However, my awakening also brought back the memory that I had to once again go out in a strange town in search of someone to fix our car!!!! At this point I'm of the mind that we've pumped so much into this van (about $1800 so far) that we might as well keep since we won't get our money back out of it. Amy hates our dear friend Vannikin and wants to sell it the week we get back - if not sooner.
Anyway, last as we were unloading the van Matthew noticed that our front two wheels were dangerously worn down so today's quest was to get them replaced and the front end aligned if possible. I thought it would be a simple quest and we would be able to take the family to go see a move - either Brave or Madagascar 3. But it was not to be.
To make a long story very short (you know how that goes against my usual proclivities) we couldn't get the Kelly Tires replaced by a dealer because he didn't carry that brand and he said the wear looked like an alignment issue (although the technician in Clinton, OK said he checked the alignment) so it wouldn't be covered by the warranty anyway.
So I went to Discount Tire and had to spend almost $500 to have THREE tires replaced. It seems the previous owner had gotten a hole in the sidewall and instead of replacing the tire, only had it patched and the patch had gone bad and was causing a slow leak. So an hour and a half later I was heading back to Matthew's house.
Then Matthew and I took the car to his mechanic to get the front end aligned to make certain this wouldn't happen again (we hope!). And then back to Matthew's to wait for the mechanic to tell us it was ready. So instead of going to the movies the day was spent working on the website, catching up with e-mails and picking Matthew's brain for ideas on how to promote our Ride Across America.
Last night (in the 100+ heat) I did some work on Pearl and put on the parts I purchased at Performance Bike - Continental Gatorskin Tires and Selle Italia SMP saddle. When we finally got the call that the car was ready ($154 later) I rode Pearl to pick it up and did some more adjustments on the saddle to get it dialed in. Tomorrow's going to be a long ride so I want to make sure it fitted properly.
Amy spent the day doing all the laundry we've accumulated in two weeks and when I got the van back we loaded it up, had a great Pizza dinner with Matthew and his daughters and then we said our goodbyes and headed off to our Super 8 in Wickenburg.
The heat is going to be up around 115 degrees tomorrow and I have 106 miles to ride so I'm getting up at 4:00 to start on the road by 5:00. A cold breakfast (its Super 8 - our favorite chain after all) and I'll be out the door. I've got everything set and ready to not wake up the family - I just hope I survive the day!
And much thanks to Matthew and Marian not only for their hospitality in Phoenix but for all of their brainstorming and scope ideas - we hope we can put them into action soon!
Stay well and I'll update you from the road - if I survive tomorrow!
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Check out our website at http://www.connorsarmy.org/
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