Best laid plans

I left off on my way to the Philadelphia airport to pick up my friend Jill at 12:30 am. We connected without incident and got on the road headed north. Our plans started to unravel about 2 am when we tried to find a hotel only to find them all booked. Apparently everyone else was getting out of the NYC metro area in anticipation of the Fourth of July.

I kept driving until after 4:30 and despite still holding a conversation with Jill, we both knew we were falling asleep. I pulled into a parking area without facilities and we reclined the seats as much as possible and slept soundly for about three hours. Fortunately just a few miles down the road was a full service rest area complete with a Dunkin Donuts.

Fueled with coffee, we were ready for our next mission which was locating a Volvo dealer to synch the software in my car for towing. The dealer in Albany took us right away and the tech took us back to the parts area to see if they had what I needed in stock.

I got called back to the front desk where for my keys and I had a nice chat with the young man who was new to the job and ultimately wants to create after market muscle cars. I asked what he likes and he talked about cars from the 80s and 90s. I said the real muscle cars are from the 60s and 70s like Mustangs and Camaros. He didn’t disagree but prefers the newer models.

By the time I got back to the part area to find Jill, she was seated on stool chatting away with Keith the parts manager like they were long lost friends. He was the typical Itailan guido—slicked back hair, pencil jeans and loafers, which were purple suede and matched the logo on his polo shirt.

In less than an hour, we were on our way—software installed for at cost price and labor—and faith in humanity reatored. We went to the diner, they recommended and had a ginourmous breakfrast. Guy Fieri isn’t the only one who likes diners and dives!

We got to the trailer in Vermont around 3 pm. Buddha was happy she could get out of the car and roamed around before finding a cool spot to lie down.

I needed a cool spot after we determined that the hitch I had put on was not what I needed and the seller seemed flummoxed about what to do. Fortunately as a nurse anesthetist, Jill Is used to operating on little sleep and understands towing. The only real Issue with my hitch is that it didn’t have anywhere to attach the sway bars. So, we used my hitch after all and if we were to run into windy conditions, we would pull over. But since the trailer isn’t that long, it should be a problem.

It was almost two hours later before we had everything connected and loaded into the trailer. It came with so many extra hoses and cables; Jill kept exclaiming how I was getting such a good deal. As I pulled out of the driveway, I was having instant buyer’s remorse as in what the hell did I just do?

My goal was to get over the border into Canada and find a place to camp ASAP. We got through the small border checkpoint after answering a lot of questions, and then continued on small, uneven roads which made me feel like the trailer wasn’t connected properly, but it was. However, with three hours of sleep and being in the same clothes for over 24 hours, I made the executive decision that we would find a hotel.

The next city of any size was St. Jean de Richelieu with the name being way more picturesque than the town. The first hotel was swarmed with no vacancy and it looked like it was gonna be déjà vu all over again. Alas, the Holiday Inn express not only had a vacancy but a large parking lot where it was easy for me to maneuver the trailer. Unfortunately they did not take dogs, but the weather was not extreme. And sometimes when I have tent camped, Buddha has refused to get out of the car. She’s a dog who knows what she wants.

The real bed, hot shower, beers from Vermont, and take out from the in-hotel Thai restaurant was just the ticket. We would be rested and ready for another day.