Scary Business :(

Got up early this morning with the plan of doing a big drive to get as close to  Seattle as possible. We travelled 35 miles (56kms) over more of those windy  steep roads at speeds up to 60mph (96 Kph).We suddenly heard  a loud squealing noise coming from the  front of thecar on the side. When we stopped it stopped and didn't really come back as loud as before. Then the ABS light came on so we kept going real slow as there was no mobile service where we were. Things got very shuddery and we limped into a little town called O'Brien. As we stopped all this smoke poured out of the front drivers side wheel area. When we looked the wheel was at about 40 degrees from it's normal position and loose. Lots of people came to have a look and all of them said the same thing. We were lucky to be alive because the wheel was about to come off and with those dangerous roads we would have been in strife. We had to call Kyle (the mechanic who fixed the other problem) and he drove out and then he called the tow truck and we got towed back to Crescent City again. The rental company are picking up the tab for a rental car and the hotel and it looks like the parts won't be in for 3 or 4 days :(   Kyle said the brakes were just about gone as well. Kyle and Tom (the tow man)have been wonderful as has everyone we have met in this town.

When we were in O'Brien a various assortment of people came up to chat....most looking a little bit "out there".  One of them told us that the area was mainly filled with pot farmers and he showed us his bong.  At the time a cookie wouldn't have gone astray lol

Once we picked up the hire car we went to the Klamath river to see a whale that has swum in but can't get out.  It nearly 14 metres long and puts on quite an impressive show for all the sightseers. Bugs # 232

One wonky wheel :(

What was left of the bearings

Bugga!!!

The van isn't going to be ready till 5 or 6 pm so its no point heading anywhere tonight. We really wanted to be in Seattle by now. We'll get up real early tomorrow and head off and do two long days to catch up. Bugs #221

Shark! Shark!

Larry the policeman took us to an aquarium tonight (he works there part time) and we got to pat some sharks. It was great and we thank Larry for being so wonderful to us

L

Camper Van Diagnosis - it is not terminal!

hmmm so my technical diagnosis was incorrect lol.  Seems when the air con died it was the compressor which then froze up and caused the problem. New parts coming in at 9 am tomorrow and will be on the road by late afternoon. All costs are picked up by rental company and motel will be paid by insurance so all good. Have met the friendliest people here. I needed some special contact lens solution and couldn't find any so I called an optician who had some but was too far away. As i didn't have transport she was going to drive over to me to bring some..incredible. The chemist  shop I was in finally found what I needed but I was so impressed with the opticians offer. Crescent City is top of my list of nicest people so far. We also ran into Larry Depee at the shops (one of our favourite Policemen from yesterdays escapades). He is so nice and friendly and leads a very interesting life.  Across the road from our motel the county fair is on, Will go tonight and check it out. Bugs# 214

What a Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Drove 241 miles (388 Kms) heading north and stopping at Eureka for a Denny's lunch (yum). Visited a National park to see the big Redwood trees - shrouded in mist and it was so incredibly quiet - beautiful. Intended to cover a few more miles before dark but decided to stop and take some photos of the beautiful coastline. Unfortunately the car wouldn't restart :(. To add to our woes we had no phone service and it was getting late. A few people we spoke to also had no phone service and one American man tried to jump start the car thinking it was the battery. Wasn't the battery though as the lights were still working.Anyway he took the details of the rental company and said he would call when he got a phone signal. Lee and I climbed in the van to wait and then next minute a Police car rolled up and then another. The guy couldn't get through on his phone so he passed our details on to the police and they came to investigate. They were great- they radioed through and spoke to the rental people and organised a tow truck. They waited with us for about an hour and a half as apparently there were "undesirables" in the area (glad we didn't have to sleep there after all). They were Officers Roeber & Depee and they showed us their bullet proof vests and stun guns and we had a great old yarn. A guy called Vic turned up and loaded the van on the back of the truck and took us into Crescent City and now Kyle is working on fixing it. Lee and I are in a motel and will find out the verdict tomorrow. They think it might be related to the air conditioner breaking down a few days ago and something seizing up the douverlackie and the watchmacallit in conjunction with the full moon being in its second trimester or something like that. Anyway the that's the rental company's problem.  Bugs #209

Reno!

Nothing pretty about this town - in the desert- lots of Casinos -very hot!!  Went to Ihop for breakfast and then checked out the nearest mall. In between the supermarket and the Muffin shop (where they have Monday Muffin Madness on a Tuesday) was a line of poker machines. Crazy!! We went to the huge Atlantis Casino and found you could lose $20 even quicker in Reno than in Australia :)  Hit the road heading north and saw squirrels and deer...the latter leaping across the road. Beats kangaroos. We went to Lassen National Park and you guessed it - more long hilly windy roads but nothing like those ones leading to Tahoe thank God! There was heaps of snow up there and magnificent views. We are  now in Redding after covering  240 miles (386 kms). This doesn't sound much but doing 55 to 60 mph in this bus feels like you are doing 100 mph and the wind gusts are incredible so it is a bit of a fight to stay on the road in places.Also the mountain climbs slow us way down as the speed limit is 25 mph in some places. Bugs#197   As a footnote another person died after falling off a cliff in Yosemite National Park yesterday. Apparently they average 15 deaths a year and have already had15 so far this year.

Seems we have square balls:(

Lee and I went 10 pin bowling in Tahoe and I won't humiliate ourselves by giving the scores - the only excuse would be if our bowling balls were square.  We had a big brunch at a cafe and then spent the next couple of  hours toilet hopping on the way to Reno. :( We drove 60 miles (96 kms) to Reno , passing through Carson City. It was amazing - California is one side of Lake Tahoe and the other side is Nevada. The moment we got into Nevada the roads were fantastic 3 lane dual highways (with barriers so you don't fall over the edges). I guess all those casinos pay big $$$$'s to the government and they in turn spend it on the roads. A joy to drive on. Found  a Walmart and couldn't go past - did a bit of retail therapy. Bugs #185

Good then bad then good then.....etc

30 July - left SF and drove to Yosemite National Park. Stinking hot day and the air conditioned pooped itself. 206 miles (331 kms) .  The Sierra Nevada's have very steep and winding roads - they are also very narrow in places with sheer drops on one side and no crash barriers to stop silly Australian tourists from falling over the side. Every muscle was taut and I forgot to blink for 4 hours. When we got to the camping grounds we had to traverse even more long and windy roads - this time unsealed with marbly stones under wheel :(. We finally got to our site - a small secluded area very beautiful - just three campsites surrounded by huge mountains and the Merced river flowing fast causing little rapids. Icy water. Unfortunately not long after we arrived an ambulance pulled up and a fire engine with paramedics - a young man in his 20's just drowned in the river where we were. Feel very sad for his family and friends.   Bugs #170

31st July - I was looking forward to some long straight roads today - not gonna happen. Todays events
*Had to back track approx 20 miles windy roads due to road work
*Fork lightning
*Thunder
*Rain
*Rock fall (well only 2 little rocks but they did fall :)
*Narrower - windier - steeper - scarier roads than yesterday
*Spent approx 7 hours to go 239 miles (384 kms)

We are now camped on the shores of Lake Tahoe - will go investigate more tomorrow.
The final indignity of the day was having to back the camper into the camp site - I don't do backwards - even in my little car never mind this camper!!  Had to negotiate my way between some bloody big trees at the same time but all ended with out tears      Bugs# 177
Nearly forgot - saw our first snow- we are at 8000 ft - nasty dirty stuff but it was snow. Threw my first snowball in a long time :)