Throwing in the towel

Last blog entry.  First the thermostat failed, and then the starter failed at the dealer while they were installing the thermostat!  We are shipping the van back to Seattle and renting a car to finish the trip.  Maybe we should rent something reliable.  Perhaps a Kia?

Almost Heaven (?)

5:30 wake up so we could say good bye to my sister before she left for work, and we were in the road at 6:30 just before sunrise.   We drove east on famous Paris Pike thru beautiful horse farm country just as the sun came up.   The town of Paris,  Kentucky is as cute as it can be.   Here is the Bourbon County Courthouse in Paris:

Then on to West Virginia.   If John Denver is right and West Virginia is "almost heaven" then I fear there will be a lot of people who will be sorely disappointed when they show up at the pearly gates and heaven looks an awful lot like a run-down trailer park.
The western part of West Virginia on US 60 was as impoverished an area as we've seen.
After a quick stop for lunch we noticed Vanessa is still incontinent,  although less so.  We figured we were now carrying a big bottle of extra coolant in the van so we would just top her off periodically.  Fingers crossed again.

On to Lewisburg, W.Va., by far the nicest town we have seen in this state.

From there we drove to White Sulphur Springs and The Greenbrier Resort.  Absolutely first class.

We are spending the night in Staunton,  Va. at the farm of good friend Joe Surratt who has three championship hunter horses (one is a grandson of Secretariat), two dogs, one cat, and lots of chickens.  It's peaceful and gorgeous.

Vanessa lives!

Jimmie called this afternoon to tell me Vanessa was finished.  I couldn't believe it since he had told me Thursday he didn't expect her to be done until Monday (many thanks to Eion for overnighting the parts Jimmie needed. Once again Eion was there for us when we needed him.)

Vanessa's rear bearings were shot and that's what was causing the noise,  so those have been replaced.  Jimmie also replaced the rear transaxles, fixed the last coolant leak,  replaced all four wheel adapters (they were, in the words of Jimmie, "wallered out"), cleaned the headlights, and reattached bumper trim.  And he washed the van. 

So I took her out for a test drive and she runs better than ever.   Quiet and smooth.   No more ker-klunk coming from her backside. Yippee!
So now we can depart as soon as John gets back from Chicago, likely Tuesday morning.
Many many many thanks to Jimmie and his wonderful wife Ruthie.  I don't think there is another mechanic within 500 miles of Lexington who could have done what he did, and he's a terrific guy too.  But my vanagon insanity is infectious.   Now Jimmie wants one too!  And I'm going to help him find one.

Ker-klunk, ker-klunk, ker-klunk....

That was the sound we started hearing from the drive train last night about an hour west of Louisville.  It got louder the further we drove, so by the time we reached my sister's house at midnight we were convinced something was about to fall off from under the van.

My sister recommended a local mechanic, Jimmie.  His shop was at his house about nine miles away.  The drive there thru rolling horse country this morning was beautiful but cold.

When we went out to the van in the morning, Vanessa had been incontinent of coolant again.  What the hell??? Aargh!!!

We made it to Jimmie's without anything falling off but the noise was louder than ever.

Jimmie restores cars and motorcycles.  This is a '38 truck he restored from a rusted shell.  It's worth over $125k.

So now Jimmie is figuring out what's making the terrible sound from under Vanessa:  cv joint, bearings, transaxle, drive shaft?  Eion is kindly shipping parts overnight to Jimmy. But if it is the drive shaft, we may have to remove it and go with 2wd until we get back to Seattle next year.

The good news is Thanksgiving with my family in Kentucky is looking more and more likely.

And the girls are enjoying a fenced-in back yard and a house to run around in too.

Here's to Fred!

Fred at Browns Automotive worked all weekend and most of this morning getting Vanessa road-worthy again.  New starter motor, new wiring, and several coolant leaks fixed.

Here's Fred:

The dogs, John, and I are extremely grateful to him for all his hard work. He had tickets to the Chiefs/Seahawks game and friends visiting from Seattle but he stayed in the shop most of the weekend to work on Vanessa.  He's a good man and we owe him big time.

We departed KC around 12:30.  We decided to stick to interstate highways to make time and to be near services should we have another breakdown, at least until we have total confidence in Vanessa again.  So not many scenic pics today unfortunately;  interstate highways pretty much all look the same.

But we did pass many of these:

Red states sure seem to love their porn (and churches).  Haven't these people heard of the internet where porn is free and you can shop for "personal" items from the anonymity and comfort of your LaZBoy recliner?

We passed a sign for infamous Ferguson.  Mo. then the  St. Louis arch, and finally East St. Louis, Illinois, a very depressed and depressing place.

