Alexander Graham Bell Was Right

When he said that Cape Breton, Nova Scotia was one of the most beautiful places on earth. That explains why he made it his summer home for so many years.

We took this photo from a scenic stop along

the Cabot Trail.

Front roof panels off the Jeep.... cruisin' the trail. Perfect.

Except we had to keep stopping to record the life

and times of Dee Dee the Dinosaur. Sheesh!

We spent our Friday driving the Cabot Trail, and despite early morning rains, ended up with a spectacularly beautiful day to drive it. We stopped for a quick bite in Cheticamp (famous for their hooked rugs, of which we proudly bought one early this summer) and our waiter remarked that the weather on this day was unusually good. Yea!

It is surprisingly mountainous in the Cape Breton area.

We actually got off the trail accidentally but stumbled

on this quaint village at the very northern shore. It

seems that every aspect of this area is magical.

During our last few days at the cottage, we did venture "south" of our location and visited the beautiful village of Shelburne, primarily to eat at this restaurant:

"Charlotte Lane" restaurant is a very quaint and VERY GOOD

restaurant in this small seaside town. Reservations are often

difficult to get.

But not when it's late in the season! We had the small back patio

to ourselves, and enjoyed an absolutely wonderful lunch.

We then walked along the village shore to enjoy

it's historical beauty.

And of course we need to take a little rest in an chair along the bay.

So, in the future, when people ask you why Jay and Michelle were so crazy to buy a home in Atlantic Canada.... you can recall these photos and tell them that we aren't so crazy after all...

We headed out this morning for P.E.I (Prince Edward Island), which is the smallest Province of Canada. We drove the Confederation Bridge the ~10 mile length to get here, and then another 25 miles to the campground. We are now nestled next to a beautiful river and in the comfort of our RV as the rain pours down around us.

We hope to do some sightseeing in the morning, and then depart for a three day drive to Michigan. We hope you are all doing well!

Get Ready. The Muse is aroused....

You're going to have to read the blog to understand it.

Long time, no blogee!

There are a few reasons. First of all, this blog site - furnished by Google - changed on me and dagnabit, I don't like change. Don't like it. Don't understand it. Resist it. I'm getting old, and that's all.

Well, that's only partly true. Google did modify the blog software and I DON'T like the way it works as well, but I can live with it. But... it has been one of the reasons I haven't been ambitious to fire up the blog and slog through it.

And we have been "settled" again in the cottage, and life becomes, well, life. Fun of course... and in a beautiful place... but probably not exciting to read about. I mean, if our life was THAT exciting, we would be pure Drama Queens. Yikes. Not that.

Finally, I couldn't find that dang adapter that must be used to transfer photo's from my Canon Rebel camera to the MacBook. You will all be deeply relieved to know that I FOUND IT. And so here we go.

LET'S GO TO THE BEACH!!

Cousin Ian and wife Kathy have a cottage only 10 minutes from ours. The name "Kathy" and phrase "Let's go to the beach!" are synonymous.

And you thought I couldn't spell synonymous.

Yes, Kathy has a standard battle cry that brings us to the beautiful Summerville beach with pleasant regularity where soccer, body surfing, bocce ball, sandcastle building, and picnics outings occur.

Cousin Janet and husband Pat hate to miss a good party.

On this particular day, we played Bocce Ball on the beach and then returned to Ian and Kathy's cottage for a group dinner of lobster bisque and scallop burgers - a delicious recipe from Kathy's whose family previously owned a restaurant. It's worth the trip here to taste them.

Other days have been spent golfing. Paul and Moie invited us to play with them at the beautiful Chester Golf Club, located in - you guessed it - Chester Bay. It's hard to hit the ball when you are mesmerized by such beautiful surroundings. At least I find that to be a plausible excuse.

I was particularly attracted to the image of this house

which sits quietly by the edge of the bay (and golf course).

After beach, beach, golf, golf and golf, we learned that the Annual Queen's County Fair was being held in Caledonia, NS. Woo Hoo!

The epicenter of all things fun and exciting,

Welcome to The Fair.

I don't know the last time you went to a small-town (or county) fair... but it's good for the constitution. We roamed the (3) barns and looked at the critters -

And we admired the prize winnin' vege-tables.

And Jay even WON AT "TOSS A RING ON THE BOTTLE"!!! And that means you get your choice of any prize. Oh, man, this one makes the highlight reel!

