We had breakfast at the Hampton and were on the bikes and
heading out by 8am today. Today’s route was mostly highway. As we made our way
around the Bay of Fundy, the temperatures that were very comfortable in the mid
70’s would drop by 5-10 degrees along the stretches that were close to the bay.
The wind blowing across that cold water really cooled things off.
We stopped at Truro at Murphy’s Fish and Chips. Rob and
Jerry had the fish and chips while Michele had chicken casear salad. The fish
and chips were excellent. The batter on the fish was very light and airy. Not
the typical heavy batter that we are used to. The lighter batter really made a
big difference. Definitely the best fish and chips Jerry and Rob had ever had.
We entered Nova Scotia, our second Canadian province of this
trip, and made our way to the island of Cape Breton and the Cabot Trail.
In the interest of time, we opted to take the ferry instead of taking the southeastern most portion of the Cabot Trail. This would save us about an hour and a half and allow us to enjoy our final location today, Castle Rock Country Inn.
The ferry was a short ride off the main highway. The secondary road was relatively rough and Rob noticed that the trailer was making noises on some of the big bumps. The ferry was cable drawn similar to the one at White’s Ferry (though considerably larger). The ride only took about 10 minutes and we were about 24 miles from our day’s destination.
The road from the ferry was quite rough with lots of roller
coaster dips, but absolutely gorgeous over the Smoky Mountain. The trailer now
was making noise on almost every dip in the road. This was not “normal” and Rob
became concerned. We only had a few miles left, so we carefully made our way
the remaining few miles and arrived at the Castle Rock Country Inn at around
5:30pm.
Rob took a look at the trailer when we arrived to see if he
could see what the noise was. Disaster!! The drawbar of the trailer had
failed!! The failure occurring right where the trailer’s drawbar slides into
the receiver channel of the trailer’s frame. The sound we were hearing was the
trailer hitting the road over every little bump. The trailer was not usable.
What to do? Jerry asked the receptionist at the Inn if there were any local
garages. She said there was one about 10 miles down the road.
Rob unhooked the trailer from the Wing and he and Jerry
headed off to the garage to see if they might have access to a welder or know
of where we could find a welder. Meanwhile, Michele tried to find any local
truck rental locations to prepare for Plan B: her driving the trailer home in a
box truck. This of course on a Saturday evening when nothing was open!
Rob and Jerry found the garage and the owner of the garage
said his mechanic was a welder but he didn’t work on the weekends. Given our
situation, he called the mechanic and asked if he thought he might be willing
to help us out. The mechanic agreed to meet us Sunday morning (on his day off
no less) and take a look at the trailer to see if he might be able to fix it.
Rob and Michele worked on back up plans the remainder of the
evening should the mechanic not be able to fix the trailer. Back up plans
included shipping the trailer home via a freight company, renting a truck and Michele
driving the trailer the rest of the trip until we got home, and various other
options that might somehow salvage the second half of our trip that we were
still looking forward to. It was a somber and sleepless night.
Tomorrow is Sunday and not much--if anything--is open on
Sundays in this very remote location of Nova Scotia. We felt our options would
be limited and may have to wait until Monday, which means delaying when Rob and
Michele can make it to PEI (if at all). :-(
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