It's now on to Lexington, Ky tonight to see my mom, brother, and sister (and do a few loads of stinky laundry. We've been wearing the same clothes since the van went to the shop.  Maybe a bonfire instead?)

Another Day in KC

Vanessa was not ready this morning, so we rooted for the Hawks.  Didn't help. 

John thoroughly enjoyed the concert last night while I watched reruns of "The Big Bang Theory" in bed with the mutts.

Here's Johns account of the concert:

Wasn't sure about the idea of Natalie with a symphony, but she was phenomenal. After 2 hours someone from the audience yelled "Wonder" and Natalie responded "do you see a suggestion box anywhere?"  The audience laughed.

Once the symphony finished, she came back out for an encore, which lasted 45 minutes and was just soulful and beautiful.

The hall (Kauffman Center) is a statement of architectural wonder and excellence, and was designed by Moshe Safdie.

Google has great images of it.  Here are some I took: 

UPDATE:

We were told at 4:00 pm that Vanessa was ready so we took a cab out to the shop.  Wrong.  When we arrived at the shop we were told the van wouldn't be ready now til tomorrow at the earliest so we took the same Uber cab right back to the hotel.  Waaaaaa.

Three nights at the Intercontinental so far. It's only money, right?

We will give the local shop one more day to try to fix Vanessa and if they can't we will ship her back to Seattle and rent a car from KC to FLL.  John and I are both very frustrated and tired at this point.    (Ever seen a grown man cry?  If you haven't I'll ask John to take a pic) .  I promised him no breakdowns this year.  I was wrong.  He is a good man.  He hasn't complained (yet).

Hoping for success tomorrow. It's either that or a big box of Kleenex. 

Waiting

Short post for those who follow this blog (both of you).  The shop worked on Vanessa all day. Coolant leaks are being addressed and they are working on installing a new starter motor.  

It is snowing now and the shop is closed for the night but the owner says he will work on it again tomorrow if he can get to his shop.

John is going to the Symphony tonight and I'm staying in the hotel with the mutts (hotel policy is dogs cannot be left alone in room.  They bent that policy for us yesterday but cant push it).

Anyone have a Sprinter for sale?

We're not in Kansas anymore

Eion is a saint.  He was up at 5:30 am Seattle time to talk us thru what to do with Vanessa. He correctly diagnosed that we had an air lock in the cooling system and told me over the phone how to purge it.  He spent an hour talking to us, then he found a shop in Kansas City where they could fix the starter.

Once we got Vanessa started after bleeding the air out of the radiator we didn't turn the engine off again until we pulled into the repair shop in Kansas City, even keeping the engine running to refuel.

 

Freddy at Brown's auto shop couldn't have been nicer to us.  He lived in Seattle previously, worked at University VW, and loves Vanagons.  He even gave us a ride to the hotel when we couldn't find a cab.

While Vanessa is having work done we are staying at the Hotel Intercontinental across from Country Club Plaza, the oldest shopping center in the US, built in the '20s. It reminds us of Coral Gables.  Beautiful

We had lunch at Jack Stack Barbecue, and the food was amazing.  Best barbecue we have ever eaten, by far.

"Burnt ends" and "cheesy corn" were especially delicious, and I had sworn off red meat.

After lunch we walked over to The Nelson-Atkins Museum, absolutely world class.

The new Bloch Building was spectacular.

And the Museum was free!

Nearby are the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City Art Institute, UMKC Gallery of Art, H&R Block ArtSpace,and several libraries and theaters.  It's an amazing collection of cultural institutions.

Kansas City is known for its fountains, and reportedly only Rome has more fountains.  Sadly most of the fountains have been drained for winter, but here's one:

All in all, if we had to break down, Kansas City is a nice place to be stranded for a bit.  And by coincidence the Seahawks are in town for a game against the Chiefs.  If the auto shop has Vanessa ready by tomorrow I'm rooting for the Chiefs!   

Tonight we are enjoying strong drinks and great KC jazz in the Oak Bar.

Krystal and Jesse at the front desk of the hotel took pity on us because of our breakdown and gave us free drinks! (Actually I think it was because they fell in love with the mutts) 

Here they are:

Everyone here is so friendly. And the jazz is terrific too; it should be since Kansas City is the home of Count Basie and Charlie Parker.

 

 

Deep Freeze

The wind chill of -20 makes it sound worse than it was this morning.  The real temp without wind chill was a much better -6.

We were hopeful we would have heat in the van today.  No such luck, so we bundled up and kept the girls under comforters for the ride.  John had asked for AC in the new van.  I wish he had asked for heat too.  We stopped at a WalMart to buy warm socks.  Our feet were so cold they were numb.

