Kadydid and The Goose

Update:   Meet Kadydid.  She is a 1973 Shasta 16SC, and I have wanted one just like her since May of 2011, when I saw one for sale for $450 at a local thrift store parking lot.  For years I wanted an Airstream, but Airstreams are very expensive, even if you buy them needing work.  I realized when I saw the little Shasta in spring of 2011 that this would be perfect, much more affordable, and in many ways even better than an Airstream.  By the time I was ready to talk seriously about buying it, it was gone.

 

Traumatic and painful life events followed shortly thereafter, and in the darkest times I searched for something positive to hold onto, a dream I could still believe.  I made a promise to myself that I would find another 16SC and make it my own. 

 

It's been a heck of a journey so far, and it's not over.  But I can at least say that I've kept a big part of my promise to myself.  Here's the first picture I've taken of KD.  This is at the Shelbyville, Indiana Walmart parking lot.

 

 

I arrived in Aurora about 10:30pm Wednesday night.  My plan had been to get a room for the night, as much for the air conditioning and cool shower as for anything else, and also to celebrate my arrival at the place I had looked at on the map so many times while planning my trip to get Kadydid.  I needed to get a drop hitch, a ball and pin, new tires on KD and some other things which I planned to do in the morning.

 

But heavy storms were expected starting after midnight and into the next morning, and so the urgency to get KD hitched up before the hard rain (and assorted other possible storm goodies) hit meant that I had to pick up hitch parts at the local Walmart and get hooked up late Wednesday night. 

 

I spent the night at the Hillcrest Motel on Route 50, which had a good pull-through spot for me to park in.  The Hillcrest wasn't bad for a $60 room, although oddly there were no curtains on the bathroom window (?).  I turned on the A/C full blast when I got in the room and just stood in front of it.

 

In the morning there was a severe thunderstorm warning for right over Aurora, but I slept through most of it and never heard a thing.  It was about to expire by the time I woke up.  All I saw was some ordinary rain and cloudy skies.

 

I took KD to Lawrenceburg Tire Discounters in the morning to get three new tires (two road and one spare).  They were fast and efficient, great guys who mounted my tires quickly and filled them with nitrogen for cool running.  They topped up Goose's tires with nitrogen too, 60 psi in the front, 70 in the back.  I'm really pleased with these folks.  They were fast, efficient, and friendly.  They admired Goose and wished me well on my trip.  I was a bit frazzled at that point, so I didn't get any pictures of them or the proceedings.  But if you need tires in the Aurora/Lawrenceburg area, I can recommend these guys.