My Mini-Vacation in Alabama - Part Deux

Wednesday
Got the morning call from my buddy Shaun at the dealership. The parts supply truck out of Jacksonville comes every Mon-Fri without fail.

Except today. Don't know why, but Shaun suspects a breakdown.

Weezie has her own queen bed, and with her regular food in the truck, she's living off the Shoney's buffet next door. She is doing much better than I am. I am bored, my back hurts, I can't get any real work done. Late today my new best friend Shaun calls to say the loaner car had turned up and I can use it. I jump in it. It's a Chevy Cruize. This is not a bad little car. I enjoyed driving it. My sentences are getting shorter. After 48 hours at I65 exit 211, I do what all good Southerners do for a break from TV and go to Wallmart. A bag of carrots! Diet Coke sweetened with Splenda! Some more Tums and Excedrin! Sweet Home Alabama!

Thursday
My wise and exalted mentor and friend Shaun did not call ... at 10:55 (5 minutes before checkout time) I swallow pride and call him. He was going down his list of people to notify that parts have arrived - and would you believe, I was next on the list! My truck is "in the air"! Yahoo! Weezie and I celebrate by driving to a nearby lake and taking a long walk.Then we go and check out the new Love's truck stop for a while. There really is a LOT to do here, if you have wheels! And only a few more hours to kill! 3:30pm Central Time we have the trailer hitched up, fuel at Love's, and are on the road.

Thursday Night Special
Heading back to Tallahassee, I realize I am on the route Rod takes from Nashville to Donalsonville, GA, and it will be supper time when I pass through. We meet and catch up over Chalupas and Tecate at Old Mexico Inn in D'ville. I get a quick tour of his establishment. Then Weezie & I head out for TLH. Home about 10:00pm.

The Oath
(Hand on Knuth, vol 1): I will never, ever, travel by truck again without my laptop, so help me Donald.

Chris Lacher

My Mini-Vacation in Alabama

Mission: visit Mom in Athens, GA and pick up Kathy's Gravely in Florence, AL. 3 days/2 nights.

Saturday
Tallahassee to Athens to visit Mom. Stay w. Ellen.

Sunday

I had a nice drive from Athens to Florence. That's one of these "you can't get there from here" trips, at least not in a hurry. But it goes through areas I have not been in, except maybe once at night in the '62 beetle on the way to Suwannee TN. Near lookout mtn, through Mentone, the only place in Alabama where there is skiing (on snow). Florence is a nice place, I could see spending a few days there and enjoying the food and river scene. Muscle Shoals is both a sister city and a place in the river, the headwaters of Pickwick Lake, where Rod & I picked up the TenTom waterway on the way to Mobile on the Bertram.

Monday
Pick up the Gravely and trailer, looks great. Head down to Tallahassee. Stop at I65 rest area at MM 212. G2 will not crank! Clearly a fuel issue (what else, in a diesel). So I'm in an interstate rest area with a non-operating truck, trailer, gravely tractor, and a dog (Weezie). Hmm.

Call AAA. They can't help with the mechanical, but can tow. (The truck, but not the trailer. Also won't take the dog.) I find a GMC dealership one mile away at exit MM211! Have the truck towed there. Service people expect it and get started ASAP. Meanwhile, Weezie and I set up at a picnic table w. my ice chest, weezie's water bowl, a flashlight (in case...), weezies small binkie, and my jacket. I might look like a transient person, but I do my best immitation of a person who has it together and start watching for trucks coming through with an empty 2"x2" receiver on the back. I'm glad I trimmed my beard before leaving. I strike gold in about 45 minutes - a Dad driver who scoots to the restrfoom and a grown daughter who looks like a person who would like dogs. I approach with care not to scare (note: don't immitate a panhandler) and just come out with it: will you tow me, my dog and my trailer to the next exit,and then me and the dog to the one after that where there's a motel?

I learned somewhere along the way that people will do stuff if you just ask nicely and forthrightly. They did. (I have their contact info,they haven't heard the last of this.)

Tuesday
Now, the next morning, I have the news: the fuel line sprung a pinhole leak and was causing not enough pressure to the injection system. The entire fuel delivery system is corroded and needs replacing. (I know, this could be bogus, but it sounds right to me. G2 came with a lot of rust that had been covered up with new undercoating. I've already had to abate the entire rear half of the truck because if this.) Bottom line at this point: parts need to be ordered, I will be here until tomorrow.

Strange coincidence

I have stayed at the motel before - when I was on the way down from Nashville with newly acquired Van Diesel I spent the night here before going to see Dusty's folks in Montegomery the next morning.

The Trailer
I was worried about the trailer & tractor parked out at the dealership last night. My phone pal Shaun (service manager, will meet tomorrow) confirmed it was still there this morning. He will pull it inside tonight.

There was a Plan B
Kathy called Dusty (in CA) who called his brother David (in AL) who called a friend Steve who lives near here in Clanton. They were ready to mobilize a help mission to the rest area if I had no luck getting hitched up. Steve has called a couple more times to be sure I was OK. Great job, family and Alabama.

Lessons

• The cell phone with Web services helped figure out my options from the rest area, in particular locating the dealership and it's phone number.
• I should have brought the laptop even though I was not planning to use it. Stuck here for 48 hours I would have been more productive.
• Need to put a wall plugin mini-usb charger in the emergency kit. (The car charger doesn't work without a car attached.)
• Mostly our kit was adequate: jacket, stocking cap, rain gear, dog binkie, dog water dish, flashlight all used,

Tomorrow (Wed)
Expect to be back on the road no later than 5:00pm central time.