Hello everyone!
We have a new website! Please visit www.alsacrosscanada.com for any and all future updates and blogs.
Thanks for reading.
Aaron.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Can We Go Home Now!?!
Well, it’s just after midnight and I guess we didn’t wish, hope, pray (whatever) hard enough to make the ferry. Not only did we miss it, we are still 2 ½ hours away. Currently we are in a strip mall parking lot where we will mostly spend the night before heading off at 5am in order to make the 9am ferry (we have to be there no later than 8am or else they cancel our reservation).
The driving conditions became far too dangerous for us to be on the road. (you know, late at night and rain pouring down with no functioning wipers) and to top it off we realized we were never going to make the ferry on time anyway. So, we did the only thing we could and that was to stop. Working hard and fast to solve the problems we faced, we made calls and talked with locals all the while holding on to a shred of hope we could get out of here with a fixed Gord-mobile. But alas, that was not meant to be. We cried, we swore, I think I threw something and then we notified our team about our situation. With heavy hearts we dragged our tired bodies into a local pizza place and drowned our sorrows in a slice and a brew.
It’s funny how a little time and some food can really change your mood. With lifted spirits and a new sense of hope we decided to move the Gord-mobile to a better location, preferably one with internet access and a holding tank disposal. We were told there was an RV park a few kilometers away so we packed up and hit the road. Barely into the driveway we heard hissing and before we could do or say anything the entire cabin was filling with radiator steam. We had overheated and blown the cap off the radiator, which of course made for a nice bubbling fountain that would give Old Faithful a run for her money. So it is here that we lay dead in the water, unable to a thing about it until 8am when the repair shop opens, a tip we got from a very nice man named Kevin from Dewolfe Towing here in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. We are truly frustrated and very disappointed.
So the sum of our current situation is this:
1. we need the belt replaced ASAP, it controls the hydraulic park brake, the wipers, the radiator circulation system, and who knows what else
2. we need to make the 9am ferry (let’s be honest here…that ain’t gonna happen!)
3. we need to be in St. John’s by Thursday morning for us to make our first event and to not totally mess up the schedule
4. since it is physically impossible to achieve item #2 above, we need to get this old jalopy in running condition so we can make the next ferry which is at 3pm tomorrow.
It’s currently 3am, we are all still up and have been since 5am this morning. And although we watched the Gord-mobile steam its way to a complete stop, stranding us here, we STILL have hope of getting out of here tomorrow so we can finally join up with our team and “start” this journey. Fingers crossed that tomorrow is a better day!
-jeannie
The driving conditions became far too dangerous for us to be on the road. (you know, late at night and rain pouring down with no functioning wipers) and to top it off we realized we were never going to make the ferry on time anyway. So, we did the only thing we could and that was to stop. Working hard and fast to solve the problems we faced, we made calls and talked with locals all the while holding on to a shred of hope we could get out of here with a fixed Gord-mobile. But alas, that was not meant to be. We cried, we swore, I think I threw something and then we notified our team about our situation. With heavy hearts we dragged our tired bodies into a local pizza place and drowned our sorrows in a slice and a brew.
It’s funny how a little time and some food can really change your mood. With lifted spirits and a new sense of hope we decided to move the Gord-mobile to a better location, preferably one with internet access and a holding tank disposal. We were told there was an RV park a few kilometers away so we packed up and hit the road. Barely into the driveway we heard hissing and before we could do or say anything the entire cabin was filling with radiator steam. We had overheated and blown the cap off the radiator, which of course made for a nice bubbling fountain that would give Old Faithful a run for her money. So it is here that we lay dead in the water, unable to a thing about it until 8am when the repair shop opens, a tip we got from a very nice man named Kevin from Dewolfe Towing here in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. We are truly frustrated and very disappointed.
So the sum of our current situation is this:
1. we need the belt replaced ASAP, it controls the hydraulic park brake, the wipers, the radiator circulation system, and who knows what else
2. we need to make the 9am ferry (let’s be honest here…that ain’t gonna happen!)
3. we need to be in St. John’s by Thursday morning for us to make our first event and to not totally mess up the schedule
4. since it is physically impossible to achieve item #2 above, we need to get this old jalopy in running condition so we can make the next ferry which is at 3pm tomorrow.