Since it was so damn cold we figured we would bypass the icy back roads and stay on interstates. It was I 70 east most of the day.

We crossed into Kansas where it was barely warmer- 12 degrees and we stopped soon after to let the dogs pee at a truck stop.

Don't be fooled by the palm trees.  Plastic.  Totally fake.

At the truck stop we elected to try blocking the radiator with cardboard, since the extreme cold temps weren't allowing the coolant to heat up at all, and the van interior is warmed by the hot coolant fluid.  Success!  We have normal coolant temps and heat inside the van once again!  Thank god, cuz John was using the "S" word (Sprinter).

No offense to the good people of Kansas, but if there is a more monotonous state I don't know it. Mile after mile of flat wheat fields and tiny farm towns.

We filled up at a truck stop in Salina, and Vanessa wouldn't start.  A kind motorist gave us a jump.  

Our next stop was a Holiday Inn in Abilene, and again the van wouldn't start and she has sprung another coolant leak too.  I'm close to losing it after the events of the day, but fortunately John is here to keep me focused.  Now I too am questioning why we didn't get a Sprinter.  We will troubleshoot in the daylight tomorrow.  Or look for a rental car....

In the meantime, see if you can match the person with his/ her Kansas hometown.  We went thru all of these towns today.  And keep fingers crossed we aren't stranded in Abilene.  Please.

TOWN

1.  Ellis

2.  Russell

3.  Salina

4.  Abilene

PERSON

A.  Dwight D. Eisenhower

B.  Bob Dole (senator, presidential nominee, and Viagra spokesmodel. Can't blame him.  Not much else to do around here)

C.  Walter P. Chrysler

D.  Judy Barton, played by Kim Novak, in "Vertigo"

Rocky Mountain High

It was quite an eventful night and morning. Daisy was up most of the night (trots) and Poppy got sick on the hotel bed.  So we were up most of the night too.  And another big tip for the hotel housekeeper.

John noticed a small coolant fluid puddle under Vanessa this morning. A call to 24 hour roadside assistance (Eion) quickly diagnosed the problem- a loose clamp on a coolant reservoir hose. I tightened it and we were on our way.  (Thank you Eion for the great diagnostic skills and instructions)

We continued on hwy 50 to Black Canyon National Park.  

We were the only ones there. Literally. Not even Parks personnel.

We drove on into a blizzard that hit us at Monarch Pass at elevation 11,312. After passing the Continental Divide, it's all downhill now to Florida.  

We stopped briefly to let the dogs pee and a Westy driver heading the other way made a U turn to make sure we were ok.  I can't imagine an Escalade owner doing that; Vanagon owners are the best.

The weather got worse the further east we drove. The temperature on the bank sign in Salida, Colorado was 4 degrees. Record cold and snow.  It warmed up to a balmy 8 degrees at Canon City.

This was our drive into Pueblo at 30 mph:

Vanessa handled beautifully in the snow.  But it would seem we have an issue with the coolant fluid thermostat; for much of the drive we had no heat, but it didn't bother us or the dogs. We bundled up in our ski jackets and hats and kept the dogs warm under quilts on the bed.  Predicted low tonight?  12 BELOW zero! I sure hope Vanessa's thermostat miraculously works again in the morning or it's going to be a very cold drive tomorrow.

But our Quality Inn in Pueblo has an indoor heated pool.  We are happy, especially John since he finally has his "spaaaaaa", even if it is just a Quality Inn.

3 dogs tired! John blogging

The drive from Canyonlands National Park to Telluride was beautiful! The millions of stars last night were like nothing I have ever seen, then at 6 am with the sun up  the monument rocks just turned a beautiful orange red.

Well Mark wouldn't let me take a pic of him tired, unshaved and no shower, but here's how tired the dogs are:

After 3 days of camping -certainly not glamping- we hit Telluride.

I was thinking we would stay at a mountain resort and spaaaaaa, but practical Mark said let's stay in town so here we are in town.  Instead my spa was a 30 minute shower at the hotel!  And after camping for three days I'm sure I would have been arrested walking thru town without a shower.

It's been 20 ys since I've been here. Then it was a ski town with a Film festival. Now there are more real estate offices and million dollar condos. 

It is still a cute town, set in a very steep slope setting.

but pretty difficult to get to. It is very dog friendly!  Check out this restaurant recommendation :

We got here  just pre season- but the town is gearing up. No snow but it is COLD! 

Mark was a saint and did laundry while I walked the town (ok,shopped!) I got only a cha tea latte, some super glue for Venessa, and an orange juice squeezer for Fll!

We are going for some Thai food tonight- enough of the camping food.

Poppy doesn't like the hotel pillows, so she decided to bring her own!