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I was in Toronto unloading on a Friday, and after I got unloaded (at about 1 p.m.), I decided to drop in on my old friends at Dillon. They had a system that on Fridays, they started a bit early and would shut down at 2 p.m. for a meeting to hash out any problems they had over the last little while and plan ahead. I parked in the back, joined the meeting, and the headman asked me to wait for a while after. After the meeting, He explained that they had a load of material to go to Newfoundland but were having trouble finding anyone to haul it because of the Ferry and the lack of loads coming off the Island. We sat down and juggled a few numbers and finally came up with a price that would allow me to make a very small profit (or at least break even), and I said I would be back Monday morning to pick it up.
Monday morning, I showed up at the gate to find my trailer loaded, chained down, tarped, and ready to go. It seems a couple of the guys had come in Saturday, and since my truck was sitting there, they decided to load it. They had everything done except my pre-trip, so I was out of there and on my way in very short order.
Everything went fine until we got on the Ferry, and the crew doubled up blocking the rigs' tires. That is when I learned it might get a little bouncy this trip. By the time we were halfway, I was the only one left on the top deck observation station, and we were having green water coming in over the bow. I loved it until I had to make a break for the stairs down to the next deck, and in seconds, I got soaked and almost got blown away before getting inside. Anyway, the trip ended, and we offloaded. I found a quiet spot and went to bed for the night.
Morning in Newfoundland, the air was fresh and clear after the storm, and the road beckoned. Now, I had heard about this highway and warned about the Moose, and since this was April, I should keep a good lookout for cows with calves. I can't remember how many miles up to the north coast, but I swear there was a Moose every half mile. There were baby Moose, med-sized Moose and big Moose. Two or three needed their own wide load signs, and I stopped to watch a Mom give birth not 25 yards from the truck. Finally, I made it to the drop, crawled into the back again, woke up the next morning, got unloaded, and started back down. By the time I made it back to the ferry terminal, I had counted 147 Moose, about twice the number of people I had seen.
After a bit of digging around, I managed to get a paying load to Toronto, so it worked out that I made a few bucks and had one of the greatest trips ever.
