Kingston

Sunday morning, our day to say goodbye to Ottawa, we woke relatively early for us, at about 8:00. We had a leisurely breakfast, walked the dogs, packed up and put away all the “stuff” and started the engine, and waited for the airbags to inflate, and waited, and waited and waited . . . . . Got out to look, rear bags not inflating much, hiss of escaping air from right rear again!!!!

Art got on the phone to Freightliner, service department is open! (Freightliner frequently provides 7 day a week service for the truckers) Of course they are 34 Km in the wrong direction down the freeway. From the RV Park, the 2 kilometer access road to the freeway is very rough and bumpy with an extremely rough railway crossing half way along. It was a pretty rough ride without the rear suspension inflated.

Art switched on the exhaust brake to avoid using the air brakes to conserve air. It was pretty rough down the highway as well but at 55 mph (90 kmh) the pressure was maintaining at about 100 psi and even slowly increasing. Slowly the ride improved as the air pressure built. By the time we reached Freightliner the airbags had filled and the air leak had stopped. The rough ride didn't do the clothes in the closet a lot of good, a fact that we didn't discover until later. These had all fallen to the closet floor!

The mechanic who had worked on this on Tuesday happened to be on duty today came out to check things over and explained the short notes on the work order in more detail. The cause of the screeching noise was an obstruction in a failed valve in the air suspension leveling. This was an aftermarket item and was not on the vehicle schematics. They had been unable to get a replacement in a reasonable time so had cleaned and replaced the faulty one. It is still leaking air to the vent when the bags are filling, but once filled the leak stops and the bags remain inflated. It just takes a very long time now to refill the bags once the air has been dumped such as when parking and using the stabilizing jacks. At least the noise was gone.

Since parts would take at least a week and here we were on the Sunday of Labour Day weekend we decided to set off and contact Henderson Line Up in Oregon (who had installed a valve last spring) on Tuesday. While at Freightliner we called Brendan to fill him in and give him a morning chuckle and to thank them for their hospitality this past week. Back on the road though Ottawa we passed the RV Park we had left an hour and ten minutes before.

Through all the road works again we stopped in Carlton Place for fuel and breakfast in the restaurant that Gillian had noticed yesterday so went in for lunch. The place was packed, we were lucky not to have to have waited for a table. A popular spot, many of the diners were obviously regulars and well known to the staff. Lunch was very good—We should have come here for breakfast yesterday instead of the misnamed Gourmet Restaurant up the street.

Eventually we were southbound on the 15, past Luxury RV, on the way to Kingston. Finally. This route was a very pretty drive with several picturesque towns along the way. Pity there was no place to park the motorhome and tow car, we would have liked to have stopped for a closer look around. We passed a set of locks on the canal as we drove over a bridge and Gillian noticed flower baskets in the locks. These towns probably miss a lot of spontaneous tourist stops as there was no noticeable RV parking or direction signs.

We arrived at Rideau Acres Campground at about 2:30. This very large park, some 500 sites, was nicely grassed and spacious and offered wireless and laundry. The wireless was very slow and only accessible in front of the office and the laundry was very tiny for the number of clients—only 4 washers and 4 dryers.

Art phoned his nephew Mike to let him know we had arrived safely and that would set off for their place in an hour or so once we got settled, dogs walked and us showered and cleaned up.

No internet within range so while waiting for Gillian to finish her turn showering and washing and drying her hair Art began making notes using Open Office to post later to the blog. (Art's hair being so sparse and short is much easier and faster to deal with!)

Of course it was almost 2 hours before we set off, but it was a short and pretty drive into Kingston which is where Lake Ontario ends and the Saint Laurence River begins. On the road in, a cut showed the limestone base of Kingston. For our Victoria friends here too is a picture of Kingston's “Green Bridge” to compare to our own “Blue Bridge”. Both are lift bridges to permit shipping to pass beneath.

Within minutes we were in the old historic Kingston, lots of beautiful old buildings, including Mike and Martina's 1855 Designated Building. (The brick house) Here are a few interior shots as well as a pic of the plaque affixed to the front of the house

After a great visit and interaction with the kids we sat down to a wonderful BBQ ribs dinner, Dr Mike performing the requisite surgery on the ribs.

The kids were entertained somewhat by Uncle Art telling a few stories about their dad when as a four year old he lived in Uncle Art's house. Grandnephew Declan responding to Uncle Art's toast.

Next day we met at a local park, Art checking out the MacLachlin Woodworking museum before joining the rest for a very chilly picnic lunch. The kids played on and around the beach and wanting to swim and Gillian took the dogs for a very much needed and enjoyed off leash run in the off leash dog park.

Mike, Martina and the kids returned directly home while we took a round about detour to check out the rest of the town. We quickly decided that if you couldn't live in old Kingston, don't bother. The newer parts of town were very ho-hum.

We returned to the house in time for dinner, Mike again at the BBQ, this time with chicken. One of the kids requested a drumstick but when shown that there was nothing but thighs on the grill decided that that would do. We had another great time getting to know the kids, the two youngest of whom we had never met and the eldest, no longer the little girl, at eleven she was turning into a confident, mature young lady. Eventually it was bed time—for us as the well as the kids, so we said our goodbyes and made our way back to the RV park.

Our neighbour in the RV Park had come over to say hello when we arrived. We had a nice chat as he introduced himself, he lives in Labrador City, a place not well served by good roads! He was returning home the next day, the truck and 5^th wheel by train, he and his wife by plane, courtesy the mining company he worked for. I guess the isolation deserves a few perks!