A Toad Reborn

We took it easy while waiting for the car to be finished the next morning. , The dogs will be meowing and the cats barking tonight because they finished the job by 11:15.  Of course, lunch was from 12 to 12.30 so we could not pick it up until after 12.30.  Decamping was not a problem with the dreaded black water draining not being necessary - Yeah!  We got to the shop, were oriented to the supplementary device by an excellent technician, and went in for the bill.  It took about thirty minutes for the bill to be done and paid.  Got a show price for the unit which saved us about four hundred dollars, so it is tough to complain much.  I am very satisfied to this point about the experience.

We were off to the booming metropolis of Metamoras, PA.  The campground there was about the only alternative unless we wanted to drive an hour more.  With the uncertainty of when the car would be completed, we opted for the relatively short ride of nearly 3 hours.  

The campground was cheap - probably for a good reason.  First the manager(?) told us to hook-up in the wrong site.  Had to have her walk out to the site to prove it to her.  

Then, the toad was dead, ded, doornail dead, no battery, zilch, nada, etc.  Very frustrating after the supposed and expensive fix.  Turns out that it was an idiosyncrasy with a key that we had had made.  After calling AAA and then figuring out the problem myself (see dogs meowing above...), we cancelled the service call just as the guy arrived.  He was understanding and said that he also really understood hybrids and would take a look just to make sure.  With his infinite understanding of electromechanics and probable mail order degree in engineering, he said it was a loose wire.  Didn't say anything but thanks for the memory.

Actually the AAA guy and manager were both nice, but both were inept.  I know, the kettle and pot thing....

Anyway, back to the campground.   It was beside I84 and noisy as could be with the big trucks.  It was raining hard much of the night.  It sounded like the inside of a drum at times.  Amazingly, it did not bother me that much or Gin who lives better through chemistry, that is, by taking a sleeping pill.

We decided to cut our driving the next day by half because of the driving rain that was predicted, pun intended.  It was not as bad driving with the toad as my anxieties had thought they would be, but it was not pleasant in any sense.  We frequently drove around 50 mph, but many other people were too.  It was a good decision as we would have been on the beltway around Boston at a prerush hour time.  Not good.  I would just as soon be beaten with a stick as drive at that time around Boston.

Got to the campground and wanted a pull through so we wouldn't have to unhook the toad.  The only available pull through was a 30 amp, which I thought we had a converter for in the rv, but was not.  So, we unhooked the toad and then hooked up the rv in the rain.  It sounds worse than it was - well, maybe not....

Off to near Portland, Maine tomorrow if the universe is willing and the crick don't rise...