Pretty good form, huh?

See that red ring on the bottle in the middle? Uh huh.

That's what I'm talkin' about.

Pretty little Carmen poses with her Nanna (Jay's

cousin Jeanne), and "Carnival", her new pink Unicorn.

Compliments, of course, of "Ringer" Jay Sevigny.

Of course no Fair is complete without the requisite presence of pretty girls and horses.

And finally, the parade. Note the standing room only in the arena.

Even Smokie the Bear made it for the event.

Who knew he was Canadian?

Finally (Hey, many of you ASKED for an update...) we visited the Annapolis Valley Wineries last weekend with Paul and Moie. We learned that there are 13 wineries in Nova Scotia (well, 14 if you count Moie's basement) and we got to visit 6 of them. One of our favorites was Luckett's Vineyards, named after the owner, Pete Luckett. Pete is a very well liked and known grocer/t.v. personality who has opened his own winery. He was actually there when we visited and demonstrated, first hand, what a good owner can do for his business. Just a great guy. He is English, and the signature icon for his winery is the red phone booth, located in the middle of the field among the grapes. You can call anywhere in North America for free from there.

Paul and Moie try out the phone.

In addition to Luckett's, we think our other favorite was Gaspereau Vineyards. They have an awesome barn in which they held a wine tasting upstairs, in addition to a bluegrass band outside, and a real grape-stomping contest.

Gaspereau Vineyards. The wine tasting event was in the barn loft,

where numerous vendors offered their crafts and foods.

Look real close at the woman in the black flowered dress.

Ok, here is a little help...

Who ever said there aren't pretty women in Nova Scotia?

And this is what's left after a whole bunch of stompin'.

And so that is about it, folks! We will have wheel's rolling out of here tomorrow, with a target of being in Michigan on October 5th.

Our final, final stop is planned to be Tennessee at the end of October when we will turn our attention to normal life once again.

Thanks for stopping by, and we hope that things are good with you in your part of the world. Hope to see you sometime soon!

Chillin'

Sorry for the absence from updates, but we are back into "Chill" mode at the cottage, and there isn't a huge focus on trying to identify noteworthy events to report on.

We haven't taken any decent photos for a while either! So please forgive the indulgence of stealing two wonderful photos that Rebecca Box (of Last Minute) took during their trip to Lunenburg, NS. This quaint town is located a little more than an hour from our cottage and it is the overall favorite spot for all visitors to see. We like to think it may be like San Francisco when it was tiny and authentic. There are beautiful homes, churches and buildings throughout the town.

This is a gorgeous wooden church - St. John Anglican - that

was just restored. This church was constructed in 1753. Wow.

This is a primary school called Lunenburg Academy, and it is still in service!

We played golf 5 times last week! That is a new world record for Jay. He also beat Michelle! Once! Don't laugh. That is the first time that has happened in about 10 years.

This week was quite special in the sense that we met a bunch of neighbors and really "moved the needle" in terms of feeling a connection to the neighborhood. Most of the residents in this charming community are "CFA's" (Come From Away's); many who live in Florida during the winter and here in the summer. We enjoyed happy hour with one set of neighbors and have coffee planned with another. Being in a place like this seems to be a great common denominator.... everyone is simply trying to enjoy life. It's done best with warm sentiments.

On the GREAT NEWS side, our neighbors informed us of a common housekeeper that they use, and we had her come and do a day of cleaning. We are officially in love with her and we now feel guilty about every smudge we make. We have been disappointed with the person we have previously had do our cleaning, so there is a lot of catch-up to do. But WOW... what a catch this gal is. See? Life at the cottage just keeps getting better.

As part of our continuing effort to experience "All Things Nova Scotia", we are attending the Queens County Fair next Wednesday. That is the day for the Big Ole' Parade, and some hogs and critters and such. We also have a day of golf planned with Jay's cousin Paul and wife Moie on Monday. OMG. Who has time for work?

We are counting down the days until departure. We will likely leave around 9/29 and head (in Big Blue) to Prince Edward Island (PEI). This pastural and idilic island is best known for magnificent shellfish and the fictional character of Anne of Green Gables. That's "Anne" with an "e".... if you read the book! We will snake our way west, back to Michigan and then to the heartland of America, Kansas, to see the two of the prettiest girls in America. Our daughter and granddaughter.

