Day 47: A Costly Mistake

Earlier today we were told the source of the problem that activated the Service Engine Soon light.  When I bolted our drawer pedestal to the floor I had to drill closer to the back of the door opening than I would have liked to, but my fear was that if I didn't, in a crash it could rip loose and cause some serious problems.  I know I didn't drill into the gas tank, but I suspect the bolt that I put into that hole was long enough to come in contact with the tank, and after 18,000 miles of jiggling around it finally created a small hole.  You would think it is something that could be plugged, but I suspect the dealer isn't interested in warranting a patch job.  The new gas tank is $1,300 and $400+ for the labor.  With the 20,000 mile service it will end up costing us close to $2,000.

One of many old barns that we've seen along the way...

So the camper is currently stranded at French Creek State Park.  I drove into Conshohocken this morning to leave the van at the Ford dealership there, opting to ride back along 37 miles of our route, making Conshohocken our current departure point once we leave.

If they give us sufficient notice of when the van can be picked up, then I likely will ride the same 37 miles back to pick it up (weather permitting - most of our foul weather cycling gear is in the van).  The gas tank is coming from New York and won't be here until tomorrow, so our fingers are crossed that they can have it back together for us before the service department closes on Saturday.

Not having the van with the camper is causing some organizational challenges.  We've tried to anticipate what we would need out of the van for the weekend, but inevitably there will be things that we want or need.  Thus far, the only thing we've wanted is our next route map, as the current map ends in Conshohocken.  Having that now would allow us to plan our escape once that van is once again ready to go.

The Norristown Transit Center & the Schuykill River Trail.

Of course, we did offload some shoes, outerwear and a few other items from the van, knowing that we will be needing them.  The challenge now is where to store the extra gear, since it is forecast to rain tomorrow.  I suspect we'll figure it out - it will just cause us to have to shuffle things way more than we are used to.

Naturally, just before I was set to go to the car dealer, the propane tank went empty.  We had thought we had two one pound propane containers for emergencies, but we have only one.  Whether that will be enough to get us through three more suppers and three more breakfasts is a little questionable.  I suspect we will squeak by, but we'll check around to see if there is a place to refill our tank.  Alea's friend Pat is joining us tomorrow, and hopefully we can get it refilled while we are out doing other things with her.

Other than that, it has been a great day - the first sunny day that we have had in quite a while.  The ride back went smooth enough, but with a few glitches.  First, it had looked as though I could ride a side street from the dealership down to the Schuykill [Skook-ul] River Trail.  But it turns out that Conshohocken sits on a bluff above the river, so the number of roads to the river are very limited.  I managed to use some dead reckoning to get close enough to the trail that I could get to it by hiking down a berm.

The next challenge was crossing the river to get to Valley Forge.  They currently have a new trail bridge under construction.  Until that is done (probably later this year), there is temporary 4 foot wide trail on the west side of the Hwy 422 bridge - basically parallel chain link fences, a jersey barrier on the traffic side and a sheer drop to the river on the other side.  It at first looks as though the temporary trail is closed, but they have set it up to force you to dismount to access it.

Temporary trail across the Schuykill River.

With that last hurdle cleared, the remainder of the ride home was on scenic, mostly lightly traveled roads.  We are running the generator now to keep the electronics charged up and to keep the refrigerator from draining the camper battery.

Recreated troop cabin at Valley Forge.