The Best Trip Yet (Well, Mostly)
by TrailZen
Trip Type:
Paddling Canoe
Entry Date:
08/27/2023
Entry & Exit Point:
Moose Lake to Prairie Portage (EP G)
Number of Days:
10
Group Size:
2
Discuss Trip:
View Discussion Thread (26 messages)
Part 11 of 11
That 'Well, Mostly' Caveat
Our 2023 Quetico Adventure was truly our best visit to Canoe Country to date. We had great (if hot) weather, visited some new lakes, and saw bald eagles every day, we think. Reaching Canoe Country this year, though, had some challenges. Our first day's travel from western North Carolina had a planned stop in Illinois, but near Indy our Suby Outback, long accustomed to the cool breezes of the North Carolina mountains, suffered a heat stroke in the near-100 degree temperature. (No, that's not what the service technician called its problem, but only the technician knows what “...found combination meter with internal failure...” means!) And, of course, the failure happened on a Friday afternoon, so we had to stay in the Indy area overnight and arrange repairs, tow, rental car, etc, that evening and the next morning. We were fortunate in that there is a fantastic Suby dealer in the Speedway area of Indy, and we left the car with them, having approved a cap for repair costs so the car would be waiting for us when we returned from our trip. And I left contact info for our daughter, who could reach us via inReach, should the repairs cost more than expected and need approval to proceed. I also learned that rental car agents don't know what a roof rack is, but was lucky enough to spot a Nissan Kicks with factory crossbars that I could make work for our canoe. Everything worked out OK, and our Suby works great again now, but I was really, really worried about having to cancel our trip for a bit there. Yeah, a great trip, mostly!
Our 2023 Quetico Adventure was truly our best visit to Canoe Country to date. We had great (if hot) weather, visited some new lakes, and saw bald eagles every day, we think. Reaching Canoe Country this year, though, had some challenges. Our first day's travel from western North Carolina had a planned stop in Illinois, but near Indy our Suby Outback, long accustomed to the cool breezes of the North Carolina mountains, suffered a heat stroke in the near-100 degree temperature. (No, that's not what the service technician called its problem, but only the technician knows what “...found combination meter with internal failure...” means!) And, of course, the failure happened on a Friday afternoon, so we had to stay in the Indy area overnight and arrange repairs, tow, rental car, etc, that evening and the next morning. We were fortunate in that there is a fantastic Suby dealer in the Speedway area of Indy, and we left the car with them, having approved a cap for repair costs so the car would be waiting for us when we returned from our trip. And I left contact info for our daughter, who could reach us via inReach, should the repairs cost more than expected and need approval to proceed. I also learned that rental car agents don't know what a roof rack is, but was lucky enough to spot a Nissan Kicks with factory crossbars that I could make work for our canoe. Everything worked out OK, and our Suby works great again now, but I was really, really worried about having to cancel our trip for a bit there. Yeah, a great trip, mostly!
TrailZen
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