We left KY and we headed south. In an (unusual for us) manner, we had opted to take the major highway for a straight shot to our destination. No messing around for us.
It was not to be. A recent rockslide brought on a major closure of the major highway. At the KY / TN border we were kicked off onto a two lane back-road.
Oh, wait. Something happened before this all happened.
For some reason, as soon as we got to KY, our thermostat decided to stop reaching its full operating temperature. There was talk about ex-changing it and / or diagnosing the problem in other ways but the winter temperatures kept that idea at bay. So, we dealt with it and the resultant lower fuel mileage for our short trips while there.
About a week before we were due to pull out, we made our usual check of fluids and brought the tires up to their recommended level. You'll never guess what happened next...
The thermostat started working again!
And...
The driver's side window stopped working.
Ah, well. It was still cold so we didn't really need the window. But at least our gas mileage was returned to normal with the return of our thermostat functioning.
O.K. Back to the original story...
We exited the major highway at the border of KY / TN and hopped on a two lane back-road winding up, down, around and through the hollars and hills.
As we drove, it started raining and that was sort of exciting to us.
We both commented on how it was nice to actually use our windshield wipers. Usually, it seems that we buy them and they sit there until they rot to a point of being useless. Still, we replace them regularly and keep them in prime condition... just in case.
So, naturally, this excitement over the functioning of our relatively new wiper-blades brought on quite the conversation and joy. It's the little things, after all.
Onward we drove, up, down and around, swish, swish, swish, swish, BAM!, BAM!, BAM!, BAM!, BAM!, BAM!, BAM!, BAM!, BAM!, BAM!, BAM!, BAM!, BAM!, BAM!
We were pretty sure that something important had just fallen off the bottom of the van.
Nicole, who was driving at the time, started assessing things...
Well, I can still steer. The brakes are working. We're still moving.
While Darlene tried to find the hazard lights (which we're pretty sure we hadn't used before), Nicole decided she might need to look at the road and find a place to pull over.
It was at this point that she realized that she couldn't see out of the windshield (on the driver's side anyway, the passenger side was clear as day).
Um..... It's the wipers. Those things were were just complimenting on their wonderful functionality!
Off they went and on we went to the next possible place to pull over where it was assessed that the linkage arm between the two sides had dropped off of its pin.
At nearly 28 years old, the plastic bushing between these two points of contact had finally surrendered.
Out with the old...
In with the new...
Now that we are ready for rain again, there's a good chance we won't see any.
But at least we are once again ready.
We managed to get his little repair done in a few hours while visiting with family in GA.
Nicole also managed a very good redneck repair job on our reverse light that had recently stopped working.
You see the plastic piece around the contact the end of the wire?
The one on the passenger side had broken and was letting the contact slip away from the bulb.
You can get a variety of pieces at the local auto shop to repair this issue but that would require money spent and cutting / splicing the wire.
It just didn't seem prudent to spend even a few dollars when the universe had delivered the perfect option (a broken frisbee). A little snip here and there and...
...that should do it.
YUP!
If you are into cars and random repairs this post might have interested you.
If not, you may not even still be reading.
If you are, however, we want you to know that we entered Florida today and...
the driver's side window started working, again.
That's our girl.