Tales & Trails of a Traveling Wiseguy

Blue Ridge Trip '24 #12
Afton, VA - Tue, 3 Sep 2024. 4:15pm

I've mentioned the Skyline Drive in my past few blogs. I should describe what it actually is, for those who don't know. The Skyline Drive is a mountaintop road that traces 105 miles through the length of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. In the north the road starts in Front Royal, VA at highway US-340 a few miles from the junction of I-66 and I-81. In the south it ends in the tiny town of Afton, VA at highway US-250 near the junction with I-64. It traces along the ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains, generally above 3,000' elevation though it dips lower at a few passes it crosses.

Today we drove the Skyline Drive from its southern end, above the cities of Waynesboro and Charlottesville, about 25 miles north to the trailhead for Doyles River Falls.



The Skyline Drive isn't just a route to get from Point A to Point B, though it does serve that purpose, too. Along its length are some 75 scenic overlooks where motorists can stop to enjoy the vistas. We didn't do much of that on our trip today, as we have a fairly full itinerary with a big hike earlier today and a long drive ahead of us to our next stop in North Carolina tonight. But just driving the road, which itself is scenic with its old-timey construction from the 1930s and the Civilian Conservation Corps, and stopping at lots of the scenic pullouts, can be a vacation in and of itself. I know because that's the first vacation I ever remember having!

I think I was about 8 years old at the time, though I could have been 7 or 9. It was the first actual vacation I remember my parents taking with my younger sister and me. Actual, meaning we didn't just go visit my grandparents' house for a week or a weekend. We stayed at a hotels. Just visiting a hotel was a new experience, and splashing around in the Howard Johnson's kid-friendly swimming pool was practically a vacation unto itself, but on that trip we also drove a good bit of the Skyline Drive out and back. I'd never seen mountains before. Mountains were amazing. That first vacation kindled my interest in the great outdoors, and mountains in particular, something that's never left me in over 40 years since.

My family returned to the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Skyline Drive a few more times during my childhood. The memories are almost all positive. One, though, is bittersweet. I was reminded of that one today, too.

A Bittersweet Stop on Memory Lane

At the southern end of the Skyline Drive, near Interstate 64, is a hotel on a hilltop. Once upon a time it was a Howard Johnson's hotel. We stayed at a lot of HoJo's hotels (as they were casually known) back in the day. They were family friendly, had a decent standard of quality, and always had a HoJo's restaurant attached, which was also very family friendly.

Today the hotel stands empty and abandoned. I'm not sure what happened here, as it seems like a good place for a hotel. The HoJo's brand did run into difficulties years ago. Part of my childhood experience with them was seeing their quality start to slide downhill. Their once ubiquitous restaurants, with the orange and teal roofs, started to close down.



What's bittersweet is not just that the HoJo's chain deteriorated and closed, or that this particular HoJo hotel and restaurant are long abandoned and overgrown with weeds. It's also that my memories of staying here are mixed.

We stayed here at part of a short vacation my parents took us on at the last minute. Vacations of any kind were rare enough in my family growing up. This one was also spontaneous. Like, my parents decided on a Friday, "Let's take the kids and go to the mountains this weekend." My parents were never spontaneous.

Car Trouble (Almost 40 Years Ago)

Things were going well on the trip. We checked in to the hotel on top of the hill then drove back down for a meal at the HoJo's restaurant (the one now overgrown) below. But as we piled back into the car after lunch to drive up the hill, the car couldn't make it. It lost power on the hill, and my dad carefully reversed it back to the parking lot.

It was a Saturday afternoon, and in this small town there was no place to get a car fixed until Monday. Actually there was no place to get this car fixed anytime in this small town. The closest shop was down the mountain in Waynesboro. And they weren't open until Monday. So we had a longer-than-planned stay at this mountaintop hotel.

As a kid, the stay was great. Swimming in the pool was fun, having an extra day was fun. Eating dinner at the steakhouse in the hotel was fun— we didn't eat every meal at HoJo's restaurant— especially laughing to myself about why the restaurant found it necessary to post signs on every wall inside telling patrons, "DO NOT ORDER STEAK 'WELL DONE'". Like, that's their usual clientele: braying jackasses who think bellowing, "And make it WELL DONE!!" when ordering a steak shows what sophisticated customers they are. Stay classy, small town America.

As a kid, it was good times. But I wasn't just a kid. I was a teen. I was mature enough to think about situations from other people's perspective. From my parents' perspective this had to be worrisome. Were the kids going to be okay here? How long would it take to get the car fixed? Would my dad miss more than one unexpected day of work? And how much would this all cost? Not just the car repairs, but also the extra hotel night and all the dining out. Money was tight for my parents. That's why our vacations were few and simple compared to many of my schoolmates' families, and why spontaneity wasn't really a thing for us.