We hope you are enjoying your early fall, and we look forward to seeing many of you in the weeks and months ahead. Thanks for checking in.

Reunion

After weeks of waiting, Big Blue

was returned to service.

We picked up Big Blue from the Cummins shop in Montreal on Thursday, September 1st at 4pm. We then proceeded to navigate the nightmare of Montreal traffic to reach the campground where we stored the camper. By our calculation it took 2 hours to make the 30 minute drive. It was stressful for Jay driving in that traffic, but we suspect that as Jay squeezed the rig between the thousands of road cones that line the never-ending construction zones, that more than a few Quebecer's felt some stress as well...

It was a two-day drive to our cottage and we picked the small town of Woodstock, New Brunswick for our stopping point. To our delight we discovered a small but lovely campground nestled along the St. Johns River with generous turns and pull-through sites. It was a welcome resting point for sure.

Despite Jay's most fervent efforts to arrive at the cottage at 6:00 pm on the nose, he failed and arrived at 6:08 pm. Dave and Peggy forgave him for the tardiness and rewarded us with libations and appetizers. Ahh, it was worth the trip!

The cottage is bustling this morning, suggesting that it's time to conclude the blog for now. We plan to enjoy the month of September up here and return to Tennessee in late October. We will update the blog on Sundays, so check back in.

We hope you all have a great holiday weekend!

A Very Welcome Surprise

Danielle and Kirk - engaged at Almanor

August 13, 2011

Ending months of speculation and anticipation, Kirk popped the "big one" to Danielle in a grassy meadow under the shadow of Mt. Lassen. This smart young lad correctly surmised that Almanor was a special place for Danielle, and decided to create an Almanor memory for her and her family to top all others by asking her to marry him during this trip.

She hasn't made up her mind yet.

Just kidding! If you felt the earth tremble that Saturday night, it was from her jumping up and down with joy. Or maybe that was her family. Who knows. The handsome young couple is targeting a June 2012 wedding and if all goes well, a move to South America later that year as Kirk pursues an international teaching experience. Mr. and Mrs. Winger, that is.

With that as the top news, we had the typical experience of 7 days of sun, 7 nights of campfires and Smores. The peak attendance was 36 (for one night) with an average of about 25.

Below is a GREAT shot of Warren attempting to do a full flip over the wake on a wakeboard. To execute this, you must complete a full turn (100%) and land the board in a horizontal position.

Warren completed 95%. Again and again. He was one tired boy.

Warren on Lake Almanor with Mt. Lassen

in the distance.

Little Miss Hayden was present for the trip, of course and she made sure that the Smores were properly prepared; the beach was supplied with a sufficient number of holes dug along the lake's sandy shore, and that Grandma's lap was kept warm.

Style. All Style.

We were joined by Jay's sister Maribeth and husband Steve this year, who seem to have decided that they like this part of the world! They bought land just north of Reno last year and hope to build here as part of their retirement strategy. We took a drive out to their "little slice of heaven" and enjoyed the beautiful views.

This is Maribeth and Steve on their front porch.

Er, um... future front porch.

And this is the view from that same same

(future) front porch.

With views like that, we envision some mighty fine porch-settin' in their future.

We fly back to Tennessee for week of errands and porch settin', then drive to Montreal (without dogs!) and head to the cottage for the glorious month of September. It looks like we will head back to Tennessee in October and make an attempt to assimilate back into normal life then. Of course this is predicated on the belief that Big Blue is fixed. We certainly hope so!

Michelle has a big quartet weekend at the Nashville house next weekend. We'll try to get some photos of that to share.

Thanks for checking in. Hope your summer is going well!

Almanor Bound!

Let's start off with a picture of the nicest Mother a guy could ever ask for. Jeannie T. turns 85 next month, and is still full of chuckles and smiles. We enjoyed a quick - but nice - visit with her in her apartment and will swing by again in a few months!

We speak to you from the safe haven of Reno, Nevada - as we hastily prepare for a week of camping at the campground that holds nearly 40 years of memories for Michelle and her sisters. Jay has participated in this ritual for approximately 20 of the 26 years that he has been captive in the Montagne Clan.

