Loaded up the Campmobile with everything that we could fit inside it Thursday night, got a good early start 4th of July morning, headed up to Orange County to deposit our offspring with my wife's parents.
Kept the speed at or under 57 as I would all weekend since the oil temperature gauge had croaked a few days before the trip. Was anxious about it but figured that maintaining a reduced speed was the best way to go, since trying to swap the gauges (had a spare) was suffering from a lack of steam on my part at 11:30 the night before...
Incredibly, there was NO traffic all the way through Orange County and Los Angeles (thank you God!). Made our way north on the 5 and slowly climbed the Grapevine. Had a big plant sprayer and made liberal use of it to keep cool, it was good and hot out 4th of July moving through the baked hills. Per Jack Stafford's Baja advice I had set the timing at 4 or 5 degrees BTDC versus 7.5, seemed to give me a lot more pedal... not any extra power, but the engine wasn't straining. Nice sedate acceleration.
Got to the top of Tejon Pass (4100 ft.), patted the dashboard, good girl...
Basically drove all day, eventually got to Fresno and headed towards the mountains through endless fields and farmland (nice country!). Stopped at a store and bought a flat of eggs since we'd managed to forget to pack the eggs we had at home, got lost, found the right road, continued along. Was using 92 octane Unocal 76 gas, noticed a surprising rise in gas mileage.
We got to the hills and then to the mountains, going by the odometer to follow the directions to the rafting camp. The roads got twisty and turny, my least favorite kind of driving, the worst part being the folks in Ford Explorers and sports cars zipping around blind corners on a VERY narrow mountain road barely etched into the mountainside far above the beautiful lake. Yipes! Don't they see that this is a spot where it would pay significant dividends to SLOW THE HELL DOWN A LITTLE?!
Was glad as we got farther into the mountains and passed the last of the marinas and boat ramps, the traffic diminished to zero. Saw another bay window coming the other way!! Big smiles and I waved, he flashed me the peace sign. That was nice, liked that.
Crossed another bridge, found the rafting camp, everyone else (trip was planned through a club at my wife's employer) was sleeping in tents and we set up the Campmobile across the road from the river in the parking lot, popped the top and started dinner in the Dutch ovens, baked some chicken, baked some potatoes, roasted some corn on the cob. Wrapped the chicken before baking it, my wife seemed to enjoy it more that way, I like the chicken better when it's baked without being wrapped. Anyway. It was a good hot meal that beat the hell out of P&B sandwiches or trail mix!!!
Turned out that the raft trip package did not include dinner Friday or breakfast Saturday. We had brought extra food and shared that with some of my wife's co-workers who had made the trip (with no food or water! amazing!). Turned out that we put the entire flat of eggs to good use Saturday morning cooking up a big batch of scrambled eggs for everyone, great visual breaking the eggs into a big plastic bowl with the rising sun shining behind me, had the bowl on top of the Coleman cooler inside the Campmobile, was standing outside working fast to thwart the flies... the sunlight illuminated the bowl and the brilliant yellow yolks of the fresh farm eggs, it was truly a fine sight!
Big batch of biscuits were a little brown but not doughy, cooked up the leftover baked potatoes from Friday night's dinner into German fried potatoes, fed everybody who wasn't too hung over to eat. Explained what a Dutch oven was and how it worked. If I'd had a pile of spare ones I could have sold them. I felt the same way when I saw Jeff (?) at the CCC June campout last year with a Dutch oven! "What is that thing?"
Received many compliments on the Campmobile, as this was another non-VW trip. Enjoyed showing off the bits and pieces we've installed. Especially enjoyed the 12V fans and lights, now running off the auxiliary battery. Was trying a small 110V lamp with a 300V inverter and a fluorescent bulb from Home Depot, it burned out pretty quickly. No loss, the 12V lights were ample to read by and tinker by. And to power the radio. Not sure if the fluorescent bulbs just don't abide well with the inverter or what, not in a hurry to spend another $7 on a fluorescent bulb to experiment again, though! Slept downstairs as that's where the fans and lights are (not the mention the icebox!).
The rafting itself was a BLAST and I highly recommend it, we went with Spirit Whitewater, check out their web pages. The guides were friendly, the equipment was clean and functional, the river was SENSATIONALLY BEAUTIFUL! The King's River is one of the last undammed rivers in California, and though my wife seemed to want even larger rapids, I was perfectly happy with the water here towards the end of the rafting season. Went back to the Campmobile and my wife napped while I picked things up and got them semi-organized (organization is a state not unlike a state of grace, something to aim towards but seldom achieved...)
Down about half a quart of oil, and the Kendall 20/50 didn't look spent or burnt at all, which I was happy to see. Worried me making this trip without a functioning oil temp gauge.
Packed everything up pretty early Sunday, raked the ashes into the dirt where the Dutch ovens had been used, lent out one of the coolers and some leftover ice, prayed and the Campmobile started up first time (hooray!), threaded our way back down the twisting road with the early light dramatically shining on the scenery. Kept it down to about 25 mph and didn't have any hot dogs on our tail. Guess they were all hung over.
Good and hot again on Sunday, kept the speed at about 57. Stopped for half an hour before climbing the Grapevine, stretched our legs and popped the engine hatch to let the engine and oil cool down. Didn't want to push my luck. Followed a big tanker truck up the hill, only too happy to be driving 35 or so. Amazing to see people in big pickups racing up the hill hauling boats! Can they afford to replace their cars every couple of years!?? That's gotta take a real toll on an engine. Hit the summit listening to Cassidy from a Grateful Dead bootleg tape, the conflict in that song resolving itself just about the moment we crested the mountain -- flight of the seabird, scattered like lost words, wheel to the storm and fly
The drive home was uneventful aside from the usual handful of morons driving way too fast and leaving way too little room while passing (or tailgating!). Read traffic and avoided what I thought was about to be a sensational five car pile up in Los Angeles, I can't stand driving through LA any more, it's too big and there are too many cars, the air is opaque, everybody drives like they're a movie star or a big executive on their way to some big deal... nightmares!
Was happy to pull into my wife's parents' house and get the little guy back from Grandma and Grandpa, was even happier to round the bend at Capo Beach and feel the gloriously cool ocean air. The mist from the sprayer wasn't as much of a life support system as it had been previously!
Pulled up in front of our house, laid a hand on the engine compartment... didn't burn my hand, the bumper was hot from the exhaust but the Campmobile passed its final pre-Baja shakedown without any trouble. I guess I'm as ready as I'm going to get.
