CCCT 2012 - August 13/12 - Day 86

Cross Canada Cycling Tour - Monday, August 13, 2012 - Day 86
Trois Rivières, QC to Ottawa, ON (home) by U-Haul Truck
I was up at 1:00 AM to take more Tylenol pain killers and put some ice on my left shoulder. I slept poorly because of the pain. Bev and I were up at 6:00 AM and discussed renting a U-Haul truck to return home as there was no way I could continue cycling due to my sore shoulder. We were able to check out U-Haul locations and rates on the Internet before going to breakfast at 7:15 AM. The motel manager had changed her attitude and was now quite concerned that I might sue her for having an unsafe bathtub, etc. I assured her I had no intention of suing her and told her we were going to rent a U-Haul truck and return home. She tried to find a phone number for U-Haul in the local phone directory but without any success. We returned to our room and after further searching I found 4 phone #s for U-Haul in Trois Rivières. I called all 4 numbers and left a voice mail at 980 Boul. des Récollets. I did some packing. Went back on-line and booked a 10 foot U-Haul cube van at $182. I paid by VISA and left my cell # at 9:05 AM. We waited 1 hour plus for a call from U-Haul representative to confirm there was a truck available for us. I tried contacting the dealer again but without success. I spoke to a U-Haul on line help rep and after another hour of screwing around and a 2nd help desk chat finally got through to the U-Haul garage and were able to confirm they had a small cube van available for us. We told the motel manager that we were going to pickup a U-Haul truck and would be back to collect our bags and bicycles. She called a taxi for  us. Bev paid $20 plus tip for taxi to garage. It took sometime to get the truck ready. I ended up paying $278.24 ($182 + $55 insurance + $5 environmental charge + taxes). We drove back to the motel at 12:00 noon. Bev loaded our bikes and gear in the truck. I tried to help. I returned the key and gave Mme my home phone number. We walked over to the nearby Casse Croute for lunch and had cheeseburgers, fries and pop for lunch before leaving for Ottawa at 1:00 PM. We had to stop for gas and Bev took over as driver after making a pit stop. We snacked on date squares on route and arrived home at 5:30 PM. Bev unloaded while I tried to help. We had a beer before Bev decided to walk to Farm Boy for bread, etc. I asked Doris to call me on Skype and talked to my next door neighbour, Cheryl, re my mail, etc. I did some unpacking while waiting for Bev to return from the shops. Meanwhile Doris called me on my land line. I forgot I had asked her to call me on Skype. We discussed Bev and I coming to Burlington/Windsor for the Mailloux and Quenneville reunions. She said Dennis, my brother who lives in Costa Rica, was arriving on Thursday at midnight and that they were leaving for Windsor Friday morning but that it was OK to use her place on our way to Windsor. Bev arrived back from the shops and after a dinner of chicken pot pies we were soon off to bed.
Bev and Roly