Remote Controlled Locomotive
October 16, 2024 – Day 5
Liquid Spring, Lafayette, IN — Cracker Barrel, Lafayette IN
We’re never getting out of here. OK, that might be overly dramatic. Today was another long one but it ended will. See? Now you don’t have to read the rest of the blog entry! (susan here: it’s not overly dramatic. We thought we’d arrive Sunday night and gone by Monday mid-day. This is the Indiana version of Hotel California!)
We got up early, drove over to Lafayette Fleet. The sunrise was gorgeous.
We dropped Clifford off and went to breakfast at the South Side Diner (Yep. Again). We wondered if Monday’s server was still there. She wasn’t but we got an equally nice server. We had the exact same breakfast as Monday. Paul chose sausage patties over bacon. Note to future travelers, don’t be Paul. (note to future travelers: sometimes Susan makes the better meal choice.)
Turning lemons into lemonade we decided to deal with a few life chores. First up was CVS. Then onto Menards. On the way we drove past Lafayette Fleet and Clifford was still outside! Continued on our way to Menards for drill bits to fix the soundbar that is 1/2 attached to the wall plus an extension cord to recharge the battery pack for the slides when they fail (susan here: Thank you Indiana roads. Once again you broke something in our RV!) Then we were off to Meijer to buy groceries.
What is up with these weird stores? Both Menards and Meijers sell groceries. But Mernards sells plywood also and Meijers sells all sorts of clothing and housewares. We really think something is odd out here. Sure you can get almost anything you want — it’s like a super Super Target — but if you want anything odd in tools, it’s Mernards otherwise Meijers is leaving you toolless.
Back to Lafayette Fleet, Clifford is inside and the tires are off, but…
Now it gets interesting. Someone wasn’t telling us the truth and someone was. In both versions the rotors were wrong. Or they weren’t delivered. Or they were, something. We hung out in the chilly waiting room until mechanics started coming in for lunch. We realized that “waiting room” was actually their break room so we left.
Off to the library! This is a recurring theme in our travels. They’re warm, safe, quiet and most importantly, they usually have speedy free internet!
We hung out here for a few hours, Susan was tired and Paul was really, really tired. He couldn’t even play chess online, it was just Facebook and Pokemon for him. Susan knit for a while, interspersed with Facebook and Pokemon. Paul eventually called around 1:30pm. Finally! They had the right parts and would start soon.
So, what else do your intrepid explorers do? We went for lunch or was it an early dinner? We found a place nearby with an Amish Chicken Sandwich. Paul was looking forward to it. We like to try out local food when we can. When we got there, well, it wasn’t on the menu. But the pork carnitas tacos were and they were superb. *chef’s kiss*
Back to Lafayette Fleet to hang out. We drove by this cool, jellybean shaped train siding that was three tracks wide!
Next, we crossed a railroad crossing with a yellow sign, “Warning, remote controlled locomotives in use.” Ulp, they are sending million ton locomotives through town without a driver. Yikes!
We get to Lafayette Fleet the manager tells us, “It’s going to be tight, the last mechanic leaves at 5, we might get done.”
And we did! Here Susan inspect the old rotors. (susan here: holy cow they were tough looking!)
Yes, she’s wearing a wool hat and scarf she made, indoors, it was that cold inside.
Now the bad news. Yes, it gets worse. We just had a nice call with Paul’s brother John. He’s already in Fenton MO. We might actually catch up to him tomorrow. The good news is that there aren’t any grocery stores nearby so hopefully he’ll starve to death and we’ll get to Phoenix first. (just kidding)
Hi John! Keep an eye in your rear view mirror for Clifford. <grin>
And yes, jokers, the red team, us, is on the map, look up in the upper right, that tiny tiny 6 mile squiggle.
Daily: 6 miles. This is a new low score. For those playing along at home, it has been 42 miles in the last 3 days. Another new low score.
Total: 937 miles
Driving miles/Day: 156 miles/day
Overall miles/Day: 156 miles