Tuesday, October 15, 2024 – Shopping and Unexpected Truck Repair

Hey Darlin',
A bit cooler this morning, but still nice and sunny so it warms up nicely. After breakfast and chores, I finished my shopping list and headed out to the truck with Lola in tow. As soon as I started it up, I noticed my fuel gauge, which was at full last night, was down almost a quarter of a tank! I got out and looked under, and sure enough, I had a big leak dripping down under my truck bed. When I got down to see it's origin, I discovered there were a couple of filters down there, apparently from the AirDog system I had put in a few years ago. One of them was a water separator which had a little knobby head on it, and that was bent, so obviously I damaged it somewhere on these rough roads coming in yesterday. Since it's diesel and not gas, I figured it was safe enough to drive, though I was losing fuel the whole way. On my way into town, I called several shops, and naturally, everyone was too busy to see me today. Then I started calling parts stores, thinking maybe I would have to order it, which meant I'd be losing fuel until I got it. I finally spoke to a guy named Dave at O'Reilly's in Cheraw, and he knew what I was talking about but needed the part number. Since I was just about in town, I headed over to him, and he was ready for me, got the part number and started searching. Turns out he didn't have it, but then I called Advanced Auto, and she had one at a store in Chesterfield, just ten miles up the road, so I drove up there and picked it up. I still hadn't found a mechanic in Cheraw, but I found on in Chesterfield a half mile up from the Advanced, called Hunters, so I drove up there, walked in, told them all I needed was a quick filter change so I wouldn't keep losing fuel, and handed them my filter. Thank goodness they had room for me! I was pleasantly surprised they had a lift big enough for my dually (rarer than you'd think, though this is rural South Carolina), and a older mechanic named Jeremiah had it replaced in no time! Really nice folks there, and would you believe, they only charged me $15!! Couldn't believe I was getting change back from my $20 bill! What a find! Well, that improved my day considerably, so I headed back to Cheraw, topped of my fuel tank again (took my over $40 to replace the fuel I lost and/or used after I filled up yesterday), did my big grocery shopping and headed back to camp, with a stop at Forest HQ to fill up my water tank. After putting all my groceries away and refilling the horses' water, I was finally ready to settle down for the evening. Another busy day! I put the blankets on the horses because the temps are supposed to get down into the high 30's tonight, with a slight chance of rain! They don't have enough winter coat to combat that yet! Anyway, time to finish my evening. Good night, sweetie! Love you!