Approaching the anniversary of my December road trip from hell, I thought I should commemorate the event: Flew in to Minneapolis, picked up a junker for its engine, drove it back home - and, after I parked that thing and crawled out, I never wanted to look inside it again - here's the story:
I pulled into La Verne on Thursday about 4:00 pm. It was 10 degrees in Minneapolis when I picked up the "hulk" (i.e., 1982 rusted out Mercedes S/W) at 5:30 pm on Monday. Got lost for an hour trying to escape from Minneapolis during rush hour in the dark. The heater worked until midnite just past Des Moines. Around 2:00 am I pulled into a rest stop north of Kansas City to pee and snooze, but it was so cold (12 degrees) I decided to keep on going (snow and ice on the ground, but the air was dry). Well, when I exited the warmth of the rest stop, the car would not start - so I spent more hours inside the rest stop waiting for a tow truck. He got there about 6:00 am and we went to somewhere next to Independence, Mo. (Harry T. is a big favorite of mine anyway and I had not seen his place for 30 years).
Dropped the car off at Sargeants Sinclair station (with great fear and trepidation) and checked into the Motel 6 around the corner. Got out of there around 2:00 pm on Wednesday ($400 for a new alternator install) - friendliest people in the world when they have a paying, trapped customer. The heater suddenly worked again until I got to Oklahoma City (15 degrees) when it mysteriously died, and I then decided to head west across OK and Texas panhandle (16 degrees), rather than go to Dallas and hang a right. Ran out of diesel fuel at 10:00 pm outside Groom, Texas (the fuel gauge never worked, I had to guestimate fuel consumption). I can now issue a verifiable report that the 1982 Mercedes Station Wagon will get 385 miles on a tank of fuel - unfortunately I needed to get about 450 miles and I thought it had a 20 gallon tank. It does not. Another tow truck call and he got me on my way.
Made it through New Mexico, and then stopped in Williams, Arizona (just past Flagstaff) to fill up the fuel tank - not taking any chances anymore, stop every 200 / 250 miles now. After a fill up, I turn the key and get the old "click, click" - but 20 feet away is a smiling mechanic who says "I got just the battery for you." Course, he stopped carrying the cheap brand months ago because of all the warranty issues, so I got his super duper $85 battery, and headed for Needles where I knew I would be safe. Started thawing out around Kingman, AZ and I stopped shaking at Needles where I got fuel, and stopped at the Taco Bell for some great tacos (had been living on power bars and peanuts). At least I did not get e. coli along the way. But, I did lose 3 pounds and had another "Great Adventure" to talk about at the Old Folks Home. The saga is like a heart transplant. I delivered a donor engine which now sits next to the donee waiting for the surgeon to start his work. He has to go to Oklahoma City for the holidays, but by the end of January all should be well.
Snow and ice are great to visit of course, and Needles seems a great place to live in December - but life is great in sunny Southern California.
