Exhausting day!

Some days are longer than others!  Today was one of the more exhausting days that we've had for some time.


We started out early by driving the Accent and my van over to the RV repair place and picking up the Alfa.  We left the van there and drove the Alfa and the Accent across town to the hitch place and had them finish the Blue Ox installation.  They hooked up the Accent and we headed back to the RV repair place to drop it off again so they could install the Air Force One.  Craig says he could have installed both, but he wanted to have authorized installers so that we could feel good about the result.


On the way we stopped at a large parking lot and did a series of practice turns around some large plastic water bottles (our version of traffic cones).  We both drove and we each took a turn outside watching to see how the toad tracked behind the Alfa. It was fun. 


We then dropped the Alfa and Accent off and returned home in my van. We will be able to get the car back in a few days, but they are still waiting for our new back decal for the Alfa.  Might as well leave her there.


We have also asked them to do an air pressure test to see if they can find and fix two "whistle" noises in the front windshield.  They are quite annoying.


It was just past noon when we got back home, but neither of us felt like doing any work.  Craig has finally agreed to buying some safety equipment for the window painting project.  I don't know if it is because he is tired of me nagging, or because he has had a number of people tell him he should, as comments or in person, or if he has just gotten a bit scared when he was out on the ledge.  I don't care why.


We spent some time this afternoon looking at safety harnesses online, and then decided we should go and talk to someone at REI that might give us some advice about such things.


At the same time, Craig was reading the morning paper and mentioned he would like to see "Snow White and the Huntsman."  We don't go to movies very often, but since the movie theatre and REI are in the same shopping center, we decided to do both this afternoon.  


The movie was OK.  Not great, but OK.  We did get some information from REI, but they were unable to give us any advice as to what to do.  (Liability reasons.)  We will probably be ordering some rope and a harness over the weekend.


Exhausting! But it felt like progress.

Good-By Prius, Hello "Little White Thing."

Tuesday was both a happy and a sad day.  After a hectic weekend of locating and test driving four sub compact cars from the Motor Coach Magazine dinghy car list, we made our decision and purchased a white, 2012 Hyundai Accent Hatchback.

It was sad to drive our red Prius for the last time. It was a very good, solid ride.  In five years and 84,000 miles, it never gave us any trouble.  If it didn't weigh so much, and could have been towed, we would have kept it for long time.

But if we want to ride together in the Alfa, we need a car we can tow.  

Good-by Prius.

Hello "Little White Thing".  I hope we have many adventures together in the future. We know you can't go charging down wild dirt roads like a Jeep, but you have lots of cargo space for your weight, a decent engine for your class, and a price point we were comfortable with.


Speaking of price, we were both a bit shocked by the cost of a tow package!  We haven't bought one yet, but we're leaning toward a Blue Ox and an Air Force.  We got an estimate on a Roadmaster and an Air Force One from the place that's doing our Alfa body work.

The repair estimate was a shocker too! We usually just pay for such things out of pocket without filing an insurance claim.  But as it turned out there was more damage than just the fiberglass corner.  It seems the back panel separated both along the side edge and the roof edge.  And they will need to repaint the entire back end! The  estimate was over $5000. Big Ouch! 


Too bad Alfateers is way down in Southern California.

Our insurance adjustor has been to take a look, and has authorized the work.  It will take a couple of weeks before she is home again. Meanwhile we have to make a decision on the tow package and get it ordered and installed before the Crater Lake trip.


If you have a class A, what tow package do you have? Do you like it?  Any advice will be appreciated.