Day 106, Tuesday, Nov. 22, Salina UT, Ranch Motel
The new fuel pump arrived today, and the Defender is down the road in the shop now as of 4:30 today. It will take a few hours to install the pump and get the Defender back on the road.
I also ordered a new ignition coil just in case, and will have it installed since the one in there now was installed in August and driven 8000 miles. My mechanic back home thinks the new engine was too much for the coil, which is why it got cooked from the heat of use. If that is the case, then that is the only thing i heard that is adversely affected by the new engine, and even that one concerns me, which is why i want to install the one i just ordered.
My hope is that the Defender is ready by tomorrow morning so i can move on. More on this below.
Donner's case of D (loose stools) worsened today. I did not feed him at all for 36 hours, which usually fixes such cases, but fed him last night. Then this morning, just after i got up, he let loose all over the wall-to-wall carpet in the motel room. Since i caught him in the act, he knew I was upset over this. But when he showed signs of wanting to go out later, i took him outside to a spot around the corner and praised him when he let loose again.
A while later, i walked to the store across the street and when i get back to the room, Donner was gone. He had broken out of the room by opening two doors. I frantically turned around and saw him near the Defender waiting for me. Thank God he did not follow my scent across the highway to the store. If he had, he clearly would have been hit by a car or truck. He escaped because he had to let loose again. While it hurt me that I had to scold him for doing his business on the carpet, at least it paid off, and I praised him again for seeking out that spot outside. Unfortunately, there are no vets around and I don't know when I will find one on the road, so Donner is not going to be getting much to eat between now and the time we get home, whenever that is, since we will be staying in cabins or motels. And next trip, I will take along plenty of metronidazole.
I started the detailed planning of our return trip, which will take us at least six nights. Unfortunately, most of the camps are closed and some of those KOAs with cabins do not permit dogs. I also learned that many Days Inns do not take dogs, so i will avoid the completely, into perpetuity, for false advertising. I think i have got four of the six nights locked in but still need to find two pet-friendly cabins, yurts or motels just i-70 equidistant between Utah and Topeka Kansas.
Another issue seems to have surfaced. Had the latest incident not hit, we would have been sailing thru the Canadian Rockies on I-70 west of Denver last Sunday, in sunny, clear weather. Unfortunately, it started snowing Monday and was continuing today. Numerous crashes have occurred on I-70, at least one major pile up, and several deaths. As I write this, I-70, our route home, is closed. While they expect to open it again soon, and expect the road to improve over the next several days, another big storm is coming early next week. This is precisely what i was hoping to avoid. While the Defender can handle rough weather, it is just like any other vehicle on ice and in pile-ups, as just happened on I-70 near Denver.
My hope is that we can sail thru the Rockies and Denver on Friday and avoid the next storm. My hope also is that the Defender does not take another hit.
I will be optimistic about these things and start to pack up tonight for moving on with plan A tomorrow. But how many times have i said that already?
No comments:
Post a Comment