Day 43 - Brainerd...Get Comfortable

Tony Cacciarelli • July 27, 2020

Stuck in Brainerd - Day 1 - July 27, 2019

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Toasting the end of a
42-day flying streak

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I'm horrified, but I can't look away

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My first time playing Pull Tabs

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Original Instagram Post

Well, it was good while it lasted but, like all good things, it had to come to an end. My flying streak of 42 days in a row ends today. ☹️

There were complications with the new muffler install, which means I’m grounded until Tuesday. It was always a possibility that I'd get stuck due to weather or a mechanical issue.

So, a toast to a good run 🥃

I’m still in the land of 10,000 lakes, though. Gonna get out there and take advantage of them one way or another. I have some plans in the works...and I think I found a good rental car!

I was also introduced to Pull Tabs at a local bar tonight. I'd never seen this before. They're paper cards with three tabs that you pull [hence the name] to reveal a row of symbols. If you get three symbols connected by a green line you win. I played the version called "Keep 'em Flying", which seemed appropriate and sort of ironic. The proceeds go towards helping special needs kids, so it's all for a good cause.

We'll see what tomorrow brings. Unplanned adventure awaits.

😀👍🏼

I spent most of this day at the airport waiting to see what the final result of my muffler issue would be, so I don't have any bonus pics or video. My assumption was that I would be flying out later that day, so I packed my bags, checked out of the hotel and called the one and only taxi company in Brainerd to get to the airport.

The replacement muffler arrived around 11am as planned and after a bit of contemplation and review of the installation procedure ICON had sent over, the mechanic found that he needed to resize the opening of the muffler to mate up with the exhaust manifold according to ICON's specs. Since this was a smaller muffler than what he was used to, he didn't have the right tool for the job. He spent a good part of the early afternoon trying to get the tool, but nothing panned out. There wasn't anyone available at ICON, since it was a Saturday, so we realized we'd have to wait until Monday to figure out plan B. That meant I was staying in Brainerd until at least Tuesday - at best. Definitely not the result I'd hoped for.

Since I'd be sticking around it made sense to get a proper rental car so I could do some exploring outside the city. Problem was, the rental car companies all closed at noon on Saturdays and weren't open at all on Sundays. I'd missed that window of opportunity.

The FBO had a courtesy car, but they wouldn't let me keep it overnight since they had other customers coming in who might need to use it. That was understandable, but I scheduled it for a few hours the next day, just so I'd be able to get out and about. That'd get me through Sunday and then I'd see about getting a car on Monday, if needed.

I also looked into renting a boat on Gull Lake for Monday. I knew I wouldn't be going anywhere and I thought it'd be fun to go back to the same lake I'd landed the A5 on the day before. I was able to get it all set up for a half-day rental starting early Monday morning, so I had that to look forward to.

I was pretty disappointed with being stuck for a few days waiting on the muffler fix - and also the end to my consecutive flying streak. I probably could've arrange a flight lesson or something to keep it going another day, but I felt like it was the right time to just let it go.

I had one other more urgent problem. I'd checked out of the Arrowwood Lodge that morning and they no longer had any rooms available. Fortunately, I was able to get a room at the nearby Days Inn. The hotel was fine, but it was on a VERY busy divided highway and all the restaurants in the area were on the other side with the closest intersection about half a mile away. It was quite an adventure getting across.

I walked over to the Black Bear Lodge & Saloon for dinner and to drown a few sorrows. There was a nice bar area and plenty of people to chat with (the pic is not mine, btw, grabbed off Google). I had a good time playing Pull Tabs with the other folks and, since I knew I wouldn't be getting up early, I had a few extra drinks along the way. That made getting back across the highway even more of an adventure, though!