point of burnout.  As an example, I got a $488 logbook fine on my last trip with the previous employer. I hadn’t had a logbook violation in the past 16 years. This one totally attributable to lack of sleep and exhaustion.
Today is Sunday the 21st of February and I’m in Northern Ontario on my way to Portage la Prairie, Manitoba with a load of McCains frozen french fries and pizzas. I had almost forgotten what it was like to drive mostly daylight hours and get a good nights sleep.
Now I’m not one bit afraid of a good days work or a good nights work for that matter. But when I’m expected to do both on a continual basis I’m forced to draw the line, for other people’s safety if not my own.
I truly hope if there are other drivers out there whose employers play fast and loose with their safety and well being that they too will have the common sense and ability to make a change.
Marilyn has been very supportive throughout this transition and is every bit as relieved as I am at the prospect of running legally once more. She doesn’t see me often but when she does she prefers it when I’m not quite so uptight.
Stay tuned to this blog and I’ll keep you posted on how Fastrax proves out on this and other factors. Who knows this may be the company to fit your needs as well.

If any of your decide to put in an application at Fastrax please tell them the GrumpyOlTrucker sent you.

PS. I’ll be posting pics of the truck with the new decal package whenever the weather allows it to be clean again for five minutes.