Day # 24

We are home from our spectacular trip. After our Route 66 trip we had fun with a summary of trip facts. We will do that again for New England:

Adding Maine to our map.

Trip Facts - Just for Fun:

Number of days of travel: 24

Number of miles driven: 4,626

Number of states we visited: We drove through 6 states in addition to the states we actually toured, which were Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York. 

Number of new states visited: None for me, but two for Kaylyn and Miss Marshmallow: Rhode Island and Maine. 

Cheapest gas: $3.78 in Vermont. Most expensive: $4.15 in Connecticut.

Average mpg of truck: about 13

Number of nights in campgrounds: 15 sequential nights at 9 different campgrounds

Number of nights we ran the heater in the camper: 14

Average price of campgrounds: $37.65 (Oddest discount - one campground gave us 10% off because Kaylyn is a nurse!)

Amount spent on admissions and tours: (this is a nasty one!) $839, which includes three higher priced items, the Whale Watching ($118), the all-day bus tour of Boston ($124) and the cog up Mt. Washington ($124) for the two of us.

Number of days we had no lunch! 9 days - we were busy trying to get as much done as we could!

Forms of pumpkin Kaylyn ate: pudding, pancakes, donuts, whoopie pie, muffin.

Number of bakeries we visited: 4

Favorite day: in Acadia, the day we went Whale Watching, climbed along the precipice on the Beehive Trail, then had afternoon tea at Jordan Tea House. Kaylyn's favorite place we visited on this trip was Acadia.

Favorite meal of the trip: Breakfast at Polly's Pancake Parlor in Franconia, NH

In retrospect, a few of our favorite activities were:
- the behind-the-scenes Servants' Tour at the Elms in Newport, RI;
- the demonstration on how glass is made at the Sandwich Museum on Cape Cod;
- attending Water Fire in Providence, RI;
- touring the Louisa May Alcott House and Mark Twain houses because we learned the stories of the families who lived there;
- the changing leaves in the Green Mountains of New Hampshire;
- and the grandeur of Niagara Falls.

Oddest tour: Wilson Castle in Vermont.

The most popular girl in our party: Miss Marshmallow.

The travel book Kaylyn liked the most was New England, published by the Lonely Planet.

Our Thanks:

To Greg, who stayed home and worked to pay for gas and admissions and campgrounds, and enthusiastically listened each night as we recounted our day's adventures.
To my cousin David and his wife Rebecca who so kindly hosted us for three days.
To Miss Marshmallow, who held together and gave us a warm place to cook, sit and sleep.
To our truck, who with 220,000 miles on it didn't give us a moment of trouble.
To those who followed our blog and gave us positive feedback - particularly Mr. Marshall and Diane.
To our Lord, who has orchestrated our lives in such a way that this mother and daughter could spend three weeks together, marveling at His creation, and enjoying just being together.

Day # 23

I didn’t think I would have anything to write about today. It was just a day to drive west…

We left the motel room and were soon at the border crossing into Canada. Our plan was to cross from Niagara Falls, New York to Michigan through Ontario rather than on I-90 in Ohio – a trip we have done seemingly hundreds of times, and find rather boring.

I handed the border crossing agent our passports. He asked where we were going – I told him just across to Michigan. Then he asked, “What are you carrying?” Now how in the world do I answer that question? Kaylyn and I have been traveling for three weeks and we have all manner of stuff in the truck and trailer. Does he want to hear about our travel brochures… dirty laundry… assortment of zip-lock bags (how did people ever travel before zip-lock bags?)… towels and sheets… cameras… knitting projects… chocolate supply??? I hesitated, then answered, “Food and clothing.” That was enough, he let us through. Maybe he was watching more for my response than what I actually said…

We continued on. I drove, Kaylyn fell asleep. The truck was quiet, which was a good thing. Then I perceived a very faint, low-sounding “hummm,” and associated the sound with our rig. I immediately crossed lanes and pulled off the highway. When I looked in the side mirror I saw the source of the sound. The driver’s side tire on Miss Marshmallow was flattened, and it was smoky from the heat generated by the flopping tire on the road. Apparently it went flat rather quickly and completely.  

By now Kaylyn was awake. She wanted us to change the tire ourselves. We called Greg – mindful that because we were in Canada the cell phone call was expensive – who told her that we needed to call AAA, not consider changing it ourselves. He was right.

So, the blessings that we thank the Lord for:

-I heard the very soft sound and moved over right away before there was any damage to Miss Marshmallow.

- - we were right next to an on-ramp, so I was able to pull completely off the highway with an on-ramp lane separating us from traffic

- - we were on a hard surface at the edge of the road, not gravel

- - we had a GPS so we could tell the tow truck driver exactly where we were. Have you had this happen? Some years ago we were driving to Florida and suddenly a car went off the road ahead of us. The driver was OK. I grabbed my cell phone to call for help, and realized I didn’t have a clue where we were except on I-65 somewhere in Alabama. Fortunately a local person also stopped, and called in the location. When I pulled over today, I had no idea where we were except the route we were on… and somewhere in Ontario!

- -  we had a brand new spare tire on the back, purchased at Fleet Farm before we left, and mounted on the rim

- - we got an upgrade to our AAA before the trip which covers the trailer and it was good in Canada!

The flat tire.

Within about half an hour a tow truck with its flashing yellow lights was sitting behind us, and a kindly Mr. Roadside Assistance was taking off the tire, which had cooled down by now. He jacked up the trailer and struggled to remove the flattened tire, finally succeeding.

Can't get the tire in place.

Then the trouble began. The fiberglass body of Miss Marshmallow hangs quite low, with great modesty, and the axle is up high. Mr. Roadside Assistance could not get the new tire on the axle  Poor Miss Marshmallow, already suffering the indignity of being stuck beside the road, was now hoisted up to quite improper heights so Mr. Roadside could get the tire on. He wrestled, she held on to what little decorum she had left. The battle went on. Mr. Roadside would try a different approach, then stop to think again. Several times Mr. Roadside repeated the sequence of letting more air out of the spare tire, maneuvering the tire in a new way, and then sitting back and scratching his head while he considered his next strategy.

He finally decided that two heads are better than one, and called for help. While he waited for another truck, he chatted with us. He told us about a trip he had taken to Newfoundland to see his wife’s hometown. He also told us that he is the tire technician at his place of work, he doesn’t know that someone else will have a solution that he hasn’t tried. That was not encouraging!

Two heads are better than one.

After awhile another truck arrived and Mr. Roadside II jumped out. With two men working on the project success was finally attained! I teased Mr. Roadside that if he gets another call for a Scamp, he might not want to take the call! He agreed.

So Miss Marshmallow was gently lowered so her skirts were in the proper place and her dignity restored. We were on the road again, after a two-hour delay.

We arrived at Chandler and Brianna’s house in Grand Rapids, Michigan later than expected, but intact. Chandler is on a film job in Detroit, we enjoyed an evening with Brianna and her sister Kyla. Tomorrow we will be home.