Woke up bright and early ready for another day of highway driving. All went according to plan until I went down to the truck to take the first load of "stuff" to repack. The Best Western's parking lot was barely bigger than a postage stamp with no pull-through spaces so I dropped Lucille's trailer in the parking spot under our 3rd floor window so I could keep an eye on it and pulled across the driveway and parked. When I got down this morning I went to back up and hook the trailer back up, inserted the key, turned the key... nada!! Had good power, nothing had been left on and I'd not had any idiot lights the day before. Checked the usual suspects for loose connections, etc without anything obvious jumping out saying fix me, fix me! Went back upstairs to break the news to the troops and get in touch with Mitch who was meeting us for breakfast. He came over and we did all we collectively knew how with no success. Terrific. Stuck in Slidell, LA on a sunday morning. The day's suck factor was spiking pretty close to the top of the scale.
Knowing nobody in town, I asked myself: "self, whatcha gonna do now?" I thought of the TA truck stop across the street and figured they might have a contact for roadside service and could hook me up. I was almost right. Instead I ran into a tow truck driver who towed the truck to the only shop in town open on Sunday: Pep Boys. Turns out a solenoid on the firewall had passed away in it's sleep overnight, or perhaps was scared to death by the lightning from the thunderstorm but in either case, $150 later (including the tow charge) we were on the road, and only a couple of hours later than planned. Thanks to Leon & Adam at Pep Boys in Slidell for getting us in and out quickly.
After a good lunch we headed North for our 6 and a half hour drive to Gadsden, Alabama. You know that rain that was forecast for our travel ? Yep, you guessed it, still haven't seen more than a few drops other than those last night. Oh well. If I hadn't taken the precaution to change the plans I would have ridden in endless rain for two days, in addition to being worn out when I got to the rally.
If you're passing through Gadsden Alabama on 59 near mealtime, stop at Austin's Steak & Seafood. Great food at a good price. Our crew left well fed and ready to relax a bit before hitting the sack ahead of a short travel day of ~250 miles tomorrow. I can already hear my pillow calling to me. Say goodnight Gracie....
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