What Is Sum1 Up To Today?

Our Drive To Chicago And Other Places

Our Drive To Chicago And Other Places

         Yesterday we drove to the Great Lakes Navy Exchange to pick up my wife's prescription.  Why drive there, could we get it at a local CVS Pharmacy?  Yep, but they would charge us quite a bit for it, more than $100 most likely.  We get it for no-charge at the Navy Exchange for no charge.  Why?  Because I retired from the Navy after spending 20 years serving my country.  Anyway, about the trip.

         We left about 9 am, and returned home about 8 pm.  What?  Eleven hours just to get to the Navy Exchange and back, at most a 6.5 to 7 hour drive?  Well, we also went to Edgerton, Wisconsin to get a bunch of Pheasant Necks for the dogs.  Add in a stop for breakfast and dinner ....  It just adds up is all.

         The drive itself was uneventful, nice and smooth.  However, we saw only 3, maybe 4 planes approaching O'Hare.  I've never seen the skies so devoid of planes.  Maybe it was the time of day.  I told Kathy that the pilots were all on Lunch Break.  Honestly, I suspect it's how the airlines handle flights.  Spacing them out at mid-day.  The morning rush is over, the afternoon rush will begin soon, as a result, fewer planes landing or taking off.  Still, it was a little strange not seeing a lot of planes on approach to O'Hare.

         The drive home from Wisconsin was long, so it seemed.  I'll admit I was pretty tired.  We stopped once so I could walk around some, grab a cup of coffee, whatever.  We took our brown van on this trip, not the more comfortable Camper Van.  It's in the shop getting the spare tire replaced.  When we bought this, it came 'as is', and had no jack, lug wrench, or the tool needed to lower the spare tire from the Undercarriage.  Imagine my surprise when the shop called me and said there was an adapter missing from the kit!  A new kit, and it's missing an adapter.  The instructions are included with it, apparently the instructions mention the adapter.  It's stored in the shop for now.

         Monday I'll take it to a different shop for a minor repair.  The van has no heat!  The thermostat works fine, the engine gets warm, it has the proper amount of radiator coolant, but it has no heat.  Apparently this repair (beyond the capability of this shop) requires the Dashboard to essentially be disassembled because the flapper valve is stuck in the AC position.  Wow...   But dang it, we need heat if I want to drive it this time of year.  There's a small chance, very small, that we'll head south in it come January or February.  She also wants to use it to its full capability, which means going camping, or not getting a hotel room some nights when we're on the road.  We'll see.

         What's left to do?  Figure out that spare tire issue, replace the radio, make sure the new radio has a backup cam.  Talk about adding up ....  Yeah, the price we paid, plus these repairs/additions.