Happy Anniversary Honey

Jake (a toy poodle) and his partner Dennis Ruttan have been running doubles for going on eight years now. Yvonne is Dennis’s better half and April. Also a toy poodle, is the fourth partner on the Poodle transport team. She is the latest member and for about a year now, Jake has been patiently teaching her about trucking and the ways of the world. This is Jake’s story…..

Hi Truckers! This is a story that was told to me by my owners’ previous partner and traveling companion. Her name was Gypsy. Of course she was a poodle, but a miniature, which puts her at about 14 pounds. A little large by my standards. I am a toy poodle and just in case you haven't heard, dynamite comes in small packages.

            Dennis and Yvonne had Gypsy for 15 years and I was lucky enough to know her and to benefit from her years on the road. She passed on many stories to me and I found this one especially good since Yvonne played a major part in his saga of humor and woe.

            It all started when Dennis had a load destined for Tungsten, in the North West Territories and it was scheduled for delivery on June 29. At first glance this doesn’t sound like it should be a problem, but my owners anniversary is on that day so Dennis, wanting to save his skin, asked Yvonne to come along. Everything was arranged and we left 4 days early so we could stop on the way up to visit with some old friends Joe and Arlene in Dawson Creek.

            The first sign of trouble occurred when we met Joe and Arlene on their way out of town. The visit that we were all looking forward to disappeared in a flash. Yvonne said that it figured because everything that she ever looked forward to in a trip never worked out….. It didn’t take a German Shepard to figure out that this wasn’t a good start.

            We were hauling floor and roof trusses and Dennis had been having a problem with the load sliding back on the trailer. The trusses were 16 inches wide, 24 feet long, stacked 9 feet high in 3,3 foot bundles and loaded back to back on a 42 foot trailer. The belts held the outside tight but the centre kept walking back. We had stopped to push them in a few times and Dennis had tried to secure them with various methods but they still kept creeping.

            We straightened the load and left Dawson Creek headed up the Alaska Highway but by the time we got to the bottom of Steamboat, the centre was walking out again. Now there isn’t a lumberyard around every corner so the question arose of how to push the load back together.

            Dennis mentioned that on the other side of Steamboat there was a small truck stop and maybe they would have some type of machine that we could use, so we carried on. Just before the summit Dennis spotted a pull out and we pulled in to check the load.

            The drop over the bank from the pull out was just about straight down. You could almost reach out and touch the trees growing on the side hill down below. Well Dennis looked at this and figured that we could back into a tree, push the load back on, and our problem would be solved. The plan worked “slick as a skin on a wiener” and when it was done Dennis smugly braced and retied his load.

            But not so fast, while walking back to the truck, Dennis heard the air leaking somewhere and after checking it out, he found that the tire was going flat. No problem we had three spares, on in the spare rack, and two on the trailer deck. Yvonne got out to help and I found a nice place to lay back, relax and watch.

            Dennis decided to use one of the tires on the deck and sure enough he figured that the best tire was the one on the bottom. ( go figure ) He stood the top one and balancing it, he asked Yvonne to hold it from below while he tried to wiggle the other one past. As he was pulling the other tire out he bumped the tire Yvonne was holding. It came off the trailer, hit the ground and bounced straight up hitting Yvonne on the side of the head! The tire was bouncing and rolling toward the edge and Yvonne, being a good trucker’s wife, was in hot pursuit while Dennis was hollering to let it go. Over the side it went!

            We saw the tops of the trees shaking and could hear branches breaking as the tire hit them on its way down. After a quick look Dennis decided the tire was way out of reach and we had lost it.

            Yvonne was not happy; she had the start of a black eye and there was swelling and abrasions on the side of her head. Of course Dennis couldn’t keep quiet and yapped off about just getting out of the way. Needless to say things were pretty cold in the truck as we started off again.

            We carried on with our trip and things were not going too bad. I was playing it smart; I curled up in Mom’s lap and ignored the moose, goats, and other animals we saw. Al least I knew when to shut up!

            When we got to Watson Lake, we pulled onto the scale and sure enough, red light. Dennis went into the office and grimly returned a minute later. Apparently we needed a permit for the Yukon and NWT and cash is all they would take unless prior arrangements had been made. The permit was $156.00 and we had $200.00 with us. Nowadays this wouldn’t be a problem but back then; there was no such thing as bank machines. We were left with $44.00!

