Now this did not start so good... Having had a AAA check on her last year before heading to the Bahamas I decided to do a little bit of work on her and keep her for this trip (Debbie, not Karen what are you thinking). So on our return from Eleuthera, I set about buying the parts to replace the front brake pads and rotors and sway bar linkages and Karen and I spent a day fixing her up. Not too hard and she was ready to take us to LAX.
Or so we thought... Friday after dropping our sail off to Stitches by Ruth for a new sun strip and repairs, Debbie conks out at the intersection of L St and MLK and of course we didn't bring a phone. We wandered over to a car wash and rang the AAA and five hours and $600 later with a new fuel pump and filter she really is ready to go.
Saturday we packed up the boat and packed the car, so that with one load of washing to do, we should be able to leave by 10am. As expected, the morning did not go as expected. First, with the recent repairs to the car on my mind, I forgot to put the comb on my clippers and proceeded to now a strip through my beard (Karen was very impressed with her observation skill when she noticed it 20 minutes later! So the trip begins without beard, well when the new-fangled washing machines and dryers decide to return our clothes.
Anyway at noon we finally wave goodbye to WhereII and head north. We will not see her again until late November.
Our first day on the big road trip was pretty simple. Leave Brunswick, turn right and go fast... Sort of a simpleton's NASCAR..... Only one turn and in the wrong direction. We ended up in the Econolodge in Macon with the rain set in. Not a good start to our camping trek across the States but we were dry. Oh and the air con fan is starting to make some noise..... Just what we will need when we cross the desert.
Monday morning we woke to the sound of heavy rain outside and prepared for our first day of site seeing. We arrived at Stone Mountain and it was still bucketing so we decided to get Debbie's fluids exchanged, something that we had not had a chance to do before we left. So we gave Jessica (our Aussie chick nav package on the new nexus) the task of finding a Jiffy Lube. They were a bit expensive but the discount lube across the road filled our needs and as a bonus had a 36 Dodge coupe in the shop- bonus!
It was for sale but they wouldn't do a swap for Debbie and despite it being purple (Karen's favourite colour) she would wouldn't let me fork out the 40 Gs for it so the road trip continues with the Grand Caravan.
With the oil change out of the way, we risked being wet tourists and headed to the Stone Mountain Park... Still raining so we parked ourselves in a shelter and made lunch.
In a break in the weather we made it bake to the car and started driving around the mountain. We got to see the covered bridge, quarry exhibition and grist mill and then finally a clear view of the monument.
Not quite the stay we had planned, it would have been good to spend a night and do some walks and see the laser show but God had other ideas so we headed to Alabama and spent the night in Pell City.
