Published on
We have a winner! I've been asking for names for the box truck. We got several suggestions, but none of them spoke to me. Until my friend Toni suggested Gary. I'm like, "Gary?" . I like it, but why Gary. She said that it was the name of Lucy's second husband, Gary Morton. Immediately I thought, "Eureka! That's it! That makes total sense!" So henceforth the box truck shall be called "Gary".
On our way back from Padilla Bay, the truck started running really rough, sputtering and lightly backfiring. Luckily we made it to the park. Drove around once we got there and it seemed to be fine. Ran fine until the day we had to leave.
On the way back to Everett from Mt. Vernon Thousand Trails, Gary started doing the same thing. Sputtering, lightly backfiring, no power. Engine revved, but no power. He finally broke down going uphill around a turn.
Several people stopped to offer help. One guy put a flare out for us. Another guy offered to tow us to a flatter spot, at least out of the curve. One guy gave us botteled water. One asshole drove by really fast in his sporty convertible and yelled at us to get it off the road. I promptly flipped him off.
Don put it in park and it slipped. He mashed the brakes really hard. Was afraid to let off the brake at all after that. By this time I was becoming a basket case.
We were only about 4 blocks from the house. Don refused the tow and called John. John came with the jeep. Toni came with her car to take me to their house along with the dog and cat. She arrived and when we tried to leave, her car wouldn't start. John took me, Toni and the pets home in the jeep and went back to tow Don to the house. Meahwhile Toni called for a tow (AAA).
The jeep and the truck made it to the house. John went back to wait for the tow for Toni's car. He managed to get the car running. Toni then tried to cancel the tow and they had no record of the request. So, good thing they didn't need it. Remember, if you have AAA on your phone and your household has 2 or more different numbers under your plan, make sure to use the main name and phone number on the account.
A couple of days ago, Don did something with the wire to the coil and replaced the fuel filter (which had a bunch of slime in it from the old gas that had gone bad). He then took it for a drive around a few blocks and seemed to be running fine.
Today we went to Habitat for Humanity to get an exterior door for the rear wall we want to put in. The drive there went OK. We took our time in the store and got a nice door with a big window. Then we stopped for fast food and took our time eating in the parking lot. On the way home the truck started sputtering again, like it did the first time.
We're scheduled to leave for Silver Creek in 2 days and our black tank is full...
To Be Continued.
