We left Michael and Mary's home around 9:30 am on Friday and headed south toward Savannah. It was a beautiful cool but sunny day. The camper drove okay; we experienced some vibration but ignored it. Arriving at our first traffic light in Savannah, we waited for green and then when the light turned, the camper wouldn't move. The engine ran fine, but the transmission refused to transmit. We called AAA and started waiting. Then we called the police to let them know we were blocking the turning lane at a major intersection. Eventually a city cruiser came and parked behind us with his flashers on. After a couple of hours, still with no sign of a Triple-A tow truck, the officer advised that it would be quicker if he called an alternate wrecker, so we did. In another twenty minutes or so, Tim's Towing showed up and hauled us to the Sprinter (Mercedes) shop. By this time it was getting late, so all they could do was confirm that it is a transmission issue. Being Friday, it will wait until Monday when a mechanic will tear into it. Then we'll find out the extent (time and $s) of the repair. Meanwhile, we're camping out with the cats In a nearby La Quinta motel. We're making the best of it, and will have plenty of time to explore Savannah.
Oh yes, if the transmission needs to be replaced there are all of three in the US the closest being in Texas which would be ordered and shipped overnight and with luck could be installed on Wednesday. That is the worst case scenario.
We have lucked out that LaQuinta allows us to have the cats in the room. We made quite a sight with Marty holding a complaining Muki and David with Lily in one of our grocery bags somewhat wrapped in a towel. Lily was too traumatized to even make a sound. One never has those other essentials of cat carriers or suitcases when you in your camper...there is no need!
At least there are restaurants near by and the city bus runs right by the hotel and once into the city center we can hop on the free buses to get around. Life is an adventure!
Now Sunday but catching up with Saturday.
Saturday afternoon we grabbed a city bus into downtown for the senior rate of 75 cents...a bargain. We went to the visitor's center for downtown city maps and general information.
This is another nice facility, however not quite at the same level of Charleston's, which is truly top notch.
The city is also filled with lots of historic churches and more old houses than you can shake a stick at.
The tug boat above put on quite a show for us doing several 360's to the cheers of the folks on the shore.
We made our way down to the business/tourist area and the waterfront. This is a working port so there are plenty of ships and tugs coming and going.
Above is just a view looking toward the big bridge coming over the river from South Carolina.
After we had gotten our walking in for the day we decided to head back to the motel, but first we discovered a shop called "The Growler" which, as you might guess, sold beers and growlers. They even have 32 oz. ones both in glass and beautiful stainless steel! Available were probably a good 30 different beers! We will go back there before we leave.
We ate our dinner in what is supposed to be the most authentic English pub in Georgia called the Six Pence Pub. The food was great! We made it back to the motel and spent a quiet evening watching college basketball and public television.
Sorry about the distortion due to being a pano shot, but you get the sense of the nice environment in which we dined last evening.
Finally the cold weather has broken in the southeastern part of the US. Yesterday afternoon it reached the high 60's, and today (Sunday) it's forecast for the 70s. We sympathize with everyone in Maine and Virginia for the continued cold and messiness, but it's great to be down here now in shirtsleeves!
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