With our truck and camper stuck in Montreal, we had to fly our here and rent an RV. We found a clean, OLD one, and we pick it up today. All in all, we think it is just fine, and we feel fortunate to have found it and have it available for our dates. The aspects of this that sting a bit though, is that the vast amount of "gear" that travels with us is stuck in Montreal... all the outdoor camping stuff for cooking, chairs, E-Z UP sun shades tents, bicycles, and summer clothes that fit. Oh sure, we could grab all the "old stuff" from Nashville that is in the back of the closet.... Oh well.

The latest word on Big Blue is that the problem (that has evaded remediation) is something called the "Collector Plate", an insidious little devil that is related to the clutch rods that enter the transmission and are prone to cracking and thus leaking oil. I guess we will see. We have been promised that the truck will be ready by the end of the week. Who cares?, we say. We won't be there to pick up up for about three weeks.

When we were last in Montreal we found some really nice grocery stores that seemed to reflect the local palates. One of the photos below show the beautiful produce isles while the other shows a long glass case filled with various flavored sausages. We bought one of the hotter sausages, (filled with some sort of pepper influence) and enjoyed it as our protein at dinner. The last photo shows a display case full of Pate's (you know, the spreads....). We've never seen an offering of so many varieties! Of course we had to buy a duck pate, and a pork pate and we enjoyed them as appetizers that evening.

Our meals at Lake Almanor may not be as extravagant, but they will undoubtedly taste as good! We are headed for 7 days and nights of warm days, cool nights and the starriest skies you could possibly imagine. And Jay's sister Maribeth and husband Steve will be joining for their first Almanor experience!

We'll update with some camping fun next week. Hope all is well with you!

Not So Good Of An Update

Well, the transmission was put back in.

It still leaks.

The new theory is that the transmission housing is cracked.

Jay's theory is that most mechanics' brain matter housing is cracked.

The transmission shop is taking responsibility for the repair. What they can't give us, is time. We have to leave now.

We will leave the camper at the campground (in dry storage), pack the two dogs into the Jeep and begin a 10 hour drive to Michigan, to be followed by a 10 hour drive to Tennessee. And then flights to California. Ultimately followed by a drive back to Montreal later this month (sans dogs!).

Yes, life was much simpler when Jay worked.

For grins, we'll update you again next Wednesday or so. We still have lot's of fun to look forward to in California and we will be with all our family. Now, what's not to like about that?

Down and Dirty Update

It's Wednesday night, and we are still in Montreal. Our transmission is "repaired", and has been returned to the Cummins shop to reinstall it. They claim they have a crew working on it and hope to have it ready by noon on Thursday (tomorrow).

If all that works out - we will be driving out of Montreal tomorrow afternoon, with the goal of hitting Michigan by mid-day on Friday. Regretfully, we must pass on the visit with Jay's Uncle Tony and Aunt Shirley. We hope to visit with Jay's Mom and then dine with his sister Maribeth and husband Steve. And then skidaddle.

It will likely be a quick turn and out again on Saturday as we head to California. EVERYTHING has been truncated with this repair. We really hope for no more drama, so that we can arrive in California on Thursday as planned.

We have some fun pictures to share about Montreal - but the internet at this KOA SUCKS!!! So just words for now. We will update you on Sunday!

Be good!

Cousin Davey

And his wife Peggy are two of our favorite people. And we got to see them again, after all. See how good this vacation is going?

Once it became clear that the repair on Big Blue would stretch into next week (done by Tuesday, we hope), we decided to pack up the critters and head west to Ottawa and spend the weekend with David and Peggy. They have a large, accommodating home, and a great backyard for the dogs. And the bonus? Jay's cousin Ian (who we had just enjoyed dinner and bonfire at his cottage back in Nova Scotia) was here too! Ian's son Jack has spent the summer at Dave and Peggy's working for the summer and Ian came to pick up Jack. Ian also brought Jack's brother Logan who is going to attend basketball camp here this week too. Got that all straight?

Well, it was a DuCharme holiday of sorts (that's the maiden name of Jay's Mom, and the connection between these cousins). One thing is certain: The DuCharme clan is a nice one, and a fun one. DOOOCH- ARM!!!!

Jay and Michelle did enjoy their foray's into Montreal. We saw Vieux Montreal (Old Montreal), as well as the site of the 67 Expo (See? Jay got to go, eventually.....). We had a nice dinner at a restaurant called L'appartment. Very trendy and great food. Here is a glimpse of Michelle's Scallops:

Tasted as good as it looked.

We went into the Notre Dame Basilica, which is an extraordinarily beautiful Catholic Church. How's this for an alter?