The good thing with this star-crossed trip is that the car got fixed quickly on Monday morning. The cost wasn't huge though it was certainly a lot for my parents' already strained budget. And we kids had a good time hanging out at the hotel's pool for an extra day.

Monday was a day without a car. Well, so were Saturday and Sunday and part of Friday. I didn't notice us temporarily being a one-car family over the weekend since we did mostly take it easy. On Monday, though, it hit me when I made (solo) plans to go out for lunch, walked down the stairs, and realized... there's no car in the garage!

The car was in a garage, just not ours. It was at the shop... where it had been for 10 days while the insurance company dragged its corporate feet. Actually, counting the weekend and Monday it was up to 13 days.

Solo lunch wasn't hard. I simply changed my plans to walk out to a restaurant 0.6 miles away. And while I was eating I got good news: my car was ready to pick up. (some_other_dave  gave me a ride later in the day to get it.) While that was good news it also pissed me off again because it put back into sharp relief how much foot-dragging the insurance company had done. They caused my car to sit, unusable, for nearly two weeks. Once they gave the green light to go forward the shop fixed it in half a day.

Money-wise, at least insurance agreed to pay for the repairs, less a $500 deductible. The damage, which was caused by a road hazard, is officially recorded as "Driver hit stationary object," though. That's gonna jack my rates for the next few years. 😡

While our car is in the shop for maybe a week or longer due to insurance foot-dragging we've got a loaner car. It's an Audi Q5 that my preferred local BMW specialist was kind enough to offer us at no added charge. (I'll note that the dealership with its much higher rates did not offer a loaner.)



The loaner is an older car, a 2011 model with nearly 200,000 miles on the odometer. And unlike the subtle brown shown in the stock picture above, the loaner is covered in a garish half-purple, half-white wrap. Those are the brand colors of the area chain that bought the shop. But hey, free wheels are free wheels. And so far this week I've only been teased once by passers-by about the garish colors.

The loaner is equipped with Audi's optional 3.2L V6 engine, Quattro all-wheel drive, and the S-Line trim. Together those represent a fairly high standard for a 2011 SUV. The vehicle doesn't feel terribly powerful, though. The engine is rated at 270 hp and 243 lb-ft of torque. Acceleration is sluggish off the line but picks up at mid-range if I dig my foot deep into the throttle.



In terms of creature comforts, the Q5 is comfortable. Like I said, it's a higher end vehicle from 2011 so it doesn't feel Spartan today. A few things are quaint, though. The big blank space around the CD slot in the center stack is a reminder that this generation of vehicle was designed to include a 6-disc CD changer. The changer was dropped for the 2011 model year. And the digital display atop the center stack is both small and feature-poor by modern standards. In the photo above it's just showing radio stations. And not even radio stations that actually exist. It's merely listing all the tunable frequencies.



Another bit of quaintness is the push-key starter. The key fob has buttons to lock/unlock the doors and open the rear hatch. In a luxury car today— and indeed even in the higher trims of ordinary cars— you'd expect keyless ignition. I.e., the key is in your pocket or purse, and you push a button on the dashboard to start. Here the key fob goes in the slot... and you have to push it for ignition. That was kind of weird at first but not so bad after doing it a few times to get used to it. Still, I prefer the proximity door locks and ignition of our current car, a 2018 model, and even our previous BMW, a 2008 model.

On the whole, though, I'm pressed with how well this 12 year old Audi with nearly 200,000 miles has held together. Audis don't exactly have a reputation for longevity. Of course, this car's owned by a garage that specializes in German cars, so I imagine that's helped keep it in solid shape. Still, I haven't had a BMW last that long. Hawkgirl rode off into the sunset at 150k after engine repairs got too expensive.

After the BMW dealership rooked us on a ridiculous price for basic service we definitely weren't going to trust them for the more expensive repairs our car needs. I took it to a trusted local independent BMW specialist on Tuesday.

The situation is that the AC hasn't been working recently. We first noticed that when those 113 days of March weather suddenly turned to July 10. The dealership traced the AC problem to a damaged radiator which caused the coolant pump to fail. That was their diagnosis. They said they found a pebble lodged in the radiator, and removed it. They were emphatic that it was a pebble. They repeated that word several times. Well, here's what the trustworthy independent shop found:



A stick. There is a stick jammed up in the radiator. The dealership either didn't see that mother fucking 6 inch stick hanging out of the car... or maybe they stuck it in there as payback for me using a 4-letter word with them. (Remember, that word was rook.)

The independent shop also thinks that the coolant pump isn't actually busted but simply got shut down by the car's computers because of abnormally low pressure. The radiator definitely needs replacing. "Sticks and stones may break my bones... and my damn radiator, too."

But seriously, how do you not see a fucking stick hanging six inches down beneath the engine?

