Google Earth measurements (straight line between locations)
Distance from Vancouver: 3540 km
Distance from Kingston: 0 km
Distance Driven Today: about 350 km
Total Distance Driven: about 6236 km
Today, after driving over 6000 km, our car decided to give up only 30 km outside of Kingston!! So frustrating to make it over 99.5% of the way only to be towed across the finish line! When our car is fixed, we will drive back out and finish the trip properly!
The battery light came on and then things like our radio and air conditioning started to fail so we turned them off. Right after, we had to go up a big hill and I noticed the gas pedal seemed to have no effect so I turned on the hazard lights and pulled over to the shoulder. Luckily, the car did have enough momentum to go up to the top of the hill safely. We turned off the car and checked under the hood -- there was a slight burning smell. After waiting a few minutes, I tried to start the car (didn't expect it to work) and nothing happened. So, I called CAA and asked for a tow. The tow truck took us into our hotel in Kingston, let us unload the stuff we needed, and then took our car to the dealership down the street. The car got there just before they closed so they will have to look at it tomorrow. Hopefully, it is just the battery and the alternator that needs to be replaced. These two components are also two of the oldest parts of the car and would probably need replacing in the near future anyways.
In hindsight, we should have pulled over when the battery light first came on, it probably would have saved the battery since now it seems to be completely drained. But full power lost happened really soon after the light came on so maybe it would not have made a difference. We are hoping that the car can be fixed before the long weekend (i.e. before the end of the day on Friday) so that we can use the car this weekend to shop for essentials such as a bed and for our move-in day on Sunday. If not, we would have to rent a car.
The car broke down about 30km west of Kingston and at around 4pm. When we drove past the sign saying 160km to Kingston, I joked that it would be okay for the car to break down now since CAA tows distances up to 160km!! We ended up at our hotel just before 6pm so we walked over to the bus loop, bought some prepaid bus fares and took the bus to the shopping centre to have dinner and to price out some mattresses. We found a good deal on a nice mattress that was half firm (for me) and half plush (for Laura) because it was the floor model that they were trying to get rid of. We put a hold on it but we will look around more tomorrow to make sure we aren't rushing a big purchase. Hopefully we can get the bed delivered by middle of next week so we only have to sleep on the floor for a couple of nights. Ordering a bed is our first priority tomorrow!
Also, please look at yesterday's entry (scroll down) to see the pictures we've now added for Niagara Falls!
The "Flying Saucer Restaurant" in Niagara Falls; we had to take a picture of it before we left.
I think the Queen's initials in the lamposts on the Queen Elizabeth Way are a nice touch!
Canada's largest city!
We think this is a good new law for Ontario.
An interesting design -- Pegasus-Deer?
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