Bringing in the New Year 1,000 Miles Apart

We had to leave her in Arizona

We took Lucille back to W.W.Williams and I went over everything with Jerry. I asked him to replace all of the valve cover gaskets. She has four because there are two between the valve covers and the Jacobsen Brakes and two between the brakes and the heads. I asked him to replace the breather tube that wasn't replaced, but repaired last time. I asked him to check her brakes; the only reason being I don't know when they were checked last. Then I asked him to look her over and tell me if there was anything else he'd do to her in order to drive her 1,000+ miles.

Jerry had his guys put her up on a lift so that he could check her out, top to bottom. He let me walk underneath her and look around with him. The only things we saw were a bit of oil on the exterior of the steering box, the transmission, the differential, and of course, the engine. He said that overall she looked a lot better than he thought she would. He said he would have all of the fluids topped off when they changed her oil and that since it was getting late in the day and they would be closed for New Year until Tuesday, they would check the brakes then. He had one of his drivers take us to the airport, where we just barely made our flight.

Our plane arrived at 8:30 pm and Erin picked us up at the airport. She drove us to where our friends were waiting to greet us and welcome us back from our long journey. We spent the weekend sharing experiences and dreams, dancing and singing, laughing and crying. It was the ultimate therapy for having been on the road so long, not knowing what the next moment would bring. It's great to have friends.

I called Jerry on Tuesday afternoon for an update. He said they had pulled her wheels and hubs and checked her brakes and that everything looked good. That's a relief - at least we don't need a brake job.

#busrepair