So we went to a new campground, Pumpkin
Patch RV in Hermon, Maine. It is the official start of the caravan.
There we met with our Wagonmaster, Conrad & Janet and our Tailgunner, Ron
& Judy. Since last year’s caravan Rita & I have been toying with
the idea of becoming staff for Adventure Caravans in either a Wagonmaster or
Tailgunner role. So, this caravan will be an opportunity to
see exactly what is involved.
So, we started with rig inspections. Since this caravan is going into Canada and
RV services can be few & far between all the motorcoaches & campers are
checked for safety & durability. We
crawled underneath looking for loose nuts, bolts, straps & body parts. We checked tires & suspension systems. Looked for dents, scratches & broken
glass. We ensured that the rigs were up
on their maintenance schedule and checked on spare filters, belts and tires. If all was well we attached the bright yellow
caravan sticker & their Rig Number
to the top corner both front & back, that will allow us to identify
each other along the route.
Then once all 18 rigs were in the
campground and inspected we had a meet & greet social in the evening to start
explaining the rules & expectations of the caravan. Day two we had a nice dinner to finalize the
first day of travelling & make sure everyone was ready to leave.
Day three of the caravan is actually
travelling! Well first thing in the
morning I joined Ron as he did the tire check.
Every travel day the Tailgunner thumps every tire of the caravan, RV’s, tow
cars, trucks and campers, to check air pressure. Then as the rigs were pulling out of the campground,
we had them stop near us and we measured everyone, we need a total length of
each unit for the ferry to & from Newfoundland you pay by the foot for the
ferry. Then once everyone left we
practiced tailgunning. Which means we
stay back from all the caravanners and make sure no one breaks down and gets
safely to the campground in Quebec.
The trip involved a 220-mile drive over
nice two lane highways through northern Maine and crossing the border into Canada. Fortunately, all our rigs got through with no
issues. The Canadian Border guards ask
very direct questions about guns, alcohol and cannabis. Like I said everyone got through unscathed
except one. Me….. First how much alcohol? Told him three or four bottles of personal use
liquor. Cannabis? Nope. The
guard doesn’t ask if you have guns but where are your guns, “mine are home” he then
asks are you sure??? Yep. How about ammo, all at home then out of the
blue, “do you have any knives?? Sure, I
do, clipped on my belt. Can I see it? He
asks, Sure….. I hand it over and as he
tries to open it a remember…. This is
the knife Jackie’s Gunny gave me the day before they deployed to Iraq. It is a special edition “BenchMade” spring
loaded knife. And you guessed it,
illegal in Canada. “Sir please park your
RV over on the side & come in. CRAP!
Once inside we meet with a different officer. This one was a little more friendly. He knew the knife was special and commented
that he did a deployment with the Canadian army to Afghanistan. He commented right away that he figured I had
a sentimental attachment to the knife & I explained the details to
him. He told us that the knife is
illegal in Canada, but he could hold it at this border crossing for 90 days. We couldn’t ship it home because we can’t
take it to a shipping point and the option to take it back to the US was
complicated. So? We opted to have him store it for us and we
will probably go a little out of our way at the end of the caravan and retrieve
it.
Back to CC and on our way again. Oh yeah, Welcome to Canada!!!
The rest of the trip was easy peasy. Well except for one odd
thing. In every province in Canada all road signs are in English
& French except for one province, you guessed it, Quebec,
There EVERYTHING is only in French.
I mean kilometers instead of miles is ok, so, is liters instead of
gallons. But ARRETT instead of
STOP. Warning signs, hazard signs, special
instructions all French. When your
driving a rig totaling 65 feet trying to
figure out where your going? Interesting….
But we made it safely.
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