Tuesday afternoon: the Winnie is ready to go, the Minnie with bikes are ready to be attached. We have plans for five nights in Cook Forest, PA. Biking, hiking, kayaking down a river, even maybe some golf. All this after only three hours of travel.
Then our first (and major) ‘surprise’ comes 70 miles into the trip. The tire pressure monitoring system is telling me that I have very low tire pressure in the Minnie’s front left tire. We were on I-76 and very close to an exit with a truck stop, so I pull off. Somehow, in pulling off, I see that there is no front left tire on the Mini Cooper. Or wheel. Once we stopped I saw that the all the lug bolts had disappeared from that hub. And I had tightened them that morning. (I had changed the brake pads over the weekend and the lug bolts must not have been on tight enough…)
We called AAA and the tow truck they were going to send wouldn’t arrive until 4:45, 75 minutes later. I found a nearby auto shop that said they could fix the car, but we had to be there by 5. So I found another tow truck (A2B towing) that was able to get to us by 4:15. He recommended taking the Minnie to a BMW service shop, and that recommendation was accepted. The tow truck driver slipped a wooden shoe under the wheel (so that what was left of the wheel wouldn’t drag as the car was pulled onto the flatbed.) And then we followed him to Preston BMW in Boardman, OH.
Second surprise: we had to take the Minnie onto the turnpike, and went through a narrow toll booth. I was watching the driver’s side, but it was the passenger’s side mirror that hit the toll booth. Loudly! (Replacement mirrors were waiting for us at home.)
We got the Minnie to Preston BMW, it was after five when we arrived but there were enough people there to make sure they could take care of the car the next day. They optimistically said the car would be ready by Friday. (On Friday they said it will be ready on Tuesday, when the wheel and tire arrive.)
Vicki found an RV campground that was only 20 minutes away: Western Reserve RV Park. And they had space for us for five nights. V: We also had 2 recommendations from people at the BMW shop that this was a good RV park.
We arrived, got our welcome package from the mailbox since we arrived after the office closed, and then found that our assigned space was occupied. Thankfully the general manager (another Steve) was still around and gave us different, unoccupied spot.
This spot overlooked the swimming lake! And it is also next to the playground. But the park is quiet, it appears that the long-term residents (that would be most of the camp) are not here during the week. Especially the week that school starts.
Fortunately, we brought enough food for this trip and did not need any groceries. Dinners have been burgers, brats, salmon patties, corn on the cob, and assorted vegetables. And a fresh package of coffee (from Connor’s coffee of the month gift).
The swimming lake was cool (with warm and cool water spots). The floor of the lake was asphalt, but there were still enough rocks/pebbles on the floor to make water shoes a good decision.
And Steve braved the rural road for a couple of bike rides, including a four mile road trip to Mill Creek Metropark. The Metropark bikeway was pleasant, flat and smooth. But there were a lot of road crossings!
We also played bingo on Friday, Vicki won 2.5 of the 10 games. Her winnings paid for our bingo game. And some.
The only disappointing note about the campground were the noisy youngsters (five year olds?) at the playground at 11:30 pm (well after quiet hours started). There was an adult with the children, who gathered them up and took them away after Vicki opened the RV door to say something.
Saturday evening was a ‘Paint and Sip’. Steve has not painted anything artistic since his kids were doing water colors, and his painting was adequate. Vicki wasn’t happy with her painting, the table we were on kept getting bumped while she was trying to do delicate strokes. The ‘Paint and Sip’ evening was more fun (sociable) than bingo. In bingo, no one has time to talk.
V: We had a pretty relaxing time at this place, i.e., we were NOT touring or running wild every single day. This was not a planned glamping stop, but I think it was something we needed after the breakneck pace we’ve been keeping this year.
We returned home on Sunday afternoon, taking a scenic route to minimize merging with traffic on our ‘blind’ (right) side. We got home without incident and celebrated by going to Creekside restaurant in Brecksville.
August 27: Post trip update
On Wednesday, Preston BMW told us the car was ready. Vicki and I got up early and drove the 1.5 hours to Boardman to pick up the Mini Cooper. To celebrate getting the car back, we stopped at a local breakfast and lunch restaurant: Valley Kitchen. This is a small (two locations) restaurant with very tasty food. Steve had the peach cobbler pancakes (with eggs and sausage.) There was too much food for him! And Vicki had the spinach eggs Benedict with cheesy grits. V: I was very pleased with both the grits and the Benedict. Too much food for me, too.
Preston had replaced the wheel but did not get the ‘BRAKE’ warning light reset. I think that the sensor isn’t properly plugged in but I am not going to try fixing it until I have a proper torque wrench. The car was back to its normal level of noise, Vicki was concerned about the Mini’s road noise after I had changed the brake pads. This noise was due to inadequate torquing of the wheels.
Also, the passenger mirror has been repaired so the RV is road ready again! V: Next trip is probably in October and we will have some special guests if all goes to plan. I know, we make our plans in pencil and God laughs at us. But you know what, HE always brings us through safely according to HIS plan and we KNOW we are blessed!!! I shudder to think what could have happened if we were driving in the MINI when that wheel fell off the car. Thank God we were just towing it.
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