Yesterday Hawk took our BMW convertible to one of the area dealerships for service. It needed its 40,000 mile service interval (intervals are 10k miles), plus there were a few things we asked them to check/fix: AC not cooling, brakes squealing very slightly, and a loose sun visor. The latter 3, especially the last one, we hoped would be covered under the certified pre-owned (CPO) warranty.

Our first mistake was Hawk agreeing to a ridiculous high estimate for the basic service. They put a figure of $1,200 in front of her and she agreed. A basic service should be 1/3 to 1/4 of that. We're basically talking a glorified oil change here. She might have thought it included some other repairs.

I found out about it late in the day when Hawk was busy and I needed to take point on things. Bad news: the bill for the basic service came to over $1,300. That work was done so there was no way I could tell them they were nuts and take the car elsewhere. Worse news: they wouldn't fix anything else under warranty. Not even the sun visor that's coming loose. Come on, that's the type of stuff warranties are supposed to cover. Oh, and even worse news: They wanted over $500 to fix the loose sun visor. Like, all it's missing is a plastic peg that broke. FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS??

"Dealership, stealership," a lot of people say. I never considered them quite that bad. I knew we'd pay a bit more for basic service there— like 25% to 50% more. I did not expect it to be 200% to 300% more.

Update: Even more worse news: The problem with the AC wasn't just the coolant needing a refresh— which could have been up to $500, depending on which chemical it uses. No, the dealership's techs found a busted radiator and busted coolant pump. Preliminary estimate to fix: $4,500. 😨🤬🤯

Yesterday afternoon I replaced two tires on our convertible. They'd burst when Hawk hit a bad pothole while driving on I-880 Monday. The tires are run-flats so she got to work and back home okay, but by Monday night the front tire especially looked low enough that we agreed not to drive the car further. That meant I got to stay home for lunch for a few days. It also meant when our replacement tires were ready on Friday I called AAA for a tow.



The local tow service AAA contracts out to in this area is awesome. The drivers are always courteous and skilled, and they arrive fast. I didn't care so much about waiting 10 minutes vs. 45 on Friday evening because I was home, but that difference is huge when you're sitting in a parking lot or on the side of a road.

Well, getting two tires replaced was relatively drama free... other than all the time it took. And it definitely wasn't cost free. Two tires with all the associated fees and taxes set us back over $650.

The car breakdown we suffered last night turned out to be a simple repair. Barely 5 minutes after I left the shop the owner called me back to say the problem was solved. I missed his call because I was still walking home (it's a 6-7 minute walk) and didn't notice the phone ringing in my pocket. 🤣

The problem was even simpler than the starter motor. It was a bad battery. That was weird because the battery still held charge, could power the accessories, and could turn the starter motor. But the mechanic replaced the battery, and everything worked normally.

Now if only I could find someone that skilled and quick to fix our broken Internet connection— which has been busted for 72 hours and counting, and won't be fixed for at least another 8 hours. 😡

It's been good news/bad news on the car front the past few days.

Bad news: Our Xterra failed a smog test on Tuesday. Repairs would cost over $1,200 and could go higher.

Good news: The car was fixed mid-day Thursday, and the bill came to "only" just under $1,200.

Bad news: The car failed the smog test again on Friday. Twice.

The reason for the failure was quick. The technician hooked up a scanner to the car's computer via the OBD-II port and it immediately reported that the oxygen sensor was not registering.

"What? I just got it fixed!" I exclaimed.

"You just need to drive it around a bit longer first," the tech explained. "Come back later today."

So I did, and that's when it failed a second time. Second time Friday, that is. Third failure overall. The oxygen sensor still wasn't reporting.

"Wait. I'll print you instructions," the tech offered. And he came back with a detailed list of driving instructions to make all the sensors register. It reads like one of those childhood games of patting your head while rubbing your stomach. "Accelerate to 53-60 mph (56mph is best), then hold the exact speed for at least 3 minutes, if you move the accelerator start over, then come to a stop and accelerate to 30 at least 2 times in 10 seconds, then...."

We drove the car today and I tried to follow some of those instructions. Do you know how hard it is to drive at a constant 56mph for 3 minutes anywhere on the roads in this area? I mean, I did it on the freeway, but at times it felt dicey with how many people were whizzing past me at +20mph. And we'll see on Monday— when I go in for test attempt four— if any of it helped.

Update: the vehicle passed smog the next Monday.

At lunch in Encinitas, California - 1pm

We completed the first "We're Gonna Be (500 Miles)" this morning. Our drive to SJC airport and flight to SAN were uneventful, as was our ride from San Diego up to Encinitas around noon. We arrived at the car dealership to pick up our new car and complete the paperwork. If things went smoothly we could have been out in less than an hour and beginning our drive home. But that's where things stopped going smoothly.

