The day started so perfectly. Fitz, Mom and I snuck out early and decorated the campsite. Everest awoke right in time and came out right as we finished, I have a hunch he may have been watching us, sneaky little nine year old. We opened presents and blew out the candles sticking out of some lemon tarts as requested. 

Boy did I plan a fun day for Everest’s birthday, we awaken at one national park, spend the day in Quebec City and eat at a medieval themed restaurant, then end the day in another equally beautiful National Park. Quebec City is described as the safest and most European of all North American cities, but you’re going to have to hear about it from someone else. We never made it.

About ten minutes in to our drive, one of my great fears was unlocked, the bus started sputtering and broke down… in the middle of the forest in the middle of a bigger forest, in another country. Quebec is not an English speaking Province, and in the rural areas outside of the big cities, you are lucky to find anyone who knows what I am saying. The day was about to get much more challenging. I know I am in a foreign country and I am aware that I chose my path, and I know my European friends will scoff, but I felt like an alien in another world but I am only a mere 11 hour drive from home and maybe two from the border. Over the next 36 hours we would be turned away or hung up on for asking if the person on the other end spoke English. We encountered 50 people who ignored us and we encountered three absolute angels. Without these three people in my life, we are lost, hopeless, and certainly not celebrating a birthday. Whatever the outcome of my trip, I vow here and now to go out of my way, above and beyond to help any foreigner or tourist I encounter in America. I’d like to write about each of these people and how they changed my world.

Our first bit of good luck was our finding a patient and dedicated tow truck driver. We were lucky he understood some English and was very patient with us. We could not share our location and our pronunciation of any road was so wildly inaccurate that he had no clue what we were talking about. He kept in touch as he got closer and hunted us down. We spent the hours waiting trying to find any mechanic that could help us. They had no clue what we were saying, the equivalent of someone calling you from Japan and trying to explain in Japanese they are in a broken down shuttle bus in the forest. One bar of service added to the circus. We got hung up on so quickly, some people sounded polite as they did it, others not so much. We called so many numbers we don’t even know who text us, but someone told us to bring it to him. Harry wasn’t going to leave us in the unknown and so he took us to his office where his wife spoke perfect English. She explained the world we were in to us and said many people here do not like English. She also said in all her years she never heard of our Mechanic and so she spent an hour helping us, she called every mechanic in town she knew and tried to get us in to no avail. She explained to us our options to wait. When all was lost she called the guy who text us and made sure he knew this was a thirty year old shuttle bus and made sure he could work on it. After a long French conversation, she told me to gamble on this guy, it’s my best only bet. They towed us about 20 minutes to the next town over where we met our second angel.

The only Mechanic that had an opening was a young guy, in his mid twenties. The tow truck drivers in town didn’t even know of him because his shop was so new. I have been trained to find a 65 year old mechanic who worked on trucks like mine for thirty years. There are no choices so Harry dropped the bus down and helped us explain to Naoufale what our symptoms were. Naoufale was extremely friendly and through broken English asked me about my trip and he told me he was going to get us back on the road. We spent the birthday sitting in a small bit of grass next to the dumpster of a gas station mechanic shop. Naoufale dropped everything and immediately started working on my Bus, he diagnosed it himself then called an older man whom he told me was his Mentor. They agreed and went off to find the needed part. He would frequently check on us and through hand signals and thumbs up/down I figured out that he had an idea but wasn’t certain. He said his friend drove to the next town to find the broken part. Occasionally nice locals would inquire about our bus our roadside family, and we would share smiles and the few words we knew. When it finally became apparent that the part would not arrive today we were worn out, constant worrying is draining. The closest motel was a twenty minute drive back to the last town and unbikeable for kids. We tried uber, we tried Lyft, we called every taxi company. A nice woman even tried to help call on her phone for fear that they weren’t answering because I wasn’t a local number. It turns out the recording I couldn’t understand explained to leave a message and she will call back. Thank you also, kind stranger. Finally she called back, we sent some pictures of where we were and our third angel arrived.