It’s currently 3am, we are all still up and have been since 5am this morning. And although we watched the Gord-mobile steam its way to a complete stop, stranding us here, we STILL have hope of getting out of here tomorrow so we can finally join up with our team and “start” this journey. Fingers crossed that tomorrow is a better day!
-jeannie
Oh Canada….
Thank the gods of Kobal, we have finally made it home…well sort of, we are back in Canada, just on the other side!!! You have never seen 3 more happy people than we are right now! Even though we are on a tight schedule (we have to be at the ferry dock no later than 10:30pm and it’s a 7 hour drive…the current time is 3:30pm!) our spirits are high and we are merrily (and singingly) cruising down the highway in New Brunswick. In spite of how our day ended yesterday, we are all feeling positive and looking forward to starting our “real” adventure, which is now dubbed “phase 2”!!
Well, that good feeling was short lived! Day 5 and yet another problem with the Gord-mobile. As we were beating feet to make our way to the ferry on time we noticed bits of black stuff flying out of the heater vents. Along with this strange dust material was the smell of overheating radiator. We decided to remove the engine cover (while driving of course…remember we are on a very tight schedule) to see what the heck was going on. Then we realized that the black dust was actually bits of the air pump belt that had disintegrated and the smell was that of burning rubber. At this point a quiet hush fell upon us as we all contemplated what to do next. We quickly put in a call to our mechanic in Vancouver and he talked us through our problem, which as it turns out, is not considered critical. We are going to make a run for the ferry (now with only minutes to spare) which is 3 hours away. We will deal with the repairs when we get to Newfoundland.
An interesting side note here is that this morning when we took off from Massachusetts Lisa had this great idea that we should take shorter shifts, only driving about 3 hours each since we are all starting to feel fatigued. Glen and I have only had 1 shift each because upon Lisa’s taking over she has had a death grip on the steering wheel and is hell bent for the ferry. She keeps muttering something about her Nan and ditching us in Newfoundland. I think she might be serious!!
So raise a drink, say a prayer, and have some hope that we make this ferry!
-jeannie
Ps. Did I mention that the windshield wipers stopped working again, and it’s currently raining. No time to stop….must make ferry…..thankfully it’s windy enough that it helps push the water off the windshield (and don’t even ask us about what happened with the ice scrapper). Oh yeah…did I also mention that it’s dark….
Well, that good feeling was short lived! Day 5 and yet another problem with the Gord-mobile. As we were beating feet to make our way to the ferry on time we noticed bits of black stuff flying out of the heater vents. Along with this strange dust material was the smell of overheating radiator. We decided to remove the engine cover (while driving of course…remember we are on a very tight schedule) to see what the heck was going on. Then we realized that the black dust was actually bits of the air pump belt that had disintegrated and the smell was that of burning rubber. At this point a quiet hush fell upon us as we all contemplated what to do next. We quickly put in a call to our mechanic in Vancouver and he talked us through our problem, which as it turns out, is not considered critical. We are going to make a run for the ferry (now with only minutes to spare) which is 3 hours away. We will deal with the repairs when we get to Newfoundland.
An interesting side note here is that this morning when we took off from Massachusetts Lisa had this great idea that we should take shorter shifts, only driving about 3 hours each since we are all starting to feel fatigued. Glen and I have only had 1 shift each because upon Lisa’s taking over she has had a death grip on the steering wheel and is hell bent for the ferry. She keeps muttering something about her Nan and ditching us in Newfoundland. I think she might be serious!!
So raise a drink, say a prayer, and have some hope that we make this ferry!
-jeannie
Ps. Did I mention that the windshield wipers stopped working again, and it’s currently raining. No time to stop….must make ferry…..thankfully it’s windy enough that it helps push the water off the windshield (and don’t even ask us about what happened with the ice scrapper). Oh yeah…did I also mention that it’s dark….
New York, New York….New York???
Why the hell is New York so big? It’s day 4 and after 7 hours of driving and we are only in Albany. I wonder why so many people live in New York City, cuz there is plenty of space in upstate NY!!
