We had spent close to an hour in the dark last night working on the Jeep in the Days Inn parking lot in Rome, Georgia to get the fluids filled back up and to get everything checked out.  We had to monitor the fluid in the transfer case since the leak seemed to be getting worse and we wanted to be ready to hit the road first thing in the morning.   After we finished with the Jeep we got busy updating the website and it turned out to be another one of those nights where we were up past 2:00 a.m. so needless to say we were both a little tired when we got up this morning. 

 

It was a little overcast and breezy in the morning which made for what we expected to be a comfortable day of driving.  We packed our gear in the trailer and got ready to head out at about 9:30 a.m.   We figured the best way to start the day was with a good breakfast.  We went to the Landmark Restaurant in Rome and as we pulled in we noticed a CJ-8 Scrambler in the parking lot so we pulled up next to it and parked.  After having breakfast we headed out to get on the road and there was a guy standing next to our Willys looking it over so we began to talk.  It happened to be the owner of the 1982 Scrambler “Richard Toole”, we chatted for a bit about Jeeps and our trip and then another guy came over “Rick Boatwright” who happened to own an 84 CJ-7. We chatted with them for awhile before getting back on the road so we could try and get some miles put behind us.

 

We headed north and made it to Chattanooga, Tennessee around 12:30pm Eastern Time, we had plans to meet with a client for lunch  but wound up spending almost two hours trying to navigate our way through Chattanooga’s poorly routed streets. The markings for the roads were even worse so we lost a couple hours before we were able to get where we wanted to be in order to meet up for lunch.  After meeting and having a great lunch and a much needed break away from the Jeep for a bit we were back on the road.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The winding mountainous roads around Chattanooga are breath taking, the trees and the rolling hills were such a pleasure to be driving through in our open top Jeep, we couldn’t have picked a better way to see the country, that’s for sure. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We crossed the Tennessee River just before stopping in Jasper for some fuel so we could continue onward.  While we were there, we stopped and picked up some of Lucas Stop Leak to see if we could slow the leaking transfer case down a bit (Lucas products can be picked up at your local NAPA Auto Parts Stores).

 

Once we were fueled up and the oil was replenished we continued on hoping to possibly make it to Columbia.  We made our way through several small towns and in each one we had people asking what kind of Jeep we were driving, or hollering to us telling us what year of a Willys Jeep they had at home. There are many small towns in the south, some in nicer shape than others, but all were definitely interesting to go through.  We often wondered what types of jobs the locals may have had since some areas didn’t seem to be too active or industrial.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made it to Columbia around 9:00 p.m. CST and shortly after we pulled in we noticed that the Pintle hitch had torn the frame on the Jeep.  We discussed how lucky and thankful we were that we didn’t loose our trailer and gear on the highway.  We continue to be amazed and impressed at how well our trailer has been handling and performing, thanks to the great guys at Adventure Trailers.  Had their suspension not been under this trailer, we may have had this problem arise sooner.   It looks like we will have to find a shop in Colombia tomorrow that can weld the frame up for us and we may do a little further investigation as to why we have a growing leak from our transfer case. 

 

Here it is after 1:00am again and we still have more work to do before we can call it a night.  Between the long days traveling in that old Jeep and our lack of sleep we are really starting to show signs of fatigue and look forward to a night of good rest...we just hope that we don’t have to wait until we get home to have it. If so, it will still be worth every moment and memory that we will take away from this trip and adventure.