November 22, 2013
Hamilton, IN
134,777.7 (225.4 miles)
This morning started out nice enough. A bit chillier out than when we went to bed so I knew the cold front was coming in. Crazy Larry made me French Toast for breakfast, I took advantage of the shower facilities and then we got the bus ready, but before I left, I decided to make or rather, reset the AFM Adjustments to “0” or the original settings and see how Sandy ran since we know knew the thermostat was not accurate.
Well that was a big mistake or bonus. I messed something up big time and Sandy would not idle, nor would she drive. I barely made it up the driveway. I stopped right away and checked my settings and I could not get her to run right so onto the Itinerant Air Cooled forum I went to reread what Colin had instructed me to do the day before with the AFM. Instead, I decided to look at the thread for calibrating your AFM and I found it.
Step by Step I read with great detail every word Colin wrote and performed ever test he said to perform. Before I knew it, Sandy was running. Then a few more tests and adjustments and she was running good. Best part was that I no longer needed to keep the Idle Fuel Mixture screw bottomed out. I thanks Crazy Larry for his help and bid him farewell again.
Once we were on the road, I saw that Sandy was running cooler and smoother than before. I think a little more tweaking and swapping out to better gauges and I’ll have Sandy dialed right in! The best part is that the AFM is something you are told NOT to mess with and here I was messing with it big time. I was confident though a bit nervous, but I knew that if I followed Colin’s words to a T, I would be in good hands. He is, after all, the Air Cooled Guru!
We hit traffic almost immediately upon leaving and that continues till we were well East of Chicago. Part of me wanted to go through the city and get some pictures in Chicago, but I knew my time was limited today, especially now that we lost an hour on a repair and I hate driving after dark. I just don’t see that well and the deer are everywhere. I also know that I’m planning a VW event this summer on a Ferry Trip across Lake Michigan so I will be back in this very area in a few or rather quite a few, months.
The trip was a bit uneventful, but I was excited when we entered the Eastern Time Zone as that meant we were officially Back East and even though I still have 6 days to go till I’m at the Thanksgiving Dinner table, I’m still back on Home Soil. I’m also excited because I have one state left now. That is, the final state on my list. I’ll have 5 states to go till I’m home. Two of which (NY and VT) I will drive through twice before I actually hit “home” and sleep in a house.
[pe2-image src=”http://lh6.ggpht.com/-DuKkwh8X-LM/UpApN0gWuRI/AAAAAAAAELg/hpiebSmf8Yo/s144-c-o/1122132028.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108131301217387227436/EastboundDay13#5949300425165814034″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”1122132028.jpg” pe2_img_align=”right” ] Rick B, my host for tonight was out celebrating his 49th birthday when I arrived so Lexie and I got set up and waited for them to come home. I too will be celebrating my 49th Birthday in just 20 days. When they got back, Rick had bought me dinner so I ate, we shared stories and then Rick took me out to the shop to see his Sand Rail and Bus. If you’ve been following along, I had tried to rent a sand rail in Oregon. Having met Rick now and finding out there are places to ride out in Michigan, I have a feeling I’ll be spending some time up there this summer with Rick and Family. After we viewed his toys and his unique bus, he gave me a tour of the town.
[pe2-image src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/-pHZg-1yonhw/UpAqFTXCNuI/AAAAAAAAEMg/TI0qRbou3Hs/s144-c-o/1122132121a.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108131301217387227436/EastboundDay13#5949301378341025506″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”1122132121a.jpg” ] Hamilton, IN is a very cute town and one of the reasons I love traveling like this. A tourist would never see or know about this town, its lakes, its parks or its traditions, but I now do and I love it. They will be holding their 13th annual Old Time Christmas Parade on Saturday, Nov. 30, at dusk. Horsedrawn lighted parade units will travel through downtown Hamilton to the parade’s end at Gnagy Park. Wish I could stay and see it.
Well that’s about all for today. I’ll see you all in Ontario tomorrow 😀
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