I set out about 11:30 this morning on my way to Port Aransas, TX, for my week-long “vacation.” The plan is to spend a few days relaxing and walking on the beach before buckling down and doing some serious soul searching to figure out what I want to do next. I stopped by the office to pick up a few things and then headed out. I was only about 15 miles down the road when I realized that I had forgotten the power cord for my laptop. So back to the office to pick it up. Not a great way to start a vacation, but that’s okay. I’m not in any big hurry.
About an hour later, just a few miles north of San Marcos, I looked back and saw a big plume of smoke following me. “Can’t be my truck,” I thought, but then re-thought that when I changed lanes and the smoke stayed with me. Not fun. You can get almost anything on Sunday these days, but auto repair is pretty hard to come by. I can’t say for sure, but it looks like I have a hole in one of the transmission cooler lines, which results in transmission fluid pouring out. It’s probably something I could fix myself given a few tools and a place to work, but I’ll stay here overnight and have my truck towed to the shop in the morning.
It’s not how I wanted to start my trip, but getting upset about it wouldn’t do any good. The room is reasonably comfortable and a lot quieter than I thought it would be, given that it’s right on I-35. I took a walk, read a bit, and did a little writing. I don’t have my feet in the sand at the beach, but I’m still relaxing. Just one more detail to take care of in the morning and then my vacation starts in earnest.
Perhaps it’s true that the adventure lies in the travel, not in the destination.