LEZLIE'S BIG ADVENTURE: DAY 8 & 9

"If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all."

There was a heavy fog Sunday morning. I thought it best to wait until it lifted to pull out on the road. About 8:30 I said my goodbyes and continued my trip to Lubbock, Texas. The miles and hours past without incident. Just when I thought it would be smooth sailing the last four hours, I saw smoke bellowing from my right trailer tire. I pulled to the side of the road and got out to see what kind of damage I had. The fender was only about 1/2 inch from the top of the tire. A little of the tread was worn, but I couldn't immediately tell why. I creeped down the shoulder with my flashers on trying to reach the exit to the truck stop. When I was able to look closer, I could see the spring was not springing, and it appeared that the axel was not centered because the fender/tire location was not the same for both tires. It's 4:00 pm on a Sunday. What do I do? I call my brother. It was too late to do anything that day, so I spent the night in Cisco, TX.

Hanging over the red line.

DAY 9
Monday morning, the sun rose and it was beautiful.

My brother borrowed a trailer and headed to Cisco. He and a friend of his, got there about 3:00 Monday afternoon. The trailer he brought, was not quite wide enough to hold the boat and trailer. Plan B... do some Southern engineering to get it road worthy.
First we tried wood blocks to raise the frame, but my C clamps were not quite big enough. In the dumpster was a metal fence post. It was the perfect size to hold that shackle in the right position. We didn't have wire, but I had zip ties. Zip ties it is! That took care of the wheel on the right side, but the fender on the other side was too close to the tire and would rub if we hit a bump in the road. My brother pulled out a jack stand and used the saddle to elevate the left frame, providing more room between the fender and tire.

We filled our gas tanks and headed to Lubbock. When I was 38 miles from Lubbock, I looked at my gas gauge and it registered 1/4 full. I thought that would be plenty to get me there. Well, it did. However, the next morning when I was moving the boat into the drive, the Ford died and would not start. Turns out, my gas gauge isn't working right. I best not let it get below 1/4 tank full. But, I am here with all my stuff, and I am not going on any road trips for a long time!

LEZLIE'S BIG ADVENTURE: ARKANSAS VISIT

It has been many years since I've been back to where I grew up. My family moved to Patmos, Arkansas when I was in the second grade. It was a great place to grow up, in the country. The population was 73 and the school was first through sixth grade with an average of about 56 students. The school and gym burned down many years ago. Now, there is a small community park on the land. I stopped there and walked around the property and remembered the years I spent there. 

My cousin lives in the family home near Patmos, Arkansas. The house is unique, 161 years old and made of logs and stone. It has a long history, and a lot of character.

The magnolia tree in the front yard is huge and has beautiful flowers in the summer months. 

My four days of getting reacquainted with friends and meeting new family members, was a much needed visit. I could stay here for weeks, but I must move on down that long road. There will have to be another visit to Arkansas soon.

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: DAY TWO

I woke up early Monday morning to get a start on the long drive. It was about 5:15 and very dark. After going just a few miles I saw a new warning light on my dash… CHECK GAUGE. It has overheated. My heart sank as I pulled over on the side of the road. I have never been stranded on the side of the road, I did not take it well. I pull out my phone but I cannot get google to come up, nothing. It was too early to call anyone, so I waited until 6:00 and I was able to send a text to my friend in Key West, Sheri. I knew she usually got up early, and she was in my time zone, so she sent me the *347 to call for help. They don’t come out until 7:00, but he didn’t arrive until 7:30. He filled my coolant reservoir with water, and told me he would follow me to the next exit to Lake City, which was 8 miles down the road. I watched the gauge and it didn’t overheat. When I got to Walmart, I bought coolant. When I came back and raised the hood, there was no coolant left. I saw no leaking, so where did it go?

Kids posing as mechanics.

I sat on the side of the road for two hours, now I’m stuck in a parking lot. It took a few tries, but I was able to connect to Google and looked up auto repair shops. It’s always scary to take your car to a new mechanic, you don’t know if you will be ripped off or not. I didn’t know the area, so I decided to call someone to come to me. If it was something simple like a hose, that would be an easy fix. I call, the truck shows up about 30 minutes later. These two KIDS jump out! My first thought was that my Explorer is older than they are. But, give them a chance. They said the hose was cracked and they could replace it and I would be on my way. They pulled off the hose and two gallons of coolant poured out everywhere, running down the parking lot of Walmart. This has to be a violation of some kind! 

They come back and said they went to three different parts places and it would have to be ordered, there was not one in stock, but they could fix it. They replaced the hose, filled it with coolant… that I bought, and we started it up. It looked like everything was fine, no leaks. I pay them an arm and leg and drove off. Constantly watching the gauge, I got on the highway, drove about 5 miles and the gauge started climbing. There was a rest stop exit right there, so I pulled in. I got out and looked at the green liquid dripping from everywhere! There was an immediate call to A-1 Roadside Repair, and they did not answer. Imagine that! The mailbox was full, so I sent a text. He replied that he couldn’t answer the phone because he was on another call. RIGHT! But he would call me right back. 30 minutes later, I sent another text and did not get an answer. I gave them a few more minutes and then started making calls to shops. I talked to Dennis at Johnny’s Auto Repair. He gave me the number to a tow service and the adventure continued.

Ozzy’s Tow arrived in 30 minutes. He was very professional and got me to the shop in no time. It was 2:00 by this time. They took a look at it and gave me the bad news. There was a crack in the radiator, and it was going to take my other arm and leg to get it fixed. With no other choice, I told him to fix it. It was fixed, trailer hooked up and I was on my way at 7:00pm. I had not gotten 2 miles down the road and I received a text from A-1, “How’s it going?” I was furious! I let him know how I proceeded with my trouble, and I wanted a refund. I knew he didn’t feel the same as I did, but I wanted it in print. I had already called Discover and was told that the charge was pending and that I had to wait until it posted before I could dispute the charge, but at least the call was noted on my account.

It was getting late, and I was too tired to drive anymore that day, so I stayed in Lake City area another night. Tomorrow is another day!

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!