And So We Begin - Day 0.25

As with most trips, we got off to a late and somewhat rough start. First, we were supposed to be going into the city the test drive a car for Christine. Wanting to appear of modest means, we took the Echo - car of the proletariat  And so when the small raccoon stepped out of the tall grass and into the line of the front right wheel, it sounded as tho a bomb had gone off in the car. Startled, I looked back into the rear mirror to see something fly up into the air.

Christine thought we'd hit a cat. Damn. Fast U-y and back to the scene of the hit. One very dead raccoon on the road. Phew. He clearly felt nothing. We resumed out trip.

About 20 minutes outside Antigonish - the noise started. Ignoring it only worsened it. Something to do with the cursed right front wheel. Pulling over to the verge, I stepped out into the dusk and faced a brisk wind and spitting rain. Temperatures were falling sharply. Armed with my iPhone as a flashlight - I surveyed the damage. Seemed the coon had taken a certain degree of revenge on the hapless Echo. A piece of under-body shielding had torn loosed and had jammed against the front wheel until the tire tore through it. Now what. Didn't want to tear it off. Didn't want to have it further self destruct. No rope or wire in the car. In a perfect MacIvor moment, I tossed out a half of a cinnamon roll and tied a knot in the plastic bag which I then threaded through a hole in the body work. Good idea - but not long enough. Now what? Next excellent thought - dog poo bag. Knotting the two together, I had just enough to tie the flapping appendage off to the grill. Our car, now held together with two plastic bags, soldiered on.

Hurtling through the darkness past New Glasgow, I saw an apparition. Not wanting to hit the said apparition, I veered sharply to the left - the right wheel again being targeted by - of all things, a large grey owl standing in the road - glaring at me. What the hell? All of this before we even make it to the airport. If the entire trip was going to go this way, we were in for quite a treat!