Monday, May 15, 2023: Here we are!
Hi folks,
did you miss me? Or did you not realise that I have not written for quite a while?
Actually, I’ve wanted to work on the laptop for a long time, but Ursula always had an excuse. Not fully charged. Annie Way hasn’t got enough electrical power. (Which can’t be with her solar system!) No time now. (When, if not now?) I need the laptop myself. (But not 24 hours a day!)
Very suspicious, those excuses.
Of course I know exactly why Ursula doesn’t want the sloth to tell the truth about what happened recently. Because it’s embarrassing for Ursula, and she had hoped that noone would hear about it. She called my merciless. That’s my job, isn’t it?
But now first things first. We spent more than four weeks in confinement in darkness. That was terrible, but the journey itself was not so bad. Ursula told me that she watched our ship on the internet and that other people did that as well. We were very happy about that.
All three of us imprisioned in the cupboard above Annie Way’s table. Only because Leopold was too heavy for the suitcase! If it had been only for Leona Loewenfeld and me, we could have come with Ursula by plane! But this would have meant solitary confinement in darkness for Leopold. We just couldn’t do this to him!
At the beginning we were called Annie Way’s crew which was nice, but then someone came up with the idea that we are a gang. A worldwidely spread rumor (with its origin in Germany!) tells that the Lionfields are responsible for the latest gang warfares in the Bronx. Folks, that was not us. We were sitting in the cupboard, unable to move. Honestly! I have never been to New York.
But now about Ursula. First thing she did when picking up Annie Way, was to free us from the cupboard. We really appreciated this. Also that we were allowed to sit on the front seat. She was so happy to have us back.
Then we made a tour through the harbor of Halifax. Ursula could not find her way out, and there were no signs. Halifax has got a real big harbour.
In the afternoon we went to Walmart. There the thing with the propane began. The shop assistant said that the propane tank was full. Ursula disagreed, because it was not heavy enough for a full twenty pounder. Even the manager maintained that it was full. Although Ursula was sure that it was empty, she bought it. The next day we exchanged it for a full one at Petro Canada’s, after Ursula had connected it and the stove had not worked.
It was hard work to connect the new propane container which was much heavier than the empty one. But Ursula did it. Or so she thought. But when she switched on the stove, there was no propane coming. The sparks sparked, which meant, that Annie Way supplied the electricity, but the Shhh you hear before the flames appear, just wasn’t there. Therefore back to Annie Way’s propane tank box which is in the back on the left side, everything opened and then connected again. That was not so easy with the additional connection between the European and the American systems. Back to the stove. She opened the safety valve. Which she had forgotten before. She switched on the stove. The sparks sparked, but there was no Shhhh.
Ursula took her cell phone and texted someone. And someone else. And told someone on the phone.
People between Wartberg Muehlviertel and Westminster Colorado tried to come up with solutions. Ursula received e-mails and WhatsApp messages.
Meanwhile she went for a walk. At that time we were in Lunenburg, and Annie Way was standing in front of the motel room. As it was so cold, Ursula just had no intention to stay at a campground.
After her return from the walk she went to the nearest gas station with Annie Way and us. There was a very eager gentleman who knelt down behind Annie Way to connect the propane container with the valve. Actually, it was connected correctly, but – according to his opinion – not hard enough. Since then Ursula has been convinced that she will never be able to disconnect the propane container again. Maybe this is why she tries to use the propane as sparingly as possible.
In order to thank the gentleman at the gas station Ursula bought a second propane container. Which makes sense to have a spare one, even if you can’t use it because the first one can’t be disconnected.
Nevertheless the stove didn’t work. They tried it three times at the gas station. Safety valve opened, knob turned, button pressed. Sparks. Nothing else. The gentleman at the gas station wrote down the address of a company not far from Lunenburg, where Ursula could get it repaired.
