Return to the Regularly Scheduled Program

That's a long enough break from blogging.  

Being broken down in southern Illinois affected me in a number of ways that were unsettling.   I didn't like being stuck without transportation one bit.  After 80k miles of dependable service, the Nissan Frontier failed me.  Additionally, it was becoming clear that it was the first in a number of problems that were about to occur in a vehicle with 140k miles.  

Noises that probably had been going on for some time began driving me crazy with worry.  Transmission?  Engine?  Rear end?  Front end?  Suspension?  Anyway, the long and short of it is that I lost confidence in my vehicle.  But what to do next?  

The blue book value of the 2013 Nissan Frontier had dropped over the years.   Out of curiosity, I tried out the Carvana system to see what it was worth, and they offered $5100.  I could feel the Nissan's shocks and springs sag a little more.  

So when Julia was in Africa, I went and checked out the new and used truck market. I quickly ruled out new.  More on that in a future blog post.

Julia had a great time in southern Africa.  She spent most of her time in South Africa, but also visited Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Zambia.  I think the highlights of her trip were visiting Capetown, the southern-most point of South Africa, and the safaris.    She said I would have loved Capetown but would have hated the safaris.   

While in the back-country, there was no opportunity for exercise/hiking.  Because of the wild animals/predators, they  needed an armed escort anytime they were out and about after dark, even in camp.  While I like viewing animals, long, hot days in a jeep without exercise wouldn't have suited me.  Also, it was Africa-hot, she said, which means temperatures up to 102 Fahrenheit during the day and very warm nights.  Scheduled power outages were frequent during the day and night.

I'll post a selection of her photos below.

 

Dinner prep

Caterpillar--Protein Staple

Not Julia's favorite dish

Cheetah

Close enough

Julia and her companion had a great time, although traveling 24 hours to another continent did not go without a hitch.  Elizabeth missed her flight from California due to a mechanical issue and had to be re-routed through Germany, arriving a day late.  Julia's luggage was lost on the way home but eventually found its way to our house.  The airline claimed that she had failed to pick it up at her New Jersey connection, but Julia had placed an Air Tag inside the suitcase, so we knew exactly where it was (still in Africa).  It was interesting watching it make its way back to us with the airline still in denial.  

I didn't ask for a souvenir from Julia's trip, but she bought me one anyway.

Zambezi is Zimbabwe's national beer.  I drank it last night with some crackers, hummus and cheese spread.  A clean-tasting lager, it wasn't bad and would surely have been refreshing on an Africa-hot day.

Temperature Relief and Update

When I arrived home from the southern Illinois misadventure, the high temperatures continued in Wisconsin with our warmest days of the year.  With our well-shaded home, we rarely use the air-conditioning, but it received its first work-out of the season.  

Callie and I took early morning walks (5 a.m. before sunrise) to get our steps in.  Then we both retreated to the basement for most of the rest of the day.  

The weather finally turned this week.  Julia was up in Door County with some girlfriends, so I played pickleball every day.  One of the guys I recently got to know at pickleball turned out to be the fraternity roommate of my dormitory roommate.  Small world.  We both like pickleball and good small breweries, so we've gone out for beers a couple of times too.  I had pretty much lost touch with our mutual friend Joe, but Mick has stayed in contact, so it was fun catching up.  Maybe we will all get together someday for a beer.

I completed the repair of the Scamp bathroom door after consulting my friend Dean.  The door was previously held in place by small screws from the inside bathroom door trim to the outside bathroom door trim. After 22 years, the screws had backed out or stripped.  I drilled bigger holes and put in machine screws with fender washers and an acorn nut.  It seems  much better secured.  

In the last few days, the weather has been much cooler with lows at night in the 40's.  I celebrated with hikes at Gibraltar Rock and at Pheasant Branch.  I also restarted my sourdough starter and baked some bread to take the chill off.  I like fall.

I have no September plans to Scamp.  Allie will be home again this weekend  and staying for a week before she stands up in a friend's wedding the following weekend.  At the end of the month, Julia leaves for a long-planned trip to South Africa with a girlfriend from optometry school.  I may take a trip then but probably will travel within Wisconsin.

Why am I not going to Africa?  It's just not a place that I have any current desire to visit.  Ten years ago, I wanted to hike Mount Kilimanjaro, but that desire has faded away.  Julia is going to do a safari, and that doesn't sound like fun for me, especially given the expense.  I'm glad she has a girlfriend to go with, and so is the girlfriend's husband who also declined not to go.  

Next year will likely be a big travel year for us here in the U.S.  I'll save my pennies for those trips. 

Home again, Home again, Jiggety-jog.

At 8 a.m. on Monday, when K&J Chevrolet opened, I called the service department and asked if my part had come in (squeaky wheel gets the grease).  They found out that it had arrived at the Nissan dealer in Centralia.   The parts driver told me later that he was on the road to Centralia by 8:10.