            Dennis paid for the permit and we hit the road again. Forty miles west of Watson Lake we had to hang a right and from there it was about 200 miles to Tungsten at the end of the road. There was a little log café at the turn off and we decided to stop there for a bite to eat, not knowing if there was anything else further down the road.

            Dennis and Yvonne went in and when they returned to the truck, they were both laughing. I couldn’t figure out what was so funny. I defiantly wasn’t impressed when they didn’t bring me a treat.

            It seems that the menu in this place was hung on the wall and they were out of everything that Dennis and Yvonne tried to order. In desperation Dennis finally asked what they did have. The woman said, “Toast”. Toast was ordered and when it arrived, Dennis asked about jam and peanut butter. The woman disappeared out back and returned with a large tin of jam with a knife sticking out of it. At least this experience made the mood a lot better in the truck.

            Dennis and his infinite wisdom, had told Yvonne that it was the end of June and the weather would be great so just bring light clothes. Well we got our first hit of what to expect when we stopped to talk to a truck coming out of the mine and he asked us if we had chains. By the time we got to the summit and looked down, the mine we were in a foot of snow. Yvonne was in thongs, shorts and a halter-top when Dennis, trying to make the light of the situation made the mistake of commenting on how pretty she looked. Damn! This idiot can’t keep quiet.

            When we finally got down to the mine and into the cook shack, Yvonne informed me that she wanted to have a shower. The cook in the camp said no problem and promptly carried her over to one of the bunk houses, explaining it was empty and not to worry. Yvonne had just showered and was toweling off when she looked up and saw three guys in the mirror. She obviously saw them first because their backs were to her as they lined up at the urinal. By the time they turned around and realized that she was there, the towel was strategically draped. About that time Dennis came in wondering what all the red faces were about. The cook it seems forgot that the surveyors had arrived early.

            To try and make up for his mistake, the cook filled three large bags with food, one with fruit, one with a mix of sandwiches and the other was a bad of treats for me. What a guy! Everything was starting to go really well and we were enjoying the incredible sights. I think some of the most beautiful scenery is in the North Country and as a bonus there is lots of wildlife for me to bark at.

            As we headed back south, Dennis kept talking about the tire and wheel he lost. I may jus be a dog, but I know what was coming. Sure enough when we got to the pullout on Steamboat, he pulled over, jumped out of the truck and headed down the hiss in search of the tire. It was pretty easy to follow as it broke small trees and took chunks out of the larger ones on its way down. He reappeared saying that we could get it back. Tying 12 straps together and taking a short chain with him he headed back over the edge. Yvonne fed the straps out to him and Dennis made a muzzle with the chain so the tire would slide around any obstacles.

            Using a chain from the tow pin to the straps we were ready to haul it up. Since the pullout was only big enough to pull on strap at a time. Dennis told Yvonne that he would pull ahead and then she would have to hold the strap until he came back to re-hook. This sounded pretty simple except that Yvonne promptly started to get pulled over the bank as he backed up.

            Yvonne decided it was time to take charge and got behind the wheel. Dennis held while she re-hooked. This worked well until big mouth, (don’t they ever learn?), started yapping at her to back up straight and move faster. The tire finally popped over the top just before she did.

            We now had a pile of straps with knots between them that were tighter than a dispatcher at closing time. The only thing tighter right about then was the mood.

            Dennis started working on the knots with a screwdriver, all the time muttering something about how hard it was to get good help, then a pickup and travel trailer pulled in and out climbed this American tourist and his wife.

            He took one look at the tire; the pile of straps; and Yvonne’s beat up face and suggested that a cold drink was probably in order. He just knew that there had to be a good story behind all of this and wasn’t about to miss it. Everyone had a much needed drink and a few chuckles over the events of the day. The rest of the trip was uneventful and gradually the mood lightened up in the truck. I thought Dennis blew it later when he wished Yvonne a Happy Anniversary, but being a good wife she just smiled and said “up yours too”. I learned that being a smart dog means knowing when to just sit back and watch.

As always, give us a wave if you see us on the highway and remember, keep ‘em shiny side up.

            Your pal Jake, as told by Gypsy.