Day 105, Monday, November 21, Salina UT
Andy was confident he would have a new fuel pump delivered and installed today, but when it i called him at 11, unfortunately, he was not able to get one today, but would have one tomorrow. When i asked him for the part number just to be sure he ordered the right pump, they were shipping him the fuel pump for the Land Rover Discovery and not a Defender. Oops. He was going to try to get the order changed so the correct pump could be delivered. However, before i called him, because I had to be 100ercent sure i had the right pump, and because I always want to carry a spare from now on, i ordered a correct one myself to be rushed here overnight by UPS, who has a hub in town so delivery should be early.
Speaking of in town, the UPS hub is situated at the far west end of Main Street At the far east end,bsnuggled against the hills, is where the WWII POW Camp 32, Camp Selina, was located and which incarcerated about 250 German and Italian POWs in 43 tents. A museum commemorating that just opened on the very spot last week. On July 20, 1945, two months after Germany surrendered, some nutcase name Clarence Bertucci, an unpromotable Army private, slaughtered eight German POWs with machine gun fire because he "hated Germans and wanted to kill some." We all heard of this referred to in our history boks as the Salina Massacre. This is where it occurred. You can read abiut it here.
Donner and i took a short walk down the street to visit the camp museum. It is nicely arranged.
I spent some time today reviewing the responses i got from my inquiries with a half dozen Land Rover and engine experts about whether my two recent failures with auxillary parts might have been caused by the new more powerful engine straining them and taking them down prematurely. If even one thought the answer was yes, and there was nothing i could do about it here soon, i was preaparing Plan B, i.e., ship the Defender home as freight, rent a car to drive home and then deal with the issue at home. Fortunately, all agreed that the answer is no. While this may give me the confidence that i will not incur another hit and layover for this reason, of course, i am fully aware that there is always the chance that some other part may fail during the remaining 2100 miles i still have to go. This is the chance i take on every trip and must accept that risk now as well. Of course, i believe that that risk is low because i will have replaced just about every part in my Defender over the last four years after the new fuel pump is installed. But parts can fail prematurely, as did that new ignition coil on Friday. That too is a risk, which is one of the reasons i probably should not have replaced so many auxiliary parts at the same time as the new engine, but i had my reasons for doing that.
Plan A is to get back the Defender tomorrow with the new fuel pump and test it out on the streets here for a few hours. If it is running properly and i have complete confidence it will get us home without a fifth incident, we will set off on Wednesdsy for KOA cabins in Carbondale Colorado and then Goodland Kansas on Thursday, where i will prepare a special Thanksgiving meal for Donner. After that, for the remaining 1464 miles, i will search for other KOAs about 330-350 miles apart for the next three nights and then on Monday either home in DC at the Savage River Lodge in the mountains in western Maryland, where we ended several prior trips, giving me the chance to write my final blog posting.
The curious among my readers are probably wondering, why cabins at KOAs? Here's my response.
First, my tenting for this trip is over, as explained below.
Second, KOAs have these wonderful little bare bones cabins thst are only onevnotch above tenting, predictably alike, and you can park your cars beside them just like at tent sites. And i save some time each day, which means something with shorter daylight hours by not having to set up and break camp.
Third, many KOAs are usually not too far from the highway, in this case, I-70 and often easy to find with the signage. Again, time savings. Each minute of off highway chores means one mike less of driving.
Fourth, all KOAs predictably have showers and laundry facilities, which my 85-year old former interior decorator next door neighbor will appreciate, although he will probably tell me the same thing when i return that he has told me in the past about how he knew i was home, even though he knew i was home because he saw me pull into the parking lot. "I knew you were home because i could smell the dogs," he rudely told me. Well, let me tell you something, folks, if i don't get to Savage River's shower and laundry before i got hime, he'll probaly know vim coming home when i am 100 miles away.
As for Plan B, if i do not have the confidence that the Defender will get us home safely or in a timely, inexpensive fashion, or it is not running at all very soon, i have made arrangements to have it shipped by freight from the front door of my motel here in Sakina to Washington DC and to rent a Jeep Compass to drive home with Donner. Then I will deal with the residual Defender issues at home. I have too much at stake with that vehicle and it will be a main character in any article or book i will write about my eight road trips. I have had numerous offers from peopke to buy it, inckuding a rather generous one from a man from Oklahoma who saw the Defender being towed in Destruction Bay, Yukon, on September 24th. While i appreciate the offers, i just wave then off just as i would if some offered to adopt Donner from me.
One comment about my frame of mind now, specifically how i have to resist several temptations.
The first temptation is this. During the planned last days of all my trips, there is always the temptation to prolong the mission of the trip, whatever it may be. My missions have always ended on this very segment of the trip that we are in now. For instance, i would love to visit the Grand Canyon, camp at Canyonlands of Arches National Park, camp in the Rockies, visit friends in Denver and elsewhere, etc.. But this trip has ended. It Is time to go home. I have accomplished all that i set out to do and much more. I don't have to do more to make this trip successful or complete. It is over. Get home.
The second temptation is this. I love tenting. I have written enough about this in this blog and need say no more. Now that i am on the final vector of the trip, I have to resist the temptation to think that I must continue to tent to make this trip successful or complete. I do not under any circumstances. But also, tenting in the cold and dark, and driving far to find open camps, which is what i am now facing, is a challenge i accept, but it is no fun on this final leg when i am simply trying to get home. Moreover, the camps on this last leg of the trip are nice but orders of magnitude less interesting than what i have stayed in on my earlier legs, so tenting from now on adds no value to the trip. Also, with shorter daylight hours, i can save perhaps an hour a day by not having to setbup or break camp when i am in a rush to get home. That time is better spent driving. But this doesn't mean i intend to stay in some fancy hotel or motel like I did in Ely for good reason, but with much regret, a first for all my trips. So, unless a tenting camp is easy to get to, i will stay in those bare bones KOA cabins before moving down to something lower, e.g., a Days Inn or other motel or hotel.room
The third temptation is to think of these obstacles thrown at me as nightmares, crises or even problems. Sure, i would prefer that they not be around, but they are simply challenges i must face, and will.
There's one more temptation i have to resist, especially during these unexpected layovers, and that is the temptation to lose focus of my mission or need to bring this trip to an end. When i am in a rut, i have to remind myself that no matter how cozy it might feel, i have to move on or make plans to move on.
One final comment about something i saw tonight that made me say that I am glad i am laid over in Salina. As i was coming out of the grocery store just after 5, i saw the most fascinating ballet i have ever seen in my life, this one in the sky. It was the gathering of millions of birds in hundreds of groups joining group after group into an ever increasing flock, perhaps to fly south. i stood watching the sky in awe absolutely fascinated by this display if nature. What a sight.
More tomorrow.
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