Thanks, moving on today via the ferry to Vancouver and I'll be making my way to the Banff area (but not Banff) over the next couple of days, then dropping down to Montana, back to Spokane and I'll follow a path through Lewiston Idaho, along the Salmon River and - I hope the bloke gets back to me - pay Richard a visit somewhere in SE Idaho before advancing to the Yellowstone National Park..
See how that goes...
It would be nice to get the message, however...
It was almost certainly spam, Ray.
It finished up being a trip with many ups and downs...
I had to change vans in the middle of it all, I contracted Covid-19, there were vehicle repairs to be done and I missed out on buying some of the things I really wanted to take home with me.
However, the great love shown to me by my adopted daughters knew no bounds...
...and I think my son (and his dog) were glad to see me...
...while visits with other people renewed or created friendships that will be long-remembered...
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This gave me a closer look at farming in West Virginia than I'd seen in the past.
Picking up a gearbox in Rhode Island led me to Linda and John...
...with pancakes an added bonus. Neil, in New Hampshire, I didn't get a pic of, but after a lonely drive across upstate New York I got to Joe's place South of Niagara:
Joe and his Plymouth. He's owned this for many years, but now has a Duster as a project car.
He and his wife wanted me to stay the night, but I needed to keep moving after having lost time when I caught Covid. In Ohio, after diving miles between...
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...I finally met Mike Klemm...
...as well as Don Gallimore, who I missed with the camera. Very knowledgeable people.
The next stage of the trip was into Michigan, with Rich McMahon to be visited. I would spend the best part of three days with him, some if it stripping bits from a campervan being dismantled locally - parts for my van purchased in Illinois.
Together we also went across to Olive, where Bill Wiswedel was happy for us to look over his collection of cars, engines, chassis and other goodies:
While in the area I had also visited Mike LeFevre, who had just completed a major build on his Plymouth Satellite:
Next came Jason and Jody Rhoades, with another chance to look around a farm as well as see his cars...
Back in Indiana it was time to spend a couple more days with my son, then to head for Arkansas again for another week with my adopted daughters, this time - and for the first time ever - all of them being present:
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The emotions were evident on both sides as I finally had to leave, and who knows how long it will be before we're together again?
I had to see Gary Futrell in Oklahoma, where he dug up a differential for me to buy...
...and I once again spent a little time with Leslie, the adoptee who doesn't live in Arkansas:
Time now to cover miles, with the wrecking yards at Albuquerque my next target, but on the way there I was surprised to see patches of snow on the side of the Interstate. Pulling up at a Rest Area let me get a good look at it:
The wrecking yards are huge and numerous in this town...
...and delivered up a few things I was after. It was at Kingman, AZ. where I got the last of the pieces I was after:
When I got to California I caught up with an old friend from Adelaide, Peter Scott, who showed me his Kawasaki project bike:
All that was left for me now was to put my van in for shipping at Long Beach and make my way to the airport. Of course I made new friends on the two flights, LAX to Auckland...
Christie and Claudia. Squeezing me in for the duration Christie, above, made the conversation and Claudia just tried to sleep.
...while on the flight from Auckland to Brisbane there was room to spare and I had time to get to know Margaret and Delwyn:
They were on the short hop to spend a few days with their sister/sister in law on the Sunshine Coast.
A train ride to the Gold Coast followed, picked up my car and drove on home. Eleven weeks and three days of adventure all over.
And now, once again!
Last week I bought tickets to LA and then Seattle, with the return as usual from LA to Brisbane. Unfortunately the best deal was with Air New Zealand, so I have a stopover in Auckland each way.
Departing May 23, land in Seattle late that same night, get a lift from the man from whom I've bought yet another conversion van and start driving. Vancouver Id followed by the run I'd intended to take from Jasper through the National Parks to head South back to Idaho, then I have people to visit in North Dakota so for the first time I'll be on the Western part of the I94.
Just what paths I will follow as I once again go to Lincoln NE and visiting people in Michigan I don't know,I could well scurry off through Thunder Bay and skirt around the Northern shores of Lake Superior and enter Michigan via the Peninsula before going to see my son in Indiana and then go to Lincoln on the way to Tulsa. I have to be in Tulsa by June 26, so that should not be too hard.
Then the adopted daughters will have my presence for three straight weeks before I start out for LA again, this time probably taking the I70 to go over the Rockies and make yet another visit to people in Sacramento and Los Olivos before putting this van in for shipping at Longbeach. That should be July 26.
I forgot to post a pic of the van acquired for this trip...
The new van. A 1991 Dodge RAM 250 with 318 engine, 4-speed automatic gearbox and quite a lot spent on it in recent times, it should do the job as it has a bed in the back in the usual conversion van style.
I did have some hiccoughs getting this purchase. In fact, it was a touch-and-go deal all the way. I'd got the 'please confirm' notification on my Brisbane to LA and return ticket, then I went online to see if I could find a suitable van. By morning I'd found this one in Seattle and (thought I'd) done the deal to buy it.
So I got onto the travel agents (Flight Centres) and got them to add the flight from LA to Seattle so I could go straight on from the flight to driving on my merry way.
Then I paid for the tickets. Next thing I got an e.mail from the seller saying that his wife had pointed out some problems with the deal and he had to pull out of it. Disaster!
Apart from having to find another van I'd probably have to revise the internal flight and that would cost money. I set about looking for another van, then a couple of days later my man in Seattle sent me a text message - "Are you still wanting to go ahead with this?"
We sorted out the issues and it's all come together. I paid him the other day, the day before the exchange rate would have been 2% better!
In the meantime, I still don't know when the van I used last time...
...is going to finish its trip across the Pacific so I can get on with unloading it and using it here for a short time.
And if anyone knows someone who might like to buy the campervan I used at the beginning of the last trip, which I wasn't permitted to import into Australia due to a quirk in the regulations, it's available at a very reasonable price:
It's currently located in the Fayetteville area in Arkansas, it is a bit of a 'fixer upper' but I've already done some work on it. Very sound, 360 engine and 4-speed auto, it's also built on the heaviest suspension platform on which they made these vans.
Another impediment to smooth progress...
A few weeks ago I was told that, of the three containers the importer had to be shipped, one had been singled out by some authority or other to be inspected. And then about a week ago I was told that it was the container in which my van was packed.
Great, we need delays like this!
"How long might it be?" I asked. Remembering that I was initially told it should be here about the end of February.
"Eight or nine weeks..."
That means it's touch and go as to whether or not it will be here in time for me to access it before I fly out again.
There's a number of things in the van I should be taking with me on the next trip - US and Canada GPS units, an inverter, various tools, my list of contacts in the USA and Canada - it makes things just so hard.
One thing's for sure, I'll be on tenterhooks as those last couple of weeks roll around!