July 11 - Day 2

July 11

For our first morning together, we looked very experienced and efficient. We had Baby Trailer sorted, packed and hitched in short order. For the first time ever (?) the McGee Clan pulled out of somewhere on time. Our plan was to leave by 7:30am, make it to Bangor Maine by mid afternoon for early dinner and arrive at our campsite well before sunset. 

Best laid plans ….

A quick, iconic, stop at Dunkin Donuts meant we could fuel up - both the people and the car!  We met up with Baby Trailer’s bigger cousin. This size tear drop has a kitchen, marine battery for lights, stove, fan etc. We aren’t “glampers” or true RVers, so Baby Trailer is just perfect. 

We decided to stop as needed/as wanted. We knew we would need to get gas and we figured that without any timed requirements we would simply choose something interesting to do and discover along the way. 

Best laid plans …

We appreciate our dads and Grand River auto classes! There’s nothing fun about changing a flat on the shoulder of an interstate/highway. Yep, we were that car that had to empty all of their gear out of the trunk to get to the spare tire. 

As a result of a previous construction project, there were eight massive pylons at the edge of the road. I borrowed them and put them out along the shoulder enduring the traffic gave us a wide berth.  Our lesson learned is to have a plan. There’s not much more we could have done to prevent the situation, we clearly drove over something and it sliced through the tire. However, we didn’t check the spare. It was soft so we limped the Flex and Baby Trailer to a nearby auto repair shop. 

We activated an day’s worth of wifi on the Skyroam. I simply chose the closest auto repair that was open. Well, did we luck out.  Doug wasn’t out of the car when the owner came out to see how he could help. Next thing we knew Ken Moran was regaling us with stories of 30 lb lobsters, minus 50 degree deer hunts in Saskatchewan and ghost images of his dead mother appearing in photographs.  While we visited his Eagle Scout son Chris (another story about their food bank service project) tracked down a suitable tire, left to go buy it for us, mounted/balanced it, checked all the other tires, filled the spare and repacked our car!!  Our 2 hour adventure was actually pleasant and these good hearted souls charged us a meager $30!

We figured we weren’t going to make Bangor for dinner, so we decided to track down an Olive Garden along our route. 15 minutes later we were seated and munching on breadsticks. We know it’s unlikely we can repay the kindness of our Tire Friends, so I figured the best I could do was give them a couple of shout outs. I mentioned to our server that if she ever needed tires she should go to Moran and Sons. She looked at me like I had 4 eyes. “I take my car to them all the time. I just got 4 new tires from them.” Best laid plans … I can’t even advertise for them!

I’m a believer in Karma. I’m a “half full” kinda gal and I always picked up Lucky Pennies. Well, it’s now been 10 years since Canada has used pennies, but hey this one is worth $0.125 ! 

“Find a penny pick it up, earlier today we had good luck.”

There’s nothing quite like experiencing a foreign culture by exploring its cuisine.  Cornbread donuts, 11 flavours of roller food, McDonalds sweet tea and all you can eat soup, salad and bread sticks! Enjoy America!

Will our luck continue ten fold??

We crossed into Canada without any glitches. The young woman working at the crossing was clearly bored. We had a chat and visit about some of the places we had been and the folks who typically cross over. I was truthful in declaring the part bottle of wine, single can of beer and the new tire. She was appreciative and had a bit of a giggle. 

Our campground was pitch black upon arrival but fortunately Everet Clancy was working night security. He welcomed us and drove us back to our site, he shared that it is... “Much easier and more friend than a map.”

There is nearly a full moon, but the skies are pitch black. Getting into the campsite was a bit challenging but we did it. We also managed to set up the extension tent, find the comfort station and have a snack!!

That penny and that dime are truly appreciated today!