It was a cold night. I tucked myself into my blanket. Not a sole drove by the parking lot once the lodge closed at 9pm. I was expecting a ranger to make his rounds but none ever came.
The first cars began pulling up by 6am, and the first customer came by 20 minutes later. She didn't have any jumper cables and I couldn't find my own. I ransacked the boxes of my van looking for my jumper cables which I never found.
A young couple from Illinois helped me with their jumper cables but the van wouldn't take a charge. What was going on? Was there something draining the battery? In fact, the battery was more dead after the charge than before. I didn't want to waste these people's time and went inside to ask for help.
"Maintenance doesn't come in until 8:30am, you can try then" said the young blonde woman at the camp store. It was 7:30am and I had an hour to wait. That gave me time to sit on the lodge patio and watch the warblers jump about.
Marcus saw me standing outside and asked me in. He invited me to breakfast. What a lovely gesture. I was more nervous about my van not starting and had thoughts of being stranded while waiting for professional help, an expensive repair and towing bill to enjoy a hearty meal, and ate two biscuits with some gravy, and had two cups of coffee. Service was slow but the conversation was intersting. We exchanged email before we departed. Marcus and Elizabeth are now on their way to Austin and will fly out of Dallas in a few more days. They wanted some suggestions and there is just too much to suggest for one day in Hill Country.
At 8:40am I approached Brian, a receptionist who was very willing to assist me and my van. He called over two mechanics who jumped my van and it started up! What a relief. I finally left the lodge complex at 9:34am.
"Make sure you drive to Alpine and don't turn your engine off!" he said. But I had other plans.
This van's electrcal problems are really starting to get to me. Van Go is a mere four months old and has needed three jump starts now. The "Malfunction Indicator Light" has been on for two days and according to the manual the light could indicate something as simple as a loose gas cap to something more serious. Whatever the reason, it's going to be a waste of my time to take it to the dealer to get something fixed that should have been done right the first time.
US automakers complain of slumping sales and don't realize part of the problem is shoddy worksmanship by the automakers. If the automakers made affordable, reliable cars American consumers wouldn't be buying so many foreign models.
I drove over 168 miles today always with the fear that starting the engine up again may fail, but I had no other issues.
From the lodge I drove east to the Rio Grande Village to walk the Hot Springs hike, walk along the river and then check out Boquillas Canyon. It was 74F at 11am.
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