Road Trip to Mexico - Part 1

—Blogpost written by Bob 

Thursday, October 7

The weather was cool and calm in the morning as I watched our cats during their supervised outside time while Maggie was taking a shower.  I had already taken my shower.  It was shortly after 8 AM and the boatyard had already launched one boat, probably several more were awaiting launching or haulout.

Looking out Tenthouse Creek on the
morning we leave for Mexico.

Our two cats during their last
"outside time" in Maryland.

A local crew (6 sailors) was assembling on a nearby 45-foot steel schooner, Sally B, to participate in the Great Schooner Race today.  (We donated some beer to the cause since we had no place to put it and it would have frozen over the winter.)  The Great Schooner race starts at the Bay Bridge and ends at Thimble Shoal Lighthouse near Norfolk.  (Sailors on schooners are generally old salts and I mean that in a good way.)

We’ve already loaded several items into the car this morning and it appeared that it will be a tight fit (if we can even fit in everything we planned).  After we had the car fully loaded, including our cats, I came back to the boat for some final preparations (closing the valves on both propane tanks, removing panels in the companionway for the yard’s access to the engine, tightening down the hatches, getting out a spare gear shift cable for replacement by the yard, etc).

By 9:30 AM we were off, driving toward Annapolis.  We stopped at Italian Market for two subs to take with us and we picked up some ice for our cooler.  Our travel plan for the day, takes us on Route 50 West to Washington DC, the I-66 to catch I-81 South to Salem VA.

Both cats did extremely well on the trip.  Kali mostly kept to the front seat, usually sleeping on one of our laps while Lola slept in the back seat area, moving around to different spots.  The calming collar did wonders!  We arrived at our hotel in Salem VA shortly before 4 PM.  We ordered pizza delivery and had a peaceful evening in our hotel room.

I made hotel reservations for the remainder of our trip.  I had more trouble communicating with someone with a Tennessee accent than I did with someone in Mexico.

Friday, October 8

Sleeping in a hotel was so luxurious!  Waking up in and showering right away was even more luxurious!  It was difficult keeping my attention away from the TV since we were not able to get any TV reception on Kent Island since we arrived there in late March.

This La Quinta hotel was brand new and the
lighting in the wash area was behind
the mirror—very classy!

Our cats seemed to have completely saturated their little brains with all the details of our hotel room.  They (particularly Lola) inspected every square inch of the surfaces of our room in Salem VA.  Of course, they didn’t want to leave in the morning.  We left our hotel in Salem VA at 7 AM and we stopped for gas before getting back on Interstate 81.   Interstate 81 through southwestern Virginia is very hilly, putting it mildly.   The hills continued as we switched to Interstate 40 running across Tennessee from East to West.  We were stuck in a traffic jam near the end of our day due to the cargo falling off a flat bed truck—it cost us an hour delay!

We arrived at our hotel in Jackson TN about 5:30 central time— we gained an hour but lost more than that in traffic jams today.   Our hotel (also a La Quinta) was not that great— it was old and badly in need of updating.  We ordered take out and delivery by a nearby Sakura restaurant—it was very tasty!

Our cats again inspected every square inch of our new hotel room.  Sooner or later, they will get accustomed to this nomadic existence (you would think anyway).  Kali played relentlessly, this evening with an ice cube on the carpeted floor.

Saturday, October 9

Our Saturday travel day started out (6:15 AM central time) with a “yellow check engine light.”  I stopped at a gas station next to the hotel to fill up with gas and check the oil level (which was fine).  What a start to our day!   

This situation prompted an unscheduled visit to the nearby Toyota dealer in Jackson TN.  Fortunately, they were open on Saturday and could accommodate us.  In addition to the check engine light, there was a red flashing light that we couldn’t decipher using our car’s owners manual.  However, we felt that our car was in good hands at the dealer.  We waited patiently with our cats in their carriers in the dealer’s service waiting area for their diagnosis.

The Toyota service manager area in Jackson TN
as viewed from the waiting area.

Within an hour they diagnosed the problem as a faulty vacuum valve assembly in our pollution control system.  The faulty valve caused the engine to alternatively run lean and run rich—this was the problem I was trying to have addressed before leaving Maryland but the Annapolis dealer couldn’t find the problem.  The replacement valve had to be ordered and it’s earliest arrival was Tuesday morning.  So, we decided to drive to Memphis (60 miles away from Jackson) and take a little break from driving.  (We intend to drive back to Jackson early on Tuesday morning and have the valve replaced.  We tried other nearby dealers to see if they had the part in stock but no one did.  And the dealership in Memphis couldn’t fit us in for the replacement until Thursday.)  So, we decided to spend a long weekend in Memphis.

We were able to check into our (La Quinta) Memphis hotel room early (1 PM instead of the normal 3 PM check in time) and I was able to delay all our near-future reservations which I had just completed yesterday.

In addition, I was able to watch the entire Penn State-Iowa game on TV—it was a showdown between #3 nationally (Iowa) and #4 nationally (Penn State).  Iowa was favored by 1-1/2 points.

A Getty Image from today's football game
between Penn State and Iowa.

Penn State led almost the entire game but our first string quarterback was knocked out of the game and we ultimately lost to Iowa by a score of 23 to 20.  It was a sad ending for me...

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