When I first met Mario I greeted him with my customary “Bonjour, parlez vous anglais?” He said no and immediately went in to a French monologue and I knew it was going to be tough. Then Mario started to laugh and explained to me in perfect English that he does in fact speak English and spent a great deal of time in America. He told us when he heard that the customer was American he took the call, he stuffed us all in his car without a fuss and told us about the area and the people in it. He explained why my mechanic was called Western Mechanic and the two restraints in town looked like they were out of a Clint Eastwood movie. We were in a tiny town off the beaten path, it’s known for throwing a wild Western festival each year and is the mini Texas of Quebec with a population less than a thousand. He dropped us at our room and waited to make sure everything was fine before he left us, like he was watching after a friend. He gave us his number in case we had any questions or needed another ride. 

For the night, this roadside Motel will be home. Although my brain is completely preoccupied going through every horrible possible scenario we managed to find a restaurant we could order delivery online, we were done trying to call. I took the kids to the gas station across the street and let them pick out absolute garbage to make them stop worrying. It was about this time that I noticed they aren’t worried at all, they are completely going with the flow. Everest hasn’t complained a single time about his birthday experience. The kids zone out on IPads when we need it and jump up when required. They haven’t stopped smiling and playing. The junk food will just be for fun then, we decide to try some things we have never seen in America. We filled our arms with Soda with crazy flavors, Chips with crazier flavors, and candy nonexistent next door. We watched some random shows like Price is Right and Hells Kitchen that were in English with French subtitles and we passed the night away. 

During our ride with Mario he looked up to the sky and said, I don’t like that sky it reminds me of Tornado making sky. In the morning, local news would concur with our weather apps, there is a very unique possibility for tornadoes in the area today, and there would be several inches of rain and wind regardless.  I knew my bus didn’t fit in Naoufale’s garage so I didn’t expect him to have a chance to work on it at all in the absolute abysmal rain so I didn’t bother messaging him. I got to know Naoufale a bit over these two days and through our mannerisms and smiles I could tell we would be good friends in another universe. Naoufale is an immigrant from Morocco, he speaks many languages and his English was still top five of everyone we met. Naoufale’s brother lives near us in Virginia and he hopes to visit some day but his real dream is to get a bus or RV and travel around like us, he hopes to drive to Alaska and take his rig across to Russia some day and do an enormous trip. He would pull up places on his phone where he wanted to visit on his trip and we would get excited. He asked for my blog and I hope he reads this some day. Naoufale was a savior, I am so lucky he came to this town and I am so lucky he started his own business and more than that I am so lucky he is a truly kind hearted soul. Once I met Naoufale, I felt that we weren’t alone, I felt he would not leave us stranded even if this takes several days. Naoufale would put up with several annoying dumb questions from me trying to be a google mechanic before I realized to just let him do his thing. He stopped by the bus at night to check on us and realized I left it open. He closed it up tight for me even offering to video call me because our words were getting confused. And do his thing, he did. Around 1pm in the midst of a torrential downpour, I got a call from, I expected an update. “Your bus is ready.” I couldn’t believe it, he figured it out, he fixed it, and he worked through the storm for us. I immediately called Mario and he came immediately and was happy for us. I called the Tow company to explain that not only was Naoufale a great mechanic but a great person. 

I sit now, staring out the window at the Bus parked outside my room and I can’t stop staring, I can’t believe it. We are two days behind. We completely missed Jacques Cartier and Quebec City but we can catch up with a five hour drive tomorrow and get to our first Fjord and be back in the wilds.

It turned out to be a Camshaft Position Sensor, a tiny little piece no bigger than my thumb. We have usually one small bus issue each year but this was a bigger dent than our trips usually take. My wife is amazing, she kept me sane and kept everyone calm, whereas I was constantly asking of her to get things and do things, she never asked me for anything, she just supported what I was doing. I always wanted kids who were able to adapt to the changing winds and I got ‘em, they really shined during a stressful situation.

And now, in the words of Mario, I will have no more problems for the rest of Summer. 

I’ve included pictures of the previous day which was absolutely lovely, after the previous day hiking around La Mauricie National Park, today we were going to drive to the lake beach and lounge around all day. The kids Of course on the way there we stopped for a morning hike and saw some more gorgeous wild lakes. The rains finally came and we decided to head back to camp instead of waiting it out, we had a chill night around the fire again, completely aloof to what lie ahead in the morning. 

I nearly forgot, at one point I was playing tug of war with a Skunk over a garbage bag.