On the road again…slightly delayed by “glitches“
Finally took off yesterday, for what we hope will be a few years on the road. Last time at Safeguard Storage…forever? for awhile? We made it to Grants Pass, Oregon after a veeerrry looong driving day…~400 miles, ~8 hours! Since it was almost all I-5, Gail actually drove 222 miles. We arrived in the rain, after dark, so did the minimum setup, and finished this morning…staying for a couple of nights.
We had originally planned to leave on the 14th and spend 5 Nights/3 Stops on the Oregon Coast, to avoid possible snow, inland. INSTEAD…we delayed departure 3 days and (with temps in the mid-40’s) re-routed to spend just 2 nights/1 Stop in south Oregon (down I-5 and the Redwood Highway) before catching up our schedule at our first California stop.
And WHY?!?!? BECAUSE…during Lizzy prep & checkout last week, Mark found:
- a missing shock washer & nut on the right front wheel
- a broken brake line on the back right wheel 1
The first was pretty easy to fix, the second, not so much. Thank goodness for 66 Robblees Inc, who had a replacment brake assembly in stock, and Cousin Mike, who helped Mark replace the brake!
Today, we’ll mostly relax and finish up trip prep…Mark will finish dewinterizing Lizzy, Gail will finish up storing the last supplies we brought along yesterday. Not too much, as we’ve been prepping for a couple of weeks. One splurge/update to our setup, was a small storage ottoman to put our feet up watching TV, or use for our evening tea (the cushion reverses to a tray).
Tomorrow we take off for Fortuna, California!
For more pictures, see Adventure Album: South thru Arizona
- The brake lines on the Airstream are just electrical wires, which hang down a bit. On further inspection, when replacing the brake, one wire was broken and the other was sheared. We assume it happened on the road, snagging the wires, running over some branches or something. Based on when he last inspected under Lizzy that well, and how the braking felt driving down into Salt Lake City, July 2, Mark now thinks we’ve been driving with only 3 working brakes since sometime in June! Kind of scary thought. He’s now procurred an infrared thermometer, to regularly check the brakes while we are on the road, so we don’t do THAT again!
10 Comments
Mark Schmetzer · January 15, 2023 at 11:55 am
Safe travels, I know you all will have a great time.
Gail · January 15, 2023 at 12:11 pm
Thanks! We’ll feel safer, when we get past the California Flooding!!!
Jeri · January 15, 2023 at 12:37 pm
Congratulations on starting your great adventure. Sorry we did not connect in December. Keep the updates coming and stay safe!
Gail · January 15, 2023 at 1:20 pm
Thanks! And Darn That SNOW! Missed a few “Goodbyes”, because of it. Hope to catch you in May. We fly back late on the 7th, from Pittsburgh, and retun to Pittsburgh the day after Memorial Day. As for