Actually it's not the paperwork that's messed up. That's where I thought all the risk was. No, it's the car itself. When they were prepping it this morning it started flagging a fault code for the tail light. Techs tried replacing the bulb first but that wasn't enough; the whole tail light assembly needs replacing. They were still waiting on the part when we arrived.

The salesguy suggested we could camp out at the dealership for an hour or so with free coffee and wifi. We countered that we could just walk out for lunch (there are a dozen restaurants within 0.5km) and come back later... hopefully to find the problem fixed.

Oh, and there could still be problems with the paperwork. Sometimes you have to clear one problem before you can even see the next one. 😅

Inland Empire Travelog #12
Spokane, Washington - Sat, 15 May 2021. 10:30pm.

Late this afternoon we got a flat tire on our rental car... while 10 miles away from paved roads up in the mountains above Lake Pend Oreille. I changed to the 50/50 spare and got us back down to the highway. Once back close enough to civilization that there at least was cell phone coverage again we started a phone call to Avis's roadside assistance hotline.

"Let's start driving toward Sand Point," I suggested. Hawk agreed. As the nearest town of any size it was the closest place we could possibly get help. If our 50/50 spare did blow out we'd get help faster by being closer to an actual town.

The Long Wait on Hold

Time passed. Ten minutes. 15. 20. We made steady progress even though I carefully limited our speed to 50mph (per the "50/50" temporary spare tire) and kept it to 45mph when safe.

As we rolled up on Sand Point I tried a separate call to the emergency hotline from my phone to make sure Hawk's call on hold wasn't lost in the wrong queue.

My call got the same voice prompts as hers followed by the now all-too-familiar message, "Due to unusually high call volume, wait times are longer than 15 minutes."

Why is it always "unusually high call volumes"? Why are there never unusually high service volumes? Companies clearly aren't planning for their customers' actual needs. They are simply cheaping out on service.

With nothing better to do we stayed on hold. We stayed on hold as we drove toward where help would be more likely. Understand, Sand Point is only a big town relative to what's around it. It has a population of 10,000. That was the biggest population center we'd been to in almost 48 hours since leaving Spokane Thursday night. But ahead lay Coeur d'Alene, a relative metropolis of over 50,000.

Twenty minutes became 30. 40. 50. 60. Finally— a human voice!

On Hold Sixty-Two Minutes... for a Helpless Agent 😡

The agent came on the line 62 minutes after we started the call. We'd driven 40 miles while waiting. With the additional 10 miles before reaching cell range, technically we were at the limit of our 50/50 tire. And we were just starting to get help.

The phone agent collected a ridiculous amount of information before proposing options for assistance. The first option he suggested was that we could go to a tire store, pay for a repair ourselves, and file for reimbursement with Avis. WTF?

"What's the nearest Avis depot we could exchange the car at?" I countered.

"Let me check," he replied. "Where are you?"

Like, dude, shouldn't that have been the first thing? In fact, among the first things I told you was that we're near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

"Curdoleen, how do you spell that?"

"Coeur d'Alene," I spelled out for him, including the space and the apostrophe.

"The closest stations are in Spokane, Washington," he said, confirming information we'd found on our own over an hour earlier. "One closes at 5pm, the other at 11."

"Well, since it's already 7pm you're saying there's only one that's open," I pointed out. "Will you check with that station to see if they have a replacement car and hold it for us?"

"I can't do that."

"You can't check?"

"I can't see any of the reservations systems. You'll have to go there and talk to an employee."

Fuck It. We're On Our Own.

I thanked the operator for his help and hung up. Including the hold time the call had taken 1 hour 15 minutes. I didn't chastise him over the delay or his inability to do anything because I could tell it wasn't his fault. It was the company cynically cheaping out on customer support.

What did I expect? Compare this: when we got a flat tire on a rental car two years ago the agent at the emergency number was much more helpful. 1) They answered almost right away, 2) they didn't recommend I pay for a repair out of pocket and then file for reimbursement, and 3) they called the nearest rental depot (less than 20 miles away) to verify they had a replacement car for me and ask them to hold it. At the depot the whole staff was nothing but helpful.

"Hey, there's a Kohl's!" Hawk said randomly as she hung up the phone. I pulled off into the parking lot. "Wait, really?" she asked incredulously.

"Sure. We're on our own for the night. We might as well take it easy and get to Spokane well rested." After Hawk shopped clothes for a few minutes we ate dinner at a fast food restaurant. No sense having empty stomachs if our 50/50 spare tire blows out on the side of the highway and we have to wait a few hours for a tow!

I decided to skip the rental depot for tonight and just return the car at the normal time tomorrow. We're staying in Spokane, anyway, and not planning driving tomorrow beyond a short trip in town then the jaunt to the airport. Why waste possibly hours at the depot tonight when the result might be no car is available? 

We pulled in to our hotel in Spokane around 9:30pm. At that point we'd driven our rental car 100 miles on a 50/50 spare. We made it!