Hell And Half Of Georgia

Taken on a post at a truck stop just outside of Chattanooga at 8am yesterday morning as I was mesmerized by this very beautiful and fragile creature, and while LC was getting more and more angry while crawling around underneath what was a piece of junk truck with a flashlight...........

This past week has been a frustrating time for a couple of reasons.

The primary reason has been our search for a reasonably priced truck to replace the red truck that LC sold.

Yes..........he sold his beautiful 460 because ultimately no matter how much you love a truck, if it only gets 12 miles per gallon then it is too much money to pay for a truck you love.

Or at least it was for us.

LC has been talking about selling it ever since we got back from Wyoming.

I don't know who loved it more - him or me, but anyway it's gone.

Replacing it with something decent and one that gets better gas mileage has turned out to be a much more difficult proposition than either of us had ever expected.

Mainly because after discussions with prospectives over the phone, initial pictures, additional pictures, and more discussion, we have gone to see vehicles only to discover that........well............people are lying dogs.

Which really wasn't a discovery.

Both of us already knew that of course.

But we are surprised at how prevalent that fact has been this week.

We have seen some pretty awful vehicles and some pretty fast talking potential sellers recently, even including a preacher who was as much of a player as all the rest.

When we lived in Juneau I became keenly aware of what really bad service was all about.  Paying far too much money for shoddy computer repairs and shoddy mechanical repairs and shoddy hair cuts.

Paying far too much money for really horrendous service - slow and almost without fail badly performed.

Sometimes not performed at all as it turned out.

I never really understood why that was the case but supposed that it was a reflection of service monopolies in town and the fact that Juneau was cut off from the rest of the world.

A town filled with a captive audience.

Another one of the running jokes that my Mountain Boy and I developed while in Juneau and still continue to share is the phrase "just throw money at it". 

It seemed that all problems big and small required big money to solve in Juneau.

And recently, as the economy has continued to be difficult for many people, as people are hanging onto their vehicles longer and as more private individuals are getting into the buying-and-selling-used-vehicles business, LC and I were both surprised to learn this week that people are now wanting much more for used vehicles than they are worth, that used vehicles are being sold in awful condition, and that people lie continually about the history of the vehicles and what issues they have.

In Juneau we had enough money to be able to "throw money at it".

Now we need to be more careful.

We began by looking in towns close to home.

Yesterday we drove to Chattanooga to see what had been promised to be a tight truck. 

Every seal and gasket was leaking, it was rusted out in many places, a few places were no longer straight, and the air was not working (but probably just needed recharging according to the owner).

Oh boy.  We had heard that quite a few times during this past week.......

We were extending our search beyond our comfort zone in the hopes of truly finding something decent by that point, and since we were already in Chattanooga drove north to Clarksrange to see a vehicle we had not wanted to travel so far to see.

That one belonged to the fast talking preacher, and by the time we drove home late in the day swore that we would take our time and no longer drive all over "hell and half of Georgia".

I took these pictures while spending far too long in the truck yesterday................

On the way to Clarksrange LC and I passed by this war memorial that was located in one of many very small communities we traveled through.

As we sped by the memorial in a rush to get to Clarksrange, LC and I looked at each other.

Wordlessly he turned the truck around, both of us compelled to stop for a few moments so that we could pay our respects.

There are many war memorials in Tennessee.

Tennessee residents have a very long history of fighting when called on and (particularly in rural parts of the state) communities feel very strongly about recognizing and honoring those that they know who have served and often died.

For such a small and quiet community - that was surrounded on all sides by mountains and beauty and quiet - this memorial was surprisingly large...................

This monument in the park listed the names of men from the community who had fought and died in the wars of the 20th century.

There were many men with the same last name. 

Grandfathers, fathers, uncles, sons, brothers..............

After reading the names I walked behind the monument and for a few brief moments watched a kids baseball game being played at the diamond, and listened as parents cheered for a good catch, or a good hit, or a good run.

I wish I had zoomed the camera in so that I could take a closer picture, but in a rush I didn't think of it at the time.

But for one moment it really hit me hard that I was standing in a place honoring the dead while at the same time watching children and their parents celebrating life.

A surprising revelation while in a rush, and it thankfully slowed my brain down just a little.................

Pictures snapped from the truck while it was moving.

My tolerance for perpetual full-speed motion was reached while in Juneau, but we were on the hunt for a good vehicle at a decent price.

Something that we had learned was more difficult than anticipated in this human-eat-human economy.

Heading north from the outskirts of Chattanooga we passed through small communities, tiny towns, and the beautiful and vibrant town of Dunlap.

Cumberland Mountain State Park is up in that area.

It is an amazingly beautiful area of the state - quiet farm land completely surrounded by rugged and beautiful mountains.

We did what I hated to do - we rushed right by it all.

But we will try and come back this way soon and not be in so much of a rush next time..................

This morning both LC and I woke up determined to take it easy today.

And then I found one truck on Craigslist and LC found another one on Local Shopping Network.

They both looked like good trucks, but we were tired, slightly dejected, and majorly skeptical.

One was located within 30 miles of home, it was the most expensive of the two, but we could not see it until after 1pm.

The second was located 109 miles from the house heading west beyond Nashville, it was $1500 cheaper, but we could see it anytime.

With a deep and exhausted sigh we quickly got dressed and headed west, knowing that likely we would end up seeing both of them today and that likely we would again come home empty handed.

We ended up buying this truck.

140,000 miles.  A 351 engine instead of a 460 and so we will get much better gas mileage.  Air conditioning that works and 4x4 that works which is extraordinary compared to the junk we had seen to this point.  It will need new tires soon.

We bought it at a very very good price, drove it home, and do not plan on going to hell or Georgia again anytime soon....................