There is so much detail going on in this church, you are nearly

paralyzed as you try to comprehend it.

Of course, every church needs to have an organ in the rear, with 7000 individual pipes, right?

Yikes. This place was simply gorgeous.

And here is a look at one of their historic buildings:

We suppose that we should throw in the obligatory street scene from the retail areas...

We don't know any of these people. Not one.

And so concludes our Sunday update. We will enjoy the rest of our day and evening with Dave, Peggy, Ian, Jack and Logan and drive back to Montreal tomorrow to get the rig ready (we hope) for an early Wednesday departure. If the calendar complies, we will have dinner with Jay's Uncle Tony and Aunt Shirley in Kitchener on Wednesday night and then head to Michigan on Thursday. We hope for a two-day visit with Jay's Mom and siblings, and then a bustin' @ss haul out to California.

Wish us luck with the mechanics! And a quartering wind to help with mpg!!

The Scars Are Healing

When Jay was 8, Montreal held the World Expo. It was a grand moment for Montreal and for all of Canada. His Grandfather took his parents and three oldest siblings to Montreal to experience this historic event.

Jay and his twin stayed behind in Stratford, Ontario with their Aunt Ril.

The scars are just now healing.

Now, staying with Aunt Ril was usually cause for celebration, given any other circumstances, but knowing that you were missing one of the worlds greatest cultural and technological events produced a deep and lasting wound.

But it's o.k. now. He knew he would see Montreal someday. And he is now.

One of the first insights that we gained about Montreal are the frenzied and vicarious personalities of their freeways. We were warned about them, and it's true. People in Montreal drive as if they have all attended the New York Taxi Cab School of Driving. Better yet, just imagine what driving these freeways, that twist and turn throughout the city, is like in 5:45pm rush hour traffic... when you are driving Big Blue, and you are a total of 72 feet long.

New scars are forming.

Ok, and what of Montreal?

We're not kidding when we say that we have never encountered a city that has more concurrent road construction underway than this beautiful city. We believe that this must be road-cone mating season, as they are out in abundance everywhere you look. And while it does deserve to be described as beautiful, it is at the same time very urban with area of blight and the typical graffiti.

While Blue is in the shop, Jay and Michelle are making lemonade out of lemons, and playing tourist. And having the Jeep really makes a difference. It's a fun and versatile vehicle that is perfect for tight city driving.

We drove downtown a few days ago and discovered St. Catherine's Street, which is a long (12 blocks or so?) street of retail stores. The amount of people on the streets at 4:30pm was staggering - it brought up images of Hong Kong. We didn't park and walk the street but perhaps we will do that today.

Spending any time in the province of Quebec impresses upon you how dang French the folks here are. Everyone we have met in Montreal speaks French. Everyone. The good news is that everyone has also spoken English. And they have been very gracious about it. No snobbery. Just sort of "Ok, let's speak English". However, it is clear that French is their first language, as their English is typically spoken with a heavy accent and they are much less confident in speaking it.

Getting directions over the phone can be a real adventure. They say things like "turn left at Saint Zhuh. Ask for Tim LeBluh.

Zhuh? LeBluh? How do you spell that.

Saint Jean. Tim LeBlanc.

Oh.....

Dang. Should have taken French in high school.

The prognosis on Blue is that the transmission must be rebuilt. As this should have been determined LAST WEEK when we took it in to be repaired, the labor to remove and install it will be covered by the shop. But the rebuild is our cost. Sigh. They should know all the parts that will be needed later today, and they will confirm availability of the parts, and that exercise will determine the timeline on the repair. Our crude estimate is that we will be road worthy by Tuesday of next week. Maybe sooner. Probably not.

Thanks for checking in. We'll have some pictures and hopefully a better sense of our travel calendar on Sunday.

Au Revior!

Stranger Than Fiction

I know I said that would update the blog on Sunday, but I have plenty good reasons for not doing so.

Once again - this is not a good sign.

You might be thinking "Oh, that's just the truck getting repaired last week".

No - that is the truck this afternoon. The shop in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia did three major things:

1. They replaced the engine flywheel cover

2. They replaced the clutch

3. They removed $10,000 from our bank account.

Now, after just 500 miles of travel, we have.... the same leak again!! This is very upsetting, because in the US we pay much less for incompetence.

