#3601 (Extended) | NO OVERNIGHT PARKING | My Trucking Life

Yesterday I released a video called No Truck Parking. It was a question and I realized later after I rewatched the video that that question didn't really make sense because the first part of the vlog wasn't there. I forgot to add it in and we started off at the point where I was trying to explain to you where we parked the night before. There was a few clips before that that were supposed to be part of that vlog. So, here they are. This vlog is being re-released now with the full set of clips that sort of help it to make a little bit more sense. On with the vlog. Let's get going. Nobody coming there. Ah, there's somebody coming here. I'm way too nice. Why didn't I just go? Well, now I don't know if anybody's coming from this direction again cuz it's hard to see this way. Okay, lean over. Anybody coming? Nobody. Okay. All right. Oh, that lake is calm out there. Wow. It's like glass. Wow. That's nice. So, it's been a good day. We've been really rushing and the rush won't stop now until we get home. So, the next few days will be extremely rushed as well. It's just one of those weeks, but it'll be worth it on payday. Got a lot done. We got that first load of utility trailers unloaded Monday morning. We got three of these done and we're going to get another trailer uh load of trailers yet. So that's five loads in a week. That doesn't happen very often. Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's going on here? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What gear am I in? Josh. Josh, what's going on here? Forgot what gear I was in. H I was really hoping to be back home uh Friday afternoon for the weekend, but like I said, if we can make Sunday, Monday our weekend instead, that works too. That works too. Not sure exactly where I'm going to park. I know there's a little parking area or a little pull out in Big Falls. I could probably park in there for night. That's what I'm kind of counting on. Hopefully, no one else is taking it already. But there's not many places to park there. That's why I always go to Deer River cuz that's I can't make it there today. We'll figure it out. It'll work out. Man, the lakes are so calm. This is Lake of the Woods here. It's just not quite as calm as back there, but still. Wow. Be a great day or great evening to go kayaking. Maybe that's what we should get for next year cuz we won't have a boat for a while if we ever even get one. But we're going to have a campsite now on the lake with a boat launch there. So there we'll be able to have a boat and launch it right from like it's a private boat launch that we can use. But uh maybe we can just get a couple of couple of kayaks for now. That'd be fun. So we can get out on the lake. Wonder if there's kayaks that have like child seats in it. Like Micah might not be old enough next year yet. The will be four. Wonder if that's old enough to put them in like a there's like a kids. Yeah, it's probably too young yet, isn't it? It's probably too young. Put them out on the water. And we could always uh get a canoe. How Canadian of us. Have a canoe. I don't know. I don't really like canoes. I I I'd like a kayak better, but it depends. Like we said, we're getting a campsite next summer so that we can build it up and develop it so that in a couple of years it'll be ready. And we might switch the trailer and put a different trailer in there yet or, you know, sell that site as a whole and then get buy a different site there with a bigger trailer and develop site. I don't know cuz we're not going to be right on the lake. We're But there are sites along the lake. I think I was explaining that to you. So, uh, eventually maybe one day we'll sell our site when One on the lake becomes available and we'll buy that and move into that one and then we have our own private dock. How cool would that be? But if that doesn't happen, that's fine. We're at least we're right there on the lake. We have a private boat launch we can use. But we'll have to look into it. Like what can you do with a Micah will be two. So what can you do with a two-year-old on the water? Like not much. Like you can take him in a boat, but like I said, we're not going to have a boat yet next year. Maybe we could get like a a paddle boat or something, you know, like a foot paddle boat. Something with like four seats in there. Is that allowed with the kids? I would think so, man. I don't know. We have a long time yet to think and plan and see what uh comes of it. See how it turns out. First we'll get in there, get settled, and then we'll see what our options all are. It'll take a full year at least just to settle in and then decide what we want. Then it'll take a few years to develop it. And then if we get a new camper one day, we'll have to kind of make adjustments so that we can fit the bigger camper in there. I'm going to develop it in a way so that we can pull it out, the one that we have now, and put a bigger one in if we want. If none of this makes sense to you, uh, that's okay. I'll show you. It'll it'll be a big part of the vlogs next summer. Don't worry. Camping with Trucker Josh and family. That's where we'll be every weekend. At least most of them. Oh, I can't wait. I've always wanted to do this. It's why I bought the camper already. I bought it 10 years ago already. Can you believe that? 10 years ago I bought it. I had it in a seasonal once. Uh, but since we've been trying to start a family and we've had our two kids and all the IVF treatments and everything, it's it's just hasn't been possible for us to do anything with it. But next year we're going to start and it's going