Lowly the Lorry. . .

[jaleel_da_sheik]

BC or Bust!: A Roadtrip Update. . .

Well, my checked bag finally arrived at Halifax, but my wingman for the trip did not. The fierce rainstorm that hit just as I was driving Lowly out of AutoPort's parking lot didn't stop for 3-4 hours. When it finally ended, it left a heavy blanket of fog out at the Halifax airport, enough that the United Express pilots were unwilling to approach, resulting in a diversion to Bangor, Maine. While quite a few other airlines ended up landing in that same blanket of fog, my dad was unfortunately flying United.

There were a few options for us to eventually meet up after this complication, but we decided on dad overnighting in Bangor, catching a flight back to Newark and then meeting up with me in Quebec City. I meanwhile hoteled it near the Halifax airport before starting the meat-n-potatoes portion of the road trip.

Made it through both Nova Scotia; hello New Brunswick!



Made it through New Brunswick; hello Quebec!



The truck ran like a top, although he is slurping down a healthy amount of diesel. I'm pushing the truck pretty briskly. Both NS & NB were lumpy with non-stop hills and the truck is a dog when it comes to climbing any sort of grade at a good clip. The wheat growing prairies of the central provinces will likely (hopefully!) provide better fuel economy:
Tank #1: 8.3 mpg
Tank #2: 8.98 mpg

Here's a road sign I have yet to see back in Oregon!



Picked dad up at the Quebec City airport and we drove another 100 miles to an AirBnB out in the Quebec countryside.

- Sheik

PS: U-Ship bids came all the way down to from $15k to almost $7k by the end of the bidding time. Still not enough to keep me from bagging this whole outing and letting someone else do the work.

 

[Joe917]

That is horrendous fuel mileage, how fast are you driving?
How did you get plates and insurance? I guess it is because it is not a motor home yet.
have fun!

 

[Pntyrmvr]

I think that mileage is just about spot on for this rig.


Would 10 mpg be acceptable? If so that’s a 11% improvement over what you call horrendous. Do you use the word disaster every day too?


"Talk is cheap. Whiskey costs money."

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

BC or Bust!: A Roadtrip Update. . .

Another day behind the wheel of Lowly is in the books.

Woke up in the basement of a house (AirBNB) in Saint Eulalie, Quebec, got in a quick run around the town, showered and then hit the road. Crossed the Saint Lawrence River east of Montreal, turned left and headed west.



Drove thru Montreal and made it thru Quebec; hello Ontario!



Got 9.4 mpg on a very well-used tank of diesel. Filled up just west of Ottawa and services became more and more scarce along the highway. Fuel needle was starting to overlap the "E" hashmark when we pulled into Mattawa and had to run my card twice to get enough diesel out of the self-serve pump for a fill-up!

The topography today was much less lumpy than NS & NB and I didn't push Lowly as hard. He seems to cruise best at 100-105 kph (about 60+ mph).

Made it to Sudbury, Ontario for the night. Looking forward to seeing what this place looks like in the daylight - maps show this place being pock-marked with lakes. Tomorrow our plan is to get up early, drive across the top of Lake Superior and make it to Manitoba. Winnipeg might be a tall order, but we just might get there tomorrow.

First thought of the day: I can't wait to get home to the wife and kids!
Second thought of the day: Golly, Canada has a lot of uninhabited real estate!

Stay tuned. . .

- Sheik

 

[grizzlyj]

Our U1700 9.5ton 200ish hp Mog with overcab bed got 9mpg. UK gallons though.

 

[Joe917]

I think that mileage is just about spot on for this rig.


Would 10 mpg be acceptable? If so that's a 11% improvement over what you call horrendous. Do you use the word disaster every day too?


"Talk is cheap. Whiskey costs money."

I have almost the same truck. I average 13mpg (US gallon), Less than 9 is a disaster!

 

[nick disjunkt]

My Mercedes truck gets 7.5 - 9.9 mpg (US gallons) 2wd, 13 tonnes, 230hp, 90kph limiter. I averaged 8.3 mpg over about 17,000 miles in the US and Mexico.

I would say that Joe's mileage is unusually good, and Sheik's is at the lower end of what might be expected.

