Wheels

We all depend on our wheels, from the day we come home from the hospital on day 2 or 3 of our lives, until we get wheeled in our casket into the cemetery. Wheels. We gotta have wheels.

Well, we think we need them, anyway. We have our 2004 Suzuki XL-7, shown here one day in February.

We have our golf cart, a 1997 Club Car, to get around the park.

Of course, we have Rosie, our 2001 Itasca Suncruiser motorhome. She has taken us into 31 states, 2 Canadian provinces, and Mexico. She's scheduled for a six month trip starting next month.

Imagine our consternation when recently the golf cart stopped running. It was done, and would go no more. I have to admit I'm not much for regular maintenance if I have to do it myself. I tried to do a little work on it (I topped up the batteries with distilled water!) but that didn't help. A neighbor came down, fussed a little bit with it, found a corroded battery cable, so I bought a new battery cable. No good. Friend says, "Gotta be the computer," and recommended a fellow down the road who regularly works on golf carts. Fellow down the road took the golf cart down the road, says he can make it run again, but can't guarantee for how long.

So we are without a golf cart for a while.

The brakes on the Suzuki have been screaming for a while, and we want to get ready for our summer trip. Took the car to Mescal Auto for a day's fixing on Thursday. Oh oh, says the shop owner, we've gotta keep the car overnight because the main frammitz is badly worn, and we have to install a new frammitz. Keep in mind this is an older model Suzuki, and Suzuki has fled the country. Suzuki frammitzes aren't on the shelf at the local auto parts stores. Next day, Friday, the shop guy calls again. The leak on the rear brakes is caused by a faulty wheel bearing, and he'll have to keep the car all day.   Later in the day, he calls again: Bad news, the faulty wheel bearing has been faulty for a long time and has worn down the axle, to the point that a new wheel bearing will do no good; he's gotta replace the axle.

Keep in mind this is an older model Suzuki, and Suzuki has fled the country. Suzuki axles aren't on the shelf at the local auto parts stores. In fact, nobody's axles are lying around on store shelves, because axles never need to be replaced. But ours does. And it's an older model Suzuki. Chances are slim.

He calls later. He's found an axle, but it's in a Florida warehouse. He'll have to keep the car at least into midweek!

So now we are without a car and without a golf cart, and you don't go grocery shopping in a big old motorhome. We tell our story to our friends and fellow citizens here in the SKP Park. At 4:30 Friday afternoon, a friend pulls up in his pickup truck and hands me his keys. He won't be going anywhere until Thursday, so we can use his truck!

Wow, what a friend!

Fifteen minutes later, another friend pulls up and leaves us a golf cart that yet another neighbor seldom uses. We can use it as long as we need it.

What a friend!

So now we have a pickup truck and a golf cart to use.

In the meantime, another friend is moving out of the park soon, and has offered to sell us her golf cart, which is one year older than ours but in much better shape (new batteries, better tires, and a cover for bad weather), for a very reasonable price. So we made the deal.

And it comes with a trailer!

And the golf cart guy down the road delivers our golf cart Saturday morning, all fixed -- for now. So, we have a friend's pickup truck and three golf carts, and an offer of a different pickup if we have to give up the one before our Suzuki is back on the road!

We plan to sell our old green golf cart, we're looking for a quality used car that is flat towable behind the motorhome, and we'll eventually give back the pickup truck and the other golf cart. Then we'll be back to one car, one golf cart (with trailer) and Rosie, our trustworthy motorhome.

We're going to take the motorhome in for basic service and safety check next week. Pray for us! We want to keep moving in ... Our Life on Wheels.