Pride Goeth Before the Fall

I got up before Sara and grabbed a cup of coffee.  I went out and watched the sunrise.  It was almost as impressive as some of the sunsets we have been seeing lately.  Debbie and Aunt Jimmie were sitting on the porch, enjoying the morning, too.  I joined them, and Sara and Steve soon came out.  We sat for the next hour or so just soaking up the morning.

Aunt Jimmie fixed a big country style breakfast as everyone prepared for the day.  After breakfast, I took Aunt Jimmie for a ride in the A, visiting some of her neighbors.  As we prepared to leave for Chattahoochee State Park, Debbie made a comment about following the Model A, and having to be “held back” and that she would be “pushing me” all day.  Sara rode with her in the VW and Steve rode with me in the A.  We wound our way to the park.  It sits almost in the southeast corner of the state.  It was a small park with eight primitive campsites around a small lake. There was a dam at the south end and 50 feet below the dam was the Florida State Line.

As we were leaving, Aunt Jimmie called to see if maybe we had picked up her MIFI card by mistake.  Checking my computer bag found two identical cards.  I had picked up mine – Sara had picked up hers, thinking it was mine.  We started back toward Aunt Jimmie’s house to return the card.  I told Steve that I would, in the past, have gotten irritated by a diversion such as this, but have come to realize that there is usually some purpose, unknown to me that would soon become evident.Sara was experimenting with taking video on her new camera.  Debbie was narrating something about the video being the only reason she was behind me, or she would be “way ahead by now”.  A few minutes later, I stopped at a crossroad and happened to glance in the rearview mirror. 

No red VW was in sight.

A moment later Steve’s phone rang.  The VW had quit on them and they were sitting on the side of the road.  We turned around and found them about a mile back.  We quickly diagnosed the problem as a clogged fuel filter.  I went on back to Aunt Jimmies and found a piece of copper tubing with hopes of bypassing the filter.  I also picked up a few more things that might be useful. The tubing only allowed more trash to pass into the carb, and the engine would not continue to run.  I had brought a chain – so – we hooked the VW up behind the Model A and pulled it the short distance back to Aunt Jimmie’s.  Steve and I went in to town and picked up several fuel filters.  When we got back, we disassembled the carb, cleaned it and put it back on the car with a new filter.  It started and ran fine.  Debbie stood by, supervising – while eating a large slice of humble pie.

Off again about two pm, we drove toward Dothan.  Our first stop was to get gas. While we were topping up, a fellow drove up with a Ford Jubilee tractor on a trailer.  He was interested in both the A and the VW.  The Jubilee was built on the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the Ford Motor Company, and could be described as a nephew to the Model A.

We stopped in at Porter’s Hardware Store in Dothan.  The store has been in continuous operation for over 120 years.  Most of the stock, all of the fixtures, and some of the people seem to have been there since the beginning!
From there we went north to the town of Abbeville.  This small town has been resurrected by Jimmie Raines, otherwise known as the “Yellow Fellow”.  The store fronts were filled with neon signs, old appliances and porcelain advertisements from the 1930s.  There is an old fashioned soda fountain known as Huggin Molly’s where we enjoyed root beer floats, malts and something known as “Molly’s Half Sister.”

We made it to Lake Point Resort north of Eufaula about dark.  As we turned into the park, I saw a banner for the Gold Wing Road Rider’s Association meeting.  Luckily, there was still a two bedroom cabin available.  After checking in, getting settled and staring to check my e-mail, my phone rang.  It was Dewey, a friend from Birmingham.    
“Are you at Lakepoint?”  He had seen us driving away from the Lodge recognizing the truck.  He and Jan came to the cabin for a visit.  Another entry into my collection of small world stories.






Today’s mileage: 130 in the Model A, 24 in a Crown Vic, 2.5 towing a VW!

Hey Deb!  What do you see?

(dead bugs!)