 

[Joe917]

Wow, I am surprised by those numbers, I'll modify horrendous to poor.

 

[mog]

I think the mpg rate is because the back of the 1120 is filled with boxes of Tim Horton donuts.
Sheik emailed me some photos and his adventure is starting to sound like a movie I think I saw in the late 1070s?


Synopsis
Southern Oregonian Big Mog (Pat McCormick) and his son Little Mog (Paul Williams) seek a truck driver willing to bootleg Tim Horton Donuts to Oregon for their enjoyment. At the time, Tim Hortons was regarded as one of the finest donuts in the world, but they could not be legally sold south of the 49th parallel. Truck drivers who had taken the bet previously had been caught and arrested by "Mounties" (CB slang for Canadian patrol officers).

The Mogs find legendary trucker Jaleel "da Sheik" (Burt Reynolds) competing in a truck rodeo at The Jackson County Fairgrounds in Medford where they offer him $80 to haul 400 boxes of Tim Horton donuts from Halifax, Canada back to Southern Oregon in 28 hours. Big Mog has sponsored a driver running in the Southern Oregon Classic stockcar race and "when he wins I want to celebrate in style." da Sheik accepts the bet and recruits his father-in-law Cledus "Snowman" Snow (Jerry Reed) to drive the "blocker", a black Pontiac Trans Am bought on an advance from the Mogs, to divert attention away from the truck and its illegal cargo, while da Sheik drives the 1120.





I hope he brings that hitchhiker along with the donuts!

 

[Joe917]

I thought Jerry Reed played the "da Sheik" character, but you have unretouched proof to the contrary, well done.

 

[charlieaarons]

did the shipper give the weight of the vehicle?
just curious, suspect it is right about 10-11 metric tons

 

[mog]

I thought Jerry Reed played the "da Sheik" character, but you have unretouched proof to the contrary, well done.

I think they have been switching back and forth between vehicles. The hitchhiker is cute, but I hear she talks nonstop.

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

did the shipper give the weight of the vehicle?
just curious, suspect it is right about 10-11 metric tons

Paperwork from the shipper states the weight at "12000 KGS"

Thanks to Google convert, that comes out to 26455 lbs or 13 tons. Is it just me or does that seem way too much. If I'm hauling around bricks of gold bullion, no one has informed me yet. And this was the weight of the truck before I loaded it with mog's donuts!

I've been tempted to stop at one of the many roadside weigh stations to get an accurate weight, but I'm trying to stay on the move and not attract any attention

- Sheik

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

I think they have been switching back and forth between vehicles. The hitchhiker is cute, but I hear she talks nonstop.

mog, I love the storyline. It hadn't dawned on me, but I can definitely see the resemblance between myself and Mr. Reynolds.

- Sheik

PS: I hope all your scriptwriting and photoshopping isn't taking you away from those lonely vehicles out back! ;-)

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

BC or Bust!: A Roadtrip Update. . .

Spent an entire day driving and still haven't made it through Ontario; this sucker is wide!

Woke up early in Sudbury, saw the supermoon shining down thru the thin overcast and hit the road before first light.

We are driving the transcontinental highway and through this part of the country its known as Highway 17. By daylight we had driven along the north shore of Lake Huron to the town of Sault Saint Marie where the land pinches Lake Superior off from Lake Huron. This is about where I let my dad drive for the first time -and- where we were assaulted by a pretty fierce rain/windstorm.

In and out from Lake Superior's northern coastline, up and over endless headlands we inched our way past gorgeous but very lumpy country. We stopped in the town of Wawa, Ontario for a refuel where Lowly was attacked by a giant Canada Goose!



It was in this same town that we came across Lowly's brother from a different mother.



Once the windy part of the storm abated, the fog rolled in and we spent the evening driving into a perpetual low-visibility fog bank - not much fun.

We are now crashed out in another AirBNB basement, this time in Thunder Bay. This is well short of today's hopeful destination of Manitoba, but our hand was somewhat forced by the slower driving conditions we experienced combined with the fact there ain't a whole lot of accommodation options for the next 200-300 km!

- Sheik