Are we there yet?

As usual, we deided to leave early, but weren’t even close. It was almost 9:30 by the time we hit the road. So much for 7:00am. Part of the problem was that I couldn’t figure out how to attach the anti-sway bar. We decided to just go. The Cadillac should be able to handle it. We stopped at Tim’s for a coffee, and hit the road. I was a little nervous, but the Caddy handled the trailer really well and my mind was soon at ease. I had been fearing the border the most because of the Internatioanl bridge in Cornwall. It’s long and narrow and the collector lanes for the bridge and customs are narrow and surrounded by cement pylons. All went better then expected, despite the fact the bridge was reduced to one lane with construction.

To this point, I hadn’t been using the GPS because it was trying to take us through Montreal which we were avoiding because of construction. But now, in the U.S. I needed to find my way. The Caddy uses a DVD navigation system. It turns out our DVD is all scratched and we had to eject it every 1-2 minutes because it would freeze up. It also shows your route in blue. The problem is, it also shows major highways in blue with red outlines. I kept getting confussed, and needless to say, it wasn’t long before we were lost in upper state New York. Trying to find some indication of where we were, I came to a 4 way stop (at least I thought it was a 4 way) and when I went through, I narrowly avoided hitting a guy on a motorcycle. Now I was going straight on this narrow country road and low and behold, I look in the mirror and the biker is following me. He pulls up beside me and starts screaming at me to pull over. Personally, I thought that was a horrible idea so I mouthed I was sorry and that there was no place to pull over. He was screaming and undid his coat, and he kept pointing at his coat. When I didn’t stop, he pulled his bike in front of us, and slowed down until I had no choice but to stop or run him over. He came up to my window screaming at me. I opened the window just enough to talk to him. I thought he wanted to kill me. I apoligized again, but he didn’t seem to care. By this point , Guylaine and the kids were crying they were so scared, and I pleaded with him that we were lost and he was scaring the shit out of my kids. Once I had mentioned the kids he seemed to recompose himself, and he calmed down. He apoligised for scaring us and asked me to roll down the windows so he ould talk to the kids. I told him I would rather he didn`t. He seemed OK with that. He told me to be more careful, then went to his bike and pulled to the side  to put his helmet back on. Lost or not, I just kept driving. I still can’t believe it happened. Guylaine said it was like something in a movie.

After going the wrong way for a while, we finally found a place to turn around and find our way from there. We managed ro get lost two more times after that, all due to our wonderful GPS. (Did I mention the DVD player and back up camera are a little wonkie also?) Guylaine snapped some beautiful pictures in Vermont. (Sorry, none of the angry biker)

The ride itself was uneventful. The kids were really good. But the late start and frequent trips off the beaten path took their toll and it was almost 9:00 when we got to the site. First ever set up in the freaking dark. Needless to say. The trailer could be a little more level. And the shore power probably would have been better off not stretched out to the max, we are and the trailer is functional, After a quick set up we decide to head out for a quick bite. Crap it is – McD/s for the kids, BK for us, We got back just before the gate (and the general store) closed. A few beers later, the kids are in bed. Guylaine and I went out to the picnic table for a beer, then we called it a night. I sleep like a baby, Guylaine was not so lucky.