16 Hours in Winthrop. Could be 6 Days!
Pacific Northwest Travelog 16
Winthrop, WA. Thursday, 6 July 2017. 11am.
We've been in the tiny town of Winthrop in central Washington for 16 hours now since our car broke down ( fortunately right at our hotel). After doing some online research early this morning we were finally able to reach a few repair shops via phone when they opened.
There's good news and bad news. First, the good news: We've gotten our car towed to the one repair shop in town.
Bad news: There's only one repair shop in town. And they're busy. They warned they might not even be able to start diagnosis until Tuesday next week!
Worse news: The other shops in the region, anywhere from 10 to 50 miles away, are also busy. One told us it would probably be a week from Monday before they could take us in. That's 10 days away!
I pleaded with the local shop on the phone and again in person after we arrived with the tow truck, stressing that we're from far out of town and we are literally unable to go anywhere while waiting for repairs. Plus, what if it's something simple like just needing a new battery? Just at least do a preliminary diagnosis today, I begged. They said they'd try.
Given this bad news we have started rebooking our plans for the trip. We cancelled our stay for tonight in eastern Washington. The motel manager there was gracious enough to waive the cancellation fees in consideration of our difficulties. We've extended our stay here in Winthrop for an extra day. Fortunately the lodge has the same room open for tonight (probably because it's not the weekend yet) so we don't even have to move our stuff.
For now I'm holding on to our reservations for Friday and Saturday night, when we plan to head south through Yakima and the Oregon Cascades. I don't know that we'll be able to get out of here that soon, but I'm not going to pull the plug on that possibility yet. Plan for success, prepare for the worst.
Next entry: Fuck it, let's have a nice lunch. Then hide.
Winthrop, WA. Thursday, 6 July 2017. 11am.
We've been in the tiny town of Winthrop in central Washington for 16 hours now since our car broke down ( fortunately right at our hotel). After doing some online research early this morning we were finally able to reach a few repair shops via phone when they opened.
There's good news and bad news. First, the good news: We've gotten our car towed to the one repair shop in town.
Bad news: There's only one repair shop in town. And they're busy. They warned they might not even be able to start diagnosis until Tuesday next week!
Worse news: The other shops in the region, anywhere from 10 to 50 miles away, are also busy. One told us it would probably be a week from Monday before they could take us in. That's 10 days away!
I pleaded with the local shop on the phone and again in person after we arrived with the tow truck, stressing that we're from far out of town and we are literally unable to go anywhere while waiting for repairs. Plus, what if it's something simple like just needing a new battery? Just at least do a preliminary diagnosis today, I begged. They said they'd try.
Given this bad news we have started rebooking our plans for the trip. We cancelled our stay for tonight in eastern Washington. The motel manager there was gracious enough to waive the cancellation fees in consideration of our difficulties. We've extended our stay here in Winthrop for an extra day. Fortunately the lodge has the same room open for tonight (probably because it's not the weekend yet) so we don't even have to move our stuff.
For now I'm holding on to our reservations for Friday and Saturday night, when we plan to head south through Yakima and the Oregon Cascades. I don't know that we'll be able to get out of here that soon, but I'm not going to pull the plug on that possibility yet. Plan for success, prepare for the worst.
Next entry: Fuck it, let's have a nice lunch. Then hide.