Sunday, May 26, 2002
Day 10....Sunday morning...I phoned AAA and got the number for the towing service
and phoned and woke him up too....I needed to know if he could tow both the van
and trailer and how much for the trailer. $1.00US to $1.50US per mile for the
trailer plus other costs. Motel guy was sober in the morn, and still
very nice and helpful. Even when not drunk he was trying to help with everything.
Tim and I went with the tow truck towing our van with the trailer in tow (less
swaying then with our van) The tow truck was able to do 65mph all the way to
the border. We didn't know how bad the transmission was, but at the border,
the US guy topped up the transmission and by-passed the transmission cooler
which had the leak and told me I might be able to drive over the bridge to
Canada and save some hassles....but the stupid Van just wouldn't go....it
kinda lurched and revved and clunked.....I didn't want to take the chance
and so I called CAA. Our Friend, Dave picked up Joanne, Eric, Sam and Grace and met us
at the border. They arrived at the border about 10 minutes
after the tow truck left us at the duty free which is just before Canada
customs and we then had to call CAA to tow us the rest of the way in Canada.
Joanne continued home and Tim and I continued our wait for the tow truck to show.
There was no phone at the Duty Free, so we were directed across to US customs.
The first time was no problem, but the second time Tim and I went over, we got
a surprise. We were almost at the customs building when I heard, " SIR,
WHERE ARE YOU COMING FROM?" I slowly turned around and said "Pardon?"
The customs officer had his right hand on his holstered gun and his left
hand pointing at me and said again. "SIR, WHERE ARE YOU COMING FROM?" I
told him I was trying to find how the tow truck from Canada was going to
get to us. He very loudly said, "SIR, THE TRUCK WILL COME UP THIS LANE
AND WILL BE INSPECTED, AND THEN WILL TURN AROUND OVER THERE AND WILL
PICK YOU UP!" I said, "There is no other way?" And again very loudly
and pointing, repeated what he said before. We turned around and
headed back to the van. About 15 minutes later we went back to use the
phone with no problems. CAA contacted the tow truck driver and was I
was told he was still about 20 minutes away. We waited almost 2 hours. I was REALLY
starting to get MAD!!!@!!! Then the tow truck shows up and the
driver tells me its going to cost $85 plus tolls to tow my trailer at the same time....I cursed at the ground and said
"JUST TOW IT HOME" because I had just paid the US driver $98US to get our
trailer to the border. Anyway, the guy must have felt bad and only charged me
$70 and told the towing company that it was an easy trailer hook-up. He even
dropped the trailer off in front of my house and let me unload most of the
van before he took it to our repair shop. Then, I had to go and borrow
another friends van to pull the stupid trailer off the street and into our
driveway. (The reason I didn't leave the trailer in the US and come back,
was because I didn't know anyone that would be available and with a big
enough vehicle that also had the same plug for our trailer lights. It was
easier and saved time (not money) to have the trailer towed with us, and I
was worried about crossing customs each time. Also, the thought of paying
someone the motel Guy knew locally to tow it home was probably cheaper, but
insurance could
have been a problem?)
So........ The last time we had the transmission rebuilt was 2.5 years ago for
$1900 dollars 2 weeks before Christmas. 3 months ago, I had a body shop look
at the rust on the van and they said about $2800, and don't do it for a 1992
Caravan. We probably need brake work and Rad work to fix the
overheating........I think the van is scrap, but we really don't want to spend
the money for another one.
|
