One Bummer of a Day

The rain continued through the night and the site was soggy upon awakening. After a leisurely breakfast, we took off around 9:30 excited to get to our next campground near Portland, ME, by mid-afternoon and begin exploring the area. We made good progress driving through occasional light showers with the expectation that the sun would begin to come out in the afternoon. Little did we anticipate the darkness ahead.

In the blink of an eye, our fate for the day changed drastically. About two hours into the trip, we were traveling along I-90 when our towed car (aka a toad to RVers) suddenly began to drag. I thought the control system had slammed on the car brakes. We were in the left lane next to a guard rail with lots of traffic. As I struggled with maintaining a reasonable speed, I managed to change lanes and pull over on the shoulder near what turned out to be the exit 4 ramp to Springfield/Holyoke. We carefully got out to inspect the toad. It still had round tires but was smoking. With all the cars and lorries roaring close by, our position was too precarious to stay put. I carefully maneuvered the rig back onto the highway and partially down the exit 4 ramp as the smoking continued.

Broken down on the Exit 4 Ramp of I-90

Once we opened the hood, it was obvious that the transmission was blown. Something had caused it to abruptly shift out of neutral. Jane called AAA and we unhooked the car. Heavy traffic was using this exit and many vehicles were just missing hitting ours. Jane walked up the ramp and standing outside the guard rail, signaled for traffic to slow down and move to the left. She preformed admirably; I think she missed her calling as a traffic cop.

After what seemed like hours (about 30 minutes) the AAA tow truck arrived. I moved the RV forward, he loaded the car, Jane jumped into the RV, and we followed the tow truck to a safe location to talk. Thus, began our 1.5 hour tour of the area.

Our Toad’s Ride

Diagnosing the Patient

AAA had recommended a nearby approved mechanic (KLM Auto Repair) that was required to assess our situation within an hour. We followed the the tow truck to this shop. The owner was nice and had experienced the same problem once himself, but he didn’t work on trannies. So, we followed the tow truck to KLM’s recommendation, Shawn at Best Transmissions. He was also friendly but didn’t work on new Ford trannies. He recommended going to the Ford dealer, just not the one down the road from him. So, we followed the tow truck to Marcotte Ford near the I-90 exit 4 where we had begun.

The folks at Marcotte Ford were friendly but we had to anxiously wait for hours to get the dreaded verdict. In the meantime, we had a late lunch at the LugNutz Cafe. Unlike their motto, Eat – Bolt, we ate, then I read a newspaper, worked two crossword puzzles and a crypto-quote and then starting reading a book.

Eat and Bolt (yourself to a chair)

If you are going to simultaneously wreck a Ford transmission and your vacation, doing it near Marcotte Ford is a suitable option. They do the largest volume of service in the Northeast including many transient customers like us. The dealership employees gently explained to us that the the cost of a new transmission would be about half of what we paid for the vehicle and if the engine was blown (undeterminable with the current tranny) then the cost would be the value of the car. They had been in contact with Ford and were doing everything to see if this was under warranty but apparently it’s nebulous even to Ford dealers. They were not going to be able to get the warranty issue resolved for a day or two and the parts would also take a few days to arrive plus a whole day to install. They encouraged us to proceed with our travels and to keep in touch. They would do what they could to get the repairs done as soon as possible and make arrangements to deliver it to us (if we were near enough) or for us to pick it up on the return trip. So, even with numerous unresolved issues, we loaded our bikes into the RV to depart. Somehow during the process, Jane hurt her back.

Our Toad’s Temporary Home

An Anxious Jane calling ahead to the Campground

We were dazed as we completed the last three hours of our trip. Even venturing into two new states (NH & ME) didn’t raise our spirits much. I must admit, however, that the RV felt spry without the toad and it could easily mount the summits without flooring the accelerator. We stopped at Shaw’s Grocery for provisions before arriving at the camp site around 9 pm. Because of her back, Jane wasn’t able to help setting up, so I fumbled around in the dark to hook up the water and electricity while the family in the neighboring site watched sitting around a fire. Finally, we set up our chairs and table to enjoy some wine (or beer) and cheese and crackers on a brim overlooking a lake. As soon as I placed the plate of cheese crackers on the table (in the dark) it slid off and landed up side down on the ground. After I brushed the dirt and pine needles off the crackers and Jane washed the cheese in the RV, we finally enjoyed a peaceful ending to our frenetic day.