Hi folks…Rochelle here...I'm "guest blogging" the details of today's ordeal! And what an ordeal it was!
Geoff and I left the Emerson Campground around 9:30 AM heading for the border. Understandably, we were questioned thoroughly and eventually, VanGo was "patted down" by the US agricultural guards. Of course, they found nothing ;-) I guess that's to be expected with a VW Van with a peace medallion on the rear view mirror ;-)
After crossing the border, we stopped at the first small town (Pembina) and Geoff got on his bike and headed off. I was to go grab some US cash at the local bank. Unfortunately, VanGo wouldn't start! UGH!! It was just like in the movies ;-) The engine turned over but it wouldn't fire. I gave it gas and eventually I think I flooded it. Meanwhile, Geoff was on his way and we started texting. I connected our two batteries together; got another car to try and boost me; all to no avail. After 6 km, Geoff turned around and came back to help. When he got back, he jumped in the car, turned the key, floored the gas and VanGo started! Yeah!! (Although I was a bit upset with VanGo for playing favorites ;-) We then got on our way and about 7 km down the road, the engine temperature started to rise and we pulled over immediately on the side of the highway. There was no steam so we decided to get going again. Well guess what?! VanGo would not start. We tried everything and finally after 30 minutes called CAA/AAA.
AAA North Dakota couldn't figure out where we were and kept telling me that I wasn't in North Dakota!! ARGH!! They were also complaining because my cell phone kept breaking up (I was barely getting Canadian coverage and the US carrier had yet to kick in - yes, that's how close we were to the border. In fact, when I called, I was first connected to CAA Manitoba and they were AWESOME and very helpful!) Eventually, I got disconnected - ARGH!!! I called back and CAA Manitoba answered again and agreed that AAA North Dakota was challenging. CAA Manitoba then started to plan to tow us back across the border into Manitoba until they finally connected with someone from AAA North Dakota who said she could help. She got our details and finally told me after 30 minutes that a tow truck would arrive in 1-1.5 hours. Apparently, the driver was on another call and would be passing by as he picked up his tow truck, which is what happened. She also mentioned that all the shops nearby were closed and she could not make any recommendations. She told us to get online and find a shop ourselves - again NOT very helpful - which we did. We found Sears Auto Center in Grand Forks and gave them a call. They were open and had an opening after 5 pm. The tow truck driver stopped by after his call, but was unable to solve anything by fiddling around with the engine so he went off to get his flat-bed truck and we had lunch in VanGo. About 45 minutes later the tow truck and driver showed up and we drove the 71 miles to Grand Forks.
That's when the mechanics at Sears started VanGo with the very first try! Are you kidding me?! They drove VanGo into one of the bays and then turned it off. Guess what?! Yup, they couldn't get it started again. Eventually, after sitting for a bit, they got VanGo going again and left him running out front. They really had no idea what was going on and couldn't do anything more. They were apologetic and didn't charge us anything. However, while VanGo was sitting there idling, he started to overheat and coolant began to gush onto the ground. So, he was turned off and Geoff and I were left debating what to do for the evening. The crew at Sears gave us some recommendations for motels and even offered to drive us anywhere we wanted. After several deep sighs, Geoff and I decided to take a chance with VanGo and head over to Walmart (better overnight security and only ~1km away). VanGo started perfectly and the engine temperature for the short trip was fine. After we safely arrived at Walmart, we got a call from one of the Sears mechanics telling us that his friend could work on VanGo and we have a 9 am appointment on Monday. Looks like Grand Forks for the weekend!
To top things off, we've also been having quite a time trying to connect to the Internet. We have several devices and for some reason they are not working properly. As a result, we bought yet another carrier, Verizon, hotspot device (Geoff's pseudo-birthday gift ;-) and we treated ourselves out to dinner at Red Lobster, which was just at the other end of the Walmart parking lot ;-)
That said, we had very nice dinner and are hoping tomorrow is better than today!
So, there you have it…the long, shaggy dog story of how VanGo wrecked Geoff's birthday :-(