Diagnosing Blackie and Change in Plans
Note: this is not a "live" blog -- we have been back from our adventure.
On Sunday, we get up and I find a Harley dealership in Franklin, Tennessee, that opens at 11 am, including the service department. We decide to load up and head over there and wait and see what happens. Blackie doesn’t sound good, but we make it the 8 miles to Moonshine Harley Davidson (https://www.moonshineharley.com/ ) and sit at the picnic tables until they open. They actually came and got us before 11 am. They’re going to check and let us know, but only have one service tech on Sunday.
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| Moonshine Harley Davidson |
And then the news: cam thingy-s. DON’T RIDE anymore. But,
they don’t charge us an hour of labor to tell us this. We have options, sort
of. But, we’re finding out that Monday is Columbus Day. And today is Sunday and
lots of options seem closed.
Option: get a hotel and stay in Franklin and get Blackie
fixed. Cons: they couldn’t even order parts until Tuesday. And, they could need
weeks to get to Blackie. Not an option.
Option: ship truck/trailer keys to someone. Have someone get
to Alexandria, Louisiana and get the truck and trailer to Franklin. And then
head home. But, cons: when can the keys get somewhere? What if the keys get
lost in FedEx? When could someone get to us? And then out how ever many days at
a hotel (while paying for our Vrbo in Muscle Shoals). There are a number of
hotel options right next to Moonshine.
Option: rent a one-way truck and trailer back to Alexandria,
Louisiana, unload and head home. Cons: we cannot find a one-way truck and
trailer – we found a one-way box truck, but no way to secure Blackie.
Option: cross our fingers and ride to Muscle Shoals and try
and figure it out from there. Cons: don’t know if Blackie will make it 110
miles. Don’t know if we’d be able to figure it out from there (and Muscle
Shoals is a small town and we could get stuck there). This doesn’t seem like a
wise option.
Option: rent a car and drive to Alexandria, Louisiana, and
get the truck and trailer and come back to Franklin. Con: THERE ARE NO RENTAL
CARS AVAILABLE AND NO IDEA ON WHEN THERE WILL BE ONE AVAILABLE. Love supply
chain issues post-Covid.
Option: this one comes to us when we went over to the Uhaul
down the street (that opened at noon on Sunday!) Rent a Uhaul truck and drive
it to Alexandria, Louisiana, and then back to Franklin, get Blackie and head
home. We discover that it’s near impossible to rent one-way Uhauls. We did meet
a nice Golden Retriever, Mr. Lincoln, when we were there. And the Uhaul people
were nice.
This is what we go with and I rent a Uhaul truck (actually
not bad since it had GPS and only 5000 miles on it). And then head to Muscle
Shoals to meet up with Al and Eileen and stay at the Music House.
Sunday late afternoon, we get to the Music House. Al and
Eileen are at the house, outside. Alice, the resident cat, comes to greet us. The
house is right on the Tennessee River and looks like the pictures! We find out that our host, Clay Mize, is an
author (and a cousin of Ty Cobb). We did think that the house would have more
music stuff – Bob Dylan and a number of others have stayed in this house – but
who knows who slept in the rooms we are staying in? That would be cool to know.
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| View from the Music House |
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| The Music House |
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| Champy's Chicken |
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| Alice |
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| Alice |
We get a drink and unload. And then head to Champy’s Chicken
(https://champyschicken.com/ ) for
dinner. OK, Champy’s is technically a chain since it has multiple locations.
But it’s still pretty local with only a few locations. And Todd told me it’s
the best. It was damn good! And the mashed potatoes and gravy were pretty
rockin’ as well. And we had a great waitress.
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