Overnighting at Petoskey

We left Spring Hill this morning and arrived at Cadillac Truck (in Cadillac, MI) right at 9 AM. We were supposed to get the front end aligned and they were to check the leaky front wheel seal installed by Raisor Ford before I left. As an afterthought I asked them to change the fuel filter. We thought it would be ready shortly after lunch.

I asked them to give me directions to a restaurant where I could get a good breakfast and they sent us to Da Dawg House. The food was good. One of the entrees, some type of hash, is served in a metal dog dish and the waitresses bark when they serve it (you had to be there).

We went to downtown Cadillac and walked around for awhile. Cadillac, and the surrounding metropolitan area, is built around two lakes; Lake Cadillac and Lake Mitchell. We walked down to Lake Cadillac and spent some time enjoying the view. There was a light breeze blowing in off the lake and a light jacket, or at least a long sleeve shirt, would have felt good. Where we walked along the shore area the water was unbelievably clear.

One of the things I wanted to see what the Shay locomotive. As it happened it was right on the route we walked to get to the lake. Logging was a large source of revenue for the area in the late 1800's. Horses or oxen could drag logs over snow or ice trails but one the ground thawed the logs could not be moved out. Ephriam Shay, a local logger, figured a temporary railroad system would allow them to move logs out during the warm months. The problem was that conventional engines were just to large to work in the tight quarters. Shay patented the design shown in the photos below.

The power came from the three vertical pistons shown in the photo below.

The drive train was flexible. The gearing is shown in the photos below. The rear set of trucks could pivot while still applying motive power.

I called Cadillac Truck at 1 PM to see how they were doing. The filter had been changed and they had completed the pre-alignment inspection. As soon as the alignment guy came back from lunch they would do the alignment. They didn't think the front seal was leaking.

We putzed around Cadillac for a little while longer and then went back to the shop. I say that our RV was still in one of the bays so I went in and set down in the waiting area, Kathy stayed in the car. About a half hour later I heard them trying to start a diesel and went out to see that it was ours. They had gotten air in the fuel lines when they changed the filter and had a devil of a time starting it. They were using ether and probably ground 5 years worth of life off the starter. They finally got it started and then moved it to the alignment bay. It must have been at least 3:30 by then. I again discussed the front seal with the service guy. I told him that I had added at least an ounce of oil 3 times since Raiser made the "repair". The alignment guy said he thought a gasket was leaking and they did replace it.

We finally pulled out and headed to Petoskey a few minutes after 5 PM. We were the last ones to leave the place. By the time we got the CRV hooked up the employees were all gone.

We arrived at the Petoskey KOA campground a few minutes before 8. We got things set up and took the car down to Sunset Park and watched the sun set over Lake Michigan. We got back to the RV around 9:30 and had supper.

Enough of a book for tonight. Good night to all.