June 12, 2006

June 12, 2006

Gagetown to Edmundston, New Brunswick

YEAR 2 DAY 360

 

Finally ... a bit of sun ! Today was partially sunny, and mild.

This morning I phoned MTS Mobility and paid our cell phone bill. Why are our cell phone bills so outrageously high so often ? ! ? We prepared for departure and left Gagetown, heading west, through Fredericton, then north on TCH 2. We stopped for lunch in a shopping mall parking lot at Hartland. From where we were parked we could see the world's longest covered bridge, so after lunch we drove to it, and across it.

We continued north on TCH 2. South of Grand Falls / Grand Sault, the curb side tire on the trailer exploded. I felt it explode, and when I looked in my rear view mirror, I could see fragments of rubber and fibreglass flying out of the wheel well < sigh >. The exploding tire caused a lot of fibreglass damage to the lower side skirt and the bottom panel of the trailer. The damage is cosmetic, however, and for that, I guess I should be grateful. There was no structural damage, no damage to propane lines, electrical wires, or holding tanks. Exploding tires on RV's have been known to damage all sorts of things like that, including blowing holes right up through the floor into the trailer. While I removed the badly damaged bottom fibreglass panel, Joanne went walking a long distance back down the highway looking for the wheel trim ring that flew off, and a piece of rubber trim moulding that flew off the wheel well. She eventually found both. I changed the tire, and temporarily patched the badly damaged fibreglass lower side panel with a lot of duct tape. I stuck the damaged bottom panel in the truck, and off we went.

We drove into Grand Falls / Grand Sault to look for a new trailer tire. Wal-Mart didn't have one. Canadian Tire didn't have one. Three tire shops in town didn't have one < sigh >. We continued driving north on TCH 2. Before we got to Edmundston, Lanoire's low fuel light and alarm came on. I was so distracted by the exploding tire incident, I forgot that we needed diesel. We made it to an Esso station in Saint-Basile, a suburb of Edmundston. We filled up with diesel, then went to a nearby campground for the night.

We set up in our site, then while Joanne prepared supper I examined the damaged fibreglass side panel and the damaged fibreglass bottom panel. They are badly damaged. I could try to repair them myself, but it would be a huge job that would stretch my fibreglass repair skills. It would have to wait until we get to Winnipeg, and the results would likely look ... well, amateurish. I could try to obtain new panels from the manufacturer, but that would likely be quite expensive, if they're even available. I think I'll phone the manufacturer and check on availability and price. I might even consider detouring to Indiana and letting the manufacturer replace the panels, if they're available.

After supper we took Bo for an obedience training session. Well done, Bo. I did today's accounting and journal entry. Joanne tried to plan our journey across Quebec over the next couple of days. Quebec is a problem because of their lack of campgrounds to accommodate “overnighters” / travellers. I downloaded and processed today's photos. I worked on income tax. And ... I ran into a snag < sigh >. I need to phone Revenue Canada to obtain a T4037 Guide to understand how to deal with foreign income tax paid on foreign investment income earned. Why must income tax returns be so complicated ? ! ?

I'm feeling a bit disheartened tonight by today's exploding tire incident, the resultant addition of another big job to my growing "work to do" list, and the income taxes.

DSK