Charleston Bound....and Back to the Homestead

Its been a week and a day since the Boys and I left for the Journey back to Charleston, SC...First night was at Greenville, La...and thats where I left you last.

Ft. McAllister State Park...Bubba Burgers and Bonding... 

The next morning we got up about 0630, cleaned up, ate breakfast and by 0715 we where on our way West.....it was another hot day.....AC going full blast...destination today Selma Al...about 425 miles East...took l-20 until we got to the first exit in Alabama..on to US-80 and by 1500 we where checked in and putting on our swim suits for a nice needed dip in the pool.....No, you got to be kidding...its got a tarp over it...two in a row...this is beginning to smell like  a conspiracy....I go to the office and I think the bottom line is they don't feel like messing with it or spend the money to maintain...they didn't actually say that.....but that's my take on it....so we sat around, watched TV and I planned for tomorrows destination....found a Taco Bell....came back, Skyped watched more TV and by 930PM we turned off the lights and soon where in Dreamland...



Thanks Opi.....

Next morning we where up and at'em by 0700....today is a short drive...about 280 miles...great morning...not too hot yet making good time..... about 5 miles west of Montgomery Al,  #1 Gson informs me he left the Ipod game cards at the motel.....I do have options but decide to turn around and get them...its about a 45 mile drive back to Selma....so our short day is getting longer....Hour and 20 or so minutes we're back to the point that we had to turn around...with game cards in hand......


Pool time.....

Things are going smoothly for the next 3 plus hours...its getting hot...and then I notice the AC doesn't seem to be working ...its spitting out a little cold air on the passenger side but nothing on the Drivers side...I stop to get gas, cool off and when we start up it works a little better, but after 30 minutes its back to almost nothing....I thinking maybe it was a circulation problem, as the front passenger area stuffed with the Boys blankets, beach towels, wii game, etc....I stopped put all that stuff in the rear cargo area and had hopes that I had solved the problem....nope...still no cold air......pulled into a Love's Gas Station...got the kids out...went into the fast food portion....as we ate I told the Boys we had some options....stop at the nearest Motel and leave early in the morning, go to our original destination...or tough it out one last time and travel longer than planned and they could be home tonight... it was unanimous...let's get home tonite...total miles to Charleston was 525.... we had about 330 left.....I bought several bottles of water and GatorAde and off we went.....



We're hungry...again

Having fun at the Zoo

We rolled into the driveway around 530pm...parents where at a retirement function...I had called them and informed them we would be arriving this day rather than the next day (Saturday).....we unloaded the car and I also repacked with stuff from the camper that I left here when I did some reconfiguring...

Horst Kelly Photographer



Shoot me out of the Cannon


 

Daughter and SIL got home around 630pm ...we ate, chatted, and revisited the entire journey. I decided to try and get to a Nissan Dealership early tomorrow(one had a service dept. open on Saturday)...went to bed early and woke at about 0300 hours...wide awake...so I got on the computor and did some reading on my AC problem..only concern is that there is a possibility of coolant getting into the transmission fluid....I'm thinking thats not a good thing to happen.....told daughter and SIL that either I'd get it fixed and they would have me for the day or more... or get a OK from mechanic to head home....Hugs and kisses where exchanged....had some special time with the Boys and then I was off...Arrived at the  Nissan Dealership 0800 sharp...told me they couldn't take me until Monday...however  in all likelihood its a "no harm no foul" mishap...ok to drive back to Texas....oh there is a small chance of the coolant mixing with the transmission fluid....however if you don't feel any gear slippage, just keep going.....

Naval Air Museum

Sooo...my decision....called Daughter and said Good-bye...I'm heading home...I babied the AC for two days...ran it for 15 minutes and turned it off for half hour...it was always blowing out "ice cold" air...the last day I ran it full blast and never had a problem....I will take it in to have it checked, however think it froze up do to the stuff crammed in the front passenger seat... early Monday afternoon I was pulling into the driveway...a WARM welcome home from the bride...have been in a "crash mode" since then.....its now Thursday pm(15 August).....

I will write a summary of the trip this weekend....the Good, the Bad, the Ugly...though there wasn't any of the latter two...just "Good and Gooder"..LOL....I thank all of you that took the time to follow this adventure and those that left those positive comments....Happy Trails to all...

The End.......Horst Sends