June 21, 2005

June 21, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 35 of 113

YEAR 2 DAY 4

 

Today was sunny and very warm, á propos for the first day of summer.

First thing this morning we headed for Winnipeg. We had planned to run a bunch of errands, then visit the Carlson's, and leave Joanne there to visit for a few days. The day didn't turn out quite as planned. About half way to Winnipeg, a car pulled up along side us, caught our attention, and indicated something was wrong with our truck. I pulled over and got out to check. I found smoke billowing out of the passenger side rear wheel. I crawled underneath to look, and determined that it was likely a brake shoe was stuck against the rear drum, and had overheated. Not much I could do about that on the road. We continued driving, watching in the mirror to see if it got any worse. We drove into Lorette looking for the offices of the Rural Municipality of Taché. Joanne had ascertained by making some phone calls last week that we could pick up application forms for Manitoba Health coverage there. We were unable to find the offices, and we didn't want to spend too much time looking because of the smoking brake problem. We continued into Winnipeg, and headed north on Hwy. 59, stopping at Canada One RV to look for a particular type of RV wax. We didn't find exactly what we were looking for. We went to Wal-Mart on Regent, and while Joanne shopped in Wal-Mart I made some phone calls to find someplace to get the truck fixed. Some of the repair shops I phoned don't have a hoist capable of lifting a vehicle as heavy and / or as wide as Dee-Dee. While I was doing that, Bo escaped out the truck door. He started running around the Wal-Mart parking lot, ignoring my commands. Bad dog ! He ran over to visit a lady who grabbed his harness and held him for me. I can't get him to obey commands that could save his life, when he's not on his choker. His attitude is "no choker, I don't have to obey". We need to work on that ! I took the truck across the street to Canadian Tire. They determined that the problem was a seized parking brake cable. Getting at the rear brakes on a GM dually is a horrible ordeal. The dual rear wheels need to be removed, then the wheel bearings, then the axles on each side, before the brake drums can be removed. They changed the oil and filter, and replaced the parking brake cable. All that disassembly of course takes a lot of labour time, and results in the axle seals having to be replaced, and axle fluid refilled. What would be a reasonably simple repair on a less complex vehicle cost $450 on Dee-Dee, and kept me there from 1:00 P.M. until almost 6:00 P.M.. Around 2:00 P.M. I went back across the street to get some lunch, and met Joanne walking over from Wal-Mart with a grocery cart filled with her purchases. We had lunch at Subway, then sat in Canadian Tire's service waiting room with our Wal-Mart shopping cart, looking somewhat like homeless people with our worldly possessions in a shopping cart.

The truck repair pre-empted running the rest of our errands. After finishing at Canadian Tire, we drove over to the Carlson's for supper. We were later than expected, and had delayed their family dinner. Sorry ! We had dinner, and visited. Before dinner, and again after, the girls and I took Bo for walks. They try hard to command him, and actually do quite a good job, but after being cooped up inside the truck while it was up on a hoist in a repair shop all afternoon, Bo was not in a very obedient mood. I left at 8:35 to drive back to West Hawk, arriving at the trailer at dusk at 10:15, dodging deer the last few miles. I sure hope I can make it through the summer without hitting one ! I arrived just in time to help a late arrival select a suitable site, then chatted for awhile with some new neighbours in our section of the campground. By the time I got Teddy and Bo fed, and the litter box cleaned, I was ready for bed. I slept for awhile, then woke up and had difficulty falling asleep again, so I came to work on this journal entry.

DSK