The Bumpy Road to Montreal

Zach and I seem to attract misadventures. We plan, and our plans fall apart at the last possible hour. Let me tell you about our journey to Montreal.

Weeks ago, I scoured Airbnb's mobile app to find the perfect place for us to settle in Montreal for a month. I had it down to three options, but one stood out. It was clean, quaint, and cheap. It had two beds, a decent kitchen, and accessible parking.

But most of all, it was cheap. With Airbnb, you get significant discounts when you book an extended stay (over a week). This Airbnb cut their cost by over half, which is above average. Of course, I jumped on it. Thirty days booked and ready to go.

A few days before we were supposed to leave, I noticed our car's windshield wiper fluid was depleting too quickly. I'd fill it to the top, and it'd be empty within two days. I didn't use an excessive amount of fluid either, I swear.

So, we took it in. At first, they didn't know what was wrong. They thought it might be related to the cold weather, so they let it sit in the shop overnight to see if the problem disappeared.

It didn't.

The next day - the day we were supposed to leave - they found the issue. There was a larger problem with the radiator, or at least a part connected to it. Oh, and the wiper fluid was leaking. They said it would be ready the next day.

We sat in the kitchen, weighing our options. It was my rest day. That's why we decided to leave for Montreal on this specific day. Tomorrow would be a triple-session training day I'd have to tack a 6-hour drive onto. It could be done, but it was far from ideal.

We realized there was no better solution than to wait for the car and leave the next day.

In the morning, Zach and I got up at an ungodly hour and raced to the gym to finish my first session before we left. We crossed our fingers that the car would be done before noon so we could get to Montreal at a decent hour.

After my session, we returned to the house to discover that the car wasn't ready yet. We called, and they estimated it would be ready at 2 PM.