Hello friends,
Finally, after three long years without traveling, we're back on the road. We started out on October 23, drove to Maryland (with one overnight stopover along the way) and spent a great week with our friends in Laurel.
I enjoyed some major shopping therapy with Shirley (a pro shopper, if there ever was one!), while Marc zipped around town with Mike, in his brand new Corvette. What a beauty!
Mike took me for a ride, but not before I outlined the rules: no speeding, no interstates, no longer than three minutes!
We enjoyed Guatemalan street food, excellent take-out wings and a yummy buffet at Maryland Live Casino.
We also got to meet their new baby, Augie No!, a Bouvier des Flandres. 'Baby' doesn't really fit him, though. He's four months old and weighs well over forty pounds. Just one of his paws is as big as Yoshi, our Shih Tzu! He's a beautiful, loveable bundle of fluff. A very strong bundle of fluff!
After twenty-one years of friendship, we continue to enjoy our time with these two wonderful friends more and more as the years go by!
We took our time driving to Alabama, opting to drive between six to seven hours daily. Of note is the low cost of fuel. We always keep track of this, just for the fun of it. This year was a good year. Diesel, though still more expensive than unleaded gas, works out to (on average) about $0.60 to $0.65 cents a litre. We'll take that any day of the week! Even after adding U.S. exchange, it still comes in much cheaper than back home in Ontario, Canada.
Now, as anyone who's been following this blog in past years will know, Murphy (the guy who brings bad luck!) always makes his presence known. Luckily, this time his timing was pretty good. Yesterday, we arrived somewhere around 3:30 p.m., unhooked the RV at our assigned site, set up just enough to function, then headed out to the Wind Creek Casino in Atmore. We'd planned a celebration of Marc's 60th birthday, as well as our first trip in three years.
Driving through Bay Minette, Marc complained about the brakes feeling strange, and the truck shaking badly. I always think he's over-reacting (perhaps I'm in denial?!). Not two minutes later, while stopped at a set of lights, we were hit by an awful smell of burning rubber. If you're thinking seized caliper, you'd be right. Lucky for us, this happened not three blocks from a Ford dealership.
So we limped back a few blocks to the Ford Service counter for assistance. The staff were great. It was 5:00 p.m. by then, so the technician offered us a loaner car, promising to look into the problem in the morning. So off to the casino we went in a new Taurus. Just as an aside, we both came out ahead! Good timing, I'd say!
About an hour ago, we found out what the repair costs would be. The truck needs a new brake system on the one side, including a new rotor, caliper and bearing. The cost: $1,300 U.S. Yuck!!! The truck won't be ready before Monday, but we at least have a car at our disposal. I'm thinking this is punishment for indulging at the Casino!
Will write again soon! Keep in touch! And if you wish to leave a comment, you can do so just below each post.
Lise
Finally, after three long years without traveling, we're back on the road. We started out on October 23, drove to Maryland (with one overnight stopover along the way) and spent a great week with our friends in Laurel.
I enjoyed some major shopping therapy with Shirley (a pro shopper, if there ever was one!), while Marc zipped around town with Mike, in his brand new Corvette. What a beauty!
Mike took me for a ride, but not before I outlined the rules: no speeding, no interstates, no longer than three minutes!
We enjoyed Guatemalan street food, excellent take-out wings and a yummy buffet at Maryland Live Casino.
We also got to meet their new baby, Augie No!, a Bouvier des Flandres. 'Baby' doesn't really fit him, though. He's four months old and weighs well over forty pounds. Just one of his paws is as big as Yoshi, our Shih Tzu! He's a beautiful, loveable bundle of fluff. A very strong bundle of fluff!
After twenty-one years of friendship, we continue to enjoy our time with these two wonderful friends more and more as the years go by!
We took our time driving to Alabama, opting to drive between six to seven hours daily. Of note is the low cost of fuel. We always keep track of this, just for the fun of it. This year was a good year. Diesel, though still more expensive than unleaded gas, works out to (on average) about $0.60 to $0.65 cents a litre. We'll take that any day of the week! Even after adding U.S. exchange, it still comes in much cheaper than back home in Ontario, Canada.
Now, as anyone who's been following this blog in past years will know, Murphy (the guy who brings bad luck!) always makes his presence known. Luckily, this time his timing was pretty good. Yesterday, we arrived somewhere around 3:30 p.m., unhooked the RV at our assigned site, set up just enough to function, then headed out to the Wind Creek Casino in Atmore. We'd planned a celebration of Marc's 60th birthday, as well as our first trip in three years.
Driving through Bay Minette, Marc complained about the brakes feeling strange, and the truck shaking badly. I always think he's over-reacting (perhaps I'm in denial?!). Not two minutes later, while stopped at a set of lights, we were hit by an awful smell of burning rubber. If you're thinking seized caliper, you'd be right. Lucky for us, this happened not three blocks from a Ford dealership.
So we limped back a few blocks to the Ford Service counter for assistance. The staff were great. It was 5:00 p.m. by then, so the technician offered us a loaner car, promising to look into the problem in the morning. So off to the casino we went in a new Taurus. Just as an aside, we both came out ahead! Good timing, I'd say!
About an hour ago, we found out what the repair costs would be. The truck needs a new brake system on the one side, including a new rotor, caliper and bearing. The cost: $1,300 U.S. Yuck!!! The truck won't be ready before Monday, but we at least have a car at our disposal. I'm thinking this is punishment for indulging at the Casino!
Will write again soon! Keep in touch! And if you wish to leave a comment, you can do so just below each post.
Lise
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