Slowely people are filling the parking
But I'm not sure it will fill completely by evening
This will be a good experience to see if it will fill or not
So if next week they send me here
Because it might happend
I will know what to expect
And I'm waiting for the storm to pass
I don't want to
Get wet
So I'm cleaning a bit
I could start the APU, but I don't think it will be strong enough
In this kind of weather: hot and humid
During the day would not be sufficent
With the Sun heating the cab.. I don't think so
At night it should be all right
I opened the windows in the front, in the back as well
I'm installing some stuff for my Gopros
I'm trying to make my cabin more friendly for shooting videos
I must say
That with all those windows open there is a nice breeze
Even in 30 degres heat
Even with 100% humidity
It's acceptable, of course there is a small discomfort
I would prefer 40 degres without humidity
But it is how it is
So, I'm making my cabin camera friendly
Maybe you have noticed my different angles in my movies
There will be one camera there
One on the windshield
One on the side
This one will have a better microphone
It takes more effort
While editing the movies
But it is possible
In the mirror I can see
Rain that I am afraid of
It's a thunder storm
As soon as it passes
From south east and it will go up
Then we can go and bike
It can't decide itself rain or no rain
I don't know what to do
But the my cousin always says:
If you don't take a risk, you will never dring Champagne
I don't care
Despite the clouds
I'm going
I just might get wet, whatever
I will take a coat
So let's put some music
You can't see how I put them
I'm taking only one camera
I shouldn't rie my bike with earphones on
But here they don't really don't care
8 km to Fort Pierce in straight line
With this bicycle
With some kind of music on my head
Let's go
Rafal presents
When you have nothing to do
Well in this case actually not
I could have come here later
But
In order to benefit from my work
And see something else than a truckstop
There aren't many bike users
On bike paths in Florida
Away from big aglomerations
But there are bike paths
That's what counts
The rain is chasing me
Just a few drops
There are some dangerous clouds in front
But they are moving north
I don't know where this light rain comes from
Most likely from above
Or maybe the wind is carrying it
Who knows, who knows
Florida is like that
All the States are like that
All about cars
When we are away from big cities
I don't know how it is in Miami
Actually I have never been in downtown
I never had the chance
I have no idea what transit looks like here
If it's possible to live without a car
But generally speaking US, Florida
Many people come here
For the climate
It's always warm
Only the hurricane season
Is the problem
But if you're lucky
And don't live too close to the ocean
The hurricane will not make that much damage
Anyway
The climate here is nice
It's always warm, it's like Cuba
Specially further down in the south
Because we are
like
150-200km away from Miami
And
To go back to what I was saing in the beginning
Of my monologue
I have to scream louder when car are passing by
This is how it is here: everything is done by car
But they have bike paths
There is will for progress
Other than just cars
Were closer to downtown
Really, I feel like if was in Cuba
Of course
Making a very wide analogy
Many Cubans are living here in Florida
Who run away years ago from Cuba
But now that there are some flights between Usa and Cuba
Specially between Miami and Havana
There is some exchange
It got short a bit with the new President
Everything is mixed here
Cubans, whites, blacks
Everyone is taking it easy
In warm parts of the Earth
People take it easy
And Cubans who lives here, second, third generation
Yes they have their roots in Cuba
But I think: where you live, you slowely become part of it
They are like american Cubans
Just like me I can say I'm polish
I will always be proud of that
But I live in Canada for so many years
That Canada is part of me
However I'm very attached to Poland
Because I travel a lot
And what has to say
A canadian citizen with polish roots
Who was born in Canada
And knows the polish language only from polish school
Once per week
I got confused again
The city is empty, it's Sunday
But the stores are open
Soon I will reach
My first goal
Which is the water front
Then the bridge or causeway
That means not a high bridge
And we will get to the ocean
Modern style City Hall
City of Fort Pierce
We must be downtown then
Did you notice?
Bike paths are gone?
What a logic
Bike paths outside of towns, and in the center: none
America is still learning
Oh, I can see the water, it's good
Downtown is deserted
Ok, so where I will by my beer to drink it by the ocean?
I might have to go back to the gas station 1km
Unless I find something here
To by by the Atlantic
The Mother of all adventures
For the Europeans
This is the first part of my journey
The second one is over there
And it seeme like this is a bridge
I'm wondering if there is reserved path for bicycles
Or a sidewalk
Because i not ...
Worst case scenario
If there is now way
To cross
I just passed a nice bar, I might have a beer there
Chill, there a sidewalk
On both sides
It's all good
Goal reached
But I think this is not the place
I might be able to go along the ocean
Ok, so I bought some chips...
