Day 43

After the long night before, I woke up rather late. We immediately started packing and got some breakfast in the lobby. Being that the bike would not work, we did not get on it and ride another few hundred miles that day--instead, we waited for a tow truck to pick us up. When it arrived Dad and the tow truck man (plus with a tiny bit of help from me) got the bike into a trailer, along with our luggage. Then we climbed into the truck and were driven to the nearest Harley Davidson dealership, where we got the bike into the shop.

In the best case scenario we would not be able to leave until the afternoon of the following day. First, the mechanics would have to make sure they knew that the problem was what they thought it was. After that, they would have to order and over-night the right parts because they did not have them at the time. In addition to all that, two other bikers were broken down there and we would have to come last. We were in for a long stay in Rome, NY.

Someone graciously gave us and our luggage a ride in his car. We were going to go to the nearest cheap motel, but Dad thought we might as well rent a car if we were to stay for a while with no transportation. So at the last second Dad got us stopped at an Enterprise car rental. Once in the building, we found our error: no cars were available at the time.

Our ride was gone. We were left with our bags. The nearest motel was at least a mile away. And we had no choice but to pick up our bags and walk all the way on what would seem like the longest mile of the whole trip.

After much walking and sweating in the hot sun we finally got to the motel. I felt hot and tired, but I knew Dad must have been feeling worse because he was carrying the heavier bag.

When we found how expensive it was for a room, we walked to another motel. But that one's prices were even worse, so we went back to the first one and got a room. We almost stayed there for the rest of the day except when we got some fried chicken for lunch and when we got a few snacks at a pharmacy nearby. We also did laundry.

Hopefully we could make it home soon--but for the night we knew we would have to wait a few extra days.