Our Least-favourite Day of this trip

You know, we've been so lucky. Over the years, we've driven to the East Coast many times (maybe 10?) and we've never really had any car trouble.... so I guess we were due....

We had a leisurely morning of packing up the car (not so much fun in the rain, but that's ok) and then just before departure we had a fantastic Pancake lunch (did I mention that my B-I-L John is a GREAT cook?).

After lunch we got on the road, and made a brief pit-stop in Amherst, before heading to NB.... As we crossed the border we were all a little sad to be leaving Nova Scotia, so perhaps the fates (or something) heard us. The car made a noise and dropped out of high gear (not a good thing on the highway), So we made a snap decision and headed back to NS, as we were a little too nervous to try to make it to Moncton, almost an hour away (assuming we could go top speed - and we couldn't). The other thing against us was that it was Sunday... so the chance of finding a repair place that could handle a Volkswagon was slim..

Anyway, we hightailed it back to Amherst, with the idea that we would try to get me and the kids on a train so we could at least get to Northern NB, unfortunately it didn't look like we could make the train from Amherst, (not enough time) but if we could drive to Moncton, we just might make it! That way we would be out of the way & getting to spend time with my sister, while Brad got the car looked at, and tried to get some work done. (Did I mention that Brad is so busy right now he had to bring work with him? yeah, bummer)

So we borrowed B-I-L Trev's car and raced to Moncton! 

Oh right, I forgot to mention, in all the racing....and grabbing bags to bring with us... It was raining... and I was wearing (slippery) flip flops.... and I slipped on the porch stairs, whacked my right wrist, and landed on my left leg, and got the worst bruises I have ever had in my life! It smarted something fierce, and I didn't really have time to stop and grab an icepack! Anyway, I was just so thankful that I didn't break anything! that I was able to enjoy the fun of watching my bruises change colour all week!

But I digress... We raced to Moncton, and again the fates, (or the damn highway around Moncton) seemed to be against us! We missed the  (#%^+$!!) turn-off. Our only hope was that VIA was running late (they usually are) - Finally! something in our favour! (phew) The train was over an hour late...(I don't even want to know if we might have been able to catch it in Amherst.)

So we managed to get on the train in Moncton, just after 6 pm, scheduled to reach Campbellton around 11:30pm... Wait a minute! I'm on my own with a 7 and 4 year old!  they'll be asleep (or monsters) by that time! hmm... Anyway, we had a lovely adventure, on the train, assembled the cool VIA cardboard trains (yes they still make those),  watched movies and a beautiful sunset, ate cookies, and the kids eventually fell asleep...after going to the bathroom about 5 times each.  When we arrived I was forced to wake poor Maggie, and a very nice lady helped me with my bags while I carried Ian off the train. We had to make do with available car seats, so Ian got to sit in a Big Boy Booster, and Maggie got to sit in a regular seat on the way home! (They woke sufficiently to be excited about that!) (psst.. don't tell anyone official okay? I won't do it again.)

Luckily Brad was able to get he car seen the next day at the Volkswagon dealership in Moncton, and as we suspected (hoped) it was only a sensor problem that we had been warned about before we left, and NOT the transmission. (ka-ching!) We love our Jetta, but Brad's big beef is that most of the repairs we've ever had to get are all to do with the SENSOR's not the actual mechanics of the vehicle.

So that was our least-favourite day of the trip..... In the end it wasn't so bad - but it was quite stressful at the time! (and at this point the blogging kinda dropped off the agenda - there was simply no time for it)

The big bruise on the back of my thigh.