This trip almost never happened. Last night when I was loading the van, the door would not open and the ramp would not deploy. I thought for sure it was some problem that originated when Big-O changed the tires, but it wasn't. Luckily one of Phil's friends, Jeff, who works at Tennessee Mobility out near Nashville got on the phone with me for about 1/2 hour and walked me through numerous problems that might be happenning. It turned out there were two issues, one a breaker switch in the engine had thrown due to me trying to open the door with it being out of sync, and finally, there was a pencil wedged in the lower track on the door that was jamming the door preventing it from opening all the way, which prevented the ramp circuit from completing. Once Jeff figured out that it was probably a jam, I found it, cleared it out and we were operational shorly thereafter. At least now a know a few things to check if the ramp isn't working, so once again, thank God for friends, and I'm glad to have some more experience with the mechanical operations of the van.
Anyhow, the trip was fairly uneventful. We had about a 1/2 hour delay 70 miles outside of Denver due to a one car accident that had a flight for life evacuation, so they closed the highway, and we hit a nasty wind and ice storm just outside of Omaha this evening, so decided to pull over at the nearest place. Either my wiper fluid froze or the hoses froze, but either way I couldn't see and it was not safe to drive anymore. We found a nice, new Embassy Suites and are bunked down until tomorrow. Hopefully, the ice will clear out soon and we can get on the road fairly early. All in all, we made it about 550 miles today in about 8 hours. We listened to "The Gate House" by Nelson DeMille, and that made the time go pretty fast. I read The Gold Coast a few years ago, and this is the sequel to that book. Audiobooks are awesome for these long drives.
Just going into OT in the playoff game, then I'm hitting the hay. Got about 400 miles to go tomorrow to Rochester, hopefully the ice will clear out early. Peace, B.
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I was worried when I saw you guys were still around at 8:30 this morning. Glad you made it to Omaha ok. Good you got out before our snow today. Safe onward travels.
ReplyDeleteSo pleased you made it over halfway on the first day! Best of luck for a sunny day tomorrow. You havent listened to the ITunes 'special' as yet then?! Sleep well.
ReplyDeleteHi Bill and Heidi. Glad you made it safe and sound to a nice hotel. Snuggle in and enjoy some rest! I was born in Omaha and have never been there. Let me know if you see my SHRINE that they built for me at the hospital! :) Ok, maybe not. Have a safe day tomorrow. I hope you are eating a bunch of junk food on the way...that is Mike and I's favorite thing to do on long drives. If you get really bored, buy some Skittles, have each other close their eyes (not while driving) and guess the color. Guaranteed to pass the time! (One thing you learn while driving from Denver to Mississippi for college).
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