Further Delays...

Just got a call from the auto shop - Minnie will not be out of the mechanic's till Thursday afternoon. I have to forgive them, because here are the excuses:

• The technician working on Minnie went to the hospital in pain yesterday - turns out he had (has?) kidney stones.
• Minnie's new injector (the old one was cracked - hence the smoky exhaust) can't be found from any supplier - it's getting shipped in from overseas.

That's essentially like saying that you didn't finish your homework because you came down with cancer - I can't possibly be upset; they're obviously doing all they can despite a run of terrible luck.

However, we're now completely out of our allotted slush time - every further delay means we have to cut something from the schedule - we're considering removing the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, L.A., or Fresno from the itinerary. The problem is they're all spaced to make driving easier, so cutting any of them equals a long day of driving in a car with no A/C. And, I keep finding new biofuels companies to visit.