July 9th - Black Bear Campground

We drove all day from Cutler and reached Black Bear Campground in Salisbury, Massachusetts in the afternoon. This town brought back memories from some fifteen years ago. Kelly, me, and the three girls stayed in Salisbury for a week in the Holiday Rambler pusher back. Alexa was living in Massachusetts at the time and we came up for a visit and had a great time. When we got ready to leave on Friday I found green antifreeze leaking out of the bottom of the radiator.

I had an extended warranty and called the company. They sent out an investigator to make sure I hadn't poked a hole in it. He assured them that it wasn't anything I had done. They okayed the repair. The problem was we were in this small town and the nearest replacement radiator was in Michigan plus I had to find someone who would put it in.  I found a small repair shop about two miles away with the help of the campground owners.

The shop had a lift that I could drive the motorhome up on but it wasn't strong enough to lift it. We decided it should give us enough room to get the radiator out from below and install the new one the same way. Luckily they agreed to do this on a Saturday. I then called about ordering the radiator. I asked if I could drive to get it to save shipping costs and time. They said it would not fit in the Escort so I had to pay $400.00 to have it air shipped to Salisbury overnight. I helped the mechanic all day on Saturday and we got it in. We had planned on leaving early Friday morning and driving all day and all day Saturday so that Erin could get back to St. Louis for a job interview. That schedule was shot.

As soon as the radiator was installed late Saturday afternoon we took off for Missouri. To get Erin home in time for her interview I drove straight back - 23 hours non-stop except for fuel. Kelly and the girls took turns staying up with me to keep me awake. We pulled into the driveway at 7:00 a.m. on Monday and Erin took off for her interview. I went to bed but was up in two hours and went to work to handle a docket. I passed out that night for about twelve hours. Memories.

Black Bear Campground is quite nice and has a laundry. I did laundry while Kellen spent money at the arcade they had on site. Here is a picture of our campsite. It was nice sized and covered in wood chips.

Off the next morning for Hershey, Pennsylvania.