July 7, 2013

View of the day-A beautiful, peaceful morning at the Stockton City Park, as we get ready to hook up and move north...too bad it didn't last.

We got the camper hooked up and headed over to get the Freightliner started so it could air up.  Al had to add some oil to the Freight...a daily job, since it tends to burn a lot...then we were on our way.  We nicely climbed the hill out of Stockton and were just getting up to speed on the highway, when Marilyn got a call from Al..."hold on, I think we have a problem here...a BIG problem'. Marilyn thought a tire had blown, but once Al got pulled over and up behind the camper, it was pretty clear that it wasn't just a flat tire.  The Freight was bleeding out.

Al got it shut down and we surveyed the situation and figured out our options.  Al remembered seeing a big tow truck at the north end of Phillipsburg, which was only about 15 miles up the road, so the plan was to leave the Freight where it sat, take the camper in to Phillipsburg and park it, find the number for the tow truck, then head up to Ansley, NE to get the General.  We put up the hazard markers on the highway around the Freight, and put the plan into action.

We found a spot for the camper at the RV park just as you get into town, and after getting it parked and the A/C running, we headed north.  The tow truck...Big Buck...was parked just where Al remembered, and we were able to get the phone number off the side of it and give the guy a call.  He said he was available, so we told him we were going to get the other truck to take over the tractor and cart load, and would call him when we were 20 minutes out of Phillipsburg and he could meet us out at the Freightliner.

We boogied up to Ansley, only 130 miles, unhooked the combine, fueled the Dodge and headed back to Phillipsburg with both trucks.  You would think after all these trips it would feel shorter, but it was just the opposite...Al's favorite line is "Did they move this town??".  We called the tow guy just as we were getting close to the KS/NE border and Marilyn just passed Big Buck as he was leaving the shop.  We got out to the Freight and took another look at things.

Brandon, our savior for the day, checked things over and commenced to hooking up the Freight...and he got very dirty...as did we all.  That truck is like "pigpen" from Peanuts, only it's the people that walk by that get dirty.

After getting it hooked up, he still had to take the drive shaft off, but he was able to move his load far enough ahead so that we could get the General hooked up to the trailer.  We got that done, just as Brandon was finished with the Freightliner, so he went on his way back to the shop with it and we started back north again...this time only as far as Alma, NE...only 25 miles one way.

Al figured it would be a good idea to move at least across the border, to avoid...things, that might be open during the day...if you get the drift.  It's been a while since the General pulled the grain cart...a while back, that was normal. We got to the truck stop at Alma, fueled up the General, got it parked with the rest of the big rigs, then started back to Phillipsburg for supper at the Pizza Hut.

Tomorrow we get the verdict...Brandon said those holes are too big to patch...