Subject: Trip Report: Portland et. al.
Hey now,
Portland was a success! We picked up our third intrepid traveler
to Inuvik, my dad. My stepsister Signie put us all up in style,
setting us up with a decent camera, and new hiking boots for me! She
works for 
Nike, and she took me to the employee store, where I
got a $70 pair of hiking boots for $25! Major score, and way more
comfortable than the cheapies I bought just a few months ago in
Austin. Avoid Claybrooke boots, they wore out in about 2 months.
Junk.
Signie's landlord worked in Alaska for customs right along the path that we will travel, so we talked about the trip a little and he warned of mosquitoes and dust... All told we had good experiences. I was able to replace our broken mirror from Chequered Flag Auto Parts (yes, it's spelled right) for $16, many thanks to all the list folks who helped in the quest.
We crossed the Columbia river, snapping the obligatory pictures, and stopped in Vancouver, Washington, to take up Todd & Becky Francis on their wonderful offer of hospitality. Strange how VW people are all so nice, isn't it? With very little notice-about 2 hours-Todd & Becky have been incredibly hospitable, with a great chicken dinner and everything. We've been talking list talk, trip talk, dog talk, and generally having a great old time. Everyone's in bed now, except Todd, who is working diligently in his shop, making up for the time he lost chatting and being sociable with us, and myself-typing this trip report.
Samantha is very jealous of Todd & Becky's '86 westy synchro, and is twisting my harm... really hard... ;-) I just wish I could get an aircooled synchro...
Todd gave myself and my dad a tour of his shop-he makes race parts for VW dune buggies-and I'm writing this from his office, which has walls covered with pictures and trophies from various races, including the Baja 1000. Very cool, I'm envious. Way too much fun!
So. The first leg of our trip is nearly over. We have
traveled over 3000 miles, in 2.5 weeks, consuming roughly $300 worth
of 89 octane Chevron gas. Our mileage has varied from a high of 25mpg
to a low of 19mpg, with an average of 21.6mpg. Our best mileage was
on the downhill side of the continental divide going out of New
Mexico, our worst was going up PCH with its nasty hairpin turns. Our
bus has performed like a champ, our only real problems being due to
my carelessness. I'm looking forward to installing our new oil temp
gauge, as I will then be able to tune for maximum efficiency. So far,
being less than confident with my reliability in performing the
dipstick test, I've opted on the side of conservatism. I've kept the
mixture rich, and the advance at about 30 degrees full advance, so
I'm ready for a more objective measure of temperature so I can tweak
our engine for maximum mileage.
We've crossed desert with 115 degree heat, and been through the rain of the pacific northwest. We've driven at 8000 feet, and on the beach. We've stayed with friends, relations, and at campgrounds. We've seen some of the most scenic and beautiful lands America has to offer, visited 4 national parks, and several national forests. And we've had up close and personal looks at many wild animals, including Elk and our hungry Black Bear. We have teeth marks in our cooler to prove it... Tomorrow we will likely leave America and cross into Canada. And the first part of our journey will be complete, nothing now but memories, photographs, and new friends.
Tomorrow we start fresh.
Peace,
Eddie
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