Back to my family

Hello again everyone, well as you can guess from the title i am now backhome and trying to recover from the tiredness and jetlag. Had a good flight back with air canada was a brand new plane and the service was excellent even had 2 extra leg room seats to myself. Taking you back now to the final days of the ice roads, trip number 8 was a good one, i left with my freinds bruce and rob at 1.20 in the morning on our way to Diavik for the last time, couple of incidents on the way, rob span out on portage 31 and had to get out and chain up to get himself moving, and the tiredness finally got the better of me on the dreaded Mckay lake, you know the one, where bruce broke down on a previous trip, i fell asleep at the wheel at a super fast speed of 30kmh on cruise and went plowing the snowbank with the front bumper of my trusty kenworth, no damage, no one hurt only my pride, i still cant beleive i fell asleep driving and was gutted but it made me realise how tired i must of been after 7 weeks of work with one day off. the rest of the trip was uneventful. We returned to yellowknife for the last time. we handed in our chocks and id badge and headed to redwater for the last load of the season, this was going to shellbrook in saskatchewan my final load home. we unloaded this at 6.30pm [i say we as brian and bruce also loaded for here] on wednesday, it was after 10.00pm when the 3 of us finished and the guy had stayed on specially to unload us, he even thanked us for delivering and was glad to have helped us out, i offered him $20 for his trouble and he said no way he was glad to be able to receive his product a day early and to buy myself and the lads a beer with the $20 i offered him, can you imagine somebody in england offering the same kind of service?? i thought not. Its a different way of life and attitude in canada, lorry drivers are actually respected and treated well where ever they go and that is why i love driving there and it will always be my second home, i hope in the future i have the chance to run my own truck as a lease operator for terry [edge transportation] running south into the USA. And yes dad it will be a kenworth. Anyway i will sign off now and thank you all for reading my blog i hope you have enjoyed it, i have an offer to drive direct for RTL next year and also terry wants me to return again for the season so i will let you know if i return for a 3rd year of ice road trucking, what a great experience. just have to say a few thankyous. A big thanks to Terry at Edge Transportation for beleiving and trusting in me, Thanks to brian and sara for their hospitality and freindship i always receive when i return to saskatoon, thanks to RTL Robinson enterprises for the camp facilities and the extra pounds in weight i put on in the restaurant, thanks to nuna logistics for the excellent job they do in building and maintaining the ice road but most of all for the safety and security they provide for every driver that heads north from yellowknife on this road every year, and thanks to all of you for your words of support and comments you have left me on my blog. Last but not least a thankyou to my fantastic wife Alison, you know how special you are to me, whenever we spoke and i felt weak you gave me the strength to carry on, when i was down you picked me up and you have always beleived in me and i can never thank you enough for looking after the kids, the house and working full time whilst i was away on my adventure,you say this kept you sane, but i dont know your a very special person who copes well in any situation i wish i was as strong as you.Thanks Darling. Well i guess thats it take care everyone thanks once again for reading, all the very best to you all. looking forward to next year!!!!!!!! ile wait and see