After we got the brand new wheel bearing at Les Schwab in Hermiston, Oregon, the priorities shifted! After being on the road for a couple days it was evident that the fridge was just not doing it’s job. Had a quick peek in from the outside and discovered a nice coating of yellowish powder – which quick research shows – is not a good sign! With the wheel situation under control, we retraced our route west and set up right beside the water just below the locks at John Day dam. It’s one of our favourite stop-over spots in the area, with great views of the tugs and barges that slide by within a stones throw.
Here’s a ‘photosphere’ we did a year or so ago at the same spot: John Day dam Fish Platform
It is also a favoured spot for hang gliders and paragliders to ridge soar because of the reliable winds.
There are several huge power lines crossing the river there, so they have to be careful when they come in to land.
Flying conditions were good, so some of the pilots were still coming in to land at dusk.
They weren’t the only ones flying in the area!
Hailey watched the show for a while, but decided that she wasn’t too impressed.
With another (warm beer) emergency looming, some decisions had to be made. We took advantage of Sunday traffic to make our way through most of the Portland metro area. A late Sunday afternoon visit at the service counter at Camping World was not encouraging. It seemed like the fridge was likely pooched (that’s technical jargon for crapped out), and that it might be about two weeks till they could order and receive the replacement! With a more in-depth assessment to be made in the morning we opted not to spend the night in the spacious Camping World parking lot, as it is located directly alongside the constant traffic roar from the I-5. Just down the road is the Frys Electonics superstore, so a couple of the evening hours were spent browsing their excellent selection of almost everything! A couple of quiet parking lots nearby provided all that was needed for the night.
In the morning, it was back to Camping World for another chat. The bad news was that the fridge needed to be replaced. The good news was they had the correct model in stock. The bad news was that they had no time to do it in the next couple of days! At least that gave me time to become a Good Sam member to take advantage of the discount that would provide. And with a couple of days to kill – it was off to the coast! First off – Fort Stevens State Park near Astoria.
In other blog news: Al & Kelly of the Bayfield Bunch were in West Virginia, waiting till Al gets over a flu bug or something so they can get back on the road. Wishing him a quick recovery and return to the keyboard and road. Jean & Skip and Wandering Willy won’t be on the road for a while yet, but John and some horses and dogs should soon be on the way from Dogpound north to the south. http://johnbrendasincredibleadventure.blogspot.com/
Meanwhile we will be hoping to survive the warm beer emergency until we can get the new fridge and continue southward ourselves!
The dreaded fridge death! Bummer you have to go through it, but I guess it's upside that the local CW had it in stock. Best of luck with the swap out.
ReplyDeleteNina
We understand about the fridge. Our's died and we can't get our's repaired until Saturday. We have a cooler sitting in the kitchen until we can get it repaired. Lucky for us, they sell ice here in the office.
ReplyDeleteThe paragliders are brave to fly near the wires. I've seen many barges on the IL and MS rivers but none with quite that tight a fit. Warm beer, how terrible. Thank goodness they have a replacement and not so bad to hang out on the coast for a bit. Better luck down the road.
ReplyDeleteBummer about the fridge but at least you were able to find a replacement quickly to get that beer back to its optimal temperature!
ReplyDeleteBummer about the fridge.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to Al getting back to the keyboard.
From reading John's last post they've opted to leave the horses at home and are bringing a Side-by-Side in their place.
We leave on the 1st but are likely spending the first week getting work done at different locations.
Be Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.
Watching that barge traffic must be fascinating, but warm beer - yuck.
ReplyDeleteBeen awhile since I've been able to get caught up with folks and by now you are probably well on your way to wherever with a fully stocked new beer bridge humming along on a set of smooth running cool new wheel bearings. Awwww what a life eh:))
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