A Day in Bowling Green

Our 08 Toyota Rav 4 has been making some scraping sounds when the brakes are applied.  I have driven very little since our arrival in Kentucky, but noticed the grinding rear brake when I drove the two miles to the Post Office and back about 10 days ago.

J. is more than capable of doing a 'brake job", but given that Toyota has had numerous recalls and problems with different models, he decided one of their service centers should do the work. The car has only 12,000 miles on it and is still under warranty.

He learned that the nearest Toyota dealership is about an hour away in Bowling Green, KY. With a 10 o'clock appointment, we decided to leave home about 7 a.m. which would put us in Bowling Green with plenty of time to order breakfast at a favorite restaurant, [Cracker Barrel] eat in a leisurely way, [Actually J. always eats very slowly] and locate the dealership in good time. 

We were checked into the service department shortly before 10. The dealership also handles Honda cars.  We decided to troll around the lot looking at new models and also seeing what might be available in used cars.  NOT that we intend trading cars---we've just always had an interest in such things.

By the time the 3rd or 4th salesman had popped out to ask if he could help us, by the time J. had repeated the tale of our vehicle being in for service, the fact that we had bought it in Wyoming, recently moved to Kentucky, etc, etc, etc, I was over it.  We had passed a mall about a block away and while I'm not excited at thought of doing a mall crawl, it seemed like something to pass the time.

We didn't make it to the mall. Across the side street we found a bookstore and I headed determinedly in, leaving J. little choice but to follow.

A quick glance at the display tables and shelves reminded me again that we have moved to the "Bible Belt" south.  There was a huge inventory of "Christian fiction," devotional books, self-help books with a spiritual slant, as well as the usual aisles of young adults' books, childrens' books, mysteries and such.   There was also a large sale table with books on crafting, building, decorating, gardening.

I was on a mission for a new bird book. Surprisingly I didn't find one.

I did find the first in a new series by Susan Wittig Albert, whose China Bayles mysteries I have enjoyed.

J. found a book on renovating basements into usable living space ,and a historical novel of the prohibition years in neighboring Virginia.

We trudged back across the road, expecting we would retreive our car with its repaired brakes and be on our way.

I found a comfortable chair in the customers waiting area and was quickly transported to an English country village via my new book.  I had reached the moment where [of course] a body is discovered when J. appeared to say that the mechanic had found a defective part in the steering linkeage which needed replacement [also under warranty] and that a loaner vehicle, a late model Toyota pickup had been rolled around to the side door and was at our disposal.

J. has been wanting to tour the nearby Corvette Museum, so we headed across town to find it.

I was sure that I had brought my camera, but a hasty search of our car hadn't turned it up.  We do have a photo from the museum.

We didn't buy a collector's Corvette!  As visitors come to the end of the tour, they are asked to pose against a green felt wall while two photos are taken.

Emerging  from the museum area into the gift shop, one finds a young man earnestly working at a computer.  The basic photos are brought up, and you're given the option of purchasing two photos. We chose to be inserted into a vintage model for the print. [Maybe because we're getting to be vintage models ourselves!]

From the Corvette Museum we drove to the Railroad Museum. [We had been told to expect a 4 hour wait while the car was repaired.]

A very personable volunteer tour guide took us through the restored L&N cars which are on their own permanent sidings created specifically for the purpose. The museum itself is housed in the old L&N terminal. [Louisville and Nashville]

I expect that from now on whenever I read of train travel whether in fiction or history, my mental images will be influenced by the two hours we spent in this interesting place.

http://www.pbase.com/hro1957/corvette_museum

http://www.historicrailpark.com/railcarhistory.html

In lieu of photos, here are links to the museums.

My camera?  Oh yes, when we returned home in early evening [after stopping again at Cracker Barrel] I was entranced by the peonies and iris which had more fully opened during the warm day and wanted more flower photos.  I began rummaging for the camera in any of the places which have become somewhat usual in our still disorganized house.  The camera didn't turn up and my frustration grew by the moment.

With a sort of desparate intuition I pawed once more through my large shoulder bag.  The camera, tucked in just before I floundered out to the car at 7 a.m. had been with me all through the day.

It is happenings such as this which cause me to insist that "I don't do mornings!"