Wednesday morning, I woke in a panic. Despite setting my alarm last night, it didn’t go off, and I was already half an hour late to get my car fixed. I threw on my clothes, threw the dogs and their leashes in the car, and drove like a bat out of hell for Libby.

At Twinkle Welding, Trapper was calm, as usual, and brushed aside my abject apologies. He and his crew set right to work, and in less than three hours had a new hitch installed and my broken frame welded. And he charged me less than his quote! I could not resist giving him a hug, and promised to share my great experience on the web. If you are ever in the area of Libby, MT, and need welding or hitch services, call Twinkle Welding and tell Trapper I sent you!

Next on my agenda was breakfast—I was starving! At the nearest place, I waited in line with a nice couple. We hit it off and they invited me to join them at their table. Butch and Josie and I had a great time talking about our travels and interests, and we lingered quite a while, swapping stories over our meal. Finally, I said goodbye with reluctance, and headed back to the car and my two very impatient dogs. 

I decided that, since I was already in town, I would see if someone would look at my exhaust system, since I’d been hearing a concerning rattle. However, after a quick check, I was told that there was nothing wrong with my exhaust—the rattle was only a heat shield (notorious for coming loose on Subarus). But had I noticed the rhythmic thump from my rear end?

Ugh. Back the other way on route 2 through Libby, this time to a Les Schwab, the chain that had replaced my front brakes on our first leg through Montana. I thought they would tell me there was a problem with one of my rear tires. I was not prepared to be told that both rear brakes needed replacing, and they MIGHT fit me in on Friday. I told them I’d have to stop at the next Les Schwab heading east, upon which they decided that they could, in fact, fix my brakes right now. I didn’t mind paying $500 to get my hitch and frame fixed, not so happy about having to unexpectedly pay $900 to replace both rear brakes, when I didn’t even realize there was a problem. 

So that was my Wednesday. By the end, I was exhausted, the dogs were bored out of their little minds, and my wallet was a great deal lighter. It was all I could do to pick up a few groceries, drive back to camp, eat, and fall into bed.