Enjoyed being able to practice our Spanish again!

Woke up Friday morning after a very quiet night in the municipal parking at the village of Fortierville, Quebec. 

Igor's left rear tire has had a slow leak. I've been topping it up every three days or so. Not enough to worry about, but it was getting worse. The rear tires normally take 80 psi, and when I checked it yesterday morning, it was visibly low, and at 35 psi. Time to do something about it!

I checked google maps for a tire shop along our route, but nothing came up. There was a little rural mechanic shop that advertised tire sales, so we figured maybe they could do something, but we got over there only to find that they were on vacation until Monday, and the shop was closed.

We didn't really want to head back down to the main highway, but that tire had to get repaired. There was a diesel mechanic shop that advertised work on heavy trucks, and one of the reviews mentioned something about a tire repair. So we drove down there to see if they could help us out.

When we pulled into the lot, we saw two mechanics out working. Ruth and I both noticed that they looked like they were from somewhere south of the US border. We were joking that because our French is terrible, it would be more convenient if they spoke Spanish.

I parked up and went over and asked one of them if he spoke English. Nope. So I asked in Spanish if he spoke Spanish, and got a big grin! It turned out they are both from Colombia!

I explained the problem, and they went to work immediately. But we couldn't find the leak. Ended up having to remove the tire and soap the whole thing down looking for bubbles to emerge showing where the leak was. 

Oddly enough, the leak was coming from the rim itself. Nothing wrong with the tire.

Igor, getting some repairs done.

I've heard of rim leaks, but never seen one in all my years in the car business. These are just steel rims, but they can develop stress cracks, and this one had a very tiny crack. It wasn't in a problem area though, and both the mechanic and myself felt that it could be welded up. He didn't have the proper type of welder there, but he tossed the wheel into the back of the truck and drove away.

Arrived back in an hour or so, with the weld repaired, and full of air to 80 psi.

Jefferson, Stanly, and Ruth.

We really enjoyed being able to practice our Spanish with them. Felt just like we were back in Mexico!

Friendly and helpful guys. The bill was $100 tax included. If you ever need any repairs along the highway between Montreal and Quebec City, the guys at Camions B&B Inc will help you out!

But now, it was already almost noon. So much for taking the back roads. We had to put some miles on, so it only made sense to get back on the main highway since we were right beside it.

I plugged in coordinates for a waterfall SW of Quebec City. It was so hot out, we had already nixed the idea of going into the city itself. But we were going to need to stop for lunch somewhere, so we went to the Chaudiere Falls Park.

Igor found a shady spot for lunch.

And then we took a half hour walk to have a look at the falls.

Looking in the opposite direction is a suspension bridge.

But we didn't have time for that.

Back on the highway, you get another view of the falls.

Scenery along the way.

More four lane highway!

Lots of big farms in this part of Quebec.

Yesterday's drive, 268 kms (166 miles). 

We have often overnighted at small municipal airports, however it doesn't always work out. Sometimes they are gated shut. But the one for the town of Riviere-du-Loup was perfect!

Igor, overnighting at 47.761141, -69.58186

We had a nice sunset at the airport.

And, our lithium batteries are doing fantastic!

This is the digital readout from our inverter. We've been using lights in the evening, and our laptops and keeping our USB stuff charged up as well as using the electric toaster and even the electric kettle once. Going to use it more now that we know we have so much power. Lithium batteries are still pretty much full at 13.4 volts, and the voltage drops more slowly than lead acid or AGM batteries. I think it's only when they get down to 13.0 that you need to start worrying about the state of charge dropping below 20%. And at that point, the voltage will begin to drop quickly. We are far from that point, even after two full days, so we're really pleased so far.

Today, up early and getting some driving done while it's still cool out.

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