That Was Unexpected!!

 OH YEAH!!!  It's a big bonus when you have a friend that owns the local Pumpkin Patch, who is also your Elks Lodge buddy.  I got a text message early in the morning.  "I left something on your porch".  I cautiously opened the door at 7:00 am to find BREAKFAST!!  Woohoo!  That was VERY unexpected!

They bought a popcorn machine this year!!  I have to admit I'm very thankful I don't have to shuttle 300 kids around and I don't have to make this stuff, nor deal with "parents" complaining about paying $20 per kid this year.  Yeah ... it's not cheap!

In what seemed like just a few minutes, I was off to what I thought was a bike shop three towns down south.  I had a plan.  Bike shop, call and visit with friends, hit up Hobby Lobby and maybe the quilt shop on the way out.  It all went south in a hurry.

Here I am driving along ... having cranked my music up high.  Do you see anything wrong with this highway?  Like maybe WHERE are the white lines?  It was extremely difficult to see the lanes, especially for truck drivers who were always in my lane.  I finally just kept in the right hand lane at their speed.  

Here's what they did.  Apparently the latest and greatest thing is to make the white lines like rumble strips.  They used their machine to crimp them.  The problem is they went the WRONG direction when they did that.  If you look in the rear view mirror, you can see the white lines perfectly.  Out the front, you can't see where the lines are at all.  Leave it to California.  Coming back on the OTHER side of the highway, they did it the right direction and you can easily see the lines.  I just shook my head.

That's when it all went south.  I got a call requesting a hotel for the night.  That messed up my entire schedule.  There would be no Hobby Lobby and no quilt shop.  DARN!!

It got worse.  I got to the bike shop after getting lost two parking lots over.  My GPS said I was there, but not so much.  I called and got more specific directions through the maze of parking lots and buildings.  Why is everything built on a curve nowadays.  What happened to straight streets.  

Finally ... you have arrived.  Only to find that they did not have the bike rack I wanted to see.  Seriously?  Maybe it was a ruse to get me there.  They actually called around and found one.  Okay ... show me how it works.

The good news is it's not too heavy for me to lift on and off the hitch.  The first problem we discovered ... the way the hitch and light hookup is set up, the lock would have to be installed BEFORE screwing in the bolt.  No problem .. it worked and tightened up perfectly.  No extra hitch lock thing needed to keep it from rattling.

I asked the nice young man with hair down to his waist to show me how it worked, even though I knew because I watched several videos.   It was just as easy as I expected, except for the part where someone put the bike hold-downs on backwards.  Ooops.  

I'll take it.  Yup, it was all a ruse on my part.  I wanted to be sure this was THE ONE before I paid for it.  Otherwise, you order it, you bought it, it doesn't fit and you are stuck with it. This one is PERFECT.

These two pictures were taken after I got back home.  In spite of the website saying I needed a hitch extension, I measured and was sure it would work.  It did.  It also swings out and away to allow access to the back doors.  I'll take pictures of that today, hopefully with a bike attached.

I headed back home, stopping for fuel.  In spite of everyone else's diesel and gas prices going down, California has raised theirs to as much as $5.50 a gallon.  Using my debit card (hoping not to be hacked) my price this time was $4.88 at a Shell station.  Loves just a block away was the high priced one.  The one that most truck drivers fuel up at, which is why your groceries are more expensive.  Talk about a rip-off.

On the way home with not much traffic, I cruised right along.  That's when I spotted this.  Elephants?  Not visible are the baby elephants following the herd.  Are we in Africa?  Far as I know, there are not now nor have there EVER been elephants here.  Tulle Elk ... sandhill cranes ... black bears, yes, but NOT elephants.  Why would they put these critters up there?

And so I got back home, hoping the bike rack was still attached.  I began to back into my driveway.  DING DING DING ... red lights flashed!!  WHAT IS GOING ON?  It seems the bike rack is close enough to the sensors on the bumper to think I'm going to hit something.  That was DEFINITELY unexpected! 

I just kept going, listening to the din which was quite distracting.  So how do I fix THIS?  Here's two of four sensors.  I mean really ... what if you were actually towing a car or boat?  I love that they tell me if I'm going to hit something, but now I won't know since they go off constantly while backing up. Thank goodness nothing happens when I go forward!!!

Sadly, there was no shopping other than the bike rack, which I'm sure made my wallet smile.  I'm excited to load up a bike and see how it all works today after company leaves.  I'll take pictures to show how it swings out of the way.  

My tip of the day ... only 8 weeks 5 days til Christmas!!!