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Published: July 16th 2009
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Well, it’s back to the instant oatmeal with fresh blueberries for us ! Although one of those fresh glazed donuts from Tim Hortons would be good this morning and I’m sure Tim would love to stop and get a hot cup of coffee. We were up bright and early this morning so that we could call the local Ford Dealership as soon as they opened. We had to get the motor home checked out to see if something major was wrong and to make sure it was still safe to drive. Tim got the automatic recording when he called and bless his heart, he couldn’t understand a word it was saying. It was completely in French so he waited patiently to see if there would be an English version to follow. Uhhhhh, nope, no English version ! We decided since we couldn’t get anyone on the phone and we couldn’t understand the recording, we would just program the address into Magellan and ride on over there. There was something in “the book” that we had to see in Quebec City first so on our way to the dealership we made a pit stop downtown. Tim was having a little trouble navigating
the motor home through the tiny streets and it didn’t help at all that we couldn’t read any of the signs. However, I must add that they do have some of the coolest stop lights I’ve seen. We were trying to decipher what all the pictures on the signs meant but ultimately we just basically had to follow the arrows and hope for the best. I saw a sign that said “Vieux-Quebec” and there was an arrow pointing down the street to the right. This is what we were looking for so Tim made his way on over there. “Vieux-Quebec” means Old Quebec and we were there to see what it was all about. It was fabulous and so “French” ! It had cobblestone streets, outdoor cafés, and slate-roofed stone houses and was filled with an old-world type atmosphere. The streets were winding and hilly and were lined with vintage stone houses and chic upscale boutiques. You could even catch a glimpse of the St. Lawrence River every once in a while. It was like being in Paris without having to get on a plane. We made our way back into the city and watched as people through pennies into
the fountains and hailed horses and buggies. We saw some of the most amazing buildings you could ever imagine. There was one that I just had to have a picture of so Tim pulled off to the side, right in downtown, and I jumped out to get a good shot. The next thing I know I turn around these two little old ladies are in the motor home and all I could hear was Tim saying “No, no, no”. I walked back towards them and they were coming out of the motor home saying “something, something, private bath”. Evidentially they saw me coming out of it and they thought it was some kind of bathroom or something. All they knew was that they had to go and Tim wouldn’t let them. It was hilarious ! About this time a policeman was riding up on his bicycle so I just jumped in and told Tim to get the heck out of there. We made our way down highway 440 until we finally arrived at the Ford dealership. It was a bust ! The people there were not very friendly and either couldn’t or wouldn’t speak English and basically didn’t do anything
to help us. I think one of the guys must have felt bad for Tim so he walked up to him and gave him the name of another dealer that he thought might be able to help us. We programmed them in and made our way there. About an hour later, we finally made it there only to find out that they can only work on motor homes that are twenty-nine feet or less. Well, Big Bertha is thirty-six feet long so that wasn’t going to work. Once again, it was a struggle to get any help because no one there spoke English but a man did write down the name of another place for us so we programmed it into Magellan and made our way there. This place was down at the south end of Montreal so another hour and a half later we finally make it there. Another bust ! Their bays would only accommodate a vehicle that was thirty feet or less. We were getting really ticked off at this point and feeling really helpless. We even tried to call our dealer back home and they couldn’t even help because they didn’t have anyone who could speak
French. We definitely need to consider the language barriers before we plan another trip. We ended up at two other dealerships today and after driving from one end of Quebec City to the other end of Montreal for seven hours, we never did get any help ! We were exhausted and evidentially Magellan was too because it started blinking and making funny noises and eventually completely went out on us. I’m praying that it just needs some rest and it’ll be working okay in the morning. We decided to grab some dinner at the local pizza parlor and then find somewhere to stay for the night. We ended up settling down at the Montreal South KOA in St. Philippe de Laprairie, Quebec. While I was gone doing the laundry, Tim got online and found a local dealership for us to call in the morning. Even though it was late, he went ahead and called them and thankfully a young lady with their answering service answered the phone. She spoke in English and she said they could help us. HALLELUAH ! They were right near the Vermont state line and we were headed their first thing in the morning. WHAT A
DAY ! I’m going to try and stay positive and just pray that tomorrow will be much better. Well, the laundry is done, the house is clean and our bellies are full so we are off to bed. We love ya’ll and miss you very much ! Night !
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Stephanie, Jason, & Ethan
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANDY!!!
We hope that you had a incredible, exciting and adventurous birthday where ever it is you are today. XOXO