Well breaking camp took a hell of a lot longer then I anticipated. The back up camera is working great, so I got the trailer hooked up by myself while Guylaine took the kids for a walk. Figured out the sway bar, emptied the sewer tank, got packed up and hit the road at 11:00am – two hours after our scheduled departure. The GPS had home already programmed in, so it did help us quite a bit, despite the fact we still had to reload it every few minutes as needed. Our biggest problem was the stops. We stopped to check the laptop, we stopped for gas, we stopped for coffee, we stopped 3 times to eat, we stopped at rest areas and on the side of the highway to pee. We would drive an hour and stop. At one point we pulled into a Walmart in New Hampshire (no taxes – WOO-HOO) and made lunch in the trailer in the parking lot and picked up a few last minute items. But we were there for an hour and a half. (who knew retail was open on the 4th of July?) We stopped for supper at a small rest stop in the Vermont mountains, only to realize we didn’t have any lunchmeat left. So we decided to stop at the first Mcdonalds we found once we were off the interstate heading to the New York State border. The truck was acting funny; the stabiliser lights kept coming on, the dvd and nav system were both acting up and my engine light came on. We stopped again and I checked my gas cap. I also pulled out the dipstick for the oil and there was a bit of smoke coming out. I must have hit the sides or something with oil, because after letting it sit for a bit the dipstick said we were 4/5ths full. We stopped at another gas station and I bought the last quart of 5w30 they had and added it in. The engine light never went off, but the truck did seem to run better after that, and some of the electrical problems went away.
As we crossed lake Champlain into New York State, the sun had turned the sky over the lake to crimson and pink and we could see the silhouette of some kids fishing. It was really spectacular. Guylaine wanted to take a picture, but I just wanted to get home. We decided to follow the GPS and ended up crossing the border just south of Montreal. Had we know that, we could have stayed on the interstate and cut an hour off of our time. We were still trying to avoid Montreal, but no turning back now. Even at 10:30 at night the roads are packed and people drive 150+kms/h. It was nuts. But the traffic wasn’t too bad. Soon Montreal was behind us and the kids were all asleep. We pulled in (after about 6 attempts because the neighbour has his G**D*** car parked on the street again) at about 12:25. I helped Guylaine settle the kids in, then went to unhook the trailer while Guylaine started laundry. I emptied the truck and got what we needed out of the trailer, then leveled it, unhooked and rearranged the vehicles for work tomorrow. By the time all was done it was about 3:00am and settled for a rest in familiar surroundings. Even Alex said it was good to be home. And after 5 days of living on the road, it’s incredible how much bigger the house seems.
Total mileage: 1824kms
Fuel used: 477L
Fuel economy: 9.4mpg
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