LEZLIE'S BIG ADVENTURE: DAY THREE

I didn’t realize it was going to get so cold at night when I decided to sleep in my Explorer. I woke up to my fingers and toes numb, and I was shaking. I wasn’t getting on the road until daylight, so I started the engine to warm up the vehicle… I thought. It just blew cold air. At 6:45, as much as I didn’t want to drive, I pulled onto the highway again. I bet I watched the gauges more than the road. The feeling finally returned about three hours later. That was about the time the heater started working. My decision to move to colder weather was questioned many times during those hours of shivering in 32 degree temperature.

My plant survived the night, but was not very happy about it!

My goal for the day was to reach my cousin’s home in Patmos, Arkansas. I traveled about 15 hours through five states, and made it late Tuesday night. I grew up here, and love this area. I will rest here for several days and recuperate.

LEZLIE'S BIG ADVENTURE

There comes a time in our lives that we need to be closer to family. I have no family in Key West, most are in Texas. I made the decision to move closer to them, so that began the big adventure. The culling of stuff I could live without or easily replace began. I wanted this to be as easy a move as possible, and the cheapest too. 

My Explorer has been running okay, my concern was for the boat trailer. The wheel bearings on one side were replace back in February, but the other side needed to be replaced for sure. I have used Hitch King for the original rebuild and then the new bearing. So I took off the hub and drove to the last location of the business. All I found was an empty lot and a FOR RENT sign on the fence. Not going to lie… I had a moment of panic. Pulling out my phone, I quickly looked up the business and found PERMANENTLY CLOSED in red by the listing. I am really in a panic now! Hopeful someone would answer, I clicked on the phone number next to CLOSED… and someone answered and all was right in my world again. I drove to the new location and the guy replaced the bearings, and gave me an extra cap. I asked how much I owed him and he replied, “Five dollars”. I thought I misunderstood, and asked again. He said, “Did you think it would be more?” I didn’t want him to know the previous owner of the business charged $50 for the same thing. I handed him the five dollars and quickly left before he decided he hadn’t charged enough. The hub and wheel was replaced, the spare was aired up, and the trailer was ready to roll.

The next week of so was constant pack, throw away, take to Salvation Army or put on the curb. On December 1, I pulled out and drove out of Key West. The traffic was not heavy until I reached Orlando. Our average speed was about 20mph for it seemed like an eternity. When I reached a rest stop just outside of Lake City, Florida, I pulled in. It was getting later, and I couldn’t creep along anymore. My Explorer and trailer were handling the all day drive just fine…. I thought. But wait...there's more. Stay turned for the next episode of Lezlie's Big Adventure!