Summer Vacation Day 54

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I have not gotten anything done all week!  I haven't done any of the things that I seriously need to get done and I keep blaming it on the fact that my car is in the shop.

My summer is rapidly coming to an end and I'm making some big changes and I'm really going to be in some deep trouble if I don't get my act together and do the things that need to be done.

I don't even need my car to do these things and if I did need a car I've got the Dodge Journey they sent me home with.  I just keep telling myself, "I can't do anything.  I don't have a car!"  Then I sit down and watch Netflix.  LOL!

By the way, can I tell you about this Dodge Journey they sent me home in?  I was sitting at a stoplight the other day and I read the oil change sticker in the window.  If it's correct the last time the oil was changed in this car was October when the car had a little over 14,500 miles.  It's now July and there are over 38,000 miles.

I couldn't help but laugh!  This car is STILL running and mine isn't!  How is that fair?

7-17-16

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7-16-16

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Summer Vacation Day 51

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Well, there no update on my car.  Is it bad that I want to go on a totally awesome roadtrip that puts tons of miles on this loaner they given me?  You have no idea how many times I had to talk myself out of heading back to Tennessee today!

Here are some more pictures from my vacation.  These are from a hike to Fern Branch Falls on the Porters Creek Trail.  This hike starts out on a nice old road beside the creek.  You wind your way up the mountain alongside the water most of the way.  You pass remains of old homesteads and an old cemetery.  There's a branch in the road at one point and if you go to the right you'll find on old barn and house.  If you go to the left you'll find your way to the waterfall.

As much as I wanted to explore the old home site, we didn't because we were trying to beat the rain.  That side of the trail will have to wait for another visit.

We had two creek crossings on this hike and the second one was the scariest one ever!!  Seriously!  As soon as I saw it, I knew what everyone had been talking about!  There's a turn on this bridge and the handhold is farther back than I was comfortable with.  Usually, I'll stop in the middle of the footbridge to take some pictures.  That didn't happen on this one! 

When I posted on Facebook that everyone had UNDERstated just how scary this bridge is I got some pretty interesting responses.  One lady said that she had a picture of herself practically crawling over the bridge and another said that she had made the hike three different times and always turned around once she reached the bridge.  Apparently, she approached it thinking, "This is the day I cross the bridge!"  She changed her mind every time!

I made it across the bridge! 

I am telling you though, if you know anyone that hasn't had their come to Jesus moment, this bridge will give it to them!

Once you cross the bridge, the path narrows and becomes rocky with lots of tree roots.  You keep going though, because turning around means crossing the scary bridge again.  LOL!  Of course, either way, you have to cross the bridge again, so you might as well see the waterfall!

The water level was still low, but the waterfall was beautiful and we had the trail and fall all to ourselves!  It wasn't until the way back down that we even saw another person.  It was awesome! 

Summer Vacation Day 50

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I knew things were going too well!

I knew that with everything I wanted falling perfectly into place, there was going to be a wrench thrown into the works!

I knew it! 
I just knew it!

You know my brand  new car that I've only had since February/March?

Well, it's in the shop getting a brand new engine!

It all started with the low tire pressure light coming on when the tires were just fine. Then it went to the low oil pressure light and eventually the check engine light.

First thing Monday morning I called the Jeep dealership and was told that they could get me in on Tuesday, July 19th at 1:30 PM.  I might have thrown a fit.....asking what I was supposed to do in the mean time.  The girl told me that the lights were on, but as long as they weren't flashing it was still OK to drive the car.

I just sat there speechless until she finally asked, "Ma'am, are you still there?"

I responded with, "Oh my God, I bought a lemon didn't I?"

She placed me on hold for a few minutes and came back to tell me to bring the car in the next day at 10:30 AM.

Isn't it funny how that happens?

I showed up yesterday and waited at the dealership for a little over an hour before it was suggested that I take their shuttle home.  They got the low tire pressure and the check engine light to go off, but they weren't sure what was up with the oil pressure light and needed to do further diagnostic testing because it was showing a reading of 0% oil pressure.  I was very nicely assured that I shouldn't worry about a thing because everything was under warranty and I wouldn't have to spend a dime.

This did not make me feel better!

I waited for another hour and the shuttle driver still hadn't made an appearance so I stood up to walk around for a bit.  I wondered outside and was standing there just watching other people getting into their cars and driving away with no problem.  There were a couple of men sitting at a picnic table near me talking and laughing, but I didn't pay much attention to them.

My service rep saw me standing there and assured me that the shuttle van would be ready for me in just a few minutes.  They were just working on the schedule for the day to see who needed to be picked up and brought in and blah, blah, blah....

I told her that another hour had gone by and I was wondering if she had heard anything else about my car.  She told me that the test they needed to run was very intense and that the guys asked for an hour just to go over the results after it was done, so it was going to take some time and would probably be Wednesday before they could get me back into my car.

I again stated my unhappiness with a new car having this kind of problem and she again assured me that I wouldn't have to pay anything because everything is still under full warranty.

This still did not make me feel better!

As we were talking, a guy walked up carrying an oil pan.  He told the service rep I was talking to to look into the pan.  She did and said, "Shaving!"  like it was a good thing or something.  He, more realistically, said, "There aren't shavings!  Look at this!"  Then he held up a handful of small metal pieces and said, "I have no idea where these came from or why they're here.  It's like something exploded in here and I've got a 0% oil pressure reading."

It was at this time that I pointed out that it was my car he was talking about and asked what in the world was going on and how was I supposed to feel comfortable with a new car that was having this problem.

He then took up the company line and assured me that everything was under warranty and wasn't going to cost me anything.  It was just one of those one in a million things that happens and they were going to get it fixed for me and I shouldn't worry about anything.

I replied with a very bad four letter word that starts with the letter F and followed it up with the words "my life". 

The lady turned her back to me and spoke lowly in hopes that I wouldn't hear her tell the guy to please stop talking because I was already freaking out.

I said no, that I wanted him to keep talking because I was paying a lot of money for that car and it's brand new and I never had these problems when I drove a VW.

The guy said his worry was that if there were metal pieces in the oil pan then there were metal pieces everywhere.  The lady said, "Let's get you in a rental!"  I repeated the same three words from before.

The guy took my sad little oil pan filled with metal pieces and left and the lady went to get the paperwork she needed to get me in a loaner/rental car for the next couple of days.

When she came back, she asked me to follow her and she would take me over to get a loaner.  She stopped by the picnic table where the men were still sitting and told one of them that i wasn't going to need a lift home because they going to get me a car.

That's right, all this time I was sitting around waiting for the shuttle driver and he was sitting outside at the picnic table laughing it up with his buddies.

We get to the other side of the lot in time to see the guy who works for Hertz walk out of the office.  The lady made all kinds of over dramatic hand signals to get his attention.  I could tell she was silently saying, "I don't know where you're going, but please come back because this lady is pissed!"

She opened the door to his office and told me to go ahead and have a seat.  The Hertz guy walked into the building and she tried again to speak very lowly to him, but again, it didn't work!

She had a great big smile on her face and tried to make it look like she was having a normal casual conversation as she whispered to him what was going on.  I heard him tell her, "Well, we don't have any cars but I'll get her into something."

Seriously, someone needs to teach to these people how to whisper! 

The lady took off back to her side of the dealership and the Hertz guy came into his office and greeted me by asking how my day was going.

I'm sure he still regrets that question!  I'm also sure he regrets his next statement, "So, I take it you weren't planning to have your car serviced today."

He got me out of his office and into a Dodge Journey in record time.  LOL!

I woke up Wednesday morning and called the the Jeep dealership to get an update and that's when they told me that I was getting a brand new engine because of that freak one in a million thing that happened and it will probably be early next week before my car is fixed.

It doesn't matter how many times I asked exactly what that "freak one in a million thing" was I
 couldn't get a direct answer.  I just kept getting told that everything was under warranty and being taken care of and it wasn't going to cost me a thing and I didn't have anything to worry about, blah, blah, blah...

I don't feel better!

Why won't they just answer my question and tell me exactly what happened and what caused it?  What is it they don't want me to know? 

There were no problems when I took the car in for an oil change last month.  I just can't get over the feeling that this is all the result of something that they did or didn't do when the oil was changed and my tires were rotated.

However, it looks like I'll never really know because..... it's all under full warranty and isn't going to cost me a thing......

Guess who is going to start doubling up on the car payments in an effort to trade this thing in sooner than she had originally planned?

Summer Vacation Day 49

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We made the hike to Rainbow Falls before the rainy days, so the water level was low.  It was still beautiful though!

I had fun on the hike up as I asked other people we saw on the trail if they knew where the elevator was or if they would an Uber to take me the rest of the way up.

When we stopped to rest (which was more often than I want to admit!), I told everyone that passed us that I was personally sitting on every rock I found so that I could tell future hikers which ones were comfortable and OK to rest on.  I tried to convince them that it really was for the good of the park.  Mostly, they just laughed at me!

This waterfall gets it's name from the multiple rainbows that form on days when the water is full and the sun hits it just right.  I've seen photos that other hikers have taken with the rainbows and I am telling you it is BEAUTIFUL!

It was also on this trail that I met my "hiking soulmates"!  We walked up on two older ladies who were photographing one of the small cascades in the river along the trail.  They declared that they were too tired to go any further, but were going to show their husbands who had declared they would never make the whole hike, that this was the waterfall and that it was much bigger in person.  We laughed with them for a few minutes before moving on.  They must have followed through with their plan, because we didn't see them again.  LOL!

This hike is a little over 5 and a half miles round trip.  We were on our way back to the car when we came upon a couple that had stopped along the trail for a rest and snack.  They asked us how much further they had to go before reaching the waterfall.  We had to give them the heart breaking news that they still had about two miles to go.  The poor guy looked at us and said, "You mean we've only come half a mile?"

I felt his pain!
 

Summer Vacation Day 48

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The last couple of days we were in Gatlinburg there was rain.  Lots and lots of rain!  There were times when the sun came out and we were able to get out and do things, but we didn't venture too far into the woods because we didn't want to get stuck in the storms when they came through.

One morning, the weather map showed that although it was raining in Tennessee, the North Carolina side of the park still had sunshine.  So, we headed to Bryson City and The Road To Nowhere.

I posted pictures on Facebook and my friend Carla was a little confused.  She asked, "Does the road really just end?"  The answer to that question is.....YES!

Here's the story I was told.....

During World War II, The government decided to build Fontana Dam and it resulted in over 1,000 families being displaced.  Many of these people came from families that had never lived anywhere other than the North Carolina Mountains.  They received no relocation assistance and the families that refused to sell their land simply had it seized by the government.

The government did promise to build a road around the Smoky Mountain National Park that would give people access to the old cemeteries where their ancestors were buried.

By the end of 1969, 6 miles, one bridge and a tunnel were completed, but no more work was done and the remaining 26 miles of the promised road were never completed.  There are families who are still waiting for this road to be completed.

The part of the road that does exist is a beautiful drive that ends right before you get to the tunnel.  There are parking places there for the hikers and tourists.  Once you walk through the tunnel there are several different hiking trails you can take.

We got there early and had the area to ourselves for most of the day.  I walked through the tunnel and realized about halfway through that it's much longer and darker than I expected.  Turns out the tunnel is about a quarter of a mile long!

After I posted the pictures on Facebook, someone brought up the possibility of snakes being inside the tunnel and now I don't know if I can ever go through it again!  LOL!

Anyway, here are some of the photos I took that day...