We left out of the parking lot of the Chattanooga Choo Choo yesterday morning and the little car was sputtering a bit. Kinda' like she had some junk in the carburetor. It cleared up quickly and we were on our way. We got a bit turned around and had a brief tour of downtown Chattanooga but finally Garmin had us all straightened out and we arrived at the Incline Railway for our trip up Look Out Mountain. The skies were very overcast. It looked like it could pour buckets any moment. By the time we all had our parking tickets and were lined up under the covered porch for the train car, the skies opened up and it came down very hard! We enjoyed a nice leisurely ride up the mountain in the car. At the top, we were above the clouds and couldn't see a thing! A small group went for a walk to the Civil War park, while most of us enjoyed coffee, hot chocolate, and sodas in the comfortable gift shop/cafe. Soon, it was time to be off for our next destination.
We were only just around the corner for the road to take us up Look Out Mountain to Rock City. It was quite the steep climb for the little car, but we made it with no issues! Rock City is a beautiful rock outcropping atop Look Out Mountain. At the top is Lovers Leap where you can see, on a clear day, 7 states. Our day was quite cloudy, but the rain had abated for the next couple of hours. Nice, since we had a good bit of walking to do. The gardens that have been planted along the paths are beautiful. We saw mountain deer, white, tan and a couple of speckled fawns. We had a fun walk along the swinging bridge, squeezed through fat man's squeeze, and enjoyed a very nice lunch up at the pavilion. Then we were back on the trail for Fairy Land. They have done a nice job of illustrating children's fairy tales inside huge cave, lit with black lights. Jacob would enjoy seeing this!
We were soon back on the road after a short technical session on John Cockerill's car. Seems that he couldn't accelerate. It was quickly discovered that he needed to pull down his spark lever!
We made our way back to Chattanooga along beautiful windy roads of the Georgia countryside. A rattle seemed to have set up under the hood of Miz B. It didn't sound good! As we arrived back at the Choo Choo, we found the repair tent to see if anyone there could diagnose the problem. It was quickly discovered that the new water pump's shaft was wobbling and causing the rattle. Another failed water pump! That is the second one in recent history. Now the challenge was to find one, or we weren't going to make it home! A gentleman, Mike Kemp happened to see all the commotion and stopped by to see if he could be of some help. Why, yes, he could! mike owns and makes the Omega Water Pumps for Model A's! And, yes, he had a water pump with him! He was also very kind to help install it. By now, it was raining harder that it had all day. I think we got the two to four inches that was predicted for the afternoon!
Of course, pulling off the water pump meant draining the fluid from the radiator, so it was a great time to check the Gano filter. Yep, it was clogged with rust chinks, AGAIN!!!!! This is the reason we overheated coming up the mountains getting to Chattanooga!
Water pump installed, hoses reinstalled, with clean filter, hood back on and clamps nice and tight and Miz B is back in business to do some more touring in the morning.
We hurried back to the room, after covering her up in the pouring rain, to change for the Welcome party and barbecue supper at the Tennessee Aquarium. Supper was delicious, but we were just too tired to tour around the aquarium, so we caught the electric, free bus back to the Choo Choo and called it a night!
Rain is forecast For most of today, but we are going to make the best of it and have fun with our Model A friends as we tour Warren County, Tennessee.
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