Somebody Else’s Day Was Worse
October 14, 2024 – Day 4
Liquid Spring, Lafayette, IN — Prophetstown State Park, Battle Ground, IN
We dropped off the RV at the Liquid Spring for its 1,000 mile checkup. We asked where to have breakfast were told the South Side Diner was good. That recommendation was spot on, very good food.
After the meal we asked the server “What we could do to kill an hour or two in Lafayette, on a Monday morning before 9:30?” She looked away, grimaced and sighed. “Not much” was the answer. But the look in her eyes said it all. She was probably evaluating her life choices. Then again, we told her there wouldn’t be much to do in Keene, NH on a Monday morning either!
Back in the car we smelled a very strong smell of gas after we started it. Figuring that maybe exhaust gasses got blown back in—it was very windy and coming from the direction of the tail pipe—we rolled down the windows and went to look for an ATM. At the ATM it was closed. (susan here: aren’t ATMs supposed to be 24/7?). We still smelled it again. Paul popped the hood and you could smell under the hood. Something was clearly wrong. So off to the Jeep dealership we went.
Wow. Two Cities Jeep is gorgeous! The reps were super nice. They had free snacks, many televisions, comfy chairs, really nice bathrooms plus WiFi. After a short wait we got the diagnosis of a bad fuel injector. We’re so glad we caught it and that it happened in a major city. Sadly this same one had failed about a year ago. Jeep: Just Empty Every Pocket.
We got the call that Clifford was ready and everything was A-okay. We took Jeep’s courtesy van back to Liquid Spring.
We both had noticed a slight shimmy in the steering wheel. We were’n sure if the installer had knocked off a wheel weight accidentally, or if we lost it on a road somewhere. Paul wanted it checked out. Susan wanted to get going to the next destination. Paul won. We found a fleet tire place right around the corner.
Susan got to drive the RV inside. Paul was still first last year. (susan here: but I’ve done it twice now to your once.) (paul here, but that’s tomorrow, suspenseful music plays)
They asked us to use the leveling jacks to lift the RV up. The jack manufacturer insists that you never do this. But, I’m not arguing with the the people fixing my RV!
The outer tread blocks were almost gone. Also notice the slight cupping. The installer had told Paul back in NH that they were cupped, but he hadn’t told us how bad they were.
Don’t notice how the outer treads are solid. I asked about that when looking at the rears. Ok I actually asked tomorrow when looking at the new tires, but this isn’t journalism, it is entertainment. Truck and RV tires have solid outer blocks, with just a nice bit of ribbing showing. You can see that, below, in the right hand side of the pictures. If you have blocks, like normal tires, they would wear out very quickly.
These need replacing, which will run around $1,100. Yikes. Oh yeah, the Jeep repair was $740. Sigh…not much you can do but pay it and move on.
Somebody’s else’s day was much worse than ours.
We got to see a train crossing, including the locomotive.
The state park has a big Halloween event coming up. The sign tells you to stop so the scarecrow can register you.
We drove under this cool stone bridge.
And saw more scarecrows all over the bike/walking paths.
The state park is trying to restore the tall prairie grasses that the European settlers destroyed. It is nice being reminded of that on Indigenous Peoples Day.
But the grass does look nice.
The day still had more drama. Paul had two different failures with his radio setup, he fixed one and found a work around for the other and finally got on the air. But first, the $12 fire!
Even a bad day can have a good ending.
We didn’t catch John today, probably won’t tomorrow either…, the tires don’t arrive until noon and we don’t have to leave the campsite ’till 2pm. Looks like we’re going to get some needed shut eye and sleep in tomorrow.
Daily: 18 miles
Total: 913 miles
Driving miles/Day: 228 miles/day
Overall miles/Day: 228 miles