First Saturday

The one thing we miss when we are workamping is the "every day feels like Saturday" feeling when I wake up on Monday, or Tuesday, etc. Well, Monday did feel like Saturday again, because we had a day off before returning to the TVC office on Tuesday.  My day started with me driving the VW over to "Higher Ground Autoworx" to find out why I am losing coolant.  We first realized there might be a problem last Thursday when we drove up to Tahoe City to ride out bikes into Squaw Valley.  I was initially referred to "Eloise Automotive" by Bill and Debby, but they do not work on European cars there, so the kind gentleman there referred me to Higher Ground, where they do specialize in BMW's, Mini's, Audi's and VW's.  It is around a mile to the shop, so my plan was to drive over around 8:30, drop the car off, and walk home, however, the sign on the door said the hours on Monday are 9-5.  No wanting to sit there for 30 minutes I decided to drive back to the coach, pick up a light switch that I needed to exchange for a different one at DIY, head there, and then back to Higher Ground by 9.

The plan worked great, but when I returned to Higher Ground at 9:05 they still weren't open, but just as I arrived I received a phone call I was expecting, so I took the call and waited to see if the owner would arrive while I was on the phone.  As I finished the phone call 15 minutes later the shop was still not open......I had noticed they had a "key drop box" so I decided to park my car, drop my key in the box, and call the number on the business card and leave a message about my car, then walked back home.

I had barely arrived home when my phone rang.....it was John from Higher Ground asking me to relate to him the symptoms of the VW.  We talked for a few minutes, and he said he would try to get to it later to do a pressure test on the cooling system, and call back with the recommended repair.

The walk home took about 20 minutes, and even though it was still early the outside temps were already well on their way to the "guessed" high for the day of 81......not warm by Phoenix, or Palm springs standards, but warm for us.  After putting around the coach and trailer for about an hour I decided to take my Kindle outside and spend the rest of the day finishing a good Zane Grey book I started a week, or so ago, but hadn't had time to get back to since then.

Around Noon I got another call from John at Higher Ground with the diagnosis and prognosis for the VW......the water pump has begun leaking so that is the source of the coolant loss, and is what needs to be fixed.  I knew he had a few cars ahead of me, so when he told me it might not be ready until later in the week I told him "Fine".......we really don't drive it that much, and are here until Labor Day.  So, some time by the end of the week we'll get our baby back.......there you go.......we continue to spend more in repairs on our cars, than we do on the Newell!

We spent the rest of the afternoon reading, and I took a couple of delicious naps.  around 6 TLE began preparing the evening's meal........Jambalaya!  We sat outside talking and eating until almost 8 pm before heading in for the evening.....a fine First Saturday to be sure!

Thanks for stopping by!