Well I finally finished my corn planting on Wedn night and we attempted to leave at 9pm. [One day late] The car is packed, everything is set, turn the key and… click, click, click. The battery is dead. I had the car to the dealer the week before and said the battery wouldn’t hold a charge correctly. They claimed “just charge it for 2 days, it tests out fine”. !%*#!#! I jump boost the car and off we drive hoping it doesn’t stall out on-route. We stopped around 1:30am at a hotel. Get up next morning, battery dead, call GM dealer down the road.
They get the car to their shop at 9am, tinker and test and verify the battery is junk. They now announce there is no replacement battery in Ohio (on phone for about 1hr) to fit the car. It’s some gel based system and special order only. This is Thursday, can’t get one today, probably not Friday, but Tuesday for sure. !%*#!#! I said stick anything in it so we can leave. Sorry but GM will not pay for a non-approved battery. $122.22US later we drive out the lot at noon with a will-fit Delco battery! Not a good start… bad karma for trip? Oh ya!
We get to Bowling Green and I lose my prescription sunglasses plus one more unwelcome event. :( I was so bummed out I was afraid to race the car more than two times in each event for fear more stuff would happen and we get stranded down here past Sunday morning.
We did have a great time though. We meet a lot of new people and the parties were great. The poker run tour was the highlight for me. What beautiful scenery!
We leave Sunday morning and before we can get across the KY state line I get to donate to their road maintenance fund. The trooper was extremely nice but I still got wrote up. It was almost worth it to see him come roaring up out of the weed filled ravine on the side of the interstate. He must have had all-wheel drive :) I just hope the $55 dollar ticket doesn’t get reported back to Ontario and end up costing me +$200 more in insurance premiums. My first speeding ticket. I’m glad I didn’t get caught about 1hr earlier or I would be asking family for bail assistance. We counted 28 more state troopers on the remaining journey (OH, MI). They were thick as hair on a dog and enjoying a very lucrative business on their Memorial Day Weekend.
Family Jots and Thoughts
Connecting Our Extended Families
Wow – What an adventure you had. Did Martha drive the vet on the highway to give you a break? She told me that she should have practised the stick shifting prior to your departure.
How did you do on the track racing Tom? Did you BYTE everyone? Thanks for sharing your experiences. Cheers, LOL Eileen
Eileen,
Yes Martha did drive on the highway but she can’t retain how or when to shift. The solution: Shift up thru the gears for her, fall asleep for 50mins or when she needs to stop (whichever comes first :)
Won all my drag races but chickened out and quit early in the day. I didn’t want to press my luck (bad karma all trip)