Jan 25 was to be day one but fate intervened and we are stuck at home for a while, why, see the following.
On Wed morning we hooked up and took off but didn't get very far. Just over the Pitt River Bridge there was suddenly a huge amount of smoke coming from behind the RV. We stopped & discovered the front of the car was enveloped in smoke, was steaming hot and a brownish, oily liquid was dripping out from the front. We continued to the West Coast Ford dealer in Maple Ridge and left it there for them to confirm their suspicions and came home in the RV, (currently on Dewdney Truck). We went back out Thursday and they said it appeared that the engine was shot, maybe the transmission & clutch and rear brakes. How it occurred was when we were packing it to go Sheila was inside putting things away and I drove the car to the back & hooked up the tow bar then hopped in the RV and left. What had happened was that I had left the car in first gear & the brake on. About 8 miles, (13 or 14 km), later the engine over heated and fell apart. We are now waiting for West coast Ford to get another drive train and to install it all plus check the rear brakes and fix them. A big expensive job that will take some time. We don't know when exactly it will be all fixed as they have to get the engine, transmission, clutch etc to their place & it's a full 2 day job to install plus drive check it all works after. We still hope to go south but exactly when is up in the air. The one bright spot in all this is that our CDI insurance covers it under the Comprehensive section plus we get an amount for a car rental, (I don't think it will cover the entire time we are carless but will help). So here we are at home for a while yet.
So here we are waiting on the outcome of the car repair. It's now Fri Jan 27. Updates as the become relevant will be published.
