We are back in Canada... (with a bang!)

On Thursday morning we woke up in Washington, PA to a bit of a nip in the air... it was cool, and there was a guy behind us sleeping in a little tent!!!!! Yikes... he was cold!

How cold was it... this is what I saw when Judy was bringing in the slides...

On Wednesday night it had rained, and on Thursday morning we had ICE up on the slide toppers... you can see it above at the very top of the slide out for our bedroom.

We took off early from Washington, heading north. It seemed in no time we were just outside of Buffalo, New York. We decided that rather than stay the night in Buffalo, we could make it to Woodstock in Ontario by 5:00 p.m. Why not! ( you know... horse heading to barn syndrome...)

We crossed the Peace Bridge back into Canada with the regular, " How long you been away, how much did you spend... how much booze do you have on you... oh, and Welcome back to Canada, have a good evening!" That was as easy as any crossing.

We jumped right on the QEW heading for Hamilton, and made it half way along to Grimsby, when all of a sudden...... bang, rumble, rumble, rumble, and then nothing... I got on our radio to Judy in the Jeep behind me and said "What was that?" She reported she thought I had run over something and it came flying out the back... looked like a piece of an old truck tire.

I pulled over and soon figured out what was going on!

 

We had blown the passenger side, rear, inner tire on the MH. Oh dear... what a way to wreck a great trip home. (If you don't count the AC cover we lost...)

What to do? Well, Judy tells me to grab my CAA card and start calling. We were right on the QEW at rush hour, but I noticed an exit right ahead, so we limped off the QEW and found ourselves right downtown Grimsby. Talked to Cathy from CAA Niagara, and after all the standard questions about what we were driving, she said, "Hmmmmm... you need the Big Boys to come"

In less than 45 minutes, S & W Service Centre showed up at the CTC parking lot and immediately took control of this situation! He asked if I had a spare... yup, we do. He said then "Get out of my way!"

In not time he had the MH jacked up, and with all the big boy toys he had with him, had our two rear tires off the MH in no time! The Service Guy reported to me that we drove over a piece of old truck tire, and it got caught in the gap between the two tires which is very narrow, and it hit the valve extension from the inner tire leading out to the outer tire... and ripped it right off the rim! This instantly deflated the inner tire, and hence your problems begin! He said he saw this problem a lot on transport trucks. He should know!

I could hardly believe my eyes watching this guy work by himself, in pouring rain no less! Don't forget, this Motorhome weights in at 20,000 lbs. He got our spare out from underneath the MH and had it installed and ready for us to roll in 30 minutes! Just like a pitt stop at the NASCAR Garage! What a service.

After I thanked him about 45 times, he said, "show me your CAA card, and sign here..." No money had to change hands, as he said they would just bill CAA. I said, "I can't believe how fast you did this job!" To that he said, "Well, I do the job a lot faster when it is raining!!!" What a guy!

He pulled out, and Cathy from CAA called my cell and said, "How are things going?" She could not believe he was finished and on his way! I cannot say enough about how well, we were treated and serviced by both CAA Niagara, and S & W Service Centre out of St. Catherine's, Ontario. I had figured we would end up having to stay there the night in a motel or something. Instead, we were able to drive off to Woodstock, and make it in plenty of time to get set up, and even drive into Town to visit with the kids!

Judy and I snuck in the front door, and I spied Gwenny... she had a big grin!

Big hug right away for "Pop Pop"...

Yup, there is soon to be another baby!

Today, Judy got to go with Gwenny to the Library for some fun with a bunch of other toddlers.

Lots of playtime...

I spent most of today getting the MH put away on our site with the Motorcycle Trailer, but soon found time to head into Town and read books with Gwenny! Also had a great Mac and Cheese Dinner thanks to Chris and Kristina!

Till tomorrow...

 

Posted with Blogsy