I know it's not healthy
But the ocean, you know
Maybe further that way there will be nice access
Here, they are building water pipepline of some kind, I don't know
I went quite far from the truckstop
Say about
12 - 13 kilometers
But on the way back the wind would be pushing me
24 kilometers on the bicycle: it's not a big deal
It's a good thing
There is no direct Sun
It's still hot and humid
Sticky and all
With the Sun it would be worst
There is an entrace here, we will see where it leads us
I might go even further
This is too close
To civilization
The sand is not so white as in Australia
Here comes the ocean
Like I said before: Mother of all adventures
That's what I wanted
Mother of all adventures of Europeans
Right now it's quite easy
To jump over the Atlantic
Either by plane or by boat
To cross the Atlantic by boat is one of my projects
First I want to try the new form of travelling
On cargo ships
Some of them offer this option
Like on a regular cruise
Room, food etc etc
It might cost around 150$ per day, I don't know
This could be a great adventure
But my other dream
To have my own yacht
When I retire
I will sell everything and buy myslef a yacht
If I don't meet some one
And I don't make my family
This is the only but
Well there is nothing left to do but to fly my drone
And contemplate
And listen to the waves
Sound of the waves is the best
I could stand here and listen for ever
I will stay here for a while
I won't be able to see the Sunset
Because
There is no Sunset here
on this side you can only see the Sunrise
Maybe I will wake up in the morning
30min of quick exercice
To see the Sunrise and go back to truck?
It's an idea
I will see like in the morning
If I wake up at 6 am
Because the Sunrise is quite late here
Get to the beach
See the Sunrise, quickly get back to my truck
And at 9 go unload
Here I am by the ocean and I still think about unloading
And transport bla bla bla
What a field to work in, it's an addiction
All right
After yesterdays sightseeing it's back te reality
I'm not starting yet
It's only 7:30 am. I saw another Prince truck when I was going to take my shower
Identical tractor as mine different by one number
I know who it is
A turkish guy, he works with Prince for quite a while
I'm just wondering if he had the same load as me
When I was coming back from the shower he was gone
So he went to unload. But how, when and where... don't know
And I don't want to know
Maybe he already had a pick up
When he left Montreal with his back haul info
I don't like situation when you have to truck from the same company
And there is a strugle who should get the first load
I don't like that
I prefer to avoid situations like this
So I will just wait for a while
7:30, if I start now I would have to finish by 9:30 PM
I could move right now
At 8 I will move, in half an hour
So then I will end by 10 PM
And if the other Prince driver
Went to the same place
He will be already unloaded, I won't even see him
All right. Breakfast, I'll get organised
i brought some sand with me from the beach
I have to clean well
And when I have time later today
I will take my bike out and carefully clean it too
It has some sand on it too
Always taking care of equipement
Not only the truck
Let's start the engine because the APU AC deosn't seem to work
Maybe it needs to be recharged
It was weak, even during the night
This one will cool down.
Oh yes
All right
It's 10 minutes to 8
I always have this dilema
But on the other hand
I'm starting my day because anyway
I would have to end by 10 pm
There is no point of giving myslef more window
Because I wouldn't find any spot to park after 10 pm
We start our shift
And let's go, in 15 minutes it's a start
And we go unload
And we will see what is out here
I'm very curious if that turkish guy is there or not
Curiosity: the first step to hell
It's so humid that there is condesation on the windshield
My delivery is only 2 km from the truckstop
Even less
On the left. And I will see if I could have parked there
Just in case if I return here in the future
We have to take note of those places from now on
So the next I come here
And I won't feel like visiting Fort Pierce
Oh, I could sleep here
So I will just come and sleep by the client
It's somwhere here
That is it
IT's not the right entrance
This is the one
As you can see i could have slept here
In front of the gate
And in the morning they would just unload me
Next time I will know
Where do they take deliveries here
Maybe here
I would just slowely move and deliver
And I would hava the advantage
That I could wait until I have a pick up to start my day
But whatever
On the other side
I would have no shower
I would be camping like Romes
There are no docks
They will unload
From the back with a pallet jack
Well known procedure
I just have to change my shoes
And it turns out that
I'm here alone
The other driver went some place else
Maybe further down south
Usual delivery from the back
I will have to wash the trailer after
Because there is some mud on the floor
I thought I would have to unlod by myslef
But two guys went inside the trailer so I was not really needed there
So I will just relax and check for a truck wash
I think there was one where I slept
So I will wash it out and let them give me my pick up
Very nice people here
They helped me wash my trailer
They gave me a hose with water
The pressure was low but I washed it
And meanwhile I got my pick up
3 pick ups in total: 2 in Florida one in North Carolina
I will enter my first one
Fort Pierce
Then Pompano Beach
Third one in North Carolina
On my way back
And in NC it would be only one pallet
Today I have to pick up 14 pallets of pepers
And then 6 pallets of cucombers
That's a bit light
14+6 is 20 and one more in NC
We will see
I think I will load everything sideways
Let's input the adress
And let's go
I'm already
In panic mode, in my stupid head
But as far as I rememeber in Florida
When loading peppers it wasn't bad
The first one is really close
The first pick up is 16 km from here
The trailer won't get cold
It's very hot today
Sun and humidity
It's a farm, very close
And then I have to go down 160km but it should be fine with my hours of service
But still I have to monitor it
1h30min downm then 1h30min up
It makes my trip longer
It should be on the left
16601
We have to find that farm
Goodle shows me 4 km
And my GPS only 2
It's goo to see roads like this, because I could park here and sleep
Near the I95
I have to remember that
Different way of thinking with this Elog thing
There is a sign
I like those kind of signs
Very good
This road is
A bit soft
Ok, it's here
Everything is all right
We are driving like in Australia, on the left side
(Gps talking) in 500 you will reach your destination
At the very end of the road
And my next pick up is 150km
160km down south
There is no one else, so only if it could be ready
It ready!, We load, we load!
