What is it about Saturdays?
We both had a great night’s sleep last night and were up by 7:30 a.m., pulling out of West Glacier by 8:30. We had just under 5 hours to drive, putting us in Banff by 2:30. Cooler temps and overcast skies meant a peaceful drive led to a wonderful first 2 hours. Until…
A tire. For those who have followed us, you already know about the issues we’ve had with the valve stems on Livvy. We even had new, custom valve stems put on before this trip in addition to a tire pressure monitoring system. And yet, after all that, our TPMS indicated dropping pressure in one tire. Of course we were in the middle of NOWHERE, less than half an hour from the US/Canada border.
The border itself was fairly uneventful. We even had a nice list of the remaining alcohol we have on-board when asked. And then the agent asked if we had pepper spray, which we do. Karen carries one on the dog leash, just in case. Apparently we could not bring that into the Great White North, so we had to go inside and fill out paperwork to have it confiscated. No big deal, but it lost us some time.
With Karen driving, I quickly located an open tire store about 45 minutes north of the border, and called to verify they could help. We made a couple of stops at gas stations over the next 20 miles, only to watch the pressure leak out within a few miles (kilometers, eh?). So we just left it go, knowing we’d get it fixed soon. The tire store in Cranbrook, BC, took care of us quickly and got us back on the road.
A little gun-shy anyway after the morning, within 30 minutes of leaving the tire shop Karen and I both heard a muted “bumping” coming from under the cab. It only happened when there were corresponding bumps in the road, so we knew something was hanging from the undercarriage. Having not run over anything, we were both rather nervous.
At the next safe place, I pulled over and discovered that the exhaust system had become disconnected from the back end and was waving with the undulations in the road. A rubber connecter, running between the chassis and exhaust assembly had broken, likely from drying out. I had heavy-duty wire ties in my tool bag (thankfully!), and while I strapped up the exhaust (cue the strap-on jokes), Karen found a nearby hardware store. I was able to purchase some cabling in there which should help us get through this trip.
Frazzled as all hell, we drove the remaining 2 hours without incident to our campsite just outside the town of Banff, and within the National Park. Most of that drive provided us with wonderful views, which helped our mood. So did the martinis upon setting up.
In the end, our 6 hour anticipated drive turned into 10 hours. The difference in time, however, is nothing compared to the stress that these issues added into the travel. Wondering what may happen next, and how far away from civilization will we be? Wondering what the hell to do about these valve stems. It’s the unknown that causes greater stress than the given. It’s really the same in every aspect of life.
But for now we sit here safely, with clean mountain air coming in the open windows. Tomorrow is another day. We are only one-seventh of the way into this trip, and far too early to just give up. So we will take the evening (and maybe tomorrow) to regroup and move forward. There is still too much to see!
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