When we left the Zion area, we planned on heading north and wanted to take advantage of the larger cities in order to get some work done on the truck and trailer. Buying a five year old trailer meant that we had tires that were not brand spanking new and I had been a little worried about then since before we left Madison, thanks to Facebook groups and tales of tire blow-outs. There was cracking on the side of one tire in particular and we headed to Cedar City to get new tires on the trailer and brake work done on the truck.
Rolling Rubber was a great shop that provided just what we needed while also offering free wi-fi and was within walking distance of a laundromat. The tires were a known expense but when they looked at the truck brakes, it was discovered that we had a stuck caliper that had been causing problems for who knows how long. Four hours and several hundred dollars later, we hit the road with with shiny new tires, new brakes and a new caliper. Our MPG seemed to get a lot better after that stop.
We then headed up to Provo for the next job- installation of an additional transmission cooler at Action Transmissions. Mike had been monitoring our transmission temperature on the trip and it tended to get pretty high when we were going over mountains, especially in hot weather. We slowed down a lot and had to take some cooling breaks, which helped, but we really just wanted to keep the transmission happy and working for as long as possible. Google reviews helped us find the Action guys and it really was just a super positive experience. The shop was certainly nothing out of the ordinary, but the group of people working there seemed to be one of the nicest around. Other than a little walk down to a grocery store at one point, we just hung out in the lobby (again taking advantage of wi-fi), listening to this group of men and women go about their workday. They were so good-natured and truly kind to everyone they came into contact with. Several employees stopped to chat with us as we read and worked on the computer. At one point a disabled man came into the store to try to sell some cleaning supplies and one of the owners took quite a bit of time to hear his spiel and buy some of his products, being funny and friendly the whole time. Mike and I both admitted to feeling like we were better people just for having hung out there for a while.