Quebec

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Sneak Peek of My New Tow Setup

I didn’t get out of the shop until almost four, so please forgive me for not having the strength to unpack my computer and camera to post a proper introduction to my new tow system. 🙂

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The tow setup was done by the fine folks at Horizon Lussier in Marieville. I am thrilled with the level of care and attention they provided to make sure I was properly set up. They were extremely communicative and took the time to read all the information provided by Ready Brake.

Without going into too much pictureless detail, I can see a few advantages to my new setup, notably that I don’t have to open the hood to make the electrical connection and that I don’t have to get into the RV and move ahead a little to tug on the bar to get it to engage.

I’ve decided to start dropping the toad more often to get fuel with just the motorhome and I think the new setup will lighten my workload a little.

I was told that I should, in theory, start and run the engine on the toad before towing, something I never did with my Accent, but will be doing now.

For the drive back to my mother’s, I did both highway and town driving, merged lanes, went up and down a hill, and stopped a little suddenly. I can definitely feel the truck behind me, especially when I stop after going downhill, but Miranda seems to be handling the extra weight just fine.

I’m going to wait till I speak with my insurance company before sharing how much it cost get me set up properly and legally. Let’s just say my estimates were much more accurate than theirs.

I feel very comfortable heading out tomorrow!

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One Little Issue After An Other

I’ve been at the shop since about 8:30 this morning and it is presently 12:15. Everyone’s on lunch and there is about an hour of work left to do when they come back. So I will be going back to my mother’s for just one more night and leaving tomorrow morning.

One of the first issues encountered today is that I have a non-standard hitch. I’m not sure if this is the one I originally had or if Boisvert Ford replaced it. Thankfully, it was possible to grind down the tow bar safely to make it fit.

Second, the electrical wiring that goes from the rig to the toad was not inspected by Boisvert and was completely toast. I blame myself for this because I kept telling myself to ask for the wiring to be checked and always forgot to.

Needless to say, the costs keep mounting. I’m going to send Intact, the toad insurers, all the information tonight and hope that they will honour their written promise to make up any excess costs beyond what I was already given for the tow setup.

I’m now waiting for my lunch. As always on (semi) departure days, my stomach is in knots, but I’m trying to break the habit of landing somewhere with my blood sugar levels at zero.

If I didn’t have the uncertainty of the border crossing ahead of me, a 2:00 departure with landing in waning daylight in a familiar location would have been fine, but I’ll be glad to leave feeling more refreshed tomorrow.

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Decent Pulling Out Weather

This morning, I backed Miranda out onto the street so I could take her out for a spin. She was a little tough to start, but once we were under way, she ran smoothly. I had no trouble restarting her after each stop. I had a lot on my list, but the morning wasn’t stressful in the least and I felt very comfortable behind the wheel.

The weather is damp and cold with a promise of weak sun. Not ideal weather for outdoor activities, but better than the pouring rain I had in Lethbridge!

First stop was the dump station. An attendant came out to tell me they had turned off the water, but I could still dump. Thankfully, I had several gallon jugs of tap water on board for rinsing my hose and the dump site.

I let the attendant know that I filled up my truck there this week as a thank you for offering this dump site. The station isn’t that well situated for gassing up an RV so I had already decided to get fuel elsewhere.

Next, I drove to Richelieu to get propane, which cost $80 for a fill at almost 90 cents per litre. More expensive than out west, but still cheaper than in the States.

Then, it was time to find a gas station and the Esso in Chambly was the best choice even if fuel was just over $1.30 a litre. Gas in New York state is over $4 a gallon right now, so it wasn’t worth having to stress out about getting gas with my new longer rig the second I crossed the border. I’ll top up around Saratoga.

I got back to my mother’s and parked in front of the house, then borrowed her car to go to the bank. There, I deposited a cheque and took out 200USD.

This afternoon, I need to buy my supplemental health coverage. I got quotes for this ranging from $300 to $600 for the same coverage! I’ll write up a post about that once I’ve purchased a policy.

I haven’t heard from the shop, so I assume my baseplate installation is going well. I may get out of here tomorrow…

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Everything Is Going Off With a Hitch

I didn’t get Miranda out of the driveway today, but I’m otherwise on schedule for a Wednesday departure.

