Chasing Ernie

Every 3000 or so miles I take Minnie in for an oil and filter change.  It is a ritual event and I never know what state or city I will be in when this ritual comes around.  Because I live on the road I don't have a favored mechanic or auto shop so when the time comes around I find myself searching for a place that can accomplish this job.  I have used Camping World on occasion in different cities when they have their Spring special but it is not my preference.  This time around I noticed an ad in the RV park brochure for Ernie's auto shop and gave him a call.

Ernie's shop is in Sierra Vista, a 20 minute ride down the road, and when I spoke to him he assured me I did not need an appointment, they worked on motorhomes and the price would be $49.95.  What a deal!  Even better that I didn't need to make an appointment and could show up whenever I wanted within the next few weeks.

Yesterday felt like a good day to leave the park so I packed up Minnie and headed down the road to Sierra Vista.  I had been to Sierra Vista once before so knew where Ernie's was but still used my GPS (LOVE my new one!).  I ended up going a loooooonnnnngggg way around the block because I could not find an easy access to Ernie's and there were fences that were closed.  My second time into the parking lot a gentleman told me Ernie had moved and his shop was now down the highway.  Hmmmm.....okay, I will go to Walmart for supplies and call Ernie to get his new address.

Called Ernie, got the new address, completed my Walmart shopping and headed down the highway. 

From the picture above, you can see that Ernie's was not easy to spot from the highway.  A nondescript building with a mailbox address that matched the address Ernie gave me, but a business name of Goen's Tow-En.  Huh?????  After maneuvering Minnie around several times I got out of the cab and walked around to the back of the building.  Sure enough this was indeed Ernie's and Ernie himself greeted me and recognized my voice from the previous call.  Now, the problem was that they had only been in this new location for three days and not all of their bays were up and running.  Ernie wondered if I might come back another day or they could work on Minnie today if I could wait an hour.  So much for not needing an appointment.  I am not going to come back another day, too inconvenient, so decided to go into Tombstone one last time.  By the time I went to Tombstone and back it would take up the hour I needed to wait.  No problem and it was a beautiful day for a drive.

An hour later I was back at Ernie's.  He needed my keys so I told him I was just going to go back to Minnie to get my ipad.  When I came back a few short minutes later there was no one to be found.  What the heck happened to Ernie????  He was not in his office, not in any of the bays, not outside...wtf?  Eventually Ernie surfaced from the bathroom, at least 5 minutes later, and took the keys.  He couldn't have waited????

But an hour and 15 minutes later Minnie was oiled and lubed, tires checked and the oil in the generator had even been changed.  The total price?  $50.00!!!!!  Ernie wasn't set up to take credit or debit cards but he could break a $100 bill for me, after several trips to the back.

It was a long and amusing day and I have never put so much energy into chasing a man.