Yep! Didn't do much of anything today except check out the car battery in the Honda CR-V, which has been acting like a battery about to go bye-bye. Slow to start, dead on arrival every single time we tow even after just an hour of towing. It's only three and half years old, and should have lasted longer, but maybe it needed replacing. We've been carrying our handy dandy little red charger with us in the car, just in case, but it's time to get the battery checked.
We went to the Napa Auto Care Center in Ellsworth, ME. It's about 30 minutes from our campground. They tested the battery and one of the cells was bad. Time for a new battery for the car! One hundred and seventy-eight dollars later, (117.00 for the battery, 51.00 for the labor, we're good to go. We could have gotten a cheaper battery elsewhere, at a local auto parts store (but the local ones here didn't have insurance to install), or Sears (none near by) or Walmart, or Honda (not very close) but for various reasons satisfactory for our situation, picked a Napa Auto Care Center to do the job. Napa is found easily all over the U.S., so we wanted to be able to find a store quickly and nearby if there's gonna be a problem down the road. They got us in and out quickly, and the car is acting like a new car again. Hopefully, this will help us not have to charge the battery with the handy dandy little red charger every single time we tow. We didn't have to start doing that until two years into towing the car. We don't pull the one obscure, hard to find fuse under the dash--too big a pain in the patootie to do, and we haven't wanted to pay for an extra switch / special fuse fix there is out there for the battery running down during towing, a common problem with the CR-V, at least that's what we've heard. The little red charger has been one of the best darn investments we've purchased since we started on the road. We use it for inflating our bike tires as well.
On the way to the auto care center, Sparky spotted a guy selling.....
MOOSE antlers! Yee-haw! Well now, two years ago, we spent days looking for moose and it took awhile to find a mother and her calf, and they were WA-A-A-Y far away. Sparky got all excited about at least being able to see ANTLERS for the moment. And of COURSE, she had to have her photo taken holding some, much to Eldo's consternation!
Sometimes he finds these photo ops a little embarassing...you know, the guy selling these is trying to make a living, and Sparky isn't the ONLY tourist who wants a souvenir photo of holding big moose antlers, you can be sure of that. Well, Sparky has an answer for that one! (Of COURSE she does, she ALWAYS does! laughs E.) I told the gentleman, I do a blog, and I'll put his name in here, and tell that he sells moose and elk bone chews as well. So here he is, a great sport himself, to let me take his photo with a set of elk antlers. David Gardner is THE MAN!
His business is DOWNEAST DOG CHEWS, Ellsworth, Maine--moose antler, deer antler dog chews, all natural chews made from naturally shed moose and deer antlers. He also sells wild Maine blueberries which are DELICIOUS! Sparky bought some from him yesterday. They are little blueberries, not like the big fat hybrid ones sold in stores. There is no comparison to fresh Maine blueberries vs. store bought ones.
And if you want to buy moose or deer antlers, they are sold by the pound. Sparky looked at some, thinking they would be a GREAT motorhome decoration on the front, going down the road.....(GOOD GRIEF! She's lost her mind! worries Eldo) but the nice rack she looked at was about 995.00. We'll pass....(You are darn tootin' we will! says E. Hmmmmmm, rack, did you say? I know where you can see a nice rack....) ELDO! This is a family blog, remember? :-) He didn't really say that, I'm just teasing....
At any rate, Sparky is very happy to have seen moose antlers up close and personal...Thank you, Mr. Gardner. This is as close to being a moose as we're gonna get, most likely. And as close as ANYBODY wants to get or should get, I'm sure! See you later!
Well. . .ya never know. . .we saw a moose about 50 feet from the road in Rocky Mountain NP a couple of weeks ago. . .and you should certainly be able to see one somewhere in Maine. . .surely!
ReplyDeleteLike you, we like to use Nationwide Chain Stores for auto repairs. . .which is why we find ourselves at a Ford Dealership everytime we need something done. . .makes it so much easier when your all the way across the country. . .and you need something warrantied!
It seems like your newest post always pops up right when I'm checking my blog reader every night. . .ha ha. . .it's only 9:20 here. . .
Oh please, don't say that about the battery. I don't want our CRV to die on us. We have only had it a year. Three years just isn't enough.
ReplyDeleteWhen we get back to Texas, Paul wants to buy a pair of long horns for the front of the MH. I don't think that is going to happen.
I hope it doesn't happen to you, either, but if you don't pull the fuse under the dash, I forget what number it is, #32? it's just a matter of time till the battery starts going dead. I really recommend having a little battery charger on board just in case. Ours started going dead very slowly. first, it was only on long tows, and we thought that's why. Then it started going down faster and faster. It got to the point where an hour towing made it go dead. The car always started up right away as soon as the charger did its thing, and it never died on us once we charged it up again. We just replaced the battery, and it turns out one cell was bad. So that might have been the reason it started to fail. But battery run downs are VERY common with CR-V's so just a heads up. I think our little red charger was about 65.00. Well worth it, as many times as we had to use it. Here's hoping you don't have that problem! J.
DeleteKeep looking for those moose. Feeding time...right at dusk :-)
ReplyDeleteI've heard there is a problem with the Crv battery when towing. Glad yours lasted as long as it did. Batteries have sure gotten expensive, haven't they?
ReplyDeleteI much prefer to see my moose antlers with the moose still attached...and alive.
The antlers are shed annually by the moose, so no harm would have been done to the animal to get them. MaryBeth
DeleteOne thing for sure, with antlers on the front of your Phaeton, you'd never have a problem finding your rig at a Phaeton rally :-)))
ReplyDeleteInteresting bit on the antlers being shed - I didn't know that.
ReplyDeleteGo into the lake region of Maine and you will find your moose with no problem. Glad you are all set for at least another 3 years. :-)
ReplyDeleteWe are in Maine and went to Moosehead Lake today - Lily Bay State Park. Just inside the entrance a beautiful female moose walked onto the road and just stood there. She then walked into the woods and disappeared from view. We were about 50 yards away. Magnificent animal! Two years ago we saw, and watched for a long time, a moose family of three in Teton NP.
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