Today is a two-fer day. After being away for over a week I am posting twice in one day. Yay for me!

The funeral is over and my Dad laid to rest so perhaps it is now appropriate to tallk about our trip up there. It was our first trip in Merlin the Motor Home. We had her in at the garage to make sure that she would be able to make the trip to Ottawa and back so, off we went.

We got as far as the first gas stop before the first thing happened that caused our eyebrows to raise. When we stopped the engine to fill the gas tank we noticed that coolant was flowing out onto the pavement in front of the vehicle. The service station was right next to a Ford dealer so we were able to get an expert’s diagnosis immediately. First off there was no expansion tank for the radiator which according to the Ford mechanic was the way it came from the factory. Apparently, as long as the coolant level int he radiator wasn’t too high there would be no loss when we stop the engine. Hmmm?! Well, I wasn’t having any of that and as soon as I could I got an expansion tank from a junkyard and put it in. No more fluid loss. Funny thing that! Regardless, the engine never overheated on the entire trip even when there was the loss.

We took the ferry across the Bay of Fundy from Digby to Saint John, a three hour trip which cost $220 for the RV and two people. Given that the trip from Shelburne to Digby was the same as the one from Shelburne to Halifax they cancel each other out, but Halifax to Saint John is four + hours, so we saved ourselves an hour in travel time. The cost of the ferry was about the same as the fuel for the vehicle so it was a net gain. Once in Saint John we overnighted at our daughter’s place and loaded both her and her dog onto Merlin and set off ont he next phase of our trip. The dog was unexpected but he stayed in his crate while we were underway so it really wasn’t an imposition.

We had decided to travel through the USA rather than on the Trans Canada. The travel time was going to be about the same but the cost of fuel in the US was 1/3 cheaper even counting the smaller gallon size. A fill up in Canada was around $140 while in the US it was $90. Well worth the route. We also like traveling in the US especially on the back roads. Small town America is really a neat place, collectively. I had just confirmed with Barb that the insurance on the vehicle included collision since I was seeing moose warning signs every couple of miles when I looked up in a farmyard and there was an adolescent cow moose who decided to race us along the side of the road and try to cut across the highway in front of us. Fortunately she ran out of running room and had to cut back into the barnyard so we avoided an accident. It did make me realize that I wasn’t going to be doing any driving after dark in that region. I wanted enough time to react if there were any more around.

We drove through Maine and New Hampshire and had just cut into Vermont when the GPS routed us north and just as it got dark we were through customs and back into Canada, the home of the high gas prices. We pulled into a roadside rest stop in a small Quebec town, walked the dogs and bedded down for the night. Next day we managed to get to Montreal in time for morning rush hour – what fun! Right then and there we decided that on our trip back we were going to do what we could to bypass that slice of jocularity.

We got into Ottawa by 1130 and paid our respect to my father and helped to console Mom. I guess most of us go through that at some point in our lives so there isn’t much I can say about that. My brother and I are quite lucky that we have had our Mum and Dad with us for as long as we did. To complain of Dad’s passing at this point would just be selfish.

The return trip was pretty much the same except we avoided Montreal but managed to find a bridge over a small river that had an overhead that wouldn’t permit us through. Fortunately there was a fellow in a car coming the other way that stopped traffic to allow us to back up and go around. Nice of him, especially a he came in for some abuse from some other drivers who objected to being held up for 30 seconds.

The trip gave us a good idea of the gas milage on Merlin – 10-12 mpg, and another list of things that we are going to have done to her as soon as we get back to Shelburne:

1. We are going to change the air filter and see if that improves the mileage
2. We are looking for a rebuilt, more efficient carb to see if that does anything for the mileage (if we can afford it)
3. We are getting a specialist to look at the propane portion of the fridge and water heater
4. We are either adding another spring to the rear suspension or putting an air bag system in
5. We are adding a transmission cooler to the engine
6. I have four 12VDC 30 watt solar panels that I will be adding to the roof. They should give me 8-10 Amps charge on a sunny day

The other thing that the trip gave us is a taste for more, particularly up to Ottawa to look in on my Mum. Her whole life has just changed and I’d like to make sure that she is making out OK. My brother is living with her, but he needs a break occasionally. We are going to head up at the end of November and link up with our son in Kingston before proceeding on to Ottawa. We may even be able to convince our daughter to make the trip again. Other than the unhappy reason for the last trip, I think that she enjoyed the journey.