It's A Miracle!

“Hey, Bill, it’s Tom. I was going to come by this afternoon to pick up the camper. Is it ready?”

“Yeah, it’s ready. I just have to put the wheels on.”

Ready… Put the wheels on… These two things do not sound like part of the same equation to me.

“Uh, OK, so when should I come by.”

“I’d have to say not ‘til the end of the day. Like 5.”

“OK, sounds good. Because I have to be in Albany by 6.”

Y’know, you just can’t come by and take it right out, though. We have to do a few things like figure out which hitch to use and test out the lights and put the license plate on and secure those two loose windows and make sure the brakes are working OK and install the propane tank and get those mirror extensions on your Jeep and do an inspection.”

“Uh…”

“So just come by around 3:30.”

And, lo, one of us was driven insane. And I’ll give you a hint: it wasn’t Bill.

But everything on that list was, in fact, completed in time for me to get to Albany. It was sure fun watching the wheels go on to the camper and then watching the camper being lowered of the jacks back to street level. I think it was probably the first time I saw the thing at the proper height: before being in the shop it was at my house resting low to the ground on flat tires.

Bill gave me a deadpan towing lesson in the parking lot of the shop (“You do want to brake very slowly because otherwise the camper will pass you on the road.”) before I started out for the short trip home. That was, um, interesting. One definitely knows there’s a 3/4-ton object following behind.

When I returned from my meeting in Albany I spruced up the inside of the camper for the big test-run I have planned for today: I’m making an overnight trip to visit my friend Cass Morgan in Vermont. I can avoid the highways for almost the entire trip there, which is a good thing for my first time out. Mickey’s coming along, too, so we’ll both get an idea of just what the heck we’re getting ourselves into.

Most certainly, there will be a full report in the near future.

In the meantime, here are Wayne and Bill, the excellent, and leisurely, geniuses that are Wolfie’s Tire and Auto.

September 23/24 at Dixon Place in NYC. Tickets available here.

Canned Ham t-shirts available here.