Wednesday 28 August 2013

Lucky Breakdown

Rolling at sunrise, excited to really be on the road again.  Stayed on excellent secondary highways through,rolling grasslands.  Very relaxing.....

Went just fine until suddenly one of the new universal joints collapsed, with lots of clatter and vibration......  Luckily it was only about a mile to a country store and I was able to limp and clank very slowly to there.  On the way the vibration shook the muffler loose from the exhaust pipe and dropped the muffler on the road.....  What a change to the relaxing day.....  Wired the muffler up off the road, and then bellowed and clattered the rest of the way to the store.....  Unbolted the drive shaft, and a local farmer gave me a lift 12 miles to the nearest town.  Of course the farmer knew who was the best mechanic in town, and 'Rockin-Rob' was certainly it.  He dropped what he was doing and worked for a couple of hours on my problem.  The circlip groove was battered by the episode, but he carefully ground it deeper with a Dremel tool, and did a really good result.

I sure was lucky to breakdown where I did.  50 miles earlier in that remote country would have been a real hassle, and this was Friday before the Labor Day long weekend so everything would be closed until Tuesday....

In the meantime I explored a really good museum across the road.  Interesting local history and heaps of huge dinosaur fossils, alongside a 'Creation' display trying to explain how the fossils aren't really as old as science measures......  Outside was a really brilliant sculpture from scrap metal of a dinosaur.  Not just a rough approximation, but a very artistic and realistic work, very impressive!



Then got out on the road, hitch-hiking with the drive shaft.....  Surely that drive shaft would tell one of these farmers that I'm a man in distress, and not just a drifter.  Very soon picked up by the lady who owns the store where I had left the van.  She was quick to point out that the locals wouldn't be put off by a drifter, but would be by a 'liberal'!  She then intimated that the clothes I was wearing could indicate a liberal or even a greeny....  Kahki shirt and cargo shorts are my everyday wear in summer, just because they are so comfortable, but I hadn't considered image...  I guess the image is a bit too close to a park ranger, not a loved creature in these parts....  I resent having to select clothing for image rather than comfort, but I do realize it sets a first impression.....  So I got out my blue work shirt and bought a pair of dark cargo pants.  I know that blue jeans is really what's needed, but I need all these pockets, and my balls won't tolerate being crunched up in stiff jeans when I sit and drive all day....

Noticed Sitting Bull's grave site on the map, so went a fair bit farther to pay my respects because I do respect him greatly.  Couldn't find it when I got to the Indian village where it's located, so asked directions from a couple of young fellas. They told me, then tried to panhandle, "...can you spare a couple of dollars..."  These were young healthy men with plenty of work ability and government pensions, but no personal pride....   Sitting Bull would have been very disappointed with them......

So out of town, and found a campsite on a hill overlooking the Missouri River flats where Sitting Bull and his tribe would have hunted and played, and I tried to imagine those scenes.....

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