Saturday, May 25, 2002
Day 9. We woke up and looked out the trailer bed window, and there was a truck
parked about 6 inches from our trailer bunk. I said to Joanne that "we won't
be going anywhere until that person moves their truck." (which they did about 30
minutes later) We packed up and hit the road early......We drove to Delaware and
stopped at a state park beach for an hour for the kids again. We wanted to check
the beaches for next year. It was cold and windy. Joanne stayed wrapped up in a
towel most of the time. Then we hit the road again. We calculated that we could
be home by 9:30pm if we traveled well. So off we went. The van was now having
some over-heating problems, but were manageable. We would turn on the heater for a
minute or so to cool the engine. We knew the rad would need checking when we got
back. By the time we stopped
for supper, our ETA for arriving home was now 11pm. So we continued driving as
the kids all wanted to get home Saturday night. We were a little off schedule
and still had about 1 hour and 20 minutes to go when the van started to overheat
again. The engine had started to cool, when we noticed the revs
were jumping all around. I said to Joanne, who had just started to drive,
(because I was too tired again!) to get off at the next exit. We made it about
another mile and limped off almost to the end of the ramp when the van quit
working. I got out and looked under and saw transmission fluid everywhere.....
ARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!! It was 10:30 pm and the only places in sight were a
mobile home and a MOTEL! I ran the 300 feet to the motel and called AAA.
Great news, yes, they would tow our van back to Canada (inside the 200km limit),
but the trailer towing would have to be paid by us and we were on our own to get
the 6 of us home!!! They suggested we get a Taxi, (we pay for it) or they have
good prices on rental cars (we pay for it). Well, we abandoned the van and got
a room for the night from the VERY drunk motel guy. Memorial day weekend and it
was Saturday, nothing would be open in the States until Tuesday for repairs.
(The motel guy
brought me a beer while I made my phone calls
from the motel office. He was very thoughtful and had helpful ideas!) He was
so drunk he couldn't get my visa
card to work....I said maybe he could try again in the morning!! I called our
friends that were already home on Friday, at 10:30 and woke them up. I asked
if they could bring their van and get us in the morning....No problem! The 3
boys slept sideways on a double bed and I managed to get Grace's crib out of the
trailer and Joanne and I had the other double bed. It.worked out ok...nice enough
rooms with 1970 vintage TV's and no phones.....
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