to be exciting. Nice little getaway, you know, get away from town, get away from everybody. sit out in nature. I've got 8 minutes left on my clock and I've got 3 minutes left to where I want to park. Hopefully, it'll work out to park there. I don't really uh have any other options. It'll work. I've gone past her so many times and h it'll work. I'll just be there for a quick night. A quick night and then be on my way before anyone even wakes up probably. All right, we got 6 minutes and we're coming into town. Oh, it's a tiny tiny little town. More like a village. What's the difference between a village? You will reach your way point. >> Yes. Yes, my waypoint. There's a little offshoot here. a little parking area just, excuse me, just off the road here. Hoping I can call this place home tonight. Big Falls seems like a nice welcoming little town. It's just around the corner here and it'll be on my left. I have to turn left here down Highway 6. I'm on US 71 right now. meters, you will reach your way point. >> And I have to turn on to Minnesota 6 to go south. But right at the corner, that's where I want to park right by the Big Fork River. Okay. Where is it? Here. >> In 400 meters, you will reach your waypoint. >> I know. Yes. I hope there's no one else there. There's not really a lot of space to park there. Could always park right on the shoulder here. I guess there is parking available there. I want to park in here. Not this driveway. The next one. Right in here. Aha. Uh, there's no one here. >> Stop 1213rd Street, NW, Big Falls, Minnesota, 56627, United States, Minnesota. The stop is on your left. >> Mhm. And I want to park right along the side here along the the edge. What does it say there, though? >> Now, turn left. >> No camping. Well, I'm not going to be camping. Good morning everybody. We uh slept here in Big Falls, Minnesota. Uh that spot that we pulled into last night, there was actually a sign right beside uh where I parked there said no truck parking, no overnight truck or camper parking. It was just very faded. you couldn't read. You had to go right up close to the sign and look at it. But I could have said, "Oh, I couldn't read it and it would have been legit." But I went and I read it and then I felt guilty. I'm like, "I can't lie." Now I know I'm not supposed to park here overnight. So now I I morally have to move because I know, right? If I hadn't gone out and read the sign up close, I would have never known and I wouldn't have felt bad. I would have had an excuse. But there is a sign there, right? So uh I moved on to uh just just a side street. It's like a little commercial side street where they have parking on the side of the road. It's just across the street and nobody bugged me here. So, I didn't have any hours to move anywhere anyways. I had to stay here. I love this. But anyways, it's time to get going. We have a long day ahead of us again today. We're going to go deliver this load that we picked up yesterday down to Brainard, Minnesota. And then from there, I got to hike all the way down uh to Bristol, Indiana. I still haven't gotten confirmation on that though. So, that's still like a it's not written in stone yet, but I was told yesterday that that's the direction I'm going to be heading. So, we'll see. This is trucking. Things change, but so far that's the plan. We'll see if the plan stays the plan or if the plan changes. Yeah, I'm ready to get going. Buckle up. Made my coffee. It's a beautiful 15° C outside, which is a nice crisp 60 Fahrenheit. It was a perfect night to sleep. That is a good temperature to sleep in. And throughout the day, it'll warm up. I prefer these temperatures to the hot, humid temperatures that we were dealing with. Let's just check my trailer. I did check to make sure that it was attached, but I have to double check it otherwise I worry. I don't want to lose my trailer. It's never happened to me yet. I'm hoping I can get through my whole life without it happening. Off we go. Ah, there's a car coming. I'm way too nice. Oh, I could have easily made it, but I have to make a right turn right away. So, I would have just slowed them down. I hate that when people do that to me. You know, they cut right in front of you and then they slow down and turn right away when they could have just waited going in behind you. All right, we're off to see the wizard. The wonderful wizard who will unload me. No, I don't know. He's a really cool guy. Guy unloads me. He even helps me roll up my tarps. Anyone who helps me roll up my tarps when I'm unloading is automatically one of my best friends. Automatically because that no one's job but mine, right? That's my job to do. But if someone decides on their own free will to come over and help me or ask if I want help rolling up my tarps, that is like the nicest thing anyone can do for a flat better. Absolutely. Yes. Turns it into turns like a 5m minute or a 10-minute job into like a twominute job. Yeah, we're going to go down uh Minnesota 6 all the way down. We'll be there 2 and 1/2 hours or so. 2 and 1/2 hours. It's a nice late summer morning. bridge on Highway 6. This is uh Big Fork, Minnesota. It is on Big Fork River. Oh, that guy could have gone. You didn't have to stop, buddy. You're too nice. Just like me. Thank you. I would I do that again. I don't know. I I I would have think I would have gone especially if I was in my personal pickup zip in front of the truck. As long as you're not cutting him off. He wouldn't have been cutting me off. But maybe he wants to turn right away. You know what I mean? Doesn't matter how many times I go through these little northern Minnesota towns, I just love