All of Friday, June 20, was spent driving from Many Springs, Missouri, to Austin, Texas. The first part of the trip went wonderfully well, but in Bald Knob, Arkansas, a funny rattle developed in the back of my blue 2001 Toyota Previa. I suspected I was losing (another) hubcap, but when I pulled off the road, there was a deep BUMP. Inspection revealed that the bottom attachment of my right rear spring had come loose. I called my resident experts, and they assured me that I'd be OK.
At the roadside rest stop in Hope, Arkansas, a couple of good ol' boys heard the BUMP and helped out by tying the shock absorber up and out of the way so that it didn't swing down and hit the ground and also wouldn't hit the inside surface of the tire. It didn't make any noise after that. The van has an appointment for repair on Monday.
I did stop at the Toyota dealership in Marshall, just to see if they could do anything, but they said that due to the age of the van, they didn't have the right parts in stock and no dealership would. I headed on down the road.
In Buffalo, Texas, I stopped to get a new cell phone charger for the car, as I had left mine in Missouri. This small delay was a blessing, as I was not in the vicinity of the wreck that I came upon just south of town. A semi truck with a flat bed trailer of large round hay bales lost three of the bales and totaled a Land Rover coming in the opposite direction. The Highway Patrol was getting there just as I arrived, and there were volunteers moving hay off the road.
The drive diagonally across Texas is incredibly long. There aren't many good radio stations, either. I listened to books on tape, CDs, and what little radio I could receive. I think I'm going to go ahead and put the Sirius receiver in whatever vehicle I take north again.
No comments:
Post a Comment