Jill and I planned a few weeks out to bring Ruby home. Our Canadian winter had been long and hard and we need to get her home so we can get it inspected. Off we went on the Good Friday morning to Shelby MT. The drive was good heading down other that the long wait at the border crossing. As we approached Shelby, MT the wind picked up and it got nasty. We got the bus preheated and started up. The tow bar would not fit so we had to buy a grinder @ NAPA to make it fit. Finally we could be on our way. Oh – Ya, and the heater fan stopped working so Ruby had no heat. So it was going to be a cold drive up to the Great White North.
We pulled out on the highway and then pulled over to hook the truck up to tow and the wind again was even worse. A highway safety officer pulled in and asked if we were OK…. All good and off we went. The wind at the point even got worse…let me tell ya. After about 10 miles-we heard a loud Bang – the main awning came open. WOW – Hit the brakes and quickly pulled over. Jill and I managed to get the awning back in and it seemed not to have to much damage to our surprise. We zipped tied the awning off and away we went again. But the wind got worse and the highway was complete white out with cars and big rigs in the ditch. The winds must have been well over 100km/hr. The traffic was down to 10 mph and some rigs were even stopped on the highway. We got through the worse area and then BANG – again, the main awning came open AGAIN!. Hit the brakes and over we pulled again for the second time. The awning was flying around and we could not get it in this time. We struggled and finally it went back in. Lucky it didn’t rip the canvas but did bend the hardware. But my truck did not fair out so well as the tow bar folded up due to the extreme braking. I guess the truck needed a brake system. We disconnected the truck as we needed to use it for standing on to tie off the awning off so it would stay in. We froze trying to zip tie / secure the awning again. I almost fell off the top of the truck. Good thing for lots of straps in my truck.
Jill had to follow to the border with my truck. 20 miles and Ruby would be in Canada. We stopped in at the US side for clearance. They stamped the paper work and off to the Canadian side. They called us in to finalize the paper work. All good – all they really wanted were the taxes. After a brief inspection through the bus and truck they let us on our way. So Jill followed and we headed to Lethbridge. It was already past 6pm so we stopped for supper. Back in the cold bus. The weather got worst and it started to snow and blow some more. The highways sucked – glazed over and you could tell they where very slippery. I was following Jill and she was going 50 – 55 so 3 hours and we should be home. Had to stop in Nanton, AB to warm the toes. Finally pulled into Calgary and arrived home @ 11:00 pm. A 15 hour adventure. But we make it… with out to much damage. Need a new bumper for the truck, new awning rods and a fridge roof cover. 45 days – To get it inspected and plated in Alberta. Thanks to John for letting us use his Arizona plate interm.
