Badly Misled.

Underwater shot from the glass tunnel under the Polar Bear pool.

Four Days.

____The US has always had a thing about vehicle weights. Scales are everywhere and  every driver watches his weight; mainly with the help of in-cab guages and the CAT scales at truckstops. I have a rule: if the cargo weighs more than 30,000 lbs; check the axle weights on a scale. But when I picked up a load of wood-shavings from the Steinbach yard, the bill of lading said 30,000 lbs and the  weight gauge in the cab seemed to confirm it. However the scale house at Moorhead in Minnesota indicated the gross weight was 78,650 lbs and the tandem axles of the trailer were registering 35,500 lbs. The shavings weighed at least 43,000 lbs.; badly misleading the driver. I was called into the office with all my paperwork and given an a thorough inspection. No violations were found and I was able to move the trailer axles and make the weights legal at less than 34,000 lbs per drives and trailer. Luckily escaping a $185 fine but fuming at the inaccuracy of the BoL

____ A bad interlude in an otherwise good day as I reached the Abbyland Truckstop for the night; just five miles from the farm at Colby, Wisconsin. The pallet-jack at the farm was the most bent and buckled that I have ever worked with but did the job in under an hour before I head to Webster City in a snow storm. The last twenty miles were treacherous as strong side-winds threatened to jack-knife the empty trailer across the ice covered carriageway. A full load of herbicide settles the chance of sliding but it is slow-going for the rest of the day. At Albert Lea; the Petro Truckstop is full to bursting as every trucker sees all the machinery in among the scenery beside Interstate 35 and decides to see what the morning brings.

____ A long day from Albert Lea to Brandon but the weather is better, customs clearance is done without a hitch, two snowy owls put in an appearance on the road to Winkler and there is plenty of room at the Husky Truckstop. It is an empty run back to Steinbach in the morning. Paperwork is already in my pigeon-hole for the next run; Texas leaving Sunday. Leaving Saturday free for a visit to Winnipeg Zoo; polar bears, wolves, musk-ox and caribou. Oh,and an albino buffalo.