Our friends in Kokomo who loaned us their truck and trailer for our move to Quebec volunteered to trade vehicles with us again for our return trip. Toronto is a very convenient half-way point between Kokomo and Quebec City as my parents live there and enjoy hosting our friends! The plan was for Paul and Sherrie to bring their truck and trailer from Kokomo and we would bring our caravan from Quebec and trade in Toronto. We planned to do the trade on the weekend after classes were done. We also planned on leaving Mikaylah with Grandma and Grandpa in Toronto while we went back to Quebec to pack up our apartment. We left early on Saturday morning December 15. However a snowstorm in Kokomo prevented Paul and Sherrie from leaving Kokomo. They finally made it on Monday December 17. We traded vehicles and Tuesday Paul and Sherrie took our Caravan back to Kokomo and we brought the truck and trailer with Jayson up to Quebec.
We had pretty good weather but ran into traffic in Montreal that kept us at a standstill for three hours! So we didn't arrive in Quebec until 11:00 at night. Tim's Quebecois friend Marc graciously drove over to the church (where we were storing the truck and trailer) and brought Tim back to the apartment. How thankful we are for good friends. We made quick work of packing the apartment and our friends helped us to empty and clean the apartment. We were all packed up by Friday and Saturday Tim loaded the truck and trailer. We planned to leave after church on Sunday morning December 23 and be in Toronto on Christmas Eve with our daughter and my parents. Some other friends, Norm and Debra graciously loaned us their car and their home as all our possessions were packed in the trailer and there was no place to park the truck and trailer near their home. Sunday morning our dear pastor Rene Labbe invited Tim to make his adieus from the pulpit. We were so thankful for the opportunity to say goodbye to all our dear friends. we were on the road by 1:30 Sunday afternoon. But we were only on the road for about an hour when Tim noticed that the brakes on the trailer were grabbing! Tim pulled over and discovered that the wires to the trailer were shorting out. So he disconnected the wires and we were on our way again but without running lights to the trailer. We were on the road about 15 minutes when one of the tires on the trailer blew! It was cold out and poor Tim was changing a tire on the highway! There was a Canadian Tire store (Like Menards or Home Depot but with mechanics) in Drummondville so we decided to stop there and get a new tire and find someone to fix the wires for us. Drummondville was only another 20 minutes away but before we got there we lost all electrical power in the truck! No blinkers, no dashlights, nothing!
Thankfully we made it to Drummondville without getting pulled over by the police or having anyone plow into us! It was only 3:30 but it gets dark in Quebec by 4:30 so we had to find a hotel for the night. We got a new tire at CT and found a hotel across the street! Tim called Paul to ask his advice and Paul told him to check the fuses! Good call Paul! Four fuses were blown! Tim was able to get new fuses at CT and we had power in the truck again! Hallelujah! But there were no mechanics to be found on Sunday or on Christmas Eve.
We were on our way again Christmas Eve morning hoping to make it to Toronto but without running lights on the trailer we had to stop again, this time in Kingston, Ontario. The hotel had a Denny's attached to it but they were closing early for Christmas Eve. The staff felt sorry for our little Mary Joseph and Jesus family on Christmas Eve so they came out in the lobby and offered to feed us. We were the only ones in the restaurant and the staff was giddy to get home to their families so we ate an early supper at 4:15!! Jayson was properly feted and they even gave him a Tou-tou (stuffed animal in English).
We only had 3 hours left to Toronto so we arrived at 11 o'clock Christmas morning. In time for Stockings! We had a great reunion with our daughter and a happy Christmas with family. My sister and brother in law and their three little boys came for Christmas dinner so we had a big jolly time!
We didn't have time to do any Christmas shopping for our family but it didn't seem to matter. Everyone had a great time and we were just glad to be together!