them. Every single one of them are so interesting. It's a World War I memorial. Every town has a World War I memorial and World War II. Steinback does too, where I'm from in Manitoba. I can't even imagine what that war must have been like. Insane. All right, we're going up to Marcel, Minnesota. Then we're going to take 286 west back to Highway 6. And that's our detour. They're redoing all of Highway 6 uh between or south of Deer River, which is awesome cuz this highway really needed it. It was pretty bad, but it sort of always fixed itself. You know, that's what I always said about Highway 6 is in springtime, water would get into all the cracks and expand into ice and uh it would get really really bad for the first part of summer. But by the end of summer, everything had softened out and the road gets smoothed out by all those heavy trucks. By the end of summer, it was smooth again every year. This pilot truck is just giving her though. He's way up there already, leaving us in the dust. They did that to me yesterday, too. Just took off. Like, aren't you supposed to be like guiding us slowly through here? Don't want to drive on that greasy stuff right there. So, we're going to go in here now. They're going to stop us again. But they've been moving fast. Like just from yesterday, I came through here yesterday and uh they had done like several miles in one day. So, good for them. They are giving her. But Minnesota, like this whole northern Minnesota route that I'm on, just everything's under construction this year. But it seems like they're actually doing it right. So next year everything's going to be smooth as glass, right? They'll probably all be done by winter time, too. Hopefully next spring the uh the spring thaw and the spring frost doesn't heave everything up and wreck at all. That happens so often on Manitoba roads cuz they do it cheaply in Manitoba and then the first winter the water gets into the cracks and it just destroys it. But Minnesota, they figured it out. North Dakota too, they got great roads in North Dakota. They also got money. Money, money, money. Big American dollars. Big American dollars. I'd like some of those dollars. They're a little bit bigger than my dollars. Actually, quite a bit right now. What are we sitting at for exchange rate here in 2026? Uh, we're in August 2026. We're probably Oh, that's bad. Way back in the day when Harper was prime minister in Canada when I was younger, our dollar was at par with the US. One US dollar was one Canadian dollar. Those were the good days. Now it's just the last 10 years, Canada has just been ripped apart, gutted. The economy is awful. Housing is awful. All due to terrible federal policies. It sucks. It's going to take decades to clean it up. All because one unqualified guy got elected into office because of his name and his daddy and he was completely unqualified for the job. I believe I'm talking about Trudeau. We got Mark Carney in office right now. I believe he's more qualified though I I still don't vote for his party. But uh at least I can like endure hearing him talk. Whenever Trudeau would talk, I would like physically feel the anger build up inside just from his voice. He was so awful. Destroyed so many things. And you know, my country now is it's not the same country that I grew up in. My kids are growing up in a different country and they're worse off than we were growing up. And I was worse off than my parents were. It's going the wrong way. All because of the last 10 years. It's just awful. I don't know if we can ever pull out of it now. But yeah, we're doing all right still. I mean, like I'm I'm making it work. But I don't I'm not happy with just like saying, "Oh, well, we're still doing all right." Yeah, I'm still doing okay. Yeah, I'm one of the lucky ones. I don't want to be just all right. We could have been thriving, doing amazing. We had a higher standard of living than the Americans did before this last decade. We did. And now they've surpassed us and we are the poorest performing economy in the G7. But that's my rant for the day. That's my rant for the day. I love Canada. I love my home. I just hate what it's become. I hope that we can fix it. I'm not going anywhere. So, I still love it. And I'm still thankful. Don't get me wrong. I'm still thankful for all of the blessings and all the amazing things we have. Thank could have been better. We could have had more, but I am so glad that I get to roll up my tarps inside. It's a rainy day. I haven't driven through much rain this season, thankfully. Been a little bit, but I guess we're due. Just going through Iron, Minnesota. Cop sitting right there looking at me. He's looking at us. Everybody, let's stare back. Stare back. N he wasn't even looking at us. He was busy doing something. You ever come through Ironon here? They almost always have cops. Not usually sitting there. They're usually sitting around the corner over here making sure you slow down coming into town cuz it's 30 m an hour around this corner and all the way past those apartment buildings on the left around the corner. And 30 mph starts way up there on top of that little hill. And when you're coming into town, it's very easy to not realize that. And cuz speed limit is 60 over there, right? And you take your time, you slow down to 30 by the corner into town. Well, then you're speeding. They usually have a cop sitting around here somewhere. Especially at night, he'll have his lights off, sitting on the shoulder, just watching you, just taking notes, you know, doing his job. Can't wait to get this load off my trailer. It's weighing me down. It's heavy. We got to drive about 600 miles