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NORTH-WESTERN
AMERICA
Apr. - Jun. 2008
Splat!
ARIZONA
again.
On our
return from SA, via the South Pacific,
on a round the world ticket, our mates
from Phoenix fetched us from the
airport and later on, took us to Dipli
at the storage facility. After 8
months in the open, the outside and
everything inside was covered with
dust. In Prescott,
friends provided mod cons (including a
vacuum cleaner!), and space on their
scenic acreage so that our vehicle
could be prepared for the long way
north. Maintenance on Dipli entailed:
radiator repair and replacement of
water pump, drive shaft, injection
pump, injectors, glow plugs, etc.
Our hosts
had travelled extensively and had just
finished writing a
how-to-drive-from-North-to-South
America book: “Americas Overland” by
Greene & Greene.
www.americasoverland.net.
Phoenix
The Desert
Botanical Garden
contains Arizona cacti, like the tall
Saguaro, the fat Barrel cactus and the
fluffy-looking but very prickly, Teddy
Bear cactus. There were humming birds
and comical Gambel’s Quail with a
curled plume on top of the head.
At the
Heard Museum we once again
noticed, how wealthy families bequeath
huge sums of money to the Arts. The
collection of Hopi Indian carved and
painted Kachina dolls was exceptional,
as were the Navajo bead-embroidered
leather cradles.
CALIFORNIA
The
natural marvels in CA are incredibly
varied; from the weird yucca-like
Joshua Trees to the immense Sequoia
trees, to the tallest in the world,
the Red Woods. There is low-lying
Death Valley National Park where
it was 46ºC and Kings Canyon NP
where it snowed while J was replacing
a brake master cylinder kit. On the
road to Yosemite National Park
a young officer from the California
Highway Patrol stopped us and said:
“You may not continue driving because
you do not have California licence
plates…” Helloo…
San Diego.
The Aircraft carrier
“Midway”-museum portrays in detail
the life on board the massive “USS
Midway”. We learned how 4500 crew had
lived in cramped quarters sailing
around Vietnam and the Pacific. The
captain’s de luxe suite was on a
higher level, overlooking from where
the scores of airplanes would land and
take off.
At the
San Diego Zoo, we saw the panda
cub, a large anteater with baby on her
back and the-no-longer-lonely cheetah
with a Golden Retriever dog as a cage
mate. We also saw a bizarre bearded
wild pig, signposted: “A pig of beauty
is a joy forever”.
We were
delighted to find a state-maintained
OHVA (off-highway vehicle area) where
trail bikes and off road vehicles can
play around. New buddies in a 4x4
Volvo took us on the trails and up the
hills. It was also a good spot to
replace a clutch plate. Jan positioned
a tyre lever across Dipli’s roof hatch
and used a ratchet hoist to winch the
gear box out and into place. When the
diff oil seals did not fit easily, we
froze one part and heated the other.
When Leone could not be outside, 1/8
of the motorhome was available to
perch on; the rest was taken up with
tools and parts.
On
California’s west coast we saw one of
the Missions built in 1776. As we
were approaching Los Angeles
the funky seaside towns became more
built-up. The GPS led us to a nice but
pricey ($52 p night) RV Park near
Disneyland. Disney was great fun
and the laser-firework show a
marvellous spectacle. After 3 hectic
days, an afternoon with a friend from
South Africa was relaxing and
consoling.
In
horrendous traffic J had to drive L to
the Getty Villa in Malibu.
This reconstructed Roman mansion,
houses the late oil magnate, Jean Paul
Getty’s invaluable collection of Greek
and Roman art.
Always
when we were out observing,
folks would be looking at and
photographing Dipli, saying:
“What is
THIS?”
“Man, what
IS this?”
“This is a
cool machine”
“Beautiful
Landlowel!” - a Chinese monk who
couldn’t say “r”
and, most
often: “I like your rig”.
Obviously,
to Americans, Dipli was the strangest
vehicle they had ever seen.
The
librarian (L) had to see the John
Steinbeck Centre in Salinas
valley. The interactive exhibits bring
each of his novels to life. There were
movie clips from “Grapes of Wrath”
(1939) and close-up shots of James
Dean in “East of Eden”. “Travels with
Charlie” was depicted by displaying
the actual camper, in which he and his
dog, Charlie drove around America.
Although
some of the San Francisco
streets are narrow we followed the
49-mile route past the main
impressive views, suburbs, parks,
buildings and bridges. The next day,
we enjoyed a lunch with friends in a
lovely suburban home.
North over
the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge
we went; through vineyards and the
valley called “the salad bowl of the
world”. It was June and we could
taste the first cherries of the season
and strawberries bigger than a golf
ball.
OREGON
We drove
through thick green forests. In
Eugene where the first Nike
light-weight running shoe originated
in 1964, a Nike-outlet displays the
waffle iron which moulded the first
rubber soles.
At the
Aviation Museum in McMinnville
we saw the world’s largest wooden
aircraft, “Spruce Goose”, built by
multimillionaire Howard Hughes. In
1947 it cost $25 million to build and
flew only once.