We have been doing some calculations and have just realized that we are going to miss the ferry from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland tomorrow morning. It’s a real disappointment to us all, knowing how hard we pushed ourselves to make it here on time, only to realize we will not only miss the ferry by about 1 hour, but also we will be delayed in Nova Scotia until the next ferry which departs at 11:30pm, only a mere 11 hour wait. The worst part is, that once on the ferry it’s an 8 hour crossing followed by another 10 hours of driving, putting us in the St. John’s area Wed. night…only 2 days later than we had originally planned. We are all tired and feeling a bit frustrated, there is a general feeling of “whatever” in the air. It’s a bit sad also since Lisa really wanted to spend some time with her grandma (Nan) and the rest of her family, who has been looking forward to her arrival for 2 weeks now. The other 4 members of our team will be in St. John’s tonight and will hit the ground tomorrow without us, working on the logistics of our first event. Our hearts are a bit heavy as we feel trapped in the Gord-mobile unable to do anything but drive! Big sigh….
By-the-way….we are still in New York!
Right, so things have just gone from bad to worse. The Gord-mobile can’t take any more abuse for the moment. The temperature gage is reading nearly maxed so to prevent us from overheating we have the heater cranked and have reduced our speed to 70k. While searching for a place to pull off the road and let the Gord-mobile cool down for a couple of hours we ran into numerous problems…first we tried turning around on the highway, which not only did NOT work, but we also managed to jack-knife the trailer all while blocking 2 lanes of traffic. Remember how I said we had the heater on…well that combined with the stress of being jack-knifed caused the tension in this rectangle tomb with wheels to reach about a level 80 on the stress-o-meter. But somehow we pulled it together and managed to free ourselves from the jam we got into.
You would think things would get better, but no. We had to make 3 attempts at getting into the gas station, and while going the wrong way down a little side street (only for ½ a block) we managed to jack-knife the trailer…yet again! Only a mere 10 minutes since the last incident. No one really said much while we pumped gas and quietly loathed New York and our current situation. While trying to return to the highway and find a decent place to let our beast rest, we were nearly taken out by a semi-truck as we drifted into his lane by accident. This was due to us trying to make ourselves feel better (and cooler) we all began eating freezy pops and then decided to film a segment for the movie. Let’s just say that things didn’t work out like we planned. Not to worry to all the parents who might be reading this…I promise you that your children are all fine and taken care of!!
We are finally on our way to Massachusetts and have decided to lighten the mood by singing Newfie songs, my person favorite is “Donkey Riding” which Lisa has challenged me to learn all the lyrics to before getting to Newfoundland! So for now we are going to sit back and relax (with seat backs and tray tables in their full and upright position) sing some songs, have a laugh, and remember why we are doing this!
-jeannie
We have been doing some calculations and have just realized that we are going to miss the ferry from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland tomorrow morning. It’s a real disappointment to us all, knowing how hard we pushed ourselves to make it here on time, only to realize we will not only miss the ferry by about 1 hour, but also we will be delayed in Nova Scotia until the next ferry which departs at 11:30pm, only a mere 11 hour wait. The worst part is, that once on the ferry it’s an 8 hour crossing followed by another 10 hours of driving, putting us in the St. John’s area Wed. night…only 2 days later than we had originally planned. We are all tired and feeling a bit frustrated, there is a general feeling of “whatever” in the air. It’s a bit sad also since Lisa really wanted to spend some time with her grandma (Nan) and the rest of her family, who has been looking forward to her arrival for 2 weeks now. The other 4 members of our team will be in St. John’s tonight and will hit the ground tomorrow without us, working on the logistics of our first event. Our hearts are a bit heavy as we feel trapped in the Gord-mobile unable to do anything but drive! Big sigh….
By-the-way….we are still in New York!
Right, so things have just gone from bad to worse. The Gord-mobile can’t take any more abuse for the moment. The temperature gage is reading nearly maxed so to prevent us from overheating we have the heater cranked and have reduced our speed to 70k. While searching for a place to pull off the road and let the Gord-mobile cool down for a couple of hours we ran into numerous problems…first we tried turning around on the highway, which not only did NOT work, but we also managed to jack-knife the trailer all while blocking 2 lanes of traffic. Remember how I said we had the heater on…well that combined with the stress of being jack-knifed caused the tension in this rectangle tomb with wheels to reach about a level 80 on the stress-o-meter. But somehow we pulled it together and managed to free ourselves from the jam we got into.
