Traveling south...
I had the oil changed last month and while there I had them look at my belts and hoses (all good). I stopped by Les Schwab and had my tires checked (they put some air in and said they looked great). I made sure my A/C worked by using it during Bellingham's week long summer last week. My antenna had broken at the car wash a while back, so I'd called my repair place and they were ordering a new one. I took it in on Thursday and it didn't fit. So, not needing the radio really, I said can you just remove the old one so it doesn't flop around or break off and go through someone's windshield at 70mph at some point. They said they would disable it. I got it back home.. heard an odd noise, but attributed it to the neighbors (who work on their car(s) in our carport and have music on all the time. I went in and started packing, sorting and piling. After Sky came home we organized some stuff and took zipped up stuff out to the car. The noise was still there. Huh. I found where the "whirbuz" was coming from... the antenna. I swore a little and got in to see if it started... yes. I then began to obsess. It was 9pm, so repair shop closed... it looked like they had just bent the antenna to "disable" it. Well, the power antenna thought it was "up" and kept trying to lower it (which it does of the radio turns off, or when you shut off the car). I found pliers and tried to smoosh the end of the antenna skinnier, so it could lower itself. Nothing. We went and got my neighbor (the works-on-cars one) to see if he could help. We found fuses, none for antenna. We had to take the lining under the fender off to find the motor, which had no switch or fuse or anything... but a couple wires. We discussed it and chose the red wire to cut.. and the motor shut off!! He taped the wire off and made sure it didn't touch other stuff... put the fender back together and we checked that the car started and YAY. Phew, I was sure grateful to my neighbor and PISSED at my repair shop. They will be hearing from me when I get back.
Got up at 4:30am and got ready to go. Packed the last few things and got it all packed in the car. Packed treats and ice-type-items into a cooler and got that in the car. Kissed my Sky and told him I'd miss him... and headed to get gas, mocha and on the road. The early start worked out, as I saw very little traffic and didn't have to slow too much for Seattle, Tacoma or Olympia. It wasn't even bad through Portland. I stopped near Kelso for more mocha and to drain out the first. I checked in with Sky and continued south. A stop at a Rest Area just before the turn off to Battleground, WA, for more draining and some picture taking (because it was raining and green and the rhoddies were in bloom). Another Rest Area stop just before Albany (nice ladies in the coffee chalet gave me cocoa) so I could drain in not-a-gas-station-bathroom. I also called my friend in Eugene to say I was an hour or so away, could we do lunch and I would call when I was closer. In Albany, I filled the gas tank (made 324 miles on the first fill!). Got to Eugene and met my friend crescentdreams for lunch. After lunch, we noticed a puddle under my car... a greenish puddle. We checked it out a little more, checked water, oil, etc, turned it on and off and looked some more. We decided my moving on wasn't such a good idea... because green drippies not good. My friend called her fella and asked about his mechanic, whom we then called and explained the situation. They said they could look at us and see what it needed at the very least. This was about 3pm,and so, we headed that way - me following her. But about halfway there, my Trooper started to overheat. I called her cell... said we may have to stop. It hit the red and we did stop. Decided to call the mechanic and they said to try driving and stopping when it went red and then try again. We decided to go get anti-freeze, fill the reserve tank and THEN try that. It still didn't work and we ended up in an industrial area in an empty parking lot of a union hall (and an shop called "Exclusively Adult"). Yeah, fun. By now it is about 4pm. She called the mechanic and I called AAA. We waited. I called AAA again at 5pm as we hadn't seen them "in about 40 minutes" (and she called the mechanic - he was still waiting for us). Finally the AAA tow guy got there (we were on a different street than they thought we were)... and he hooked up and followed us to the mechanics. He was great and unloded my Trooper into a bay. Magic Mechanic Man looked checked it over and gave me the "news". $500 give or take $50. Whew... I was thinking lots more! Gave him a thumbs up and we unloaded most of my stuff to my friend's car and headed to her house. It was 6:30pm. The excitement had given me a couple of adrenaline spikes and I was just getting over the post-adrenaline shakes. We discussed dinner... which is hard when your brain feels like mush. But we went to a steakhouse and had small slabs of beef. Came back and I started to wind down so fast I couldn't stay awake. So... to bed.
