Archive for the ‘Automotive Frustrations’ Category

Lake Arrowhead, CA — Dallas, TX

Well, we made it. To Dallas anyway.

We left Lake Arrowhead yesterday at about 11 am PST and got here today at 3 pm CST. We stopped in Thousand Palms, CA for our last In-N-Out burgers, maybe forever. Berck drove till right before we hit Phoenix about 5 pm MST. Then I drove through rush hour traffic, on past firefighters putting out a car totally consumed by flames, into the night and the rain. We had decided to continue driving through the night because it had gotten unbearably hot in the desert during the day. We needn’t have worried; rain followed us from mid Arizona through Dallas (it’s finally stopped raining, just overcast now). But camping in the dark in a torrent was out of the question, so on we pressed. We stopped to fill up and change drivers. Berck put Rain-X on the windshield and decided to switch the wiper springs, since the driver’s side one kept skipping up and down the glass. Unfortunately, the spring launched a vital part into the dark, and we spent an hour searching for it in vain. Fortunately, the Rain-X worked wonderfully, since now we only had one windshield wiper. I read Gogol out loud to Berck until the road got too bumpy, then slept soundly till we hit El Paso and had to stop for gas again. Then I drove, consuming an entire package of sunflower seeds by the time I finally gave up sometime after dawn at a truck stop west of Abilene. I propped up my head with Berck’s sleeping bag stuff bag and was asleep in seconds.

Three hours later, Berck went inside the truck stop and came back with a Starbucks Frappuccino (which he downed immediately), a Dr Pepper, and a gigantic Snickers bar. I kept sleeping till he got gas again outside of Ft. Worth.

I keep asking Berck if it’s alright to go to sleep. I feel very much like my head is about to fall off.

We’re heading for Mobile in the morning, though we may have to stop in Tyler (and the nearest Advanced Auto) to get a new alternator. Berck just got his replaced in December, but this one’s now got a bad (and very noisy) bearing. Plus the car has developed a new rattle. I keep telling Berck it’s the missing piece of the wiper blade assembly, but he doesn’t believe me. Hopefully, a new wiper part and header will be waiting for us in Mobile. Until then, the car sounds pitifully loud.

San Jose, CA

Well, we visited the miracle welder this morning. We got in to San Jose a bit after 1 last night, then stayed up till 4 chatting with Brandon and Stephen. Brandon just got a job with Google doing network security. Stephen has decided that to write well he’ll have to stop writing for the film industry.

Berck drove yesterday until it got dark; then I drove the rest of the way. We’d been up since 5:30 a.m. We finally got some sleep 22 hours later. We slept for a few hours and then got up to head to the shop. The mechanic is an old guy with a pot belly and white Amish beard. He took one look under the hood and declared, “Junk. It can’t be welded.”

So now we’re trying to figure out what to do about getting a “new” header and how to put it on.

Arches National Park, UT–Grand Junction, CO

We spent last night at Arches National Park. We got to Moab in time to buy some supplies from an overpriced yuppie “market” that specialized in organic trail mixes. They also had a nice selection of local beers. Brands included Squatters, who makes Provo Girl (with a picture of a beer maiden on the label) and Full Suspension (a bicycle). We got a good laugh out of those until we saw another local brand, who makes Polygamy Porter (“Why have just one”).

We ended up with two large bottles, one a rather stout stout and the other a brown ale, which Berck has wrapped in my towel to keep it from rattling. Rattling and other car noises are the reason why I’m sitting at a garage in Grand Junction, CO. But I’ll get to that later.

The campground in Arches is all the way at the end of the park … and at its highest elevation. So while most of the park was snow free, the campground was covered in snow. We picked our site, not because of its secluded location or distance from other campers, but because there was a small square of ground not covered by snow and just big enough for our tent. (We’ve tried camping ON snow before … “It’ll be soft!”) We paid for our spot and set up our tent. Then Berck tried to insert the tent pegs. The frozen solid ground wouldn’t budge. He bent two stakes (they’re titanium) and split the rock he was using as a hammer. The best we could manage was twisting one stake in where the ground was a little softer at one corner. Another stake got in about halfway. Since this tent’s rain fly is dependent on staking, we were in a tight spot. Moisture wouldn’t be able to escape, and the rain fly would act like a parachute if the wind picked up. We were at the highest point of the campsite, with a beautiful view, but the worst place for wind.

Fortunately, it never got windy. It did get cold. My feet were cold. I wonder what I can do to keep my feet warm in my sleeping bag when the rest of me is fine. Berck kept violently elbowing me through his sleeping bag because he said I was making snoring noises. Hey, I could only breathe out of one nostril! Berck got me up with the sunrise, when the sun’s rays began melting the frost on the inside of the tent and dripping water down on everything below. We’re going to have to let the tent air out for sure.

We packed everything up and drove back through the park. Arches is a pretty amazing place. It’s like Garden of the Gods times one thousand. It’s named for the 2,000 arches in its borders, but what’s most striking is the myriad of “fins” of red sandstone that slice through the park. We got to see Delicate Arch from afar (it’s the one textbooks always use to illustrate this odd geographic feature). It’s definitely a place I’d love to come back to in the spring and explore sometime. Today it was too cold, and Berck has blisters on his heels from our six miles in one day of hiking in Zion.

Then it was on to Grand Junction. We drove a windy road through a deep brick red and black rock canyon until we got to I-70.

Now we’re in Grand Junction at Flyin’ Miata’s headquarters, whose aim is to build a Miata that can go 200 mph. They also put turbo chargers in Miatas and sell all sorts of other parts. They knew more about Miatas than anyone else, so when ANOTHER noise presented itself, Berck thought we should stop by. Grand Junction is only an hour away from Moab, UT. Berck’s been having a fabulous time talking to the mechanics and stuff.

Well, the Miata people have decided that the noise is “valve noise” and it does NOT imply imminent destruction. They’ve also rotated the tires, changed the oil, and replaced all sorts of little parts that Berck had broken or lost. We may buy a battery as well. Berck got to ride in one of their turbo charged cars. He’s like a kid in a candy shop.

Turns out the mechanic here is also a pilot who learned to fly at the flight school in Norman. I guess that means Berck could always get a job as a Miata mechanic?

The plan is to drive in one long shot to Lake Arrowhead tonight, but I’m feeling very much like a nap. We’ll see.

We’ve zig-zagged across the southwest. Now we’ll travel up through California. We still haven’t decided on a homeward bound route yet.