Our time at Katie-Lew had come to an end, and we had a
reservation for the midnight ferry.
We had great October weather over the 3 weeks while renovating and
spending quality time in Rose Blanche, but on our last day, it was foggy with
drizzle. We had a dark and
foggy drive to Port aux Basque and felt sad to leave. It all seemed so fitting to send us on our way home. What we didn't realize
was our adventure wasn't over.
To set the stage, as part of our renovation and draining the
plumbing activities, we removed the almost new hot water tank and tied it into
the back of the Cherokee. The plan is to use it to replace our very old one at
home and put a space-saver size in Katie-Lew. To help you visualize the
situation, I need to tell you we had Penny our travel trailer on behind. So as
you can probably imagine, we were once again loaded down as we hit the road.
Driving towards the ferry waiting area, Marlene said
she could hear a ticking, and I suggested it was probably a stone stuck in the
tire tread, but that wasn't the case.
While getting checked into the terminal, the tire pressure warning came on, so
when parked and ready for loading, I checked to find a big rusty nail sticking
out of the front right tire. The pressure was dropping quickly so we pumped the
tire up to the original pressure and roll the car ahead until the vehicle
weight sealed the leak. During the wait, the tire pressure held so we repeated
the process when we got on the ferry. The plan worked well, and when we arrived
in North Sydney 6 hours later, the tire pressure was still normal, however as
we unloaded the pressure started dropping again.
Our plan was to pull off in a safe zone and change to the
spare for the trip home. We unloaded the water heater, but the spare turned out
to be a tiny one that wouldn't take us back to Ontario. We didn't change it,
but instead packed up and headed for Canadian Tire a few kilometers away.
Normally a tubeless tire leaks slowly, but as we drove, the old rusty nail-head
broke off and the tire went flat in seconds on the freeway.
Now on the side of the highway, we unloaded the water heater again, and got the tiny spare
out. Jacked the car up, undid the wheel nuts, but the wheel was seized on the
hub. It was unbelievable, because I had just changed from winter to summer
tires a few months ago but what I didn't realize is the salt air in Rose
Blanche is just like winter driving the year around, and that joint on all
wheels should be corrosion proofed with oil.
Being determined, I had a heavy duty hammer and a pinch-bar along
that we had used in our renovations, so I forcefully pounded until the wheel
broke loose. We put the tiny spare on, made it to Canadian Tire, where they had
it fixed in minutes. Unfortunately, the wheel wouldn't balance because I had
bent the rim with my forcefully pounding. The mechanic suggested we take it
over to RimPro about 15 kms away, where in 2 hours or so they had us ready for
the drive home.
What started out as a fitting departure after a wonderful
stay in Katie-Lew, turned into an unexpected adventure on the road.