So good news is that we are "stuck" in Montreal. We have always wanted to visit Montreal, and now it has been thrust upon us. We will likely be here for about three days. They have to remove the transmission AGAIN to see what is causing the leak. One good thing from all this - we had the major work last week done at an Official Cummins Engine facility, and Big Blue is now in their affiliate facility in Montreal. They warranty their work, so it shows how using OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) companies can pay off. Well, of course that assume this is related. Umm - how could it not be?.... We will find out!

If it wasn't so disheartening, it would be funny.

Oh, heck, it is funny. What else can go wrong?? Oh darn, I had to ask.

Back to other news -

This is how the dogs travel in Big Blue:

So far they have been very easy to travel with. The only real issue with them is that they shed an unbelievable amount of hair - even Toby - and when you live in close quarters with them the reality of this is rather shocking.

When we realized that we were prisoners of Montreal for a few days, we had to hustle and find a campground. Michelle consulted the various campground directories we carry and found a KOA. Generally speaking, we like KOAs, as they offer some level of quality assurance. And this KOA even boasted the ability to handle big rigs. We called and they said they could take us, no problem. I explained our size. No problem.

When we arrived, the owner was out sitting on his golf cart. He nearly blew a gasket when he saw us - and not in a good way. He fussed and grumbled and agonized about whether Jay could get the rig through his campground without damaging his grass and utilities that run to each site. He drove Jay around the campground and pointed out every corner that he thought the truck couldn't make.

The owner finally consented to let us attempt the route we suggested and the rig slipped into it's berth with no problem. We could elaborate on the owner's demeanor but let's just say he might be a relative of the dear fellow we met from Quebec earlier this year in Myrtle Beach.

We are still reeling from the surprise of our mechanical issues, so we really don't know what it will mean to our itinerary for the next few weeks. If you were "on our list" to see this week, it's all going to be shifting around a bit.

Stay tuned. It is bound to stay interesting!

Heat Wave

It hit 83 degrees last weekend in Nova Scotia.

Run for shade!

Jay's cousin Paul remarked that it was a hot one. We think we should not let Paul visit Tennessee in August. It would probably scar him for life.

But Paul and Jay had a wonderful day of driving around the province on a meandering journey to drop off some old music books to a friend. Places like Cornwallis and Kentville came to life for Jay, as well as the rolling hills of the Annapolis Valley, known for it's prodigious production of apples and displaced Cajuns. Slightly beyond Kentville we made a quick drive up to a very quaint fishing village located on the Bay of Fundy. Dang if I can recall the name of it. But the key word for this area is authenticity, and this little village was no exception.

With Michelle gone for a week, Jay has been playing Florence Nightingale to the dogs. Keji, with his hyper-allergic relationship to the world popped a hot spot on his cheek.

What you don't realize is that this looks good. Let's just say it's not mucky like it first was. The incredible reality about these sores is that the dogs will scratch at them and make them spread in a horrific way, creating potentially disfiguring injuries. Jay tried to deal with it with over-the-counter stuff for a few days, and then gave in to the Veterinarian. (Thank you Michelle, for helping me spell that).

So what is this?

Yup. It's a hole all right. Where is it?

It's at the top of my house, near the power lines. A scurrilous critter, with NO REGARD for the damage to my cottage has selected it as it's abode. And, with an approximate 3.5" diameter, it appears to be a critter than needs an opening that will accommodate it's beer belly.

Ending a month of speculation, Jay and Michelle awoke this morning to the steady sound of "Tap...tap...tap...". So now we know. A woodpecker.

Well, if that little pecker-head isn't on the extinct list yet, it will be soon.

So how was our morning in Nova Scotia?

Soft lapping waves, high thin clouds and a mild 67 degrees. For all you folks sweating it out in the states, we can only say.....

Nanner Nanner Nanner!

Alas, we have our tribulations. Big Blue is still at the doctor, and the list of repairs keeps creeping forward. Is it the fact that it is a used truck, at mid-life mileage? Is it the fact that it sat for a year, unused, while the bed was being built? Could it just be unfortunate luck?

Or is it the fact that we are in Canada, with Tennessee plates?

Oh, we don't want to suggest that. But dang! Let's git r' dun!

While there is a chance that the repair will be done by Friday, it is increasingly looking like it will be done around Monday. And then we will head west.

Thanks for checking in! We'll update again on Sunday.....