!4 palets
It will be fast
When I was checking in
The form was in english and french
The lady anwsered:
This is canadian owned farm
So it's a canadian farm in America
Ok let's back up
And let's put off duty
The trailer is still a bit dirty but
It looks fair
They will load me right away
Just to be safe I'm putting everything sideways
Because peppers are light
The cucombers.... this will be a light load
Pulping the produce quickly
Temperature is right
It is even below 45 degres F
So it's ok
Finally I changed my mind
Chimney block
First pick up was fast
All take the papers
And I'm off the the second one
Over there only 6 palets
Here I had more
If loading those 6 palets in Pompano Beach wil go as fast as here
They even bring the paper work to your truck
I closed my trailer doors
They also put in my trailer
A temperature recorder
And the lady brought me papers
So we shall continue
To the second place
I'm already hoping
That I could load
And drive all the way to the end of Georgia
We will see
As of now it is going very well
We are disappearing from here
we are not here
We were never here
I'm just a mirage
I'm crazy
This life, what to do
This road, if it would rain here
It's not really hardened
Interesting
As we are approaching to Miami
It's still far but as we are getting closer to it
Pompano Beach
West Palm Beach
Fort Lauderdale
There more and more lines on the highway
On I95
There to paralel highways here
Turnpike wich goes across Florida from West to south
Thru Orlando down to Miami hwere it ends
And I 95
I took I 95 because it's almost the same route
Few kilometres difference
It's past the rush hour
in which could be problematic
because of traffic jams
The turnpike however is more reliable as it comes to traffic
We don't have the transponder
with which you could pay and pass faster
We have to pay cash
So I took I 95
I'm 50km from my pick up
I've already been in that place
So I know what to expect
And if they have the product
And it should be
This is not a processing place
So I think it should be very fast
I will just load my 6 palets bang bang
And I will run away
So I could get out from Florida and end up in Georgia
Or even beginning of South Carolina
But it will not change much
I will park early enough so I can find a spot to park
Today is a working day
It will not be as easy as on the weekend
(GPS talking) turn left
We are delayed by the train
I turned on Google nav
Because in Florida
Sometimes the streets and the adresses don't make sense in a normal nav
Very short train
They don't make always sense in normal navigations
Just as if you were driving in Spain or Italy
Drivers will understand what I am talking about
But in most states the adresses are perfect
Still the place we are going I know , I remember it
This flatbed has difficulty turning
He made it
(GPS talking) Trun left
Navigations are all going towards online systems
my nav on the Ipad Navigon
Which I always use
i bought it so I wouldn't loose any data
And just like that on the 15th of may
Of this year
They are leaving the market
There won't be any updates
You won't be able to buy the app in the stores
They will update the maps for the next two years
And then the end
So everything is going towards online
Or one piece navs
It's a shame, before I used Microsoft Streets and trips
I might make a movie about that becasue I receive a lot of questions about
What kind of navigation I use
3km away
(GPS talking) then straight
All right
I have to turn Googles sound
Because I don't like when my navi talks
We are here
(GPS talking) your destination is on the right side
There a only a few trucks
Or maybe there are
We will see
Maybe my load is ready and theirs not
I checked in
The clerk didn't even checked the loading number
He just said I will come and get you I know what you are getting
I said really?
