Day 16 – Friday, July 12, 2013

Busted Belts or Oh my darling Serpentine!

We left Kamloops this morning after coffee and breakfast with Aunt Lynne and Uncle Herb. I must say that I have never seen two people settle into a new place so quickly. They look right at home after 2 days. Julie notes “It was with a few tears that I left my Aunt and Uncle in their new digs. As is the Holmes way, they have faced adversity head on and moved forward. Aunt Lynne sent us off with wise words to live by … “Enjoy each other, good times and bad, because you never know when it all may change.” We will try our best to follow that advice (but I may need some extra resolve where Brad is concerned). Aunt Lynne also stocked us up with a couple of bags of Uncle Herb’s famous secret recipe popcorn. Only one bag survived the trip through the pass.”

We traveled the Trans Canada highway east from Kamloops towards Calgary, our destination for the day. It has been many years since we traveled that route. The scenery is quite spectacular. I’m not sure if we will be able to compete with the beauty of the Canadian Rockies for the rest of our trip – we’ll see, I guess. Julie notes “I agree with Brad on that note. We live in a beautiful place. But we’ll try to keep an open mind as we travel on. I have been practicing my Spanish as we travel along and so far can fluently say “The lady eats an apple.” That should get us far! I have noticed Brad speaking to passing motorists in what I assume is Spanish. He keeps yelling something like “Dum-Ass!” which I gather is Spanish for “Good driving my friend!”

One of the avalanche tunnels along the highway.

Today’s wildlife count; We did see a mountain goat along the highway but we were not able to get a picture so the photo below will have to do. Julie notes “Speaking of wild life, Brad claimed there were some ‘low flying ducks’ in bed the other night. I knew better. And an irate trucker flipped us ‘the bird’ and we are still puzzled why but will add that to the list of ‘foul’. Crazy fools on ‘hogs’ in rain and hail also make the list.”

Wildlife at Roger’s Pass.

We arrived in Golden, BC for a Tim Horton’s coffee. Julie went in to get the coffees while I waited in the truck. I started hearing a slight engine rattle but not alarming. I wasn’t sure what it was. I was going to find out in a few minutes though! We pulled back out on the highway and within a block I lost all power – steering and brakes. We pulled off the highway onto a service road using the old “armstrong” method of braking and steering. Julie notes “We are not promoting any Lance Armstrong products.”

I opened the hood to find a broken serpentine belt – oh my darling, serpentine. An idler pulley had seized and caused the belt to break. I called Alpine Auto Centre at 3:00 PM on a Friday afternoon. They sent out a technician to check on our situation. He quickly found the cause and said he would fix us up right where we sat. Off he went to get the parts and returned in short order with a new belt and pulley. He and his assistant had it installed in a few minutes and we were back on the road within an hour and a half. Amazing service from Alpine at a very reasonable price. Julie notes “Heroes come in all shapes and sizes!”

Oh my darling, serpentine!

Amazing service from Alpine

Julie notes “Heroes come in all shapes and sizes!”

We arrived late in Calgary at our daughter Jaime’s place for a sushi feast – the second broken belt of the day J

Sushi feast strains another belt today

Julie, Jaime and her friend Terri-Lynn toasting the opening of the sushi feast! Julie doesn’t think you will be able to tell which one is which. I just humour her.

…that’s the post for today folks, carry on, the muleskinner and his sidekick