On the road back to Michigan – Day 2

Ok.  As usual with me, plans are very fluid.

I was able to get a bit more sleep after completing the last post, so that was good.

I got up, packed up my belongings and loaded everything including the animals and myself into the truck around 8:30 AM.  Around 9AM I called and left a message for Daniel regarding towing me to Tomas’s.  It took a while for him to call me back and a while more for him to show up.  In the mean time I talked to Brian (my Brother) on the phone and watched various youtube videos on what might be wrong and how to fix it.  When Daniel got there, he pulled a bit of bait and switch on me.  Instead of hooking up with a tow bar, for that short distance he suggested we simply use a tow strap.  Nervous as hell, I accepted.  He pulled me two-three miles down the road to Tomas’s.  Tomas spent some time looking over the truck.  Pulled the fuel filter finding water in it, and did what he could to clean it out, then put it back.  Still no go.  He said he didn’t realize it was a diesel when he agreed to look at it.  Although his thought is that it is a clogged catalytic converter, he wasn’t confident, and he didn’t have parts.  We agreed that the best course of action would be to tow it to Ortega’s Towing and Auto Repair in Santa Rosa, the same place All State insurance suggested I have tow it Friday afternoon.  I called All State to save myself $50 on the tow.  Tomas hooked up, but I think we could have used a bigger tow truck.  🙂

Leaving Sasha and Hershey in the truck, I hopped in the tow truck and we headed to Santa Rosa, about 40 miles down the road.

At Ortega’s, I left my truck keys and got advice on a good place to stay in town with the pets – Super 8.  They offered to take me, the pets, and my luggage to the hotel where I could stay until Monday when their mechanic returns to work.  I unloaded everything I thought I would need for the next few days from the truck – Laptop bag,  phone charging cable, suit case with my one change of clothes, Sasha’s food and water dish, Hersey’s food and dish, litter box and scoop, bag of snacks for the road, and food cooler.  The guy that was voluntold to take me to the hotel was allergic to cats, has asthma, and drove a 4×4 that was jacked up at least a foot higher than my truck.  I agreed to ride in the back of the truck with the animals the couple miles down the road to the hotel.  Please note that it is a challenge getting Sasha into my truck much less into a truck even higher.  I loaded all the belongings except the cat box and cooler into back seat of the truck, I put the cat with empty food and water dishes in the back of the truck, set the cooler in front of the open tailgate for Sasha to  use as a big step into the back of the truck, then went and got Sasha.  I climbed into the truck first, then started forcefully pulling and verbally encouraging her to get up on the cooler then into the truck.  While it was not easy, it didn’t take as long to get her to get into the truck as I thought it would.  I’m guessing the familiarity of stepping up onto the tote to get into my truck combined with the force I was pulling on the leash may have had something to do with that.  I was thankful her collar didn’t slip off as it has in the past when I’ve pulled on the leash like that.  Once up, she was rewarded with praise and lovin’s.  I secured her leash to the fifth wheel hitch that was in the back of the truck, put the cooler in the back of the truck, closed the tailgate and went and got Hershey.  I dropped him in the back with Sasha – thankfully he is no longer afraid of her or this would have been an even more interesting adventure.  I then climbed in and sat down with them to keep them calm and safe for the ride down the road.  Selfie time.

  Me and the mutts ready to head to the hotel in Santa Rosa NM.  Hershey is hiding out of view slightly behind me on my left.

I had another learning moment when riding down the road in the back of the truck with Sasha.  If you sit behind Sasha’s head when riding down the road in an open air vehicle, you will catch a face full of dog drool.  I am thankful my mouth was closed.  🙂

At the hotel, I checked in with Hersey in my arms (no cat carrier) and Sasha still in the back of the truck.  Once checked in, I dropped Hersey in the room, went and got Sasha, my laptops, and a bag, put her and belongings in the room, then went for the rest.  The driver from the  garaged helped unload the truck and bring stuff back to the room as well.    Once settled, I realized I was hungry.  I was going to head to Comet II which is .3 miles down the road based on Tomas’s recommendation, but the lady at the hotel desk recommended  the Sun and Sand Restaurant which is right across the street from the hotel.  Works for me.  Food was good.  I ordered a double order of rice for Sasha.  When I left, I had enough prepared food for her through Sunday.  She didn’t eat Friday night, so that extended prepared food to Monday.  Feeding her local food on Saturday, will extend her on hand food supply until Tuesday.  I’m guessing she won’t eat much if at all the next day we are on the road (when ever that day comes).  I walked over to the nearby gas station to get a bag of ice for the cooler wishing I had grabbed my tennis shoes from the truck for walking longer distances more comfortably.  As the afternoon wore on, I realized lunch was bothering my stomach and that I forgot to grab meds from the medicine cabinet in the trailer and I forgot to grab from the truck the anti acid.  After watching MSU beat Indiana in a good competative game, I walked over to Family Dollar across the street and bought antiacid and then headed back to the Sun and Sand for dinner and another order of rice for Sasha.

I spent the rest of the evening vegetating in front of the idiot box.

On the home front,  based on Rachel’s description, the water heater has been damaged and the steel door between the kitchen and the breezeway is MIA.  On the bright side, the idiot left behind documentation with his SSN and a copy of his drivers license.  I see a lawyer and some court dates in my future.

Plans for today are to:

1. Eat Breakfast
2. Take Sasha and walk over to the Blue Hole – a scuba diving attraction here in NM.
3. Relax and watch some football while trying to learn some video editing software so I can start editing my videos in prep for uploading it to you tube.

Given I don’t expect my truck to be fixed before 3 PM local time Monday (if at all Monday), I will plan to be online working Monday as previously planned (just a slightly different location).  I can’t make plans for Tuesday and Wednesday until I find out what is going on with my Truck.

Unless I make substantial progress with video editing, I doubt I will post another update until Monday evening when I know more about what is going on with the truck and my plans for the rest of the trip home.

Cary