Thursday, July 18 - Dartmouth

Thursday, July 18 – Shubie Campground – Dartmouth

Our morning is hopeful. The fuel tank was spotless. No muck. The tank filter was free and clear. The rubber hose from the tank spout to the fuel pump was loose. We’ve replaced and tightened all the hoses and purchased a new gas cap. The fuel delivery system has now been completely checked. The transmission has a new cork gasket and a new batch of ATF.

Sorry, no current photos. Not only did I spend most of my time around and under The Ceilidh, photos of sparkly clean transmission pans or sparkly clean fuel tanks, are not likely to interest most readers. No cute squirrels, raccoons, porcupines, sparrows, seagulls or golden eagles set down on The Ceilidh or any of her parts, let alone long enough for me to leap for my camera and snap off a shot or two. But here's one from a previous shoot.

The Ceilidh's Great, Great, Great Aunt.

Larry’s big, 33 foot unit is scheduled for a 9 o’clock appointment to repair/replace a ‘doughnut’ gasket between the exhaust manifold and header pipe. This is the third repair in three months. Larry follows us to the BTC (Burnside Truck Centre) shop. We head off for breakfast and await a phone call letting us know what will be required. We have breakfast from a great menu. Lots of fresh fruit, eggs, French toast…what ever you want for breakfast, they’ve got it. We finish eating and are hanging around in the restaurant drinking coffee contemplating our next move. 

The phone rings. Larry’s RV is ready to go. Barely more than an hour has passed.We’re back at BTC. The bill. Well, the bill is a surprise. Just over one hundred dollars! Larry and Betty are relieved and quite happy, having considered the possibility of a huge bill. The mechanic tells us he removed a bent header stud bolt, cleaned up the internal threads (chased the threads), re-positioned the header and exhaust system so the parts lined up, and placed lock washers on all three studs. We drive off. Larry can’t tell if his engine quit while at a traffic light. He’s very happy. Yay! Hopefully we have success all round.

We decided to book an extra night at the camp. We’ve had to re-supply our food stores so a big trip to the Atlantic Super Store. Hmm…President’s Choice. OK, things are familiar. Loaded with supplies it’s back to the camp and up on to our blocks for the night. Tomorrow we set out for Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia, via the far more picturesque coast road. Stan Rogers comes to mine and I’m humming Barrett’s Privateers as I crash for the night.