I was so proud of myself for starting to get caught up a little last night. I wrote 4 web log entries and organized all the pictures I've taken so far. We were 150 miles from the put-in on the Rio Grande, and there were even a few extra beers in the cooler when I went to bed. This morning we were running a little late, but still on track for a great day on the river to kick off a relaxing week. For this entire trip it seems like I've been pushing to get somewhere. Rush to Tybee to get a boat to show off in Jacksonville. Hustle to Port St. Joe to try to get on the water before dark. Then hurry up and wait for the rain to stop. The 2^nd was pretty relaxing since I didn't have to pick Bo up until 10:00pm, but still I had some place to go. As we cruised through Mississippi & Alabama we were able to take our time a bit, but definitely made decisions based on where we wanted to be tonight or tomorrow morning. The crushing drive from New Orleans to Houston was definitely more than I expected, and the push to get over here to Big Bend kept us behind the wheel for most of the day yesterday. This morning was different. We had plenty of time, a little bit of distance, and a 4 day float trip in front of us... and then we got in the car.

Granted, it was cold when we fired her up this morning. 33 degrees according to the news. But still, I expected to be able to pull some power out of the engine as we climbed out of Sanderson and on to Marathon, Texas. An hour or so later we were still struggling to get the engine over 1200 rpm, and 30 mph. Not cool. West Texas is pretty and all, but I want to see these views at 60 miles an hour as I'm on my way to the river. By the time we rolled into Marathon we were really struggling. We loaded up on coffee, ripped out the old air filter and kept our fingers crossed on the drive toward Alpine. Maybe the engine would kick in once the sun warmed us into the 40's. Maybe it's just the altitude. Maybe we're completely screwed.

After talking to a couple of mechanics, a couple of cowboys, and the guy behind the counter at Autozone, we know it's one of several problems with the clutch, transmission, or engine, and that we should plan on spending a lot of money to get back on the road. Time for lunch. Magoo's Place seemed to be the local favorite with family style seating and a dicey working man's lunch buffet. By the time we finished eating and walked back over to the garage I was starting to really like the guy we had lunch with. He was friendly enough, but the best thing about him was the fact that he had experienced similar trouble a couple of years ago with his truck. After several hundred dollars of work he replaced the fuel filter and was suddenly good to go. Right now I'm hoping he's the best mechanic in Alpine and that we're a fuel filter away from bliss.

With the Jeep up on the lift my stomach is tied up in knots. Is this going to be easy? Maybe, just maybe, we'll get out of here for less than the cost of replacing my car. I guess I should go check out what's going on over there. Maybe they need someone else to stand around and ask stupid questions. Mechanics love that.