Blue Roads Journal: Flying South With The Geese

Starting Odometer 62920

Miles today 162

Thursday November 15, 2018

Port Orford to Blue Lake, CA

Today is our launch date, but it almost didn't happen. Rewind back to Tuesday and Joan and I decide to change out the fuel filter on the bus (motorhome). A quick call to my good friend Mike and he brings me one of his diesel fuel cans with a couple gallons of clean diesel, which will enable us to pre-fill the fuel filter before screwing it into place. We have stocked up on fuel and oil filters, and carry one with us at all times. With all this help and all the necessary supplies we still managed to botch this task. Joan and I have done this 3 times in the past with little or no problems, so perhaps we were a bit over confident. We did not get the filter completely filled and introduced an air embolism into our injector pump.

Accessing the engine bay through the bed pedestal in our 2003 Itasca Horizon motorhome

On start-up, the engine ran strong for less than a minute, then stalled and would not restart. We had to call in the resident expert on such things, our friend Paul. This also required taking the bed apart and accessing the engine from the top- (a 20 minute task). Paul made up a make-shift hand pump- as our coach has no lift, or auxiliary pump. Paul identified the fuel line that leaves the fuel rail and hooked in his hand pump to pull air, and eventually fuel, through the filter and the injector pump. With the air removed the engine started and ran perfectly. Whew! What would we do without our good friends? Finally we could move on to the "list". Joan and I make lists- clothing we want to take, food, tools, electronics...etc. Then we methodically move everything to the bus and check it off the list. Good friend and neighbor, Howard, comes over to see if he can help. We immediately put him to work sorting out the good wood from our stack of remodeling waste and helping us load all the junk wood and the old steel bath tub into the trailer for a trip to the tipping station. It takes a village to get us on the road again!

We also had issues with setting up our new (to us) tow car, a 2002 Chevy Tracker.

Field testing our "new" 2002 Chevy Tracker tow car

This is to be our "new" desert trekking machine, a capable, high clearance, 4WD, nimble and scratchable exploration platform.

In order to get it towable, we needed to switch the SMI (now Demco) Air Force One braking system from the CRV to the Tracker.

SMI's "black box" which uses our motorhomes air brake pressure to operate the Chevy's brakes

Add electrical socket and wiring for the umbilical from the motorhome which will operate the rear lights on the Tracker along with the coach's own rear lights.

Diodes which allow us to tap into the Chevy's lights

Hooked up and ready to go

Thursday morning we finish the task of loading the bus and closing up the house at 11AM, and set out on our first leg of the journey which will take us to my sisters house in Blue Lake, CA 162 miles south on US Route 101, the Coast Highway.

We spend Thursday evening and Friday with Phebe and Rockey doing some projects, talking, laughing, and generally having a good time. Friday afternoon while installing a replacement fence post I managed to whack myself soundly with a metal fence post that I was bending out of my way.

Although the post sprung back and hit me on the side of the face, and although Joan got me ice for it right away, I somehow managed to get a real nice shiner! It hurt momentarily, but now I'm not even aware of it until someone I meet asks me about it. This is the month for messing up my face- first my Dermotologist blistered up my face with liquid nitrogen and left me with oozing sores, now I've go a nice black eye!

Saturday we say our goodbyes and embark on the second leg of this journey.

Because of the freezing nighttime temperatures they are experiencing in Nevada, and because our bus is so poorly insulated against the cold, we opt to head south through California and brave the smoke from wildfires and the high diesel prices to do so. The trip down 101 is breathtakingly beautiful. We have been this way before, but this year- this time- it is just gorgeous.

The red and gold leaves on the trees in full sunshine, the low angle of the sun, the long shadows, all conspire to make this a spectacular show.

And of course the Redwood groves with their tall and majestic giants

We follow the Eel and the Russian Rivers which look like small streams in the aftermath of so many days of drought

Our destination is the Aurora RV Park in Nice, CA, right on the edge of Clear Lake

Aurora Park host, Debra, in the office greeted us enthusiastically, making us think for a moment that she had mistaken us for some important dignitaries. She negotiated the overnight Passport rate for us even though park rules require that normally Passport guests must stay 2 nights to get the reduced rate. Then she offered us a nice pull through spot with a (smokey) view of the lake.