You would think things would get better, but no. We had to make 3 attempts at getting into the gas station, and while going the wrong way down a little side street (only for ½ a block) we managed to jack-knife the trailer…yet again! Only a mere 10 minutes since the last incident. No one really said much while we pumped gas and quietly loathed New York and our current situation. While trying to return to the highway and find a decent place to let our beast rest, we were nearly taken out by a semi-truck as we drifted into his lane by accident. This was due to us trying to make ourselves feel better (and cooler) we all began eating freezy pops and then decided to film a segment for the movie. Let’s just say that things didn’t work out like we planned. Not to worry to all the parents who might be reading this…I promise you that your children are all fine and taken care of!!
We are finally on our way to Massachusetts and have decided to lighten the mood by singing Newfie songs, my person favorite is “Donkey Riding” which Lisa has challenged me to learn all the lyrics to before getting to Newfoundland! So for now we are going to sit back and relax (with seat backs and tray tables in their full and upright position) sing some songs, have a laugh, and remember why we are doing this!
-jeannie
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Road Rules
My driving shift is over which means I get to enjoy a nice cold beer! We have found a great system of drinking either iced coffees or red bulls (on occasion 1 of each) during your driving shift to keep you awake. Then when you are finished you get to treat yourself to a couple of beers to help make you tired so can go to sleep. Sounds a bit nutty, but it works. We finally made it to Wisconsin and we are hoping to be in Chicago in 3-4 hours. We are already gaining support of the biker community, especially the Harley owners, they often times gives us a wave as they pass us by.
On a completely different subject…you would think that crossing the Mississippi River would be quite exciting (especially after being landlocked for so long) but it paled in comparison the delicious sandwiches that Lisa made us for lunch! They were quite possibly the worlds best…either that or we were just thankful that we didn’t have to eat fast food or anything pre-made! Taking the time to buy some groceries was a brilliant idea!
Later that day…
Day 3 and we FINALLY got to take a shower!! We are incredibly thankful to Robin’s parents, Christa and Al who live in Chicago, for the warm hospitality, the awesome food, and the most incredible shower ever!! You can’t even imagine how grateful we are to them, especially since we didn’t leave there until midnight. Freshly showered and bellies full we hit the road with a certain spring in our step. Things are really starting to look up for us. We are making good time and have been really lucky not to get stuck in any major traffic. We are taking all the city bypass routes in order to save time, and aside from a few construction zones we are traveling along at 100k. It’s time for me to try and get some shut eye before my driving shift…next stop…Ohio!
Michigan….????
Okay, it’s 3:00am and we finally made it to Michigan! Only here’s the catch…we aren’t supposed to BE in Michigan!! Lisa and I went to sleep and left Glen alone at the helm. Now the funny thing is that I left Glen with the driving directions just before heading off to bed. He even repeated them back to me….Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania….so why is it when I woke up at 3am and asked where we were, Glen replies “Michigan” and then proceeded to tell me that Michigan was on the route. Oh, it’s on A route, just not OUR route! Anyway, after pulling out the map again, we were indeed heading in a north-easterly direction which would take us hours out of the way and totally mess us up time wise. In the end, we found a way back to Indiana and to the I-90 east to Ohio. We lost about an hour and a half but gained so much in experience and map reading skills, and let’s not forget that Glen and Lisa got to go to another state they had never been to before!
-jeannie
On a completely different subject…you would think that crossing the Mississippi River would be quite exciting (especially after being landlocked for so long) but it paled in comparison the delicious sandwiches that Lisa made us for lunch! They were quite possibly the worlds best…either that or we were just thankful that we didn’t have to eat fast food or anything pre-made! Taking the time to buy some groceries was a brilliant idea!
Later that day…
Day 3 and we FINALLY got to take a shower!! We are incredibly thankful to Robin’s parents, Christa and Al who live in Chicago, for the warm hospitality, the awesome food, and the most incredible shower ever!! You can’t even imagine how grateful we are to them, especially since we didn’t leave there until midnight. Freshly showered and bellies full we hit the road with a certain spring in our step. Things are really starting to look up for us. We are making good time and have been really lucky not to get stuck in any major traffic. We are taking all the city bypass routes in order to save time, and aside from a few construction zones we are traveling along at 100k. It’s time for me to try and get some shut eye before my driving shift…next stop…Ohio!
