Day #3 Erick, OK to Grants NM
Distance = 475 miles
Next morning, I was on the road just after 6:00 am. It would have been sooner, but I was waiting for the free breakfast in the motel (once a cheapskate, always a cheapskate...). It was actually a great time of day to be on the road. The sun was coming up through the mist, and in minutes I was passing the border town of Texola.
A few hundred yards further and I was into Texas. I planned to stop for gas and a big breakfast in Armarillo, which I got to about 9:30 and ended up in a very busy Denny's (it was Saturday morning).
The next photo is still one of my favorite pictures I took during the trip - a perfect view of the sky above a red steering wheel - what could be better?
Passing through Albuquerque was a big mile stone on my trip. It was mid-afternoon and I was making excellent progress...until I noticed that the temperature gauge was climbing very high. I tried running the car at 80 mph to see if this would cool things down, but it didn't make much difference, so pulled into a rest area and checked the oil...oh dear...not only was the oil level dangerously low, but the dipstick was really, really hot and I noticed I had a fairly major oil leak. There was oil all over the motor and the underside of the hood, and there was a steady drip onto the pavement down below - it later transpired that the oil pan and valve cover gaskets were shot, but I didn't know that then. Not sure what to do, I eventually decided to limp on to the next gas station where I could top up the oil - it needed several quarts to get up to the high line on the dipstick.
The new oil certainly helped cool down the engine, but by now I was starting to feel driving fatigue again; Driving any vehicle for ten hours straight is tiring, but the Mustang was really tough to handle - the steering was really loose, so I was constantly fighting to keep the car moving in a straight line, and the stock seat was killing my back. I was also starting to feel the pain of sunburn on my left side (arm, neck, etc), so I started to think about finding a motel. The next major city on the road was Grants, NM, so I did myself a favor and checked in to the Comfort Inn for some much needed recuperation. Giving the car a good few hours to properly cool down seemed very sensible at this point too.
Read part three of the story here.
Oil leak!?! Okay, you've got me on the edge of my seat.. what next?
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