DAY 1 of 5

"The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step."

We woke up in the dark of dawn to begin our trip of 1000 miles. Actually it's a 1200 mile journey. Our destination; Branson, Missouri. My husband Jim and I were going to the third annual Branson Tails 'n' Scales Bowbash .

We didn't just take a single step.... we took several. In fact all we needed to do was to hook the truck up to the boat. Then we discovered an important part of the saying that is usually left out.

"The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step... but you won't get far if the truck won't start." Hahahahahaa!!!



This was a thankfully unusual occurance for my truck. I've run that puppy out of gas before but otherwise it has been trouble-free. But there it sat. No turning over, no starter click, just some relay clicking. Batteries were switched around (the truck has two in it) A battery charger was attached... nothing. Tried different keys. I did everything short of whacking on the starter.

Sigh... I called the dealership. They sent a tow truck.


Hours went by. The dealership told me I needed a new battery. Okie-dokie, I noticed one of them was leaking. They called back. It's not the battery. Okie-dokie.
They called again. It was the starter. The friendly service guy told me......... to carry a hammer and occasionally whack the starter when the truck won't start. Or, he told me, I could pay $438.00 to replace the starter. []

How much to have the Chevy dealership tell you to whack your $30K vehicle with a hammer?? $226.00




Okay, really it's 40.00 for the diagnosis. $95.00 for a battery and $82.00 to tow it 4 miles. (4 miles!!) They did wash the truck for free.


Eventually, I got my truck back... but it was too late to leave, I'll have to wait 'til tomorrow.

Look how sad my puppy is... She wants to leave.