FORD (Fixed Or Repaired Daily) and 14 Weeks to Go!!!
In our case, this is pretty accurate, as the Mothership has now been back to our favorite dealership in Texas, Leif Johnson Ford here in Buda Texas (10 miles outside of Austin).
1st it was the fuel pump and fuel injectors (see last week’s blog). Next it was yet another alternator failure, our 4th since departing in May. You might remember our last alternator saying “I’m done” by way of a small fire 100 miles outside of Fredericton, New Brunswick back in September. That escapade had us camping for 4 nights at another Ford dealership.
Well, not more than 4 months later, as we said farewell and thanks to Simon at Austin International, I noticed the “check battery” light on and as we were heading into Austin for our 3 night “ run, rest and relax” at “The Architects House”. My spider senses were telling me to get back to Leif Johnson asap, mostly from past experiences and knowing we were going through some pretty desolate parts of Texas after Austin, along with our newest road manager, Amber Klatt.
After much tinkering by our Ford Diesel Technician, Raymond, he said “she was indeed cooked, again”. Ok, no worries, we’ll get her fixed, AGAIN. It’s a bummer but glad we caught it before we departed for more desolate climes. In she went as our friend, Rick Kent (see my birthday blog) picked us up and tourist’ed us all around Austin for eats out and memories made. Steph and I even kept on running and putting in miles around Town Lake trail system, in order to rack up enough miles to drive to San Angelo because of the time delays.
So with 150 odd miles in the bank, a few incredible running days with Cedar Fever around Austin’s famous trail’s, we headed back to our favorite Ford Truck Center to pick up the freshly installed 4th Alternator.
Locked, loaded and all repair papers signed, we said another fond farewell to Bob, Raymond and Co. and took off across the street (800 yards away), to pick up some groceries for our 3 hour drive to San Angelo, secure our alternator troubles were finally behind us. Or so we thought.
I started her up and headed confidently towards the Interstate. With the Ford dealership in sight, I noticed the same “check battery” light back on with added low lights from the dash, just to rub it in. We couldn’t believe what we were seeing. I drove directly to our newest residence, who by now, know us by name and everyone asking if we’d ever thought about buying property at Ford.
Our new family invited us to camp by the light of the Ford Moon, just as the freezing rain (I know it’s Texas folks) began to shower down, hard. The manager said, “we’ll get ya’ll goin’ and do whatever it takes to make that happen.” So once again, we camped, got Amber settled in, had another night filled with cold temps, cedar fever coughing and spluttering, and dreams of warm weather and a perfect healthy Mothership.
Why am I writing such a long blog (bordering on a novel) about our experiences at Ford, here in Buda Texas? Well, because there is a spirit here, just like everywhere we’ve been privileged to spend time, filled with incredible people, all willing to assist us in the realization of our dream.
We have been meeting all the amazing people who work here. Right from service advisor Bob Moore, ensuring the insurance is covered (again), to Raymond, straining his technology wits beyond super human, to Eddy who has shared with us philosophy, Jordanian food and martial arts artistry, all the way to Kent who invited us to stay at his house without hesitation.
Even though it was waiting for our tour vehicle to be fixed, that same spirit to assist us remains strong and ensures we reach our goals. This aspect of the journey has continually amazed me of how far people reach to help. So as we finally pulled away and said farewell to the crew at Ford in Buda, it makes us excited for what’s still to come and all the incredible people and experiences we’re going to have for these remaining 14 weeks!!!
Thanks everyone, not only at Leif Johnson Ford, but everyone else we were privileged to meet and spend time with in Austin, Texas!
See Ya’ll again sometime!