Downtown
Portland did not have
convenient parking and the famous
Rosegarden had no blooming roses yet.
We crossed the Columbia River, the
border of Oregon/Washtn.
WASHINGTON
The road
around the Mt St Helen’s crater
was still snowed up. The Volcano
Visitor Centre was at a lower
elevation. There were photos and films
showing how the bulge on the mountain
side had expanded and erupted in 1980;
also pictures and tales of the
subsequent devastation.
“Starbucks”
started off in Seattle in 1971.
It was a good excuse to go for a good
coffee there.
From the
web site gasprices.com we found
the cheapest diesel in a town called
Ferndale. (We live in a suburb
called Ferndale in South Africa).
CANADA
BRITISH
COLUMBIA
In
Vancouver we had our own luxurious
bedroom in the home of South African
friends. While Leone enjoyed the
garden and stocking up at the South
African shop, Jan worked on Dipli. A
big treat was to be shown the sights
of Vancouver. The various views were
of rivers, bays and inlets. We were
astounded to see so many large parks
with walking and biking trails. The
uncommercialised beaches have logs to
sit on or lean against. Landscaping
and building was underway for the 2010
Winter Olympics. At the Museum of
Anthropology we saw fine exhibits of
First Nations totem poles and other
wood carvings.
We were
waiting for the ferry to Vancouver
Island when we were requested to
remove one of our two gas cylinders
mounted on the back. Bureaucratic (il)
logic! The capital of BC, Victoria
has a most picturesque inner boat
harbour against a back drop of the
Victorian-era parliament buildings.
Baskets of flowers on lamp posts adorn
the streets. In a Tudor-style café we
enjoyed a real English High Tea. Leone
saw the house, art and writings of
Emily Carr and at the Art Gallery, a
Pop art exhibit (Andy Warhol) and a
display of the most exquisite Eastern
silk embroidered items.
The large
Butchart garden (including a
Japanese garden) was gorgeous.
Back on
mainland BC we went to visit a young
cousin from SA, who was one of the
thousands of doctors who had left
South Africa and now practised in
Canada.
En route
north we saw acres of dead pine and
spruce trees. Prince George
used to have a large lumber industry
but sawmills were now closing. A new
friend showed us on his land, the
cause of the forest holocaust:
thousands of tiny beetles which bore
into inner bark and extract all the
sap. Don invited us to park next to
his lake, housing beavers and water
birds like the lovely Loon. The lake
and critters feature in children’s’
music productions which he does:
www.worldofavaloon.com.
We saw a black bear there.
Canada was
much dearer than the U.S. We found
some cheaper diesel at Gitanyow on an
Indian Reservation (no tax). The
filling station was next to a row of
100 year old Totem poles.
It was a
rainy Sunday afternoon. The
temperature at 6ºC. The high mountains
were in the clouds but we could see
lakes and rivers below the road.
Suddenly our vehicle headed to the
right and off the road – sinking into
the soft shoulder, leaning to the
right. We went down and down into the
ditch and up the other very steep
side, now leaning to the left and more
and more and then
Splat!
Dipli fell over onto his left side.
“Are you OK?” We were hanging in our
seatbelts. Jan turned the main battery
isolator off to obviate sparks due to
possible damaged wires. We could not
get the RH door open until someone
came to force it open and let us out
at what was now the top. He phoned for
a tow truck from Dease Lake. Leone was
trembling from shock, cold, a painful
bruise - and relief. Jan climbed in
through the roof hatch and clambered
over the fridge, which had hit the
ceiling and was now in the middle of
the mess. He was searching for
valuable effects, threatened by
seeping muddy water and falling rain.
The
Officer from the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police offered his vehicle as
a safe deposit. Jan helped the lone
tow truck driver with winching and
after 4 hours a very muddy Dipli was
offloaded in his yard in Dease Lake.
We rummaged for clean clothes and
valuables as he had offered to drive
us to a hotel: “Full”; next one: “no
vacancy”. Back to the Arctic
Excavation’s large yard. We were wet
and shivering. We covered the soaked
mattresses with plastic and found some
dry bedding. We could not find the
camera and other objects were missing
too. Must have slipped out into the
pools of mud…. After a hot cup of tea
at 00h30 we tried to sleep.
The next
day was a glorious long sunny day and
we felt so grateful. We got everything
dry. Jan removed the glow plugs to
blow the oil out of the cylinders and
then the engine started! It took Jan 3
days to repair most of the damage, but
Leone’s clothes locker was permanently
‘modified’. In spite of a huge bruise
on the shin she could walk the 2km to
the village to buy food and two cake
pans.
The cause
of the incident turned out to be the
rear differential which had collapsed
internally and locked the RH rear
wheel; this one-sided braking caused
the sudden swerve to the right.
Removal of the drive shaft and side
shafts isolated the diff so that we
were on our way again, on front wheel
drive. (The cake pans were used to
cover the hub bearings since the side
shaft/flange assemblies were removed).
Next YUKON AND
ALASKA
This
journey up to June 2008:
Time on
the road (excluding home visits): 5
years
Kilometres
driven: 214 000
Countries visited: 88 (with Dipli). |
