Things Happen in Threes

With Mark retiring in June and me taking a year off, we thought it was time to set off travelling again. This time it is without the girls. We plan to drive across Canada with a 16-foot trailer, head north as far as we make it, and back down along the west coast, making it back home for Christmas.

Leading up to the trip, Mark spent weeks preparing for every possible situation that we might encounter. We have solar panels on the roof for charging the battery. We have a backup battery in case the first battery dies. We have a backup for the backup in case we need to jump-start the truck or charge a phone. We have not one but two spare tires for the truck and two spare tires for the trailer, a patch kit and spare lug nuts, a jack, a backup jack and a whole lot more stuff that I have no idea what it is for and what it does. We have multiple inverters, and stoves for inside and stoves for outside, stoves for propane and stoves if we have AC power. We even have a small 12-volt cooler in case the fridge dies… which it kind of did. 

Our first dilemma was that the main fridge quit working with AC power; thankfully, it was working with propane, so we continued on our journey, hoping to find a replacement part as we travelled across the country. We have now spoken to every used RV and marine parts store from Ontario to BC, and nobody has the part we need. We thought we had one secured that was going to be waiting for us when we arrived in Edmonton, but that fell through. We had another one set to ship to the Yukon, and that didn’t come to fruition either. As Mark always gets a deal, it turns out that our trailer is rather old, and the fridge and the parts have both been discontinued. We will continue hunting, but in the meantime, if you have an old Norcold N512 refrigerator hanging around, let us know!!

Every road trip has a learning curve to it, I had travelled before as a kid in a camper and knew that you have to ensure the cupboard doors are latched and everything is secure before taking off. We did that; however, we heard a big bang as we travelled along the highway. Only to discover that our dishes had fallen out and several had broken. I thought Corelle was bullet proof… well I am hear to report that it is NOT!

This morning, we woke in the Walmart parking lot after boondocking. Mark was anxious to get on the road, but wanted to make a stop at the Princess Auto. He told me to hang on, that he was just going to pull down to the end of the parking lot. I didn’t think this was a good idea as nothing was secured in the trailer. He said he would go slow and it would be fine. And off we went, rocking and rolling across the parking lot. Everything was swell until he slammed on the brakes and I went flying onto the bed. I swear he did that on purpose! Moments later, there was a huge crash and bump, the cupboard doors flew open, everything on the counter shifted, and the water in the sink started running. OMG, what the heck??? Mark stops and comes around to the back of the trailer and braces for my response. It was not “what the heck”. We were in tears laughing as Mark explained he almost hit someone and ran over a curb… how does that all happen from one end of the Walmart parking lot to the other is beyond me!

So with broken dishes and a kind of working fridge, we are just waiting for the next mishap in our adventures. So... stay tuned as things always happen in threes!