Been away for awhile

Since we were away for awhile I got very behind on updating this, I wasn't worried until sister Jan and friend Lynn told me they have been watching it. So to those of you that have been watching I apologize.

We were away for Amber's (daughter) university graduation in Calgary, Alta. She and her husband Dallas have purchased a new home there and she now works with Shell Oil in corporate communications. It was a proud moment for us and a great family afternoon at Amber and Dallas's home.

Following Amber's grad and surrounding festivities we left for our annual motorcycle adventure. Son's Brady and Rob, son in law John, and yours truly left on a fantastic seven day motorcycle adventure from Calgary to Vancouver and back to Calgary. We rode some amazing roads through the US and Canadian Rockies. We had a few days riding with friends Roland and his son Anthony, Glenn, and then a nice breakfast with Mick in Kelowna.

We were able to spend on day and night with daughter Colleen and husband Tim and their family in Langley, BC. They just finished an amzing new home. We had a fun time in the pool and hot tub with their kids.

This link will take you to our motorcycle blog www.johngergely.com/blog

We got to spend some time with my sister Jan and her husband Mel in Calgary as well. She spoils me with her famous carrot cake every time we go there. Bernie stayed on for a couple of days after we left for our ride and they did their best to get into trouble. They didn't say much but I do know there were significant amounts of Chardonnay and shopping involved.

So now that fun and family time is over and we have to get back to passing this class one drivers test. I had two lessons last week, both involved driving and pulling a 53' trailer. The driving part is progressing nicely but the air brake testing part is giving me an ulcer. Since there are no choices I will pass it. They have tightened up the rules a lot in recent years and it's tough. I guess it should be. They tell me that 80+% of the commercial drivers on the road today couldn't pass this if they were asked to do it today.

One example is we have to back the truck and trailer through a set of cones without touching any one of them and bring it to a stop within 3 feet of the rear center cone which of course you can't see. The time allocation is 5 minutes and you can only pull forward three times. The trailer is loaded to 20,000 lbs. Touch any cone, pull ahead 4 times, or miss the 3' mark and you can go home. Actually this would be a really fun course and enjoyable if it weren't for the time pressure we're under. I certainly am going to be a better driver at the end of it.

The truck is in the shop now, having a bunch of work done to it so we can have it by month end. They have taken the commercial hitch off of it and removed the instructor seat. The big bumper has been removed from the front and is being replaced with the proper Freightliner one. Bernie and I are having them install a new set of fenders on the back to protect our trailer. Then it goes over to the other shop for install of our air ride 5th wheel hitch and then it will be ready to go for the new trailer.

We're going to worry about paint and so forth once we get moved into the trailer and life settles down a bit.

So that has to be it for now as I have to go and study an air brake manual.