October, 2018 Day 12...Up in Smoke

Day 12 Tuesday October 23, 2018

  

    So, yesterday, my cell phone died.  This morning, I saw this underneath my car.

  

    Breakfast at the Inn was your basic menu, but delicious.  You know you’re no longer in the south when Scrapple is listed as a side option. 

     This was getting better by the day.  A little research on line revealed my car problem to be a coolant leak.  Finding the problem was easy since I now knew what to look for.  There aren’t a lot of mechanics in Grantsville, so I picked up a container of antifreeze at the convenience store, along with a roll of duct tape.  In their parking lot, I wrapped the leaking area tightly.  My theory being, I had two nights at my next destination.  I could give up a day in a state park for a day in a repair shop if necessary.  I just had to get there.

       Things were fine until I pulled off in State College, PA for gas and a coffee.  I had gone about a hundred and thirty-five miles.  There was no smoke, but you couldn’t miss the smell of maple syrup in the air.  Ordinarily, that would be a good thing.  This time it meant coolant was dripping onto something hot.  The levels in the reservoir were fine.  So I drove on.   

      Within a mile, the heat gauge hit the red and I pulled over.  With smoke coming from under the hood, I shut off the engine.  Fortunately, the shoulder was extra wide.  I would have hated to be that guy who had traffic backing up.
     In hindsight, I was fortunate to have broken down here.  It could have been on a blind curve in a winding road somewhere.  Ironically, the very first call I made on the burner phone was to AAA for a tow.

      Ten minutes or so later the AAA tow truck arrived and took me to the Pep Boys in State College.  His own shop was slammed and he doubted they could even look at my CR-V that day.  As he was taking my car off the truck, I went inside.  They weren't that busy and could get me in a bay within fifteen minutes.

      Here’s the twist, I was supposed to have met Madeline, a high school friend, just a few exits north for lunch.  She was traveling west along I-80.  I was traveling north on I-99.  We found the perfect spot very close to where the two interstates meet.  My plan was to explore a few back roads in the area en route. 

       Instead, I found myself here, at Pep Boys.  I gave Madeline the address and asked if we could meet here instead.  Good thing it was only a couple of exits south of our original meeting place. 

       Back in college, someone loaned me an album by the band The Dickies.  Their song, “Manny, Moe and Jack.” suddenly came back and got stuck in my head.

    Within fifteen minutes, my car was in the back being worked on.  Within thirty minutes, the service manager was explaining what they found, what they had to replace and the cost.  I knew it was a broken hose.  So, he was going to replace the hoses and do a flush and refill on the radiator.  All things considered, I felt fortunately this was only going to run me $198.

       Madeline texted me back that she was perhaps a half hour out and was fine meeting me at Pep Boys. 

     Madeline arrived and we walked across the parking lot to a place called The Olde New York Restaurant.  To the credit of the staff, no one hassled us for spending three hours there chatting up a storm.  Madeline’s life journey has taken her to many places in this country.  She’s now in Omaha, Nebraska and had many a story to tell. 

        We left the restaurant when we realized Pep Boys was closing in fifteen minutes.   I paid the bill and got my keys.  Then we wound up talking in the parking lot until 7P.  I still had an hour and a half or so of driving to do, so we called it a night.  Madeline headed west, and I drove east.
        I can hear it now from a couple of you.  What, no picture?  Remember, I was now on a cheap flip phone.  It doesn't have a reverse angle camera.  

        The first leg of the trip was east on I-80.   The sky was black with patchy clouds.  The moon was bright and almost full.  The light playing through the clouds was simply stunning.  Add to the mix the red lights from the vehicles ahead of me glinting on the damp pavement.  

       Eventually, I turned north on I-180 to Hwy 220.  That’s about thirty miles of what I imagined to be scenic landscapes.  I couldn’t see much beyond the road.

     After a long day in the car, it felt good to finally be pulling into Laporte.  With a population of 316, it’s the smallest county seat in Pennsylvania.  I had booked two nights here at a place called The Pavilion at the Park.  I chose Laporte simply because of its proximity to two state parks I wanted to explore. 

     The owners left a key for me and after hauling my stuff inside, I simply collapsed on the bed.  I could have done without the unexpected repair job, but shooting the breeze with Madeline for four hours made up for it.
   
Coming Up,
I spend the day in Rickett's Glen and nothing breaks!