I didn't get a chance to post any pictures of my Saturday drive, so here are a few of the parting moments from Deb and Denny's place and then on the road, Highway 20 towards the 101 North. I always enjoy the scenery.
After leaving Fort Bragg on Saturday afternoon, Ella was having a really hard time. The upgrades she got were necessary but it seems like there's another problem. I'm no car expert but the engine is revving way to high, there is a lack of power and the transmission is shifting way too slow. The car is unresponsive to changes from the accelerator and I'm still trying to figure out when overdrive should be on or off. With this new set of problems I am making some judgement calls.
We had a rough afternoon/evening and my nerves were shot, there were several steep grades and Ella was struggling like crazy, the engine was revving up to 3000, 3500 and over 4,000 rpm at times. I would let off the gas to try to help but then the car would almost come to a stop. So we're back to the right hand lane, hazard lights and limping up hills. Not fun. At times something under the hood would start to screech like a belt that was too tight or something (what do I know). I just kept an eye on all my gauges, no warning lights came on and so far Ella has been quite good with the warning lights so I turned the radio up and tried to keep heading north.
By 10:30pm I decided to call it a night and pulled into a rest stop of the south side of Grants Pass. There was another RV there as well, a young family so I went over and introduced myself to them before heading to bed. My nerves were pretty raw and my stomach was in knots so I couldn't sleep. I read for a while and after numerous attempts finally made it to sleep around 1am. Nerves, Noise, Lights... tough night to get rest. It was a gorgeous spot and in the morning before I pulled out I took this picture, I really enjoyed the mist and fog.
I woke up by myself around 6:15am and was on the road by 6:30am, hoping to make the Airstream dealer in Covington, WA before they closed at 4pm. Sounds like lots of time but with Miss Perception in tow and Ella not quite at her best I wanted to get on the road as soon as possible. Ella growled all day, poor dear, but I had chats with her and thanked her for taking such good care of all of us so far and that we just needed to get Miss Perception to the dealer and I then I stroked the dashboard and told her it would be really nice if she could get me all the way home too please.
The drive is beautiful, I always find the scenic beauty whether it's golden fields that have endured a dry summer, row after row of pine trees or lush green countryside, I enjoy it all. There was some amazing fog that set upon me part way through the day, it make visibility difficult but the roads were fairly quiet so it was enjoyable.
Heading into Oregon I was looking forward to the full service gas stations. I timed it so I'd have to fill up twice in Oregon to take advantage of their wonderful service. The guys at the gas stations were awesome, they checked all my fluids for me and were excited about Miss Perception too, at one stop I opened up the door and several people peeked inside, the typical response is "oh, I want one of these!!" It's quite nice to have so much positive feedback on the trailer.
The day was full of other Airstream sightings, one vintage Airstream pulled up beside me, we waved at eachother and then they pulled on by. I thought it was pretty cool to be sandwiched between 2 airstreams, one in front of me and one directly behind me (in tow), my first caravan. Later in the day I noticed someone on the other side of the road flashing their high beam and waving their arms... I noticed all this before I saw the airstream they were towing. I waved back, these road acknowledgements are pretty cool, espeically when you're driving alone.
We rolled into the Airstream dealership at about 3:30pm and the service department closed at 4pm so I had just enough time to get all the paperwork setup and then drop off my little Miss. I told her she's going to stay there for a while, that it's summer camp for Airstreams there and that she'll have lots of friends to hang out with. She was sort of sad to see Ella and I leave with GyPSy but I told her I'd be back to pick her up and that all she had to do was let the nice people take care of her. There are a few items that need attention and I thought getting them done at the dealership would be my best bet. I'll also have their 22 point insepction done so if there's anything else that I was unaware of they'll find that too. Overall Miss Perception is in great shape so a few tweaks and she'll be even happier. The dealership is a bit backed up with work so they're more than willing to let me leave her there til the end of September (with no storage fee). They're awesome!
Ella and I got back on the road, I had been getting a headache all day and it was starting to get worse. I didn't have anything with me and I was hoping that I would be able to manage my way through it until I got to a place where I'd have enough time to buy something for it. So far it was annoying but manageable. It had been a harrowing 9 hour drive and now I was to continue my trek northbound, next stop would be the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal.
I was hoping to make the 7:55 ferry. I have always had extremely good luck with the ferries and more often than not I tend to make a ferry rather than miss it. GyPSy had us arriving at 7:37pm so I thought it was going to be quite tight, and it is the summer still so I was just going to see what happened. There was a fair bit of traffic and we rolled up to terminal at about 7:40, there were about 10 cars infront of me in my lane, I bought my ticket by about 7:53 and didn't even bother to ask the lady if I'd make the next sailing because I was quite certain that would be unlikely. I rolled my way down in Lane 11 and came to a stop behind a row of cars. There was a guy standing outside his truck and I asked him "did we miss the 7:55?" and he said "no, it's late". It should be here soon so don't go too far". Although the ferry was late, it was great to know that I'd still be making the sailing. I called my mom to let her know that I was still on my way home and she was happy to hear my voice, she said the mother hen is always happier when all her chicks are back home and safe so she was glad I was in Canada again. At this point my headache was getting really bad, I was starting to feel nauceous and I knew that I didn't take something soon that it could likely turn into a migraine.
We boarded the ferry at about 8:20pm and I headed up to the gift shop to see what they had for medicine. Extra Strength Tylenol was all to be had. I bought some (unfortunately Tylenol doesn't do much for my headaches) so I doubled the dose and went back down to the car because the lights and the smells upstairs were irritating. I tried to organize a few things in the car, fold some clothes and sort out bedding and laundry. As I refolded the clothes that I had washed at Deb's place I smelled the cozy fabric softner that she uses and immediately I felt like she was there with me. It make me smile while I finsihed sorting everything out and got in the car, a few minutes later we were docking and the drive to Earls Cove started.
I have driven this Sunshine Coast so many times but I was so exhausted and my headache was so bad I was oblivious to where I was, I could still see the road but I had no idea where (along the way) I was. At one point I came around a corner and thought there was this 20' high truck coming at me, it was a car and the placement of the streetlights looked like some quadruple decker bus. I told myself that it couldn't be real even while I was sure I was seeing it. At some point a while later my headache got the best of me and I had to pull over and I got sick for while, not pretty but I've got short hair. I didn't feel any better but after standing in the pouring rain for about 5 more minutes I got back in the car. I did eventually make it to Earls Cove, between talking to Ella and coaxing myself to keep driving, I arrived. I pulled some blankets over me and set the alarm on my phone for 10 mintues before the ferry was to leave. I put my seat back and went to sleep for about an hour. I woke up with a few minutes to spare before loading on the 11:25pm ferry, I went right back to sleep again after resetting my alarm once more. By the time we docked in Saltery Bay I was actually feeling a bit better. The nausea was still there a bit but my headache was easing up.
As I drove by Myrtle Point I had to pull over and take this picture of the moon on the water. This was "my beach" growing up so it holds a special place in my heart and it was a lovely welcome home by the bright and friendly moon. I drove home to the Townsite and made it to my place at about 12:45am. I swung by and picked up Lise for a quick visit before heading off to bed. After all this I couldn't sleep so I read until about 3am and then went to sleep because I had my first conference call for work at 8am.
An 18 hour drive in one go was more than I care to do again anytime soon. May future roadtrips be more mellow.
The ride up to Powell River was uneventful in a good way. The rain stopped for most of the way between Langdale and Earls Cove. A drizzle started while waiting for the ferry but the time passed quickly with a wonderful chat with my music teacher Cam and another local who was interested in the Airstream. 
