The van is behaving itself properly now, and the fuel efficiency has even gotten better, which is good. We averaged 19 miles per gallon yesterday, which is the best it’s been for the whole trip. Hurrah. We shall have to wait and see if it is a permanent thing, but perhaps replacing the computer (which would be controlling fuel injection) has improved the fuel efficiency?

In any event, we are going to risk the fun and games of the border once more and go into Canada. We have spent quite a bit of time on the phone with the INS making sure of things before we got to here, so we are hoping it all goes smoother and the one cranky border guard we encountered was an isolated case.

If not, we only risk having our car impounded and being deported from the USA. We’ve been to Vegas and we never gambled with stakes this high…

So, hopefully all will remain good with the world. At this point in time, it appears we will be departing the USA on Aug 21, since that is when our allowed time runs out, and there seems to be no chance of an extension.

In essence, the time required to get an extension means we should have filed for it *BEFORE* we were rear-ended in Utah. Bother.

Oh well. We’re going to go see some water going over a little drop. We hear that going to Niagara Falls at the peak of summer tourism means that there will be very few people there, and we’ll have the place to ourselves.

Yeah. Right.

Categories: Travel, Odyssey 2001