Three things delayed me today:

1) needing to figure out how to load my new toad (could be improved)

2) having to pass a wire from the back of the rig to the dash (will explain this when I show off the tow bar set up)

3) the shortness of the day (it’s dark at 4:00 here now)

The very warm weather was a real blessing. I would have liked comparable weather for my running around tomorrow, but I’ll take what I can get.

I dropped off my truck off at the shop at 3:30 and gave instructions for the tow bar stuff. Most of that will be done first thing Wednesday when the RV is there, too. They say the baseplate setup and electrical installation will take a full day.

If all the work is done by noon Wednesday, I’ll leave from the shop and head for Saratoga Springs. Otherwise, I’ll delay departure for Thursday morning.

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Broken Promises of the Driving in Montreal Sort

All summer, I managed to avoid any serious driving in Montreal. Today, I made up for that in spades!

I had a lunch date with one cousin and a dinner date with another. Lunch was on the east side of town and dinner on the west side of town. The west side drive wasn’t scary; I barely consider Lasalle to be in Montreal even if it’s on the island and officially part of the city. But the east side drive was a little worrisome as I would be taking the Jacques-Cartier bridge and going into the heart of the city to the Plateau sector, an artsy and bustling part of Montreal with lots of narrow one-way streets that is one of the mostly densely populated neighbourhoods in Canada. Great place to live. Horrible place to drive and park!

Surprisingly, my GPS cooperated and took me straight to my cousin’s. Her street had cars parked on both sides. The road was so narrow that a delivery truck the width of my RV could not squeeze through and ended up having to back out. My truck had about a foot clearance on each side. I was kicking myself for not having looked for municipal parking on a busier street when I found a nice clear section of open street that looked very tempting. I tucked myself along the curb and then went to read every single parking sign on the block. They were confusing, but it looked like I was clear to park where I was till 3:00PM, which was ample time. Great! I found parking, I was early, and now I just had to find my cousin’s building. I glanced at the address in front of which I was parked to get my bearings. Oh! This was her building! I had found parking right at her door! Something had to be wrong and I reread the parking signs one more time to be sure. I was fine! Talk about good luck!

It was nice to catch up and meet my cousin’s daughters. They have a menagerie of animals and I found myself accosted by one of their friendly cats before having a ginormous bunny plopped into my lap! I had rabbits when I was really, really young, so I couldn’t remember what they were like. Basically cats with giant ears and back paws. Very cute!

Our visit done, I carefully navigated my way out of my suddenly tight parking spot as someone had parked behind me, then I almost painlessly drove out of the neighbourhood and onto the autoroute to cross town. Almost because it’s illegal to turn right on a red light on the island of Montreal and people behind me were adamant that I risk a ticket to save them a few minutes. *shakes head*

I was a little early for my dinner engagement, so I stopped at the Angrignon Walmart to pick up some cat litter and salad fixings for dinner. Lasalle is now part of Montreal, but it feels more like suburbia, so driving around there is a non-issue. Parking on her street was another matter, however, as both sides were crammed with cars. I squeezed into a gap then had a glance at yet another confusing parking sign. It looked like I was clear. Great, now find the address, which surely had to be the only one with a lit porch that just happened to be across from my truck! I must owe the parking gods a goat by now!

Dinner with this cousin and her son was another lovely catching up affair. She does something I find very interesting; hosting foreign exchange students. I wouldn’t have the personality for that if I had a settled life, but it seems like a nice fit for her and she gets to meet students from all over the world.

I thought that getting home from her place would be a cinch as she is very near the Mercier bridge and I could get to my mother’s from that bridge with my eyes closed, but I forgot about that wonderful Montreal construction. The bridge had only one lane open in each direction and there was a detour to access the open lane. I missed one of the detour signs, but in trying to inexplicably reroute me to the Champlain bridge, my GPS got me back on the detour route. It might be slightly longer in mileage to take Mercier than Champlain from that area, but it’s an easier drive and generally quicker timewise.

It’s been a rich full day. Now that I have seen just about everyone I wanted to see on this trip, it’s time to get into packing mode. The plan is to pull out with Miranda tomorrow and then park her on the street. My truck goes into the shop in the afternoon. Things are going so smoothly, but I’m not waiting for the other shoes to drop. I think I’ve earned an easy pull out…