He said yeah, You're picking up 300 cases
cases of cucombers for Metro
And he will check if he has them or they have to get here
i hope he does
Because if he doesn't
It will suck
Then I loose time
And the clock is ticking
If he loads me fast
I will return to Montreal wensday night
If he doest it late, I will return only thursday
That;s the difference
Meanwhile I will eat something
Using me free time
And when I start to eat
He will start to load me
It worked
6 palls, chimney block
It worked
My vegetables are cooking on vapor
And I have to back it up
So I ahve to do it smoothly
So they don't en up on the floor
Door # 7
Good, I load and get the hell out of here
I made a mistake switchng to on duty because I would have done my 30 min break here
Whatever
I like this kind of work, well organized
THere is a strom in front of us
It's those tropical rains
Rain Sun, on and off
I haven't decided where I will park tonight
Because I still have to make my 30 min break
If not I would have to stop in 4 hours
But I will be still checking my options
First I'll check what is the distance to the yard
And maybe driving for the next 4 hours would be sufficent
Look at that rain in front
Lights on
Wipers in 3,2,1
Everybody is braking
So, I will check the distance to our yard
Still, the more miles I make today the better
So I can park in that place when I was parked saturday
Georgia and South Carolina stateline area
And in order to get there I would still have to drive at least 5 hours
So I have to make that break
Yeah, today I ahve to get to Geargia and South Carolina border
That way
Wensday I will be home
I would be parking in the same spots as I was going down to Florida
The further I go
I'm putting the odds on my side
There is still one unknown
Pick up of the last palet
Sometimes is like this:
Pick ups that you thought would go bad go well
And only one palet can mess everything up
I hope not, I hope not
We will see that tomorrow
So today just driving in Florida
Gerorgia
I hope to end up in South Carolina
Break somwhere on the way
And tomorrow we continue our journey
From Florida to Montreal
It's a quiet drive
We are close to Jacksonville
I was passing thru here yesterday
Todays score is really good
Here is the moment
I mean that moment what just an hour ago
I was doing my planification
So my return route would be settled
Right now I have 2200km to Montreal
Because I am going around Washington, I don't want to have anything to do with Washington or Baltimore
Because I wan't put away the unpredictable nature of traffic in those cities
Washington is the biggest lottery
It's like cascade on this road of unpredictable cities
So I always go around
Thru Pennsylvania
And I come into Canada on the 401 in the Thousand Island region
So
From here I have 2200km
2 days 1100km each
In Canada I can drive 1300km
So I laready have a bonus of 200km
But,
From the border to Montreal is 250-260 km
So I have to count 3 hours
So
13 - 3 = 10
So I could make it
I could practially start right now
But, in pratice
In Jacksonville at this time of day there is nowhere to park
No truckstop where you can reserve a spot
I wanted to make it to Georgia so
At this point in time
From Jacksonville
I would make to Montreal but it would be tight
Because I only have 2 hours of margin
But I preffer to have a bigger cousion
So the further I go today
My chances will be bigger
and it be more sure
That I will make it back to Montreal wensday
I still don't know how my last pick up will be
Because if I loose time
Even for one pallet
It's like thinking forward, forward, forward
To do everything possible so it would be ok
To conclude: today I have to drive as far I possible
Right now I have 3 hours of driving
So very wisely
Two and a half
I'm leaving myself 2 hours to find parking
Thanks to this app "Truckers Path"
We can check status of parking
Of course it's not always very accurate
Drivers are updating it
There isin't the exact information how many spots are left
It's just to give you an idea : some spots, lot's of spots or lot is full
Some drivers are playing
By giving the wrong info
But in a way this app can give you an idea
Of what is going on on those truckstops
You can also check the history of parking
In this way you can go back and compare
And have better knowledge
What was going on on those truckstops
A week ago at this time
Or yesterday or the day before that
You can go back as far 2 months I think
So I was looking where to park
I would like to make the the truckstop in Georgia where I slept on my way down
That would be perfect
This truckstop does not offer reserved parking
According to the app at this time and day it would most likely be filled when I get there
So I will not take the risk
I would have to stop way before on the TA
And over there same story: not sure
Then I said the hell with it
I will go a bit further
And I will reserve a spot
On a Pilot
And I would maximize my driving
So I started to make the reservation
Half an hour later
I check again the availability of paid spots just for fun
There were none
So this truckstop will be full when I get there
But I will have a spot
And tomorrow
At night I will not have to reserve
Because I will finish my day at an early hour
So parking will not be an issue
This is the planification with Elog
This will get solved once I'm loaded tomorrow
We are getting close to Jacksonville
I have 2 hours and 30min of driving today
Parking stress is gone
Because I will pay for parking
I mean, my boss will pay
And he old us
Gentleman and Ladies, because we have ladies working here too
If you need to use paid parking
If you need to get where you need to get
Do so, there is no problem
He knows what it's all about
This is the way I see it
It will take this direction
More and more parking spaces
Specially in those places where parkings are filling fast
There will be more and more payed spaces parking only
Like the TA in Pennsylvania
Half of the truckstop was by reservation only
They saw buisness oportunity there
Because this area is like that: people often finish their day there
This is how it will be now
As of now
Not many spots at truckstops that are by reservation only
There aren't many truckstops where half of the lot is reserved
in genereal it's about 10 spots
12 -15 spots in some cases
But in my opinion in time it will be more
All right
Enough talk, see ya tomorrow
494km to go to my pick up
Yesterday I started
From Fort Pierce, I went down I loaded
And I made this far
586 miles almost 600
So almost 1000km
I'm listening to the news
But sometimes I just wan't to turn off the radio
I don't know in wich direction the world is going
Good
Do what ever you have to do and not worry about anything, that's my rule
So...
