From the hot springs we made our way up and over the mountains to Austin, a tiny crossroads town that was inexplicably settled halfway down the steep mountain instead of two miles further down in the valley. We lumbered into town the same way the rest of the trucks did, in low-gear.
Austin is a cute place, just a few blocks long, with a brand-new playground, old brick buildings, the International cafe’ and bar (where we met some folks from Belgium), and about the busiest two-pump gas station you’ll see anywhere.
This is where we left The Loneliest Road and drove north.
We spent an uninteresting night in Battle Ground. In the morning some Bum friends spotted us from the highway and circled back to say hi. It was fun to meet some ten-year followers, and we all got a good laugh out of the huge moving truck (they were helping their daughter move) alongside the diminutive Bumfuzzle.
Underway again we eventually made our way to Highway 140, which is far more deserving of the title The Loneliest Road. As we passed the last gas station a sign stated, Next Services 180 Miles. That’s a long damn way. It’s kind of amazing actually, that there are still pockets of the United States where you can drive for three hours without the option of stopping for a fountain Pepsi and a rotisserie hot dog.
Along the road we found a long abandoned farmstead to trespass upon. During our explorations we found a horseshoe, so yeah, we’re pretty much the luckiest people on earth.
We ended the drive at Virgin Valley Campground. A free camp way the heck out in the middle of some National Forest where apparently the thing to do is mine for opals. For those of us not into rocks, there is instead a big hot spring fed swimming pool to play in.
Had a nice swim again this morning before continuing on along 140. The road was nice, without too many hills, when we came up on a sign warning trucks of an 8% downgrade ahead. A little further along the sign changed to “Last Warning 8% Grade Ahead” and then as we crested a small hill the earth disappeared. The Doherty Slide is apparently the rim of some long ago volcano, which these days leaves a 1,000 foot drop five feet from the edge of the road that runs along it—a road without a guard rail. Thank goodness for first gear.
The other day we were at a playground that had a big toy truck sitting a couple of feet off the ground on springs. Ali and I were sitting in the back seats while Lowe drove. But then he stopped, climbed down, and said, “Trucks broke.” He climbed underneath it for a few seconds, then came out announcing, “Me fixed it.”
Ali asked him, “Just like Papa?”
He just smiled that shy smile. About killed me with his cuteness.
He did this fifty times. After the twentieth I was thinking, “Hell, I’d have had that fixed by now.”
On a Travco side note, we’re now getting 9 miles per gallon. The bus is running beautifully too. Over 5,000 miles on it now since we left, and we really couldn’t be happier with our choice of vehicle.
20 Comments on “Horseshoe”
It appears that advancing the timing has solved your heating problem & you gained one mile per gallon, a huge gain, that is a good thing.
I guess some of us recommending shrouds, viscous & electric fans, & so on assumed you had checked the timing when you put new plugs in? 🙂
Suggest you use your timing light to make sure it is spot on. Too much advance can cause damage. You may not hear pinging.
Paul Thomas
Welcome back to Oregon.
Forgot this, worn points can cause the timing to become retarded.
Paul Thomas
Paul,
Pat installed a PerTronix electronic ignition kit (no more points).
Here are the installation videos: http://www.pertronix.com/support/videos/default.aspx
Roland, I missed that, it should be an improvement. In my 30+ years of having electronic ignitions on outboards, off road motorcycles, snow blowers, generators, cars & trucks, I found they are very reliable, nothing to wear, nothing to move, set properly, nothing changes. However, occasionally, on my off road motorcycles they just died, no warning. Never had any failures in automotive use, however.
Paul Thomas
I can’t wait until you pull up to your mom’s house in the bus!!
Woot! Oregon.
Had no luck asking around about an exhaust manifold for a 318 Poly(not the LA that came later)for the Travco. I have one other longtime RV-er to check with when I get off work Wednesday. I will update you if I find something. Glad you are running cooler and getting an extra MPG out of Travis.
Safe travels north, perhaps we can get out for a FamCamp in the coast range or somewhere else near PDX.
I assume that Lowe was playing library, at least that is the way Nika used to do it! Say hi to your mom. Lots of love, Auntie Kay
I’ll tell her. And actually Ouest was the librarian. Lowe was just a busy student checking out books. 🙂
“Truck’s broke!” I love it! Reminds me of the time one of mine told me that we couldn’t buy something because we didn’t have the money for things like that. They really do learn a lot from us.
Been on that 180 mile stretch and was soooo grateful for the house that sold gasoline for double the normal price located just as the road flattens out. We would have otherwise not made it to the town 20-30 miles away!
Funky little place, huh? We dropped in a few gallons there, but we sure weren’t going to fill up at those prices.
Does anyone know how to add a profile photo to this comments section?
Jeffrey uses http://en.gravatar.com/
Actually the Virgin River place is in a national wildlife refuge. Be sure to get a milkshake in Fields. The is no gas at Denio.
Wow! Great job as parents. Great kids! How are you two holding up?
Hey Bums..We enjoyed meeting you guys in the middle of Nowhere,Nevada. Thanks for taking the time to chat and giving us a tour of your bus. You have been my guilty pleasure for 10+ years !!! Looking forward to following you for many years to come. Your kids are beyond cute and Pat and Ali, you both, are really “Minnesota nice ” !!!
Kerry, it was our great pleasure. Thanks for making our day.
9 miles a gallon…it’s criminal.
So is living in a home, heating and cooling 1000 square feet per person. So is commuting to work every day in a car instead of living close to work and riding a bike. So is replacing that car every five years instead of every twenty. So is wasting electricity on frivolities like television, huge refrigerators, and separate freezers. So is a family using 400 gallons of water per day. So is watering your lawn. So is fertilizing your lawn. The list of “criminal” acts you commit every day dwarf ours, I assure you.