Michigan….????
Okay, it’s 3:00am and we finally made it to Michigan! Only here’s the catch…we aren’t supposed to BE in Michigan!! Lisa and I went to sleep and left Glen alone at the helm. Now the funny thing is that I left Glen with the driving directions just before heading off to bed. He even repeated them back to me….Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania….so why is it when I woke up at 3am and asked where we were, Glen replies “Michigan” and then proceeded to tell me that Michigan was on the route. Oh, it’s on A route, just not OUR route! Anyway, after pulling out the map again, we were indeed heading in a north-easterly direction which would take us hours out of the way and totally mess us up time wise. In the end, we found a way back to Indiana and to the I-90 east to Ohio. We lost about an hour and a half but gained so much in experience and map reading skills, and let’s not forget that Glen and Lisa got to go to another state they had never been to before!
-jeannie
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Say Hello to Minnesota!
Day 3 and we are finally in Minnesota, only about 7 hours to Chicago. We finally found a campground that has propane which we were in desperate need of. The fridge needs fuel to keep our newly bought food nice and fresh. We were at a critical low, but now have found an excellent source for replenishing. The best news is that the nice folks here, Frank and Melinda, the owners of a great Koa campsite in Jackson, Minnesota kindly donated the propane to us. THANK YOU so much for your kindness and generosity, we truly appreciate it!
With that said, i gotta fly...back to the road so we can make it to Chicago (and that shower!)
-jeannie
With that said, i gotta fly...back to the road so we can make it to Chicago (and that shower!)
-jeannie
Day 2...So long Montana!
We finally made it out of Montana and now we are in beautiful Wyoming! Actually, it all looks the same. We are hoping to make it to Chicago tomorrow afternoon for several reasons including: 1. Chicago is about ½ way (which is good news for us!) 2. we are going to Robin’s parents house, where we are hoping to finally take a shower and also eat some “real” food and to pick up additional camera gear and of course 3. at least we are not in Montana any more. So far the trip is going well considering the horrible start we had. We are each taking shifts of about 6 hours of driving. We also have a rule that 3 people can not be awake at the same time, expect for late afternoon, early evening which we have dubbed "cross-over time". On your “off” time you can eat, and sleep and that’s about it. So far we can only manage to sleep for 2 hours at a time before being woken up by noise or bouncy road conditions. Mostly we are living on a series of naps and snacks. We have been stopping for a “major” meal once a day and of course we stop whenever we need gas. Based on what happened in Seattle we start looking for gas when the gage reads ½ a tank so that we never run the gage down lower than between ½ and ¼ tank. Mind you, we were smart this time and have pre-filled both gas cans just in case.
Today has gone smoothly as we have been rolling the whole time and have not had any difficulties with equipment or near break downs, except for the time when the windshield wipers quit working. That was…fun! We pulled over and managed to get them fixed in about 10 minutes. Oh yeah, and the side mirror…that kept falling forward and sideways which was really no help in changing lanes to the right hand side. So that was a quick pit stop as well, just enough time to get out the tools and tighten up the screw holding the mirror in place. Other than a few gas stops and our latest stop at the super Walmart in Sheridan, Wyoming (now we can make food in the Gord-mobile) we have been running non stop. We have also decided to "pre-blog" while on the road to save time when we finally find an internet connection. Boy are we smart or what.....?
Next stop Chicago for that long awaited shower!!!
-jeannie
Today has gone smoothly as we have been rolling the whole time and have not had any difficulties with equipment or near break downs, except for the time when the windshield wipers quit working. That was…fun! We pulled over and managed to get them fixed in about 10 minutes. Oh yeah, and the side mirror…that kept falling forward and sideways which was really no help in changing lanes to the right hand side. So that was a quick pit stop as well, just enough time to get out the tools and tighten up the screw holding the mirror in place. Other than a few gas stops and our latest stop at the super Walmart in Sheridan, Wyoming (now we can make food in the Gord-mobile) we have been running non stop. We have also decided to "pre-blog" while on the road to save time when we finally find an internet connection. Boy are we smart or what.....?
Next stop Chicago for that long awaited shower!!!
-jeannie
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