June 3, Knoxville, TN

This beautiful Mississippi bridge welcomes all to Memphis

My stay in Carlisle, Arkansas was restful.  I could have made it closer to Memphis but I thought its congestion would be easier to face during the day.

I checked the oil, Mercedes has used none since we left Albuquerque.  I'm not used to that, all my other old cars use a quart or more every thousand miles.  Today the viscous clutch on the fan was free.  I thought that was odd, it was engaged whenever I checked it on the first two days.  Right away I found the engine was running about 20 degrees warmer (from 175 to 195)  than it did on Monday.  I wondered if the fan clutch was working.  It is supposed to automatically engage when the engine gets hot but it's hard to tell from inside the car.
Gas mileage:  The 450 SL is known to be a guzzler.  From the start of the trip, she has averaged 13.2 MPG. That is pretty awful for a 4.5L two seater.  They say the later models, like the 560SL are much better.

The trip through Tennessee was beautiful.  I have driven a lot of I-40, but not so much east of OK City.  This road does not get much respect.  It should.  As it heads east from Memphis, it becomes more serpentine, winding its way along dense forests, lakes, and rivers.  Every shade of green and blue I could imagine was there.  It was impressive now, I wonder what it would be like in the fall. 

I didn't care for all the trucks, they now dominate the traffic on all interstate highways.  But the Mercedes held its own against these beasts.



Oops, lost my load!

I was planning to meet Nance at 6 PM at the Knoxville airport.  All was going according to schedule until disaster hit at mile marker 340.  A semi rolled on a sharp curve blocking both lanes and the shoulder.  I was caught in a five mile Jersey jam, reduced to a slow crawl.  The poor Mercedes did not like it and seemed to suffer from ethanol fuel boiling.  It was all I could do to keep it running and rolling.  This lasted for 90 minutes.  Finally, I reached the crash scene.  It was a mess.  A guard rail ripped the trailer to shreds and it belched its load of small boxes all over I-40.  I don't think there were any injuries, the tractor was not seriously damaged.

I made it to the airport but the Mercedes had trouble recovering from the jam on I-40.  It now is stalling and misses and stumbles a lot.  I suppose the spark plugs may have fouled.  I never checked them before I left, no telling how old they are.  I think tomorrow I'll pay another visit to AutoZone.

Nance was relaxed after achieving what I took three days to do in a few hours.  Hmm, that's where all the car travelers went -- they fly in airplanes!

Nance's sister Holly looked great and we enjoyed a meal in her apartment.  Tomorrow, I will see if I can get the Mercedes running a bit better and do a little sightseeing in Knoxville.