After searching the car rentals, I decided that I was best off to take the bus to Edmonton. The Greyhound fare was $30, but the hotel here warned me that the only way to get there without walking in unsavoury neighbourhoods is by cab for about $40.
I decided to check out Via Rail and discovered Red Arrow, a charter bus service. It’ll wind up being pricier than doing the Greyhound plus taxi thing, but it sounds like a much nicer experience. I’ll take a taxi to their location and then again in Edmonton from the arrival point to the dealership. This trip is costing me an arm and a leg and I’m kicking myself for making reservations ahead of time. Live and learn.
My insurance company says that if my registration had still been valid on the car, I would have had two weeks to get everything transferred over. But since it’s not, I have till 6PM to make a deal on the car and get to the registry in Edmonton before it closes. If I succeed, and there’s no reason I can’t because I am ready to pay the full $3,0o0 for the truck (although I’m hoping they’ll settled for $2,000…), then I will be spending the night at Donna and Ken’s in Stettler, tomorrow at my property in Saskatchewan, and Wednesday I will be well on the road back to Quebec a full day earlier than my best case scenario.
Because I’ll be gaining a day, I am considering ordering my towing system parts for me to pick up somewhere along the way in the States, provided I can find a safe place to have them delivered. If I order tonight or first thing in the morning, and have them delivered in the vicinity of Duluth or even Minneapolis, there is a chance we’d arrive at the same time. Any suggestions? Would a post office hold big metal parts sent General Delivery?
We have had large things shipped to UPS Stores with no problem, although they will charge a service fee to accept shipments on your behalf. USPS is a good bet too, but each location has it’s own policy. Best bet is to call the the one you are planning to use to be sure.
Is there a dealer on your route who would hold the parts for you? That is what we did when we needed a new fender for the dolly. We called a dealer in New Mexico and had them order the part and hold it for pickup.
You have piled a whole bunch of work upon yourself for such a short period of time! I hope everything works out.
Better yet, set up an appointment to have the parts installed on the truck somewhere along the way. The Canadian dollar is down a little but still at 96 cents US.
Croft, I would love to have the parts installed in the US, but then I run into the chance that Customs will charge me duty on the truck as if I was importing it. I’m pretty sure I quoted the reg in an earlier post. Way too risky.
Ah yes, now I remember that discussion. But seeing it is all part of the “repairs” from the accident, it might all be duty exempt. It might be worth a call to Canada Customs to get clarification. If you have time…..
We live in the Minneapolis area and Dave’s sister lives in Duluth. You can have your tow bar sent to either of us if Patty will be in town. Let me know if you want to do that.
Also you can driveway camp at Dave’s sister’s house (we’ve done that) but not ours since we live in an apartment with a shared parking lot.