Today I was mostly lazy. I slept in till a little after 9am, showered and dressed while my friend was sweet and went to get us all coffee. We mostly did nothing... we did go to the store, and she made dinner, but mostly... twitter, tv and lounging. It is 10:30pm and we are starting to thing bed. Not sure what tomorrow holds.
I am planning to leave after we get my car and ascertain that it works... maybe 5-6pm on Monday and drive as far as I feel safe to go, then rent a room for the night. I should be in Santa Barbara sometime Tuesday afternoon.
Goodnight all.
Got up at 4:30am and got ready to go. Packed the last few things and got it all packed in the car. Packed treats and ice-type-items into a cooler and got that in the car. Kissed my Sky and told him I'd miss him... and headed to get gas, mocha and on the road. The early start worked out, as I saw very little traffic and didn't have to slow too much for Seattle, Tacoma or Olympia. It wasn't even bad through Portland. I stopped near Kelso for more mocha and to drain out the first. I checked in with Sky and continued south. A stop at a Rest Area just before the turn off to Battleground, WA, for more draining and some picture taking (because it was raining and green and the rhoddies were in bloom). Another Rest Area stop just before Albany (nice ladies in the coffee chalet gave me cocoa) so I could drain in not-a-gas-station-bathroom. I also called my friend in Eugene to say I was an hour or so away, could we do lunch and I would call when I was closer. In Albany, I filled the gas tank (made 324 miles on the first fill!). Got to Eugene and met my friend crescentdreams for lunch. After lunch, we noticed a puddle under my car... a greenish puddle. We checked it out a little more, checked water, oil, etc, turned it on and off and looked some more. We decided my moving on wasn't such a good idea... because green drippies not good. My friend called her fella and asked about his mechanic, whom we then called and explained the situation. They said they could look at us and see what it needed at the very least. This was about 3pm,and so, we headed that way - me following her. But about halfway there, my Trooper started to overheat. I called her cell... said we may have to stop. It hit the red and we did stop. Decided to call the mechanic and they said to try driving and stopping when it went red and then try again. We decided to go get anti-freeze, fill the reserve tank and THEN try that. It still didn't work and we ended up in an industrial area in an empty parking lot of a union hall (and an shop called "Exclusively Adult"). Yeah, fun. By now it is about 4pm. She called the mechanic and I called AAA. We waited. I called AAA again at 5pm as we hadn't seen them "in about 40 minutes" (and she called the mechanic - he was still waiting for us). Finally the AAA tow guy got there (we were on a different street than they thought we were)... and he hooked up and followed us to the mechanics. He was great and unloded my Trooper into a bay. Magic Mechanic Man looked checked it over and gave me the "news". $500 give or take $50. Whew... I was thinking lots more! Gave him a thumbs up and we unloaded most of my stuff to my friend's car and headed to her house. It was 6:30pm. The excitement had given me a couple of adrenaline spikes and I was just getting over the post-adrenaline shakes. We discussed dinner... which is hard when your brain feels like mush. But we went to a steakhouse and had small slabs of beef. Came back and I started to wind down so fast I couldn't stay awake. So... to bed.
Today I was mostly lazy. I slept in till a little after 9am, showered and dressed while my friend was sweet and went to get us all coffee. We mostly did nothing... we did go to the store, and she made dinner, but mostly... twitter, tv and lounging. It is 10:30pm and we are starting to thing bed. Not sure what tomorrow holds.
I am planning to leave after we get my car and ascertain that it works... maybe 5-6pm on Monday and drive as far as I feel safe to go, then rent a room for the night. I should be in Santa Barbara sometime Tuesday afternoon.
Goodnight all.