In the evening she remembered that the heating was connected to the propane tank as well. She certainly could survive without the stove, but not without the heating … not with those low temperatures! The manual for all these things is stored safely and tidily in a certain basement in Leonding. That’s in Austria, which doesn’t really help. Ursula laughed out loud when she realized that she had forgotten Annie Way’s manual.
Back to the start. Valve of the propane tank opened, safety valve of the heating opened, Annie Way’s ventilation system on 4, rotory control to heating and 5. Nothing. Ursula wanted to switch everything off again when the 5 of the rotory control began to light green, and below Annie Way’s bench the heating started to hum cheerfully.
Ursula sat down. Then she tried the stove. Safety valve opened, knob turned for gas, button pressed, nothing but sparks.
After two nights in the motel, while Leona, Leopold and I were staying in Annie Way, Ursula greeted us with a certain undertone, “Hi folks, we’re starting. From now on you have to sit in the back again.”
The she took her time to find good spots for us to sit. Leona got back to her original seat between the two headrests of the rear bench, Leopold was fastened tightly to the safety belt where had been my seat before, but he kept sliding down during our trips, and I got a seat on top of the console for the TV set which we haven’t got. On the wall between Leona, Leopold and me, Ursula had hung up a lot of photos of her son, friends, and even her father and her mother were there. And the cards her friends had given to her. And Hilde, a tiny pixy-lady, is hanging below me. She says she is Annie Way’s good spirit. Perhaps we should ask her to become part of the gang. We’ll see.
As Ursula was preparing everything for our first long trip, she tried the propane-thing again. Valve of the container opened, safety valve for the stove opened, knob turned for gas, button pressed. The usual sparks. Nothing else.
We went 20 km to Bridgewater to a mobile home dealer with a workshop. Folks, there were giants – incredible! Compared to them Annie Way is absolutely tiny!
Ursula went inside and came back with a piece of paper. There was a mobile technician who was in charge of such things, and she was supposed to call him.
It was obvious that she did not want to. The piece of paper was put next to the driving-M&Ms, and off we went. First to Amherst in Nova Scotia, where she had found a campground on the internet, but it was still closed, then 200 km further to St. John in New Brunswick to a wonderful campground next to a forest.
There Ursula went hiking and came back feeling happy. Canadian geese! For some reason she loves Canadian geese! Although she has got a sloth and two lions!
And as she was in such a good mood, she turned on the propane container and the safety valve, turned the know for gas and pressed the knob and the button at the same time, there was a Shhh, the sparks sparked, and the flames came up.
She switched everything off and sat down. “Sally, I am such a …” I am not going to repeat the word she used.
All this much effort because she had forgotten to press both the knob and the button of the stove. Thank you, Wartberg! Thank you, Westminster! We’ll ask you again what to do when the propane tank is empty and we don’t know how to disconnect it because the gentleman at the gas station has broken the connecting piece and there is no chance to get such an adapter in North America. But we certainly won’t tell you that one of us was too stupid to turn on the stove, because you have tried to help us so eagerly and wonderfully, and in reality everything was okay.
Since then Ursula appears to be completely relaxed. What else could happen? We have solved the propane problem!
Which actually was not a problem at all.
You are allowed to forget how to switch on the stove!
And you are allowed not to be able to check how the ticket machine at the parking lot works. And not to know how to get a ticket for the Metro in Montreal. And arrive at the wrong campground whereas the one you have made a reservation for is 50 km away. And you are allowed to tap your credit card three times at the toll station because you have not realized that the barrier has gone up after the first time. And get lost in Montreal. And arrive with Annie Way in Quebec in the old city in front of Chateau Frontenac, although you wanted to avoid the town completely. And you are allowed to buy three different electric power adapters till you get the one that fits.
No problem at all. Also no problem that Ursula’s wrist watch stopped working and her camera is broken. No problem. Ursula takes it easy.
Folks, I think she is right. We’ve made it. We are here and have survived the first two weeks. Despite of all the oopses. They were peanuts, actually.
It’s not far to Kapuskasing any more. And beyond.
Therefore, let’s just go too far and take a look what’s there to find.
Yours, Sally