Difficult day - Wednesday

We departed the Elks Lodge in Beaumount (which is across the street from an Exxon-Mobil refinery with great ease and headed to Austin. This is a very nice lodge (inside) - it has been rebuilt after hurricane Rita when the power went back on it created a short and the whole place burned down. Gettting around Houston we decided to take route 8 which was under construction for about 50% of the arc. As we departed the toll booth the coach started "bucking" on acceleration - this was minor at first and the problem onjly increased so that by the time we got to Austin it stalled out several times. Our good helper at Cummins South thought our problem most likely was the fuel filter (we use two) and fortunately we carry extras with us and we were able to schedule a 7am visit to freightliner for the next morning.
With the luck of the day we headed to the Austin Moose Club - big mistake and the big hint should have been turning off Martin Luther King Boulevard! First Buster (our GPS) had us turn the wrong way and we ended up going up a steep hill (stall) with no exit but had to go down the hill to a small cul-de-sac to turn around which meant unhitching the car and the hitch didn't like coming loose with the steep angle but finally did. The house had a large panel of plywood protecting (or replacing) the window and was decorated with foreclosure! Bill had to drive back up the short steep hill (stall again) and followed me unhitched to the Moose hall. It was an easy decision to search another location. I should have taken pictures but never thought of it as we just wanted safety!
Off we went to the Elks Club which sat as you most likely guessed it at the top of another short steep hill (stall again) and this location was great. After parking we were happy to visit the bar at the lodge for great hamburgers and a pitcher of beer! We stayed in the Lodge parking lot for four nights and enjoyed the easy access to the U. of Texas swimming center. The members were most cordial and kept checking on Will's progress.