"One Day at a Time, 2015" ..... NEWS FLASH! ….. Where in the world are Bruce and Jean?

 "One Day at a Time ..... NEWS FLASH! ….. Where in the world are Bruce and Jean?


(We interrupt this tour of Canada to let you know where and what Bruce and Jean are up to.)

This is where we are: 

Our view out the front window

Our view to the right 

Our view to the left

Us!

 This is how we got here:

Where we broke down - right on the side of entrance ramp 9 heading north on I-95

Our tow truck

This is the view of the back of a tow truck from our front window

Bruce, Zoey and I following the tow truck at 1:00 am in the morning!!

Arriving at Southern Connecticut Freightliner - $3,000 worth of towing

Brian

Victor

 This is where we were:

We departed our campground in Mystic Connecticut Monday morning (September 14) on our way to Cabela's parking lot in Hamburg, Pennsylvania.  I had read online that some people had just parked there overnight so we figured that would be a good spot for us.  We were headed to a campground in Virginia.  

I had been concerned about the drive through New York City and was determined to avoid.  I had also read on one of our RV blog sites that utilizing Interstates 95 to 287 to 78 to 81 in Pennsylvania would help us achieve that goal.  

To make a long story shot, shortly after Bruce filled up with diesel at a Pilot, exit 40, he got the "dreaded" Check Engine light.  The light went on and off several times and handling the rig was getting worse; I read a sign that I thought said "last exit before 287 and 95 split" and I knew by looking at the map that if we kept going we could break down on the Tappan Zee bridge, so we bailed there; it was at a Service Area.  He changed the one filter (which took longer than usual because he had to get a part), and we started out again.  However, we didn't get far. Bruce nursed us to exit 6 as he knew he could turn around and get back on the Interstate easily there to get us back to the Service Area.  But ... our rig decided to die!

Great!!  Well, the first call was to our Good Sam Roadside Assistance.  After explaining where we were and giving all the details, the operator explained that they could NOT tow us to the closest Freightliner Dealership which was located in the Bronx.  Only towing companies that have a contract with the Toll Road authorities can be used.  Good Sam would have been free; another company ..... NOT!  Bruce contacted the Freightliner hot line again (John) and after sending out a technician to determine what the problem could be ( the same Code Number came up on the computer as the previous Check Engine light fiasco back in March !!), and finding out about towing companies that were and were not allowed on the toll road, they agreed to tow us to the "next" closest dealership which was located in Branford, CT - almost back where we started our day!  Branford Connecticut is about 49 miles from Mystic!!  Needless to say, it was a very frustrating day.

The next morning the Southern Connecticut Freightliner dealership told us that the first time our rig could be looked at was Friday, September 18th!!  But, the good news was that they will let us stay in our RV in their back lot during the daytime and move to outside the gate (liability issues) at night.  We can sleep in our beds and eat our meals.  

Hopefully it won't take forever to fix, and we will be on our way.

Still smiling, still talking to each other, telling each other that we are making memories as we go.

Posted in real time, September 17, 2015