Month: November 2012

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Winding Down

With just a few days left before my departure from Quebec, it seems like I’m busier than ever!

Yesterday, Thursday, I took most of the day off to spend time with my middle nephew, S, who turned five on Tuesday. Since his brother got a birthday outing, it made sense for S to get one, too. He likes going to the movies, so we went to see Wreck-It-Ralph (in French). It was the perfect choice for the two of us. S loves playing video games and the movie features a bunch of classic games, like Tapper, that I used to play as a child so I got hit with a bit of nostalgia. I splurged on both the 3D showing and the Wreck-It-Ralph snack kit, so S got a reusable cup and Ralph figurine as a souvenir. I was impressed that S knew that he needed to recycle his 3D glasses after!

After dropping him off, I decided to have dinner at Harvey’s one last time. Harvey’s is the best burger chain, featuring charbroiled patties and a counter where you can watch the servers add the toppings you want. I always get their veggie burger (mustard, relish, lots of tomato) with onion rings. The chain is starting pop up all over the country, but they are concentrated between Montreal and Ottawa. Since I won’t be back this way for a while, savouring one last Harvey’s burger was on my list!

Tonight, we went to my sister’s to celebrate S’s birthday as a family. My brother-in-law expressed disappointment that I’m leaving when the kids are getting so attached to me. Agreed, but even if I could return to a settled life, living in Quebec again is not an option. There’s no sense flogging that horse anymore or whatever the cliché is.

The schedule for the next few days is a little tight. I’m going to my sister’s in Sherbrooke for dinner tomorrow evening. I have plans with cousins on my dad’s side of the family Sunday. Monday is supposed to be a real gift, sunny and plus 15, so I need to do all my exterior prep on the rig. I called the shop this afternoon to ask if I can drop my truck off on Monday rather than first thing Tuesday. Definitely. I’m also going to bring them the tow bar instructions because there are some implications for the electrical setup.

As it turns out, I won’t be able to pick up the truck on Tuesday evening as the estimate is that it will take all day to get the base plate on. So I am expected first thing on Wednesday with the RV so that we have plenty of time to make sure I’m hooked up properly. I therefore need to reassess when I’ll be going out for propane, gas, and dumping, but I will probably be leaving directly from the shop on Wednesday. I only have 300km or so to do to Saratoga, so even a noon start out time and a couple of hours at the border would allow me to arrive at a reasonable hour, albeit in the dark. But that’s fine since I’ll be heading somewhere I’ve been before. Looking at the forecast for the next week or so, it seems that I’ll be leaving in perfect weather, so I don’t want to miss that window. I’d really rather just have a crazy hectic day on Wednesday and wake up across the border on Thursday.

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Has Anyone Driven Through Scranton Recently?

There is still a week before I pull out and I am going over my route for the first part of the journey. When I came north in the spring, I took I-81 to Hazleton PA, then I-80 eastbound to connect with the NY Thruway at Parsippany to avoid the uphill slog over the very rough road between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre.

Because of the mess from Hurricane Sandy, I am wondering if I’m better doing that downhill slog avoid getting anywhere near the current mess in the Tri-state area?

Road conditions on the Thruway are clear, so my gut is telling me to make sure I leave upstate New York with a full tank of gas and drive straight through to PA from Saratoga. But I’m hoping that there’s someone on the ground in that area to give me the real scoop on the most sensible route.

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My Tow Bar Is Here!!!

The Ready Brute Elite tow bar comes with an integrate surge brake, safety cables, a dashboard monitor, and clevis appropriate for the base plate to be used.

I am going to review all the installation information so that I can direct the shop and also check their work. It is really, really, really, really cold out these days, but I’m hoping to get a warm afternoon to run more cabling under the rig for the dashboard monitor. Every little thing I can do myself will save me big bucks at the shop.

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Not Begrudging a Rude Awakening

When the phone rang at 8:30 this morning, I knew it had to be the shop calling to let me know my base plate is in. It is! They wanted to install it on Thursday.

I called the Ready Brake folks (they’re great!) to confirm that my tow bar was shipped on the first as promised. It was, it has cleared customs no man’s land, is in Buffalo, and will be here Wednesday!

So if family stuff hadn’t been going on this weekend, I could have gone ahead and done the installation Thursday and left Friday. But I do want to make these two last family dinners, so I called the shop back and asked to move the appointment to Monday first thing. The best they could do is first thing Tuesday, which is fine, two days ahead of the previously set date, and a couple of days before the no street parking because of winter ordinance comes into effect. It’s also not a moment too soon as the weather has turned and the nights here are COLD!

So if all that goes smoothly, I’m pulling out on Wednesday the 14th, just under six months since my arrival!

I found both a dump station and propane right on the way to the shop, so I’ll go take care of those matters on Tuesday before going to pick up the truck and get the final adjustments made with the rig on site. As for gas, I’m only putting in enough to get across the border!

So, I have to be ready to pull out by mid-day Tuesday. I’ll park on the street Tuesday night and pull out Wednesday morning, probably a little later than I would have liked to let some of the morning traffic pass.

The border crossing will help me set my destination for Wednesday night. If I breeze through, then I might make a huge push and get to Pennsylvania. But I will more likely just go to Saratoga, even though that’s barely any distance, just to lessen the stress of driving my new rig for the first time.

I am concerned about potential hurricane devastation along my route, but a check of the roads indicates a clear path, even on the New York Thruway. As long as the weather holds, I should be fine. Thankfully, I’ll have a nice big buffer of time in case my plans get waylaid.

My biggest regret about this summer is that I didn’t get to go to Toronto. I would have liked to have gone east, too, but that was really a dream. At least, I got to see my family and friends from Toronto, so there’s that. No sense looking back. I am now looking ahead to that magical beloved moment when I cross the Mason-Dixon line and, just like that, spring will return to my world. It’ll be my fourth time and I bet it won’t get old any time soon!