WEDNESDAY, 19 AUG - LEAVING CANADA

Since I was only about 20 miles from the border, I had a leisurely drive and an easy border crossing once again. The agent asked me where I had been and where I was going and also asked for my license plate number. When I told her I had been to a Roadtrek Rally, she was very interested in the Roadtrek, wanted to know if I liked driving it, etc., since she was looking for something similar. She must have spent at least five minutes talking to me while vehicles were lining up behind me! I didn't have much Canadian money left which was lucky because, once again, I didn't see anywhere to exchange it. So I left with a $5 bill, some change which I can use in the States, and a couple of Loonies and a Toonie which I will keep for Show and Tell!

After driving in New York through quite a bit of construction I thought I smelled something again (as in the brakes!) but when I stopped to get gas, the smell has dissipated and I didn't see any smoke so I hoped it had been my imagination. Needless to say, I was a little paranoid after what had happened before and this was the most I had driven since the prior incident.

My plans were to stay at the Highland Campground near Clarks Summit, PA near Scranton and is rated fairly high in the Trailer Life Directory. Trailer Life has been my bible for selecting where to stay. It lists campgrounds by State and city and they are rated on a scale of 1 to 10 for: completeness of facilities/cleanliness and physical characteristics of restrooms and showers/visual appearance and environmental quality. I don't like to stay at a campground unless their restroom/showers are rated at least an 8. Even at that, some of them should be rated lower! This campground was rated: 7/8.5/8 which is pretty good ,and it was one of the few that was about midway between Canada and my daughter's in Virginia. I also picked up a nice brochure about the campground at the Pennyslvania Tourist Center. When I got off the Interstate headed for the campground, I was on narrow two lane roads with lots of curves and turns and I felt like I was headed for the middle of nowhere. I could not find the campground even though I was on the right road. I ended up going in a circle since the sign for the campground entrance was so small that I missed it! You would think with the amount of money they spent on advertising they would have spent more money to get a decent sign! I called the campground and gave the woman who answered the phone very specific info and landmarks as to where I was and she didn't have a clue! Well, with all the twists and turns and hills and valleys, the "smell" was returning - big time - and smoke was coming from the left front behind the tire! I went into panic mode since I couldn't find the campground and I knew I was several miles from civilization! Finally, I saw the small sign that led directly to the campground. The "office" was a small trailer and the woman I had spoken to earlier was at the desk. She was suffering from a "low sugar" attack, was very shaky and was drinking orange juice and trying to open a candy bar! (This is all funny to me now but was not at all humorous when it happened!) When I asked if they had a site for one night she asked if I had reservations which I didn't. She rolled her eyes and I thought she was going to tell me they didn't have anything available. More panic! She was unfriendly, disgruntled and trying to recover from her low blood sugar attack but she finally found a site for me for the night. I paid her and then asked if there was WiFi throughout the campground. She pointed to a picnic table OUTSIDE and said that's where the hookup was. Then she informed me that the bathrooms were right across from the site she had assigned me but that the showers were across from the office. I drove a short ways to find my campsite and saw that the sites were way at the bottom of a hill which meant I would have to walk a good distance to the showers and lug my laptop to the top of the hill to use WiFi and it looked like it was going to rain! Add to the fact that I had some kind of van problems! So I made a U-turn, didn't even stop to get a refund and left in pursuit of a motel! You can bet I will be writing a letter to the campground and also to Trailer Life about the false advertising!

My GPS directed me to a Hampton Inn about 6 miles away and the brakes were still hot but not as bad. The Hampton Inn was full but the clerk was nice enough to call the Ramada Inn next door and they had a vacancy. When I explained to the desk clerk that I had planned to stay at a campground but was having van problems and changed my mind, he took $10 off my bill. He also gave me a coupon for 10% off at Damon's restaurant next door. So I ended up with a nice room, cable TV, WiFI, a big bed and a great bathroom! It just cost me alot more than I had planned on!

On the way to the hotel, I noticed a tire/muffler/auto repair shop not too far away. I called them, told them my problem and they said to bring it in first thing in the a.m. In retrospect, I should have taken it directly there before I checked into the hotel, but it was late afternoon, I was afraid they wouldn't be able to fix it then, and I just didn't feel like dealing with it at that time. I had never heard of a caliper until two weeks ago and now it had come back to haunt me! It was the right caliper that had been replaced previously, plus new brake pads on both sides and it was the left side that was now smoking. In my limited technical knowledge, I suspected perhaps the left caliper had suddenly gone bad or that the repairs had not been done properly in Canada.

After a good night's sleep and a great free breakfast at the Ramada, I proceeded to see what was wrong with the van. This is continued on the next post.