It was in the low 70's when we left Burns, OR. Now this is more like it!
Nice, cool, dry weather, an open road (unfortunately about as straight as
an arrow) and 130 miles to Bend and we drive through the desolate country
passing a fuel stop about once every 45 miles. And the price shows. Can
you believe $2.28 per gallon! That's about 50% more than what they charge
in town. I guess if you need it, you NEED it.
We fuel up in Bend, Oregon. Oregon has a state law that prohibits self
serve gas stations. I guess the theory is that we, who disassemble and
reassemble cars are not smart enough to pump our own gas. Go figure.
At any rate, while making the right turn onto the main drag something
piddled on my foot. And, no, it was not the Chihuahua. It looks like a
fully functional radiator cap stressed the heater core. Oh well, the way
the weather has been, the last thing I need is a heater. Since I was 200
feet from the last fuel stop and I was going to loose some coolant swaping
out the hoses (to bypass the heater) and the car needed to cool to relieve
the pressure in the cooling system anyway, I walked back to buy some more
antifreeze.By the time I got back Brad and Bud had already swapped my
heater hoses for me! So a quick top up of the cooling system and we were
underway again.
The Scenery brom Bend to Mt. Hood ranges from scrub desert to dramatic
canyon-like river valleys to Pine forests to mountains. What a wonderful
place this is.
Finding a hotel in the shadow of Mt Hood, we unload Brad's Spitfire from
the trailer and set off to drive up Mt. Hood. About 1/2 way up, waiting in
a traffic que, the temperature again started to rise. This time it was the
radiator fan fuse. Replace the fuse and we are off again. This cooling
system is starting to tax my patience. The rest of the trip was
uneventful. But then, we have a 30 mile run into Portland tomorrow and
anything can happen.
Dave Massey (On the Road in Sandy, OR.)
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