Two weekends ago, our Zoo traveled into Canada to take the Heathens to Niagara Falls. Heathen #1 had been there as an infant, but has no memory of it. And Heathens #2 and #3 had never gone.
We left Friday around 2 pm, as soon as the Asst. Zookeeper returned home from the mine. Instead of driving the Nitro, we decided to take the "new" motor home we had purchased a few weeks before. It was lovingly dubbed "Rover."
We went to Jellystone Campground. It was really nice and the Heathens really liked it. Definitely a "kid-friendly" place and it was only a few miles from the Falls.
We made it to the falls that evening just in time to see the fireworks over the Horseshoe Falls. It was beautiful. And after the fireworks, the American Falls were lit with the colored lasers.
Saturday, we did the typical touristy type of things:
Journey Behind the Falls:
Maid of the Mist:
We also had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. If you have never taken your children there, you definitely must go!
About this time into the trip, our debit card QUIT working. We knew there was enough money in the account, but figured we went over a limit in daily spending. No problem - we had a second debit card to a different account. It's all good.
Saturday evening, the Heathens all rented these go-cart-things for about two hours. They had the BEST time.
And the Asst. Zookeeper had to give it a try as well. Go figure!
Sunday morning, I was up before all the Heathens. As I was getting ready to leaver Rover and take a walk, the Heathens started talking in their sleep. This is something they frequently do at home. Heathen #2 sat straight up in his bed (eyes still closed) and started mumbling something about pickles. Heathen #1 promptly rolled over and said, "Put it in the dumpster." Heathen #2 laid back down and continued sleeping.
We packed up Rover and headed to the Butterfly Conservatory. It was breathtaking. Another "must-see" when going to Niagara Falls.
Around 2:30 pm, we loaded up Rover with all of the Heathens (and the Duchess, our shepherd/husky mix that went along) and headed for home. About 2 miles from the Butterfly Conservatory, we heard a "bad" sound from Rover and the Asst. Zookeeper promptly pulled to the side of the road.
I learned that motors have lots of belts to make them work. You really only need 1 belt to make the thing "go" and the rest can all be done without. Yup - we broke the only necessary belt, the alternator belt. And we were still in Canada and were nowhere near an auto parts store.
The Asst. Zookeeper nursed Rover a few miles down the road until we found a small group of stores - including an auto parts store! However, most stores in Canada close at noon on Sunday, which meant that the auto parts store was already closed. There was a thrift store still open however, and the Asst. Zookeeper made two purchases: a multi-tool and a pair of pantyhose.
He managed to rig a belt that got us about another 10 miles to an auto parts store that was still open, but was closing in about another 10 minutes. He ran inside and bought the new belt - we were saved! We'd get home late, but we would still get home on the planned day.
After some minor surgery for Rover in the parking lot, we managed to make it across the border and back into the United States. We went approximately 5 miles, and again, heard Rover make a "bad" noise. We had snapped another belt. And again, there were no auto parts stores in site.
We nursed Rover along mile by mile, hoping to find a store that would be helpful. The Asst. Zookeeper made two belts to get us along. Both were made out of rope that he lashed together to form a circle and then wrapped with Duct tape to make it thick enough. The rope belts managed to get us to a Home Depot parking lot that was next to a 24-hr Denny's. At this point, it was after 11 pm and we had only made it approximately 15-20 miles from the Butterfly Conservatory where we had started. We all crawled into bed.
Monday morning, the Asst. Zookeeper and I both work up before the Heathens. He was scratching at his legs constantly and I asked him if he had gotten a lot of bug bites while we were camping. I knew I had gotten several, but he rarely does. His response was, "No, the butterflies peed on me yesterday."
How am I supposed to respond to that? Should it be, "Oh, sorry"? My response was very intelligent. It was a "huh?" He laughed and explained that with the motor overheating, he had gotten antifreeze on him and that it itched.
We limped the Rover another 2 miles to an OPEN auto parts store where the Asst. Zookeeper purchased 2 belts and the appropriate tools to tighten the belt once it was on (which is why the second belt had broken).
Rover pulled up in front of our Zoo at approximately 2:30 pm on Monday afternoon - only about 15 hours later than we had planned. But the Heathens had a wonderful time and so did we!
No comments:
Post a Comment