We made it to Michigan. We had a little bit of an adventure on our way to Michigan. We decided to take 2 vehicles to Michigan to leave an extra spot in our garage for the renters, so Elizabeth drove one and I drove the other. In Cincinnati, the traffic came to a stand still and I kept smelling brakes burning every time I stopped. Not only did I get the smell but I realized the Jeep was pulling hard every time I hit the brakes. I figured I better check out what was going on. We had just had the brakes done on the Jeep. After fighting to get over with both vehicles several lanes, and finding an exit, we finally made it to a gas station. It was the Jeep’s brakes burning up. We had no tools and middle of Cincinnati, so we decided to find a repair shop.
Everything was closed or closing! It was nearly 5 pm on a Friday going into 4th of July week and every repair shop we found was just closed or closing and did not have time to look at the Jeep. Elizabeth and I decided we would divide and conquer finding a shop. She stayed in a parking lot calling local shops while I drove to the ones in sight. After stopping at five repair shops I found one still open. The mechanic said he had enough time to look at it, but could not guarantee a fix that day, they were closing in 25 minutes. He walked out to the Jeep and said, “yup one of the brakes needs a little work” and asked if I could leave it overnight!
Right then Elizabeth called and had found a tire store just over a mile away that would check it out. We decided to meet there and see what would happen. While the mechanic took the Jeep for a drive, and removed all the tires on a lift, we had a good conversation with one of the manager out front. He had travelled through Europe in the past by train. He told us about his trip and the expansion of soccer in Cincinnati, which he was really excited about. Anyways, after nearly an hour we were delivered the knowledge the caliper on front driver’s side was locked. It would cost about $120 in parts and over $350 in labor to repair and they could do it now. We explained we were driving the Jeep to store in Michigan and did not want to spend the money on the mechanic. He was hesitant, but said there really should not be a problem driving the final 4 hours.
We took the chance and drove. The next 4 hours I used the brakes as little as possible. I down shifted and coasted as much as possible. Amazingly, I only used my brakes 5-6 times in the next 4 hours and had no problems. Since we had the 4+ hour delay in Cincinnati we decided to shorten our drive for the night and stay with Elizabeth’s sister. Originally, we had planned to drive an additional 2 hours to our little cabin. We made it to Elizabeth’s sister’s house and decided to call it a night. We made it to Michigan!
