We were on our way home from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, using a different route suggested by our daughter which goes along the water’s edge as we progress towards the bridge.
In the city we had stopped for food supplies at the Super Zehr’s Store and filled up our motorhome at the ESSO station nearby. When I started the Chevy 400 CID V8 it coughed a bit in a manner that attracted my attention. It had never done that before. On previous trips we had had trouble with the starter but never with a hesitation in running the engine. To me it was either an ignition glitch or a drop of water in the gas fuel line. If it was the latter there would surely be no further trouble because gas supplies are supposed to be exquisitely clean according to all advertisements in the media these days.
It was late afternoon and the sun was almost setting. We stopped at a turn-out and took a walk. The unusual feature of this spot was the massively gouged out shoreline. It made us wonder if the island would someday be in danger of washing away!
Once back on the road the engine began to miss and soon after quit altogether. Luckily we were next to a small farm house near to the highway. I knocked on the screen door and a friendly lady responded with a helpful suggestion. She said her husband was on his way home and would be able to call a mechanic he knew personally to come out and assess the problem. In a few minutes the husband did arrive. First of all with his Kubota tractor he pulled us onto the yard and then we chatted about what to do next. Since he was not a mechanic he said he would call his friend. He put me on the phone to the mechanic who said he knew exactly where we were but could not come until closing time at 6:00 pm. Of course I told him in detail the symptoms of the problem and he listened well.
Since we had a few hours to kill I said to Susan we should probably prepare to spend the night here since it was highly unlikely that the mechanic could both diagnose the problem and also repair it on site. Undoubtedly parts would have to be secured and that would mean another day at least. I asked the farmer if we could stay overnight and he said, of course we could.
The location where we had been towed to, gave us a full frontal view of the big open door of the unused barn. On the floor of the barn sat an absolutely beautiful array of cats: a mother cat and about eight kittens all in a row all waiting for their evening milk. But one small cat was curious and adventuresome. It came boldly to a dry fence pole next to our unit, climbed up easily and parked comfortably on top. From this vantage point he/she could look right into our living room/bedroom. I said to Susan I could not undress tonight before I went to bed. A cat was watching me!
The mechanic did come that evening, pulled off the distributor cap, replaced the rotor and condenser, and asked me to try the engine. It fired up immediately. He told me it was because I had done such a good job describing the problem that he knew immediately what it was. He only charged $45 for the repair job and parts. Great guy, and wonderful welcoming people.
We did stay overnight on the farmer’s yard but pulled the curtains on the nosey cat.
