The longest day.....

 6:37 am - Thursday - March 6th - GNHS - 52° F, humidity 35%, wind 8 mph out of the north by northwest.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 77° F.  On this date in 2014 TLE and I were visiting the Grand Canyon......↴

It was Wednesday, and we had unfinished business in the Pomona Valley.  We drove back to GNHS on Monday in a rental car, and needed to retrieve the VW, and return the rental before we head north.  We were in the rented 2022 Toyota Camry heading west to Joel's Automotive in Montclair, CA by 8:30 am hoping we could pick up the VW by 11 am, and head back home.  Well, the best laid plans often do not come to fruition for one reason, or another.  I knew from my conversation with Joel on Tuesday that they had to replace some coolant hoses, and the right front wheel bearing.  What I did not know was the parts, which I believed were readily available, were not.  When I called Joel, before we left for our drive, he advised he had to special order those parts through VW, and that he would not get them until later in the morning.  He hoped they would have the car ready by lunch, so we left with that hope.

The drive through the Coachella Valley, over Banning Pass, and into the Pomona Valley was uneventful, and we saw mostly light traffic until we reached the I-15/I-10 interchange which is the beginning of major road construction on that section of I-10.  The traffic became 'stop and go' for the next few miles.  By the time we reached the Haven Ave. exit it was after 11 am, and we still had at least an hour before the car 'might' be ready.  TLE's travel hair dryer had ceased functioning while we were in Georgia, so we stopped at Target to buy a new one.  Next we had a bag of clothing, etc. to donate to the Goodwill, so we stopped there, made the donation and browsed through their clothing.  

We had decided to have lunch with our daughter, Kate, at noon in Claremont at 'The Back Abbey', one of our all time favorite local eateries, so we headed there next around 11:30 am in order to arrive on time, and hoping the extra hour+ would give Joel time to get the car done.  On the way over to Claremont Joel called to advise the parts had just arrived, and his guys had taken an early lunch, so it would be another 2+ hours until the car was ready. 

We had a great lunch with Kate, and I became so engrossed in the conversation I neglected to memorialize the occasion, or the food.  A little after 1 pm we bid our 'until next times', and headed for Joel's hoping the car would be done.  We arrived at Joel's about 20 minutes later to find them still working on the VW.  Well, okay, they are working on it, and it will be done today, so I just sat down in the lobby, leaned my head back and took a nap.

To make a long story a tad shorter, the car was finally finished, and had been test driven around 3:15 pm.  We paid the bill, and then headed for FOX Car rental down near the airport to drop off our rental, and then head home.  Unfortunately, by the time we left FOX it was 3:45 pm, and right in the middle of the dreaded Inland Empire RUSH HOUR.  We were in 'stop and go' traffic until we reached Banning Pass.  No one enjoys being stuck in rush hour traffic, and I am at the top of that list.  Having lived in it for about 30 years of my work life I had come to loath it, and no matter how long it has been since I was last in it I still hate it.  I spent most of our slog through that traffic Wednesday trying to remain sanguine about the whole thing, and was mostly successful according to TLE....lol.

We arrived back at GNHS at 6:30 pm after a 10 hour day.  We were both tired, but, amazingly, felt good.  We got our car, and now it is just a matter of loading it in the trailer Sunday.  One step at a time, and we are almost there!

Thanks for stopping by!