Quebec

Well, we didn't go home. I had been negotiating a load with our company and they finally came back with the amount that I had asked for so we were going to Baltimore to pick up a load and then going to Quebec.
I was sick in my stomach realizing that I was less than 2 hours from being with dad and now was leaving the country.
By then I was being told by Starla and Amy that Dad was going to be ok. That they were still running tests on him and he did have cellulitis in his legs and he did have fluid in his lungs but he was going to live and the hospital had the rest under control.
But it still didn't make me feel secure.
I was very happy that so many from the church went to the hospital and Starla was there all day. She was very good at communicating to me what was going on all day too.
So we started our trip to Baltimore and Pops had gotten very little sleep. We drove through heavy Baltimore rush hour traffic and tried really hard not to be late. Our pickup time was 7:02pm or so we thought but once we got there we were told that our time was changed to 10:30. So between the stress of the traffic and the worry with my dad and the anticipation of driving through a predicted snowstorm, our nerves were shot.
Pops laid down while we waited for the truck that we were transferring with to show up, but he couldn't sleep.
At one point around 8:20 we were told that our transfer would take place in 15 minutes, so we were glad that we could get moving sooner. But it didn't happen.
We did finally get transferred and moving around 10:30. So I was driving and Pops tried to lay down and sleep again.
I drove us through Baltimore, Deleware, and New Jersey. We just entered into the state of New York when Pops decided to drive. He hadn't slept more than an hour.
I was exhausted and stressed to the limit. I laid down and did sleep for about 5 hours. When I woke up we were in Upstate New York and there was snow. A lot of it.
Pops told me that earlier he had to drive through some ice.
He continued driving and we crossed the border without delay.
The further we drove the harder it snowed. After 2 1/2 hours we reached the city of Montreal. It was snowing very hard. We were about to get off our exit and there was contruction and Gypsy suddenly couldn't pick up the route. She announced that we were out of route and then she went dead. Great now what? We drove in circles for a long time and couldn't figure anything out. Remember: Quebec is french speaking so all road and street signs are french.
I called our company (at $2.00 a minute) and got them to send us some directions and so they did, but they were the same exact WRONG directions that they gave us the first time. We were pretty messed up and getting really fed up.
But, Thank God, Gypsy suddenly came to life and decided to give us guidance. And she got us right to the location.
We were carrying 5 semi truck engines and they were heavy so once we got them unloaded we didn't have the added weight that had helped us drive the snowy, slippery roads. We had trouble just leaving the parking lot where we delivered.
Now Pops' driving time was winding down. He had only 2 more hours to drive and we had 7 hours to get back to Rochester, NY our place of layover. And it was still snowing. It was snowing so hard that our wipers kept getting clogged up with ice and we couldn't see.
By this time all of the stress of the last 2 days was wearing me down. I started to cry. And the more I cried, the more I wanted to cry. It wasn't making me feel better, but I couldn't stop.
Pops didn't say anything and I sure don't know what he was thinking but when his driving time ran out and we stopped AGAIN to clean the wipers, I switched us over on the computer so that I could drive, but he continued to drive on my time.
I know that he had to be as stressed as I was, probably even moreso because he was the one driving and there I sat bawling. But he kept on driving until we crossed the border and even further.
It was still snowing.
Finally after many long hours we pulled into the truckstop at Rochester. I had stopped crying by now, but I still felt horrible. Pops was so tired that we barely got parked before he was in the bunk sleeping. I sat up for awhile and finished up our paperwork and took care of our online banking. Then I went to bed.
Less than 15 minutes later our truck engine just died. It chugged a couple of times and I jumped up to rev it up, but it died.
We left the generator run so we had good heat and we left the engine issue until morning. Pops needed his sleep.
Our company kept trying to give us loads going right back up to Canada. They tried over and over again until I finally told them that I didn't even want to think about going there right now.
We didn't get anymore load offers.
I don't care, we need rest.
I am so very grateful that God brought us safely through the snowstorm. I am so very grateful to my husband for driving for me when he sensed that it was beyond my capacity yesterday. I am thankful for good people that visited my dad. I am thankful for heat while outside it is only 13 degrees and windy. I am thankful for homemade bread and apple pie. I am thankful that not everyday has stress. I am thankful that we found a church to attend tomorrow that is only 5 miles away.
This morning we got our truck problem fixed. It was an easy fix. Somehow we lost our fuel prime, so a new fuel filter was put on and fuel was put in from the filter back to the tanks and it started right up. We kept warm and ate well and got rest. We got hot showers and watched a good movie and now (maybe) we will consider going on another Canada load. We'll see.