Saturday 25 October 2008

I am sat in Iowa 80 truck stop

After getting back to Lethbridge from Toronto I spent the day sorting out my truck cleaning it out getting a few things fixed washed inside & out. Then spent the rest of the day putting my stuff in the truck wow didn't realize how much stuff I had! Think I need a sort out over the next couple of weeks! I fitted my CB which I got cheap from an old driver of H&R and it works well. On Wednesday went to Highriver to pick up my trailer for Waterloo in Iowa its just over 1400 miles. The scenery is awesome driving through Montana, I had to be there Saturday morning but because of a hold up at the border I got to Waterloo Saturday about 12pm had to fuel up the trailer before I dropped it off was in and out with empty trailer in about 20 mins. Then I went to the Flying J for something to eat, when I came out I got a macro saying I was loading out of a place called Beardstown Illinois going to a place called Drummondville in Quebec that will be great, another new state in Canada after this trip I should be adding a couple more states in America as well. I brought a slow cooker and all the stuff to make a stew. When I called into Lethbridge on the way to the border I filled it with all the ingredients and by the time I finished for the night I turned on the light inside the cab and a bag of lentils I brought had fallen over! (any guesses on what I said next lol). Well after cleaning up the mess I sat on my bed with a large bowl of stew and it was lovely, not bad for a first time & after one bowl I just had to have another one (lol). Anyway the mess and hassle was too much for me. Next day I cleaned the pot out and stuck it under my bed and I have a feeling that that's where it'll stay! Its nice to go into the Flying J, I had a steak last night and tonight I had a buffet it was so easy to walk away from all the mess and get back into my clean truck, I'm a trucker for christ sake not a chef! I am sat in the worlds largest truck stop Iowa 80 and it's huge. I was looking forward to coming here to buy some factory fitted mats for my truck to make it more cosy. I paid $125 for them and took them out & fitted them. They looked nice but I think they must have been made by Stevie Wonder because they didn't bloody fit! I took them back and got my money back I am gutted because they looked great so I am now going to be trying to find a company who makes truck mats to FIT. Some of you are thinking sad git he wants carpets for his truck but what you have to understand is I now live in this truck 24/7 and if I can make it homely in here then I will. I very nearly got a 32" LCD tv but I thought about it abit and wont bother........ for the moment lol. I read somewhere that if you have your bed made up in your truck just like you do at home with top and bottom sheet and a couple of blankets the study showed the drivers were having a better nights sleep so that is what I have done and I can tell you that when my head hits the pillow I am out like a light even with a fridge running outside. In the UK I had a quilt and I was forever waking up at night. I also brought a small oil filled radiator for when the cold nights get here I will plug it in and sit it in the middle between my seats. One of the things that needed to be fixed was a new inverta when the guy put a new one in I showed him the heater and asked if this was ok to use he said I could run 10 of them in here at the same time if I wanted so I won't be getting cold and at only $39 it's cheap. I have a few pics of me crossing Canada so I will try and put them on here as well and my lovely wife keeps asking me to take a pic of my truck but I keep forgetting, sorry babe, I will do tomorrow promise! Some drivers like to lay in bed in the morning but I like staring early and finish early when I am out of hours, then you can park in the truck stops. While I have been typing this I must have seen about 50-100 trucks try to get a parking place only to watch them drive off, never mind I have my parking space lol and I came in spun around and reversed the truck in the bay in one go, a couple of drivers said to me about 4 other drivers tried to do the same but they gave up and parked some where else. (dumb ass drivers) lol.

2 comments:

Mick Flynn Images said...

Hi Mike
you mention the radiator, doesn't the APU keep you warm during the night?

englishmike said...

Not tried it yet cath will let you know as soon as I do