We made it home by about 3:00 this afternoon. Our trip north took three rather uneventful days.

Monday things started out negatively. Everything was packed and John moved the truck in the driveway so I could get in for the 1,300 mile trip from Florida to Michigan. Just as I was ready to close the truck door, John said “Oh, no!”

The brakes weren’t working at all. The brake line had sprung a leak and the brake fluid was in a puddle under the vehicle. With no brakes weren’t going to be able to leave. But in less than three hours we were on the road. John had been prepared with a new brake line and a couple of bottles of brake fluid, and he quickly replaced the line. We were headed north before 11:30 a.m. — three hours behind schedule.

The brakes worked fairly well, but really needed to have the air purged from the line. He tried to open the valves on each tire to allow him to purge them but they were frozen up. The car stopped firmly, but when they were depressed John felt they were a little “mushy” and I sensed his tension.

The trip was therefore more difficult than usual. With him being tense, I became his extra, vigilant eyes. We drove even slower and more cautious than we normally would have. We stayed in the right rather than the left lane and maintained lots of space between us and other vehicles on the road. John tried to get the brakes serviced while in route, but no one could take the truck in on short notice and since they did respond (even though mushy), we kept going. John would never have risked us if he’d felt they weren’t safe. It was just that they just didn’t feel as firm as usual, and the difference put both of us on edge.

About 50 miles from the northern Georgia border, we ran into swarms of lovebugs. They covered the truck and made it hard to see. We stopped at a rest area to clear the windshield, and while stopped, the pesky critters made outside existence miserable. By the time we were 10 miles into Georgia, there were no more bugs, but we carried their bodies back with us.

Traffic wasn’t bad except around Atlanta when we ran into a massive jam-up. (TV news reports explained that there’d been a police chase down I-75 to catch a bank robber. The robber lost control and crashed. We caught the end of resulting traffic tie-up.)

First night we stayed at a lovely Quality Inn in Marrietta, Georgia. Of course we arrived later than we’d planned, but it was before 7:30.

The room was large, pleasant, fresh smelling, clean, and the staff was really nice. They even gave us a gift box for being a preferred guest. (The box contained oranges, apples, bottled water and Chitos.) We enjoyed a pleasant late dinner at a nearby Cracker Barrel (the next building). Tuesday morning we were impressed with the huge free buffet for guests. The buffet included eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, toast, sweet breads, bagels, waffles, hot or cold cereal, and/or lots of fruit choices plus an array of juices and morning beverages like tea, coffee and milk.

No lunch break. We just nibbled in route. Arrived at our motel in Miamisburg, Ohio, about 5:30. Again we stayed at a Quality Inn. (They’ve become our motel of choice.) This was one we’d enjoyed last year when we were headed north. It was just as nice this year, although the free breakfast wasn’t quite as spectacular as we’d enjoyed in Marrietta but with waffles, sweet breads, biscuits and gravy, cereals and yogurt, we sure didn’t go hungry. (We did miss the fresh fruit.)

Except for quick rest stops, we drove straight through and made it home by about 3:00. .

Our Michigan residence welcomed us. It was chilly inside (about 60), but with outside temperatures of about 80, we didn’t complain. Our house was a little stale, but absolutely no problems. Grass looked shaggy, and a bunch of branches littered the lawn, but nothing to complain about. (Mice did get inside our travel trailer, but except for droppings, it doesn’t appear there was damage.)

We considered the trip totally successful. John will make sure the truck brakes are working better before we use it again, but he did a great job getting us safely home. We’re both tired but it feels good to be here.