Our first big trek in Newman – our 33 ft Newmar Baystar 3215 was to Tabusintac NB Canada.  We had a grand time and everything worked beautifully – until we left.  It was a Sunday afternoon as we headed south and stopped for gas in Fredericton NB – a gas station that also hosted a bar called the Lincoln Lounge (You can’t make this stuff up) . As the kids were getting munchies to cure their hangover due to too much “cousin bonding”, i stepped out and noticed a flat tire. UGH.

Immediate PANIC.  There are no spare tires.  We were in Canada on a Sunday.  I pulled out my Progressive Insurance policy – and low and behold they couldn’t find anyone to help us – even though it was stated we were covered in Canada. #LessonLearned So we grabbed our phones and started Googling RV shops in the area. 

Excited that we found one.  We had dual back tires so although not the best – you can still drive a short distance on the flat.  We carefully drove Newman a few miles away and slept for the night in the parking lot of an RV dealership – it also happened to be my birthday. Not how I planned it -but c’est la vie. We had food, we had some leftover beer and we had family.

Monday morning arrives, we make some coffee and head in to the dealership to find someone who can help us. NO LUCK – they couldn’t help us because they didn’t sell Class A RVs, so they didn’t have tires our size. We needed to find a tire dealer that worked on big rigs – the journey continued.   Thank GOD we found one just down the street– so we pulled in the slides and headed across town – gingerly on our flat tire.

The tech took a look at our tire and immediately noticed that it was just a bad stem valve – a common issue in RVs we’ve since learned.  He tightened up the valve stem – filled up our tire and we were on our way.  The nicest guy – he wouldn’t accept a dime in payment.  Happy Birthday to me!

This was one of our earliest lessons in RV life:  Things break, things will happen – just remain calm and know that it’s part of the adventure. 

We made it safely home from our big maiden trip – and knew it wouldn’t be our last.