#20 Fundy National Park: Downhill But at What Angle?

 

I was pleasantly surprised to see this sign near Fort Francis, Ontario.  We were barely a day out of Winnipeg and we were already over the hump.  It was all downhill from here.  But did they measure the 1660 feet from high or low tide?  We'd be hitting the Atlantic at the Bay of Fundy with the world's highest tides.  A fifty foot drop between ebb and flow could make quite a difference on our angle of descent.  I didn't bother doing the math.  What I was thinking about was all the gas I would save as I slipped the transmission into neutral and prepared to coast.  Waiting. Waiting. Not rolling. I gave up and popped it back into drive. 

As we approached Fundy National Park in New Brunswick a couple of weeks later, we hit the biggest hills of our journey.  Going downhill I would put the RV into second to save on the brakes.  I'm guessing a couple of times my engine revved a little too high and then suddenly I realized my overdrive wasn't working.  That was concerning.  Was I looking at a tranny overhaul and what about our journey?

As I was sitting down at Fundy National Park, I admit I was feeling a wee bit discouraged.  Patty rallied the troops back home to pray.  I decided to listen to the Acadian Anthem: Ave Maris Stella.  I liked the one verse that goes: Keep our life all spotless, make our way secure, till we find in Jesus, joy for evermore.  That would do the trick.

Based on a lot of phone calls and wisdom from friends, we kept going the next day.  Guess what?  The overdrive was working again.  But before we tackled more remote roads, I wished I could have the opinion of an expert.  We stopped at a transmission shop and the mechanic took a quick look under the hood.  "Probably a solenoid that got stuck when your fluid got a little hot.  You should be okay to keep going."  No charge.  I smiled when I heard his French accent.  Another Acadian blessing.




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