empty again to get down to Bristol. I'm going to get as far as I can tonight. Uh, I'm hoping to make it down to Ottawa, Illinois. That's my little hangout spot that I like to stop at. I should have just enough hours to get there cuz I take 39 down to the 80. And then Ottawa is just a little uh little ways east of the 39 and 80 interchange. They have a nice little truck stop there with a great cafe. If you want to have a good breakfast, they've got good breakfast. They're huge servings, reasonable prices, and it's like a MPA truck stop. It's not one of those uh big chains. And there's usually parking, which is what's most important. There's usually parking late at night. It is gravel lot though, so you highway princesses might not want to park there because it's not a paved lot. I understand. We have arrived. Oh man, this lot keeps getting bumpier and bumpier. All right. Hopefully there's no there's no lineup out here. So that's good. Hopefully there's no one inside either. We can just get unloaded right away. That would be noise. Can't quite make that noise. Noise. All right, let's see if there's anybody in the building over there. The door is open and no one. Nice. Go right on in. Get rid of this weight on my back. Knock knock. Anyone home? Park ourselves right here and start taking the tarps off. It's too bad they'll they're all wet now. I'm going to have to roll them up all wet. All right, let's get to work. We're in Monomin, Wisconsin now. Going to grab fuel at Lo's. I my engine or my uh sorry my uh fuel light is going to come on any second now. Get pretty low. Fill it up here and get right back out there. We're still in a rush rush rush. Now turn left and then you will reach your way point. Hopefully it's not too busy here. We're not going to be here very long as long as there's not a lineup or something. It's a cop. patrolling. These places are always busy. They're nice places to stop and do a reset or stop for night if you get there really early and you get a good spot. But so many of these spots I don't I just don't trust people to back in beside me. Look at these ones on the side. They're angled >> calculated >> angled in such a way that you have to blindside it in there. That's sketchy. I mean, it's doable. It's not the worst thing in the world, but it's doable. I mean, I'd like to have that one right there or one of these back over here. These are the perfect ones where you can just back straight in, right? But of course, they're all taken. All right. Which one? Which one? I'm going to go in behind this guy cuz I see him actually at the pump. So, he'll move forward. I think he's actually just finished now. Perfect. Yep. There's his brake lights. Nice. But it's a reefer. He might need to fill that trailer up, too. Hey, he's from Manitoba. Brother. I should actually just cuz he's got a Manitoba plate doesn't mean he's from Manitoba. Let's make that clear. May not be a brother. Oh, there's my fuel light. It just popped on now. H Sometimes I feel proud of how well I know my truck. Okay. Okay. I'm tired. I got a long way to go yet. Let's fuel and go. We're flying. We just crossed the border into Illinois. Looks like I'm going to make it just barely to Ottawa, Illinois, where I can park and then uh we'll leave from there early in the morning, go load up our trailers onto my trailer, and then I'm going to try to get back to Black River Falls as early as I can tomorrow. And if everything goes according to plan, I should be home by supper time on Saturday. But I haven't told Brit that because I don't want to promise that cuz as soon as I promise I'm going to be home for supper, that's when everything's going to go wrong. And I'm going to be home at like 2:00 in the morning. So, it's just between me and you right now. I think we're going to be home in time for supper before supper on Saturday if everything goes well. Got 21 minutes left on the clock. We're at exit 93 on I 80 in Illinois and we're pulling it in for the night here. >> So, it's down over the bridge here on the right. On the left there's a Road Ranger with some parking as well. Not as big of a truck stop, but the one on the right is a lot bigger. It's a gravel lot, though. It's not for the highway princesses, but there's usually parking here. Looks like Road Ranger off on our left is full anyways or almost. I think there's two spots there. I can see we will go there. Uh if I can't find a good spot here. Oh, it's almost empty here. Oh, yeah. Lots of space. Lots of space. We are good. All right. Okay. Let's shut her down and uh quickly get to sleep so we can wake up. Find a safe spot to park. I'll probably go all the way to the back. That's where I usually park. They have, like I was saying before, they have great breakfasts here, but I Well, we'll see if we get up early enough, we can run in and grab something, but probably going to sleep as long as I can because we're going to have a long, long day tomorrow. That's private parking back there now. Oh, okay. They changed that. Okay, that was not always like that. All right. Usually where I used to park. Not anymore, I guess. Okay. Well, still lots of room. All this space back here. It'll be nice and quiet back here. And there's Old Blue. Interstate's right over there. Interstate 80. Lots of space here. And from here, it's about uh 3 hours uh to my pickup point tomorrow. We'll get going early in the morning and get there as soon as possible so we can turn around and hurry on home. It's a good day today. A long day. It was a long day, but the weather is absolutely perfect out here. Going to get a good night's rest. It's finally not so hot, you know. Time for bed.