Waiting in Lakeside

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

The little broken cord on the truck has kept me in Ludlum Campground for two more days. I took the truck to Ken Ware Chevrolet/GMC in North Bend. first thing Monday morning, but I wasn’t the only one with problems. Three others waited with me for the doors to open at 7:30. Jim Reed, the service manager, looked harried already. He had two technicians out, one being the diesel tech. I told him I would wait.

It was 11:00 before he came into the service lounge. They needed a new wiring harness and had ordered it, but it wouldn’t get there until Tuesday. He ordered a car from Enterprise, and a driver soon picked me up. Fortunately, I had started reading a book Dan Kelly had given me, “A Higher Call” by Adam Makos about a very unusual event that happened in WWII over Germany. It’s a great and true story that is well-written. I couldn’t put it down, and that doesn’t happen to me very often.

I did take a walk on a beautiful trail around Eel Lake where I am camped. Big, beautiful trees surround the lake. Lots of people were fishing in boats and off the dock. I spent some time finding a place to stay near Fort Clatsop for the next two nights, but I was beginning to get antsy about getting back on the road. At 2:00 on Tuesday I called Jim to see where we stood. He said they had replaced the harness, but now ere cleaning out the exhaust system while running it at 2,000 RPM’s for 45 minutes. Then they would check it to see if there were any other problems, and he would call me.

I hopped in the rental car and headed to North Bend, just 15 miles south. By the time I got to Enterprise, Jim called and said it was ready. Whew! I was quite happy to get the truck back. Time was also getting short as I have to pick up Kelly in Vancouver on Saturday. I have left a lot unseen in Oregon.