Eastbound – Day 2

November 11, 2013
Walla Walla, WA
132,228.8 (224.7 miles)

After working this morning till about 11:30am (yes I do work and I work from the road a lot), we departed Leavenworth, WA bound for Walla Walla. Following the advice of a friend in Billings, MT we turned a bit south and hooked up with Rt 12 East rather than stay on Rt 2 due to a Snow Storm that was cutting across the northern part of my route.

[pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-RyEPMrjBrpE/UoG72MqvA2I/AAAAAAAACzI/JMkS1x1R3Lw/s144-c-o/1111131314.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108131301217387227436/EastboundAndDownDay2#5945239522893562722″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”1111131314.jpg” pe2_img_align=”right” ] The southern route goes through the High Desert and Michael had promised it would be pretty and it sure was. So to recap…3 days ago I was crossing the sea and on an island, yesterday I was at 4,000 feet above sea level crossing the Cascade Mountains and today I was at 2,000 feet crossing the high desert and tomorrow I will be in a Valley. 😀

[pe2-image src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/-4n-mMW8fAxE/UoG7_hRkbyI/AAAAAAAACzI/Mz8GjPL5WD8/s144-c-o/1111131228b.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108131301217387227436/EastboundAndDownDay2#5945239683043979042″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”1111131228b.jpg” ] Outside of the beautiful High Desert views, not much happened today except for one little stop. When Sandy is traveling at speeds above 50, there is an amazing draft that comes through the Pop Top. It has gotten so bad that I bought another blanket to hang behind us and try to keep it out of the front compartment as we would freeze. Now I was warned that these buses don’t heat well and I can understand that. Here is why.

First you have to understand that the bus run an Air Cooled engine. Unlike most cars that cool with water. When you cool with water, the water heats up and its fairly easy to redirect that now hot water from the radiator up front to a radiator inside the vehicle to provide you with heat. For the bus that is being cooled with air, you need to capture that air and pipe it into the inside This is done by capturing the air, directing it over the hot exhaust pipes and then pushing it up to the front in a large tube. While its being pushed up there, its also being cooled off by the air going around the exterior of the tube. So by the time it gets up there, its not nearly as hot as it once was. Drive in freezing temps and its not hot at all.

So a little less than a week ago, a friend in Seattle I had just met; Stuart Z, cleared out a mouse nest that was blocking my Hot Air Tube. Then he noticed the gaskets on my pop top were not right. We got a new set and put them on, but it did not include the front cargo rack seal. He had given me his old one for me to put on, but I never got around to it…until today. As I was headed down the road – not enjoying this cold air on my back I tried to reposition the gasket on the front cargo tray. Back on the road, it was worse.

A few minutes later I was passing an RV Shop and thought I’d check to see if they had my water pump for the sink. They didn’t, but I topped off the propane (used .7 gallons so far for cooking) and decided to see if I could someone replace the gasket without removing the cargo tray. So I tried, and I succeeded! But, little did I know what would happen next.

Back on the road, I immediately noticed the bus was a lot quieter with less wind noise. About 15 minutes after that I was getting warm. Not, ooh that’ s nice kind of warm, but warm as in too hot. TOO HOT! It must be warming up outside. Perhaps I don’t need the heat on that much. So I pulled over at one of the Vistas and got out of the bus…BRRRRR, nope, its not warm out by any means! SANDY IS WARM! Woo Hoo! I immediately posted a message on Facebook thanking Stuart Z for that gasket. It has made a huge difference and we are headed into some much colder temps and snow. On top of that, with less air moving through the bus, we will also get less road grime under the pop top and on the tent.

At our next fuel stop I called my friend David G in Walla Walla and asked if he had a spot for us. He told me we were an hour out so I fed Lexie and we continued onto Walla Walla, WA.

I’m not sure if I will make Lola Pass tomorrow or the following day, but that is where we are headed next.

[pe2-gallery album=”http://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user/108131301217387227436/albumid/5945239196221216593?alt=rss&hl=en_US&kind=photo” ]

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us