Working our way home from Moab

Hfx_Cdn said:

    Wendy, what amazed me was that even though we drove up from Banff, through Jasper, it really is a series of river canyons, with only one long climb, which is north of Lake Louise, just prior to reaching the Columbian Ice Fields. It wasn't marked, but I'd say it never exceeded a 6% grade, and only was about 4 or 5 miles long.  We took it at 20,000 RPM in 3rd gear, it was a breeze.  I'd say there were a couple of hills that were worse, if we were heading south from Jasper to the Ice Fields.
  We have several hundred pictures of mountains, as there was just another as/more beautiful than the last every time you looked up.  When we get to the kids and I have decent wifi, I may try to post some.
  Tom Seiler, we took pictures of Harlequin ducks while we were in the Yellowstone, and a Clark Nutcracker on the rocks along Lake Louise, but didn't get any at Maligne Lake, although there were lots of signs telling people to stay away from their nesting sites.  I'll try to post.

Ed

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That is one hi performance engine!  BTW: the Maloneys leave for BC on Saturday, next.

Hfx_Cdn said:

  I glad you thought that it was amusing, we didn't   We particularly didn't think it was amusing that they wouldn't provided information and took off, although that may have been a blessing in disguise, as our insurance waived the deductibles for hit and run. 

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Ed and Donna,

I certainly did not mean to make light of your misfortune, sorry if it appeared like that.  It is even worse knowing you had JUST  goten that Jeep back in prime condition.  I sure hope  the black cloud goes away and does not spoil your memories of such a wonderful trip.  It will get better.

    Betty, no offense taken, I too found parts humorous, but was nevertheless annoyed over their flight.  But the black cloud hasn't left us yet, the muffler dropped off the exhaust manifold driving on Northern Ontario's washboard roads.  Luckily, it merely separated, and didn't fall off, so I was able to tie it up to the frame, but we are now louder than the cowboys who remove their babbles on their cycles.
    We made it to Ottawa, but while backing into our daughter's drive, I backed into their evestroughing, and while it did a bit of damage to it, it broke the coaches' ladder.  So, this fix will be on me, no half moons to blame, and my spotter won't accept blame either, and I won't go there.
    A couple of weeks R & R with the grandkids should put us back into a civilized frame of mind.

Ed

Ed, you should have stayed in the U.S. Nothing bad happened to you while you were here

  The first hit was in Texas, and Uncle Sam coming after me would have been worse, a tourist entry means I have to leave in 6 months.

Ed

    We're back in  the Maritimes, at the cottage, and getting set up.  The insurance appraiser is scheduled to come here Thursday to look at the damage on the coach.  Then, we have to go back to Halifax to get the Jeep looked at.  We had no more incidents after leaving our daughter's in Ottawa.
      In all we drove about 7,050 miles, but we haven't had the time to add up the fuel or accommodations yet.

Ed

Boy I'll bet you guys are glad to be back "Home." 
I sure hope the  fix for Jeep and MH come quickly and easily and  inexpensively!

Home Sweet Home. How long before you start craving the feel of the road beneath your wheels ?

Hfx_Cdn said:

  The first hit was in Texas, and

Uncle Sam coming after me

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would have been worse, a tourist entry means I have to leave in 6 months.

Ed

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really?, like they have someone paying attention to this?

Texas is full of illegals and they have no papers and don't worry about it.  Of course we don't have the same rights so you could be stopped I imagine.

    Yes the border service monitors our comings and goings.  If you search the library and several previous posts, you will see there is a real concern about being banned for 3 to 5 years for over stating your 6 month tourist entry.  But the most serious consequence is that the US IRA deams you to be a resident if you have been in the US for over 6 months and therefor you must file a Tax return, or pay a fine, even if no US taxes are due, so we don't play with the time we are there.

Ed

I have been following your post and am sorry for your misfortunes but you sure saw a lot of great scenery.Glad you are safely back in the Maritimes.,,,Alan

    Alan, that Moab Rally was OUT OF THIS WORLD, you really must try it sometime.  We plan on doing it agin, as there is so much near there that we didn't get to see. 
    We must try to get together for a "pop" this fall when we get home from the cottage.

ed

We are planning to head west next spring maybe we will get to Moab not sure of the schedule yet'. Hope we do get a chance to get together ,sounds good...Alan

      Well the PAINFUL dealing with the insurance company has commenced.  I don't think I mentioned, but they are treating it as 2 separate claims, so last Friday the first Appraiser came by to look, take pics inside and out, and to start that process.  I'm not sure he was really that knowledgeable about RVs, so it goes.  Then yesterday, a visit to my friend's Jeep dealership, where we had bought the Jeep.  His body shop foreman went through a similar process, and said he would deal with the adjuster.  However, even before he has it priced out, he is of the opinion that the Jeep will be a write off. 
    Since we had already started talking of downsizing, this could speed up the process.  I doubt that we would buy a towable replacement for the Liberty as a 7 passenger SUV is a better fit to our present needs.  Then, do we just sell the coach as we only need a small unit to travel with?  DECISIONS, decisions????
    It is amazing how one stupid piece of inattention by someone else on a clear day, on a flat straight piece of divided highway seems to be having such an effect of our lives.  I guess it could have been a lot worse, we could have been injured, but I must admit that I have uttered more than one curse word when thinking of those 2 who hit us, then ran.

Ed

    Well as suspected, last night I got a call from another insurance appraiser, who said he specializes in heavy equipment, and has done a few motor homes.  He said that he was called in as the first appraiser felt that he was not qualified to do the motor home.  So, today, this fellow, drove about 200 miles one way to look at the motor home.  He was more familiar with diesels motors, but I am not real sure he has any better feel for the RV world.  However, listening to what they are saying, they seem to be giving indication that the coach will be fixed, and fixed properly.  His big concern was to look to see if there was any obvious mechanical problems or frame damage as a result of the accident.
    Still no word on the Jeep.

Ed

      Hopefully this will be one of the last updates on this topic.  The initial estimate on the Jeep was that it was a write off, but instead of using my "friend" the Jeep dealer, they did it their way, and the appraiser and one of their preferred body shops, and the parts are ordered and it should go in next week.  The motorhome has been approved too, but the epoxy technician is away on vacation for a week, so it won't go in until next week.  So, in a few weeks we should be back to normal, whatever that is!

Ed

Ed, we're sorry to hear about your troubles and hope everything turns out good. Not rubbing it in or anything, but here is proof of bighorns in Yellowstone. When we were there, the rangers told us there have been no moose in YNP since 1988 when there was a huge fire. They all moved south to the Grand Tetons. He said it was their opinion that they wouldn't return to YNP for 40 years when their habitat recovered from the fire. It was great to see that you saw moose when you were there. We are planning on another YNP and Grand Tetons visit soon.

Stan

    Well it is starting to come together again.  We picked up the Jeep in Dartmouth today and drove it back to the cottage, about 175 miles away.  Aside from a few minor fixes, it seems to be back to rights.  No rattles, nor squeaks, wind noise, or any of the things that spring to mind when there is body work done on a vehicle.  Although they are adamant that the lights are hooked up correctly, we'll drive up to the body shop where the motorhome is being repaired to test them.  FWIW, the Jeep was repaired at a former customer of mine, who is an RVer, in fact he was leaving for an FMCA local Rally when we were there.

Ed