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!