At 2:25 p.m. the service department called and told me that my truck was ready.  By 3 p.m. the parts driver picked me up at the campground in my Nissan, and I drove him back and took care of my bill.  It was just over $1000, and almost $800 of that was for the part.  There was no charge for the two trips back and forth to the campground, which was a good 25 minutes each way from Carlisle.  

I was originally hoping that the service department could repair the shifter, but I think that was probably unrealistic.  After 139,000 miles, it was plumb worn out.  Vibration had caused screws to back out, and brackets to bend badly.  It was an expensive part, but I feel better knowing that I probably won't have to worry about the shifter assembly ever again.  

I would recommend K&J Chevrolet to anyone needing service in the Carlyle, Illinois area.  The part delay was out of their control.  Once it arrived, they took care of me, knowing that I was in a difficult position. 

I was so sick of Lake Carlisle and the campground after 8 days of not being mobile.   But last night, the temperature was dropping, and the lake looked beautiful (now that I had my truck back).

I cooked the last of my hamburger (an 8 ounce patty) with Swiss cheese and a stale bun that tasted fine toasted and enjoyed knowing that I could leave any time I wanted.

This morning, I was up at 5 a.m. before first light.  After a quick breakfast, I made a thermos of coffee and hitched up.  We dumped (Callie watches carefully) and were on the road by 6:30 a.m.  It was a 7 hour drive home, and I could have broken it up into two days, but I was anxious to finish the trip off.  Allie is home for a short visit on her way to Montreal with college friends, and she will be leaving tomorrow morning.  

Tonight, it's rib-eyes, portabella mushrooms, and a glass of good red wine. 

Step One

 I’ve been stuck in this campground for eight nights now, and we’re feeling a little claustrophobic. The good beer is all gone, and most of the cheap beer is too.

Callie: “Not Miller High-Life?”

I called the auto service desk this morning when it opened, and they were eventually able to confirm that my part arrived at the Nissan dealer twenty miles away. Their driver has to go get the part, and then the service department has to work it into the schedule for replacement of the broken shift assembly. With good luck, I won’t need to pursue contingency plans for an alternative way to move the trailer by Thursday when my campsite is reserved for someone else. I’ll update this post when I learn more.

Stuck in IL

I had the best of plans to blog about our lovely stay at Thomson’s Causeway while I was staying at my next stop in south-central Illinois. But I fell into a bit of a funk, and here’s the post that explains why.

My next reservation was not very well thought-out. I basically went there to take advantage of my senior pass discount. A few minutes after unhooking my Scamp, I went to pull the truck forward, and then couldn’t get it to shift from drive to park.  I worked until well after dark to diagnose and fix the problem. Nissan has had trouble with vibration causing problems with the Frontier shift assembly. Taking everything apart and tightening a screw can sometimes fix the problem.

Unfortunately, my screw was missing, and the insides were badly bent. I am a long ways from auto service. The Nissan dealer couldn’t have the Nissan mechanic even look at it for over a week. If I had the truck towed there, no loaner car or shuttle service back to the campground was available. I would have had to hitchhike little-used secondary roads with temps close to 100 and Callie to deal with.

I had the truck towed to a Chevy dealer in the opposite direction who promised me that I wouldn’t get stranded there, although no loaner cars were available there either. Rentals were not available in either town.

At the end of Monday, it was decided that the shifter assembly could not be repaired, and a new assembly was needed. No one had the part locally, including the Nissan dealer. It was ordered from Nissan on Monday night, shipped on Tuesday. Estimated delivery is 3 to 5 business days. It’s not here as of Friday mid-day, and it looks like I will be here into next week.

To make matters more unpleasant, there is very little to do here. A heat dome has settled over us the entire week with the heat index as high as 120. The biting horseflies are as big as hummingbirds.  There are lots of other insects:  mosquitoes and several smaller varieties of flies and gnats.

On the plus side, my neighbor Bill has been very helpful, taking me to Walmart for groceries and supplies, and providing companionship in an otherwise depressing, claustrophobic circumstance. He has moved on to his next destination, but I have enough food to get me well into next week. The AC in the Scamp has been a life-saver, although we had a several hours long power outage this morning. It’s cranking cold air again, and I pray that continues.

Internet is limited to one bar LTE so I will keep photos to a minimum.

Carlyle Lake

I have this spot reserved until next Thursday morning. Someone else has it reserved that afternoon. I can only hope I’ll be gone by then.

Thomson Causeway

I moved downstream on the Mississippi River to a different COE. 

The river here is very, very wide but so shallow that water plants threaten to overtake it in places. I’ve only stayed here in the early spring when the plant growth was just starting for the season. 

Open channel during spring

Every morning and evening, I am serenaded by sand-hill cranes. Lots of other quieter birds too. The egrets are much more patient fishermen than the humans.

Yesterday, I checked out a new brewery (and only brewery) in Clinton, Iowa, across the river. It was built inside a huge former church and is called Great Revivalist Brewing. 

I had a milk stout on a nitrogen line that was excellent. I’ll return when Julia arrives. I had to check it out first, of course.

Sunset on the Iowa side