Ok, you know when your heading up (or down) I-5 and you drive by all the cows? Well, guess where I’m broke down right now? Lucky me, just outside of Coalinga.
It’s actually not too bad. I’m just far enough away soo it doesn’t stink. The worst part is the flies. I’ve got three on my left arm right now as I type. After a while you kinda get used to them. Hey, two of them are making out.
Left Ashland around 6 last night to see how far south I could get. I made it til about 1:30 before I had to find a spot where i could crash in the truck. The goal was to wake up real early to try to get over the grapevine before it got too hot. Seems that this stretch of the 5 and Bessy don’t really get along. Mark and I broke down about 50 miles south of here on the way back from Sasquatch. Flies!
So I awoke just before 7 and started on my merry way. Picked up some truckstop coffee and donuts and was making good time. Then, out of nowhere, I heard a funny noise coming from the doghouse (area where engine is.) Sure enough, a few seconds later I heard a snap and as I glanced at the thermometer I saw it shoot from around 220 degrees to over 250. I easied up on the gas and sorta coasted into the service station. They had a whole wall of fan belts, even ones with the same order numbers, but none would fit. So now I’m waiting for one to come in from another town. Get a little greasy, get cleaned up again and see if I can finally make it over the grapevine in one pieces.
Should be some fun stuff happening in LA the next few days. We’ll see what we can get into.
Made it out but couldn’t push my luck getting over the grapevine in the heat of the day. Plus didn’t want to hit LA traffic. So….I’m sitting on a front porch in Bakersfield waiting for it to cool down. Wireless is great.
