7/29/24:
Sorry for missing last week! We went on what was supposed to be a one night camping trip to Turquoise Lake near Leadville, Colorado (beautiful spot!) with my brother and his family. But, while heading into Leadville on the way home, my car made a noise and then started to smell like burning. We stopped and quickly realized we were leaking oil REALLY
badly. And the dipstick had nothing on it. Fortunately, we stopped the car before running completely dry, so the engine was not destroyed.
Managed to reach my brother on the cell before he got out of range and they came back to help out as much as possible. Then I had a grand time trying to call my insurance (on a Sunday) about towing options ($800 to tow it home!), so that idea was quickly scrapped. Fortunately, my regular mechanic DID answer his phone and gave us some advice, even
though we couldn't actually get the car to him. So we filled the crankcase as much as possible, confirmed it was still leaking like a sieve, and then started looking for hotels after I sent my brother home. We ended up staying at the Delaware Hotel (about a block away from where we broke down) and I was able to drive the car over there to unload, then find a
mechanic the next morning. (leaving a trail of oil all over town as I drove it around.)
They ALMOST got it fixed Monday, but ran out of time due to another repair that was ahead of ours. We were dreading having to stay another night (great hotel, but not cheap, plus I was losing business), so my folks made the 5+ hour round trip drive to pick us up. Got home that night, the car was fixed the next day, and my best buddy drove me back up
there again on Tuesday to retrieve it. Fortunately, it was not a major repair... it was a busted hose. Unfortunately, said hose had to be replaced as an entire assembly. But it could have been worse!
So... quite the adventure. But at least we had a nice camping trip and got to spend a good chunk of time exploring a small mountain mining town and stayed in a hotel that was built in 1886! And now my car has a steel oil cooler line assembly, instead of a chintzy rubber one that can randomly pop open a pinhole leak. (A pinhole leak from hell!)
A final tip from me: If you own a 2010ish Toyota Highlander, keep an eye on that oil cooler line if it hasn't already been replaced. Also, Dependable Auto Service in Leadville is a great mechanic if you happen to find yourself in need of one in that vicinity.
Oh... and we have an actually planned vacation starting this next weekend that goes through the weekend after that. We haven't actually had a real vacation (that is, more than just a long weekend) in over 3 years! I am going to TRY to produce some installments ahead of time and attempt to post them from afar. But no guarantees on that. (I should be able
to post textual info to the tagboard regardless of location, though.)
Comments from the Tagboard:
08/06/24 09:40 PM
BrickVoid: Thanks for the information. At least it's not too long of a wait, I believe it's better to get a comic schedule going. These camping trips are eating into comic preparation time, though. I would respectfully ask that you address that when you get back from vacation. Got to get that schedule set up good and properly. :)
08/06/24 12:19 PM
Swiftbow: Sorry, yeah. Was busy on vacation :) We'll resume normal schedule after we get back. On the 18th, I believe? Thanks for your patience everybody!
08/05/24 12:51 PM
BrickVoid: Hmm. Comic not up? Tagboard has no messages? Sounds like a week's wait for the comic. I can certainly wait, if it means you get the bettter quality out of it. :)
07/29/24 01:15 PM
BrickVoid: Sounds like your camping trips are taking you on rough roads. Hopefully the steel pipe will hold up, and not get dinged by rough road conditions. :)
