The Good Sam road service arranged for Genesis Towing to come by in the morning and tow the truck over to the Ford Dealership. Hugo was the same guy who had towed our truck the day before.
We have been very pleased with the Good Sam road service; this is the first time that we have used their services. I had read on the internet that people thought that they were very good, and I would have to agree.
The Ford service manager said that it was probably a hub, a $450 part. He called later and said that the truck would be finished today. They called about noon to ask about the truck pulling to the left when you hit the brakes, so obviously they had replaced the hub, put the truck back together and road tested it. I told them that the truck did not pull to the left before. I started walking to the dealership. When I arrived, they were calling me to let me know that the problem was a bad brake caliper, probably due to overheating. Unfortunately, they did not have calipers in stock, and would need to get one out of New York! He thought that the part might come in 8 AM tomorrow. Apparently it does not take long to install the caliper.
Applying 20-20 hindsight, we should have stayed in Benson when we noticed the problem. The caliper was OK at that time. Of course, we don't know if the Ford dealer in Benson could have gotten to our truck in a timely manner. Benson is a nicer place to spend time than Lordsburg.
Marianne cleaned up the camper, took a short walk, and fixed a gourmet dinner. She is enjoying watching the Fiesta Bowl.
Richard went for a lengthy walk through Lordsburg: If you want to know more about Lordsburg, read below.
The main drag of town is Motel Drive, which runs next to the railroad. This was the old main road, bypassed by the interstate highway. Like many areas bypassed by a new road, there were lots of dead gas stations and dead motels. There were a few low-budget motels that were open.
Overall, the town has more boarded up storefronts and closed businesses than active businesses. The houses generally look better than the businesses. But they do have beautiful sunsets, lovely vistas, and big skies.
According to the service manager, the economic base of the town is mining and the railroad. There are a half dozen copper mines in the area. However, all of these mines have closed recently, due to the low price of copper. This has put 5000 people out of work, and explains why they could get my truck into the shop immediately. The population of Lordsburg is declining, he said that there was “A funeral every day”. The Census Bureau shows a 2000 population census of 3379, with a 2007 estimate of 2665, a 20% decline is just a few years.
There are two auto dealerships side by side on Motel Drive, Ford and Chevy. There are various auto parts and repair businesses on Motel Drive.
The NAPA auto parts store sells pinto beans; we are in pinto bean country.
There is a Western Auto store, something that we had not seen for many years. According to Wikipedia, the chain is defunct, but there are a few dealers using that name.
The City Hall was built in 1935 as a WPA work project, and has a brass plaque to commemorate this. The County Courthouse is here also.
The KOA is owned by a Filipino, who has owned it for more than 20 years. He could not explain why his campground had received the awards; “You would have to ask the KOA inspector”, who grades the KOAs. There are two other campgrounds on the east end of Motel Drive, one associated with a Laundromat, which did not look good, and another a block off Motel Drive, that looked OK, $20 a night.
On the east end of town, at one of the freeway exits, there is a Pilot and a Flying J truck stop.
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