5 hours to my pick up
This would be prefect
Get there, load 1 pallet and take a break
O.
1.46CAD for a liter of gasoline in Montreal
And I fueled yesterday in my portable tank
for 0.91 CAD per litre
So
60 cents difference
No shit
It's a roberry in daylight
Even with higher taxes in Canada and Quebec
Still, this margin?
Price of oil 120US
8 years ago and prices were similar
Whatever
Going back to what I said
Load that pallet, after 5 hours
If it would be fast
I could take my break there and eat something
But if it would take some time no difference
Either way it's good
And then there is only one
From here to here
From Richmond
To Fredericksburg
Is the unknown becasue traffic there is dense sometimes catastrofic
If today I can make it here at least
Then I know I can make it easy to Montreal
But I would prefer to get as far as I can
On Virginia and West Virgina stateline
There is a nice ret are there
There is also a truck stop
But it's a shitty one
hard to park and always full
Rest areas, theyl fill a bit later
If I can make there it would be nice
Eventually
If everything went well, and I would not loose to much time
I should have enough time to get even to Pennsylvania stateline
But there is a problem with parking
If friday night I had a problem on the TA
It is here
Well
This a constant battle
It's not a stress but it's working your mind
And people who don't have any idea
What is going on in transport, with hours of service
They wonder why drivers are overtaking each other
There are many variables
Fraction, well maybe not a fraction
But one minute or two
and we are in deep shit
That beeing said
I'm drinking my coffee, I'll go brush my teeth
And I hit the road
From now on every minute counts
In 6 minutes I can start my inspection
After that I'm hitting the road
And non stop driving to pick up
Truckstop almost empty
If you look in the back
The rain yesterday at least
Washed my truck
But bugs are starting to gather on my windshield
Truckstop almost empty
Lots of parking in the back
But at 3 - 4 pm it will be full again
Drivers are using more and more often
What they call : creative parking
This sport
Is not well known here
Becasause sometimes it will happend
They will be so creative that other drivers can not get out
So you have to wake them up
It already happened to me
I couldn't get out because he parked like here
They park not in designated spaces, more and more
They park like so
On, two and so on, when they are tired
They are sometimes able to go so far that the other guys can not get out
This sport is still expanding here
Drivers are learning it
In 4 minutes I'll take off
It's so humid
i have to use the wipers to see something
Travelling north
The weather turned bad
And it will be like this all the way to Montreal
Half an hour to pick up
1 pallet
Todays drive is perfect
I'm able to maintain an average of 63 miles per hour
But this guys speed would be nicer....
We're backing up immediatly
Once I've done this I press OFF DUTY
Half an hour and then I could drive
Until the end, whatever hours I have left
Around 6 hours
Shit, I messed up
When backing up it is like this:
If you have a first bad approach
If you try to correct it
It won't work
It's better to start all over again
Trying to correct
It will consume lots of time
And it makes you angry
Sometimes it's like that
I almost made it
This was an easy back up
It's like an airfield
But sometimes it will happend
They will bring me papers once he will load me
All right, in this trip nothing else will happend
Perfect Florida
I won't record my fight for parkings on truckstops
What I was doing going down
So... I left on the 20th
April 2018
I will be back on the 25th
This is 6 days on the road
5 and a half, because I could have left friday night
So the last day, whatever
I wanted to have some time In Florida for me
Perfect Florida
5 days and a half
On the road
1 delivery, 3 pick ups
So this is the kind if a trip that was
From april 20th to april 25th , 24th because I finish the movie now
Thank you all for your attention
Thank you all for your attention
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