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| moments after we break down State road 41 Pennyrile Parkway |
Pulling out Monday Memorial Day, cutting through Kentucky on our way to TN, we glided down the scenic Bluegrass Parkway. As we left the Kentucky Horse Park and Campground the weather was in our favor with clear skies and wind at our backs. With the rig packed and a full tank of gas we drove along a beautiful landscape traversing Kentucky at a 45 degree angle to cross the KY. TN. border. Then we would drop south to the TN. MS. border around Savannah.
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| Waiting for AAA in the rain |
Well, anyway that was our plan. 11 miles outside of Hopkinsville, KY. driving south, 15 miles from the TN. border in the hot rain, our rig just stopped. I steered it to the shoulder of state road 41(under construction) Pennyrile Parkway!!! A gap in the guard rail enabled me to roll the rig with its last bit of uphill momentum to a some-what safe spot. No Power, "Dang Alternator!!" All of the electricity was drained out of our new main Toyota battery (starting battery). However, we had two things going for us this time- it was late afternoon, daylight, and Trixie was on the phone to AAA, 35 minutes away. YES!!. I did notice some voltage fluctuation about 25 miles back and asked Trixie to google Hopkinsville for a Toyota dealer. Our luck Hopkinsville Toyota was on the main road and open on Memorial Day Weekend. Service dept was closed but sales was open. We made tentative arrangements should we need their assistance, glad we did!! As we made contact with AAA I broke out our emergency road flashers and attached them (magnets) to the side of our rig. Flashing LEDs warning on coming traffic to steer clear. Trixie was back on the horn with Toyota of Hopkinsville making arrangements to park our rig at there service dept for diagnostics first thing in the am on Tuesday.
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| on the shoulder |
Our AAA Tow truck guy was a great sight to see. George was very friendly, courteous and knew his job. He even offered to find an alternator and a repair shop to get us back on the road that day. With any luck the alternator needed to be ordered arriving the next day, fingers crossed! We thanked George for his kindness and he was glad to take us to
Hopkinsville Toyota just the same. Setting our rig on solid ground, we thanked George again. We tipped him for his professional and caring service, and he was thankfully surprised. It was a bargain!!
Safely at Toyota we now had to deal with filling out paper work for the morning service dept and get a hotel room. We had 3 hotels to choose from just looking out the dealership window. We went with La Quinta for about $100 bucks a night heated pool (Trixie's fav), laundry, a bed, free breakfast what the hell! We even got a ride from Jerry a friendly Toyota salesman to the hotel. After we unloaded our rig of personals and loaded them into a new, Tundra he whisked us away with seat belt warning signs flashing 1 block to our hotel! He gave us recommendations about restaurants (with-in walking distance) Mexican and Margaritas seemed fitting- Tacos Carnitas rice and beans, chips and chunky Guacamole worked! Exhausted we made our way back to the hotel room for a shower and some sleep.
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| two lane construction state road 41 |
Service dept opened at 7am, coffee and breaky by 8:00am. By 8:30am I was over there using some persuasion. A handful of kindling and matches to light that fire under their butts I needed to get the ball rolling. I sat there waiting so the service guy could not ignore me. BTW every establishment inside was blasting the AC, I mean fricken cold, low 60's!! After about 15min they jumped the rig and brought it into the shop, 5min later I was told the alternator was bad (I knew that from the start), also the battery was compromised. Good thing that it was a new Toyota battery, full free replacement, YES!. The bad news was they could not get an alternator replacement until tomorrow, WHAT!! I was hoping we would get back on the road that day but no luck. We stayed another night-another $100 bucks, Trixie got her swim in, free breaky, and a dry comfy bed. Since we arrived to
Hopkinsville the rain poured most all night and day. TN was getting hammered from the remnants of Tropical Storm Alberto, Alfonso or who ever from the gulf coast.
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| Ice cream break Land Between the Lakes Rec. Area |
The next day, up early, the service dept called me with good news- parts arrived we should be on the road by 10am, Sweet!! Morning swim for Trixie before breaky, after coffee and breaky we got our "sheik" together, showered, paid the repair bill $565. (could have been worse) bright-side its under warranty. Checked our maps, filled up and we headed out to
TN. We took a wonderful drive west through the
Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, slid down through
Murry KY. and 3 miles later into
TN.
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| Pickwick Dam Campground twilight |
641 south took us almost straight down through
TN. places like
Paris, Camden, Decatureville. Making our way around
Savannah, TN, south, we went into
Pickwick Dam Trailwater Campground. A few miles from the Mississippi border, at the mouth of the Pickwick Dam. We could view the Locks as the river tugs, pushing heavy lading barges, chugging up and down the river, fighting the swift currents in a fury of water being released for Hydroelectricity. We stayed 2 nights, our mission was to catch up with Sam C. (www.transamtrail.com) the creator of the Roll Map Charts for the
TAT, Trans America Trail, a 4365 mile expedition across the USA on mostly dirt roads. This is our major focus for our journey and the reason for our keenly accessorized rig.
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| Cool joint just up from Pickwick Campground |
Sam was incredibly helpful and we had a wonderful morning in his company. We had an early lunch at Sam's favorite local spot -The Outpost. He even took us on the
TAT for about 10 miles to show us how to use the maps properly and where to start outside of
Counce where he lives. A true gentleman Sam gave us new confidence as we laughed at our first mistakes using his maps.
Pulling up stakes we headed for
Mississippi to start our journey on the
TAT.
See Y'all on the road or should I say Off-Road!!
🚙........
