An uneventful afternoon - yay!

We picked up the car at about 12:20pm today and got on the road - and whaduhyouknow - no problems! Not only did it run smoothly, the check engine light never came on. That makes me wonder. Maybe this alternator problem all started Wednesday night when the check engine light came on. I took it to Subaru Thursday a.m., and they said, "catalytic converter." But maybe it actually was "alternator"! Who knows? Anyway, a few hours later the alternator started really misbehaving, forcing us off the road and having to be towed. The other complaint I have is that AAA told me on the phone the tow truck driver would be able to take us to a motel near the garage where he took the car, but in fact he said he couldn't take us at all because "they no longer had insurance to cover passengers." That seems to me to be unacceptable. He in essence stranded us. To his credit, he waited until we found a ride to a motel, but still.... I think if you are going to be a AAA tow truck, you'd better carry insurance for passengers, especially if AAA is promising you a ride! As it was, we got a free ride from a local "angel" who overheard our conversation and offered her help; and this morning, it cost us $30 + tip for a cab ride from the Angola Motel to the Special Tech Garage where the car was (about 15 minutes for us, but the cab driver drove 45 minutes from Buffalo to get to us - and 45 back, so that wasn't too bad). The repair was close to $500. Over $400 of that was the alternator. There was only an hour of labor. All in all, we were fortunate it wasn't any worse.

Our first stop after getting on the road today was the White Turkey Drive-In in Conneaut, OH, a Roadfood spot we visited years ago - maybe one of our very first trips. It hadn't changed at all. We did not go for the "Large Marge" - a very big turkey sandwich. Ellen got a root beer float and I settled for a small cone. It was fun to see it again, and doing a good business.

The White Turkey Drive-In

 Tonight we are in a very nice Inn in Nappanee, Indiana, which is in Amish country, as evidenced by this horse and carriage we passed on our way:

Amish couple in a carriage

The Countryside Inn where we are staying is just a few $ more than the Angola Motel but way nicer and includes a nice breakfast which the Angola Motel did not (we walked to a nearby market and made do with what we could find on the shelf this morning).

We'll be at Maggie and Jerry's by midday Saturday. That will be very nice !!