Got off to a little later start than we thought, the atomic alarm clock reset itself to the wrong time, so was 20 minutes off. Otherwise, we got out okay, stopped for gas in Powhatan and breakfast in Farmville, and a quick stop at a Lazyboy gallery to check out a loveseat I had found online. Can’t really decide on comfy furniture unless you actually sit in it, which we did, and found the one we want. Actually a sectional rather than a loveseat, but it has extra storage between the seats that we like. Hopefully we can get that worked out. Carried on toward the Uhwarrie, and made our second to last stop of the day for fuel at a Wilco in Asheboro. That’s when the trouble began. The main sign clearly posted had regular prices in red and diesel prices in green. When I pulled onto the pump, I automatically picked up the green nozzle, because that usually signifies diesel. Unfortunately, at this station, that was not the case. The diesel was actually all by itself in the back (no signage that I could see), but I didn’t notice it until the tank was full. I was just about to get going when Hubby raced out of the store and informed me that I had just filled up with gas, which he had learned from going inside to clear his credit card off. The girl behind the counter explained to him there was no diesel on the aisle where I was. Anyway, what a mess! I wasn’t sure what to do, whether the engine would run on a 2:1 mix (I had about 1/3 of a tank of diesel when I pulled in), but rather than take any chances, I got on my new smartphone and called the nearest GM dealer, which happened to be a GMC/Buick dealer about a mile up the road. After speaking to the service guys I was SO glad I didn’t try to crank it up, because they said if I had, the whole system would have to be cleaned out, but as it stood, if we got it towed, they could drop the tank to drain it, then refill it with diesel and it should be fine. They called us a tow truck, which wasn’t big enough for the job, then while we were waiting for another one, we disconnected the truck from the trailer and pulled it out of the way, then moved the trailer to the back of the gas station, where fortunately there was plenty of room. It wasn’t long before the flatbed showed up, which was still barely big enough to pull the truck onto, with the dually wheels almost hanging off the back end. The full load of hay didn’t help much, either. Finally we headed out, Hubby to run a couple of errands, and me to the dealer to get the job going. The service manager tried to tell me that the job couldn’t be done today, and that we should start making arrangements to spend the night. I, on the other hand, was determined to get it done, and explained to him that I believed in miracles, and would work toward that end. After some discussion with the shop guys, it seems they didn’t have a lift big enough for my truck anyway, so they wouldn’t be able to drop the tank, so it was decided they would try to pump it out with a little hand pump they had but had never used. They gathered a bunch of gas containers and started siphoning, but it took 10 minutes to fill the first tank. As the mechanic went to empty the container, I started pumping instead of just siphoning, and speeded the process up immensely, filling the next tank in just a few minutes. After I filled the next tank, one of the guys took over and started pumping as well, so things started happening a lot faster. Before long, the tank was nearly empty and one of the guys ran out to get diesel to refill the tank. Twenty gallons later, we cranked up the truck, and it seemed to run okay. We let it run while I paid the bill ($200, half for fuel and half for labor, not to mention the $100+ that went down the drain and the $80 for the tow…), but at least we didn’t have any engine damage. Apparently if I had tried to run it, we would have had to completely flush the engine and many be even put in new injectors for $2600 or something. Glad I had the sense to call first! Anyway, by the time that was done, we knew we didn’t have enough time to shop if we wanted to get to camp before pitch dark, so we hurried down to the horse camp at Cane Brake, a place we had come once before but had never ridden in because it rained for three straight days. The camphost put us in a double site that was open until Saturday morning, and we quickly got the horses highlined and us settled in, though the sun was down before we started, so most of it was during twilight. Finally got done around 8:00 before we were able to finish dinner and relax for the rest of the night. At least the truck seemed to run okay on the way down!
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