Southern Tour – Day 2

We ended up eating at Chili’s last night after driving around and not being able to find anywhere else we wanted to eat. There were tons of cars parked downtown, which meant there were hundreds of people going out somewhere nice, I’m sure, but I couldn’t figure out where. So we gave up and had cheese sticks and chicken fingers at a place we could anywhere in America. The good part is that they had Shiner Bock on tap, and after an exhausting and frustrating day, all we wanted to do was sit and relax for a bit.

When we returned to the motel, Berck decided that we did indeed have a busted head gasket, if not a cracked or warped head as well. So then we had to decide what to do next. All of the tools are in our apartment in Colorado, so we could try to make it back home. On the other hand, Memphis is closer (and on our route), and Berck’s dad probably has most of the tools we would need. He also has a new house with a garage in which we can work (something we don’t have back home). So we decided to press on to Memphis. Berck will order parts on Monday, which will hopefully get in Wednesday. Also, Berck has time scheduled in an Airbus simulator at the FedEx training headquarters (not for any good reason other than his dad knows a trainer there).

We stopped in Broken Arrow for some huevos Mexicanas then got into Memphis around 5. Street Atlas failed us as our exit was blocked off, then our alternate exit didn’t exist. But we finally managed to get off of I-40 and to Aunt Robin’s house. She and Berck’s dad and grandmother and we all went out to a delicious Vietnamese restaurant.

Berck stopped every couple hundred miles to refill the radiator, so it’s a relief to be somewhere where we don’t have to worry about the car dying.