New Year's Trip Day 1. Part II

We pressed on from Big City through the late afternoon and into the evening as we headed northwest, hoping to make it to our next provincial border before stopping to sleep but a close encounter with a moose, who we hoped made it across the highway unscathed, general tiredness and multiple loaded logging trucks travelling at 100km/hr on dark narrow and snowy roads when we felt comfortable travelling only at 70 km/hr meant that we stopped early at a small town a few hundred kilometres shy of the border.

We drove around the town looking for a dark parking lot to use, as we planned to sleep in our truck, but all were either too busy or lit too brightly so we headed down the highway to a dark and empty rest stop and pulled in. Luggage was moved into the cab and our mattress pads laid out on the truck bed. We snuggled into our sleeping bags and read together for a little while by flashlight until we were sleepy enough to turn in. The darkness and quiet were broken just as we were ready to fall asleep by a transport truck who pulled in directly behind us, shining its headlights into our truck and rumbling loudly.

Darn!

Eventually the driver turned off the headlights but his/her running lights and running engine disturbed our sleep throughout the night. We might have gotten used to the sound of the engine if it didn’t shift in pitch every few minutes! Rumble rumble rumble RUUUUUUUMMMMBLE rumble rumble rumble....

Okay, okay. You’re wondering about how we managed to sleep comfortably and stay warm? Well, we had our camping mattresses (mine described earlier in this post) as well as our winter sleeping bags. Although I'd brought appropriate sleeping attire (mostly lycra and fleece) I couldn't be bothered to change into it and so I just climbed in with the clothes I had on, using my down vest as a pillow and leaving my coat inside the cab. I also wore my down slippers over a pair of wool socks as my feet tend to get colder than ManNorth's in the same conditions. I'm not sure what ManNorth wore in his sleeping bag. He tends to overheat easily and so usually just strips down.

Here’s a photo of our sleeping bags laid out during our holiday for our niece to inspect. Guess which one she’s actually in!

This one!


(I should say though, that we took multiple photos and she tried out both so perhaps she was in the blue one for the first photo. The drawstring around the head area is pulled tight in the first photo..) The point is that the bags have about a foot of loft such that even with someone in them, it’s hard to tell if they’re occupied. They have lots of down and large baffles, making them very insulating and warm. I’ve comfortably slept in mine in -38 to about -40C and ManNorth has used his during his arctic adventures in much colder temperatures. (Yes Mom, we were just fine. Really!)