Where I've Been

I haven't posted for a few days. We've been dealing with a problem. The brakes on the van let go. Fortunately, it happened on a sparsely traveled 25 mph road. We did not crash. I had some spare brake fluid in the van. That was enough to get me to a nearby garage where I bought a lot more brake fluid.

I made a lot of phone calls and stopped in at every garage in a couple of small rural towns. It took an afternoon and a morning before I was able to find a garage that would agree to take the job. The garage who took it refused to give me an estimate as they claim they've no idea how much will need to be replaced. I had found the main leak, but they put it on a lift and showed me places where it was also seeping fluid. Needless to say, that had me worried. Still won't know how much until it's done later this morning. (assuming no other problems come up.)

This has been stressful. Not only is our van in the shop, it's our home away from home. Basically, our house is in the shop. We were fairly close to my wife's sister's place. Unfortunately, she works late and my brother-in-law doesn't drive. There was no public transportation available, plus we had some luggage and our dog.

That's when I went on-line with my cell phone and downloaded the Uber app. I know it's getting a lot of criticism lately, but it sure was a handy service for me. The Uber driver got there in less than 15 minutes and took us and our junk over to my in-laws. They've been graciously hosting us.

We've lost a couple nights of camping as it was too late to cancel and get refunds. If the van is ready before noon, we should be able to make our next camping spot in Georgia. Fingers crossed.

Hopefully the brake repairs won't break the bank. We have limits. Just to make things interesting, we've gotten conflicting local information about the garage. Some claim they are very good. Other say they are crooks. Not too reassuring.

With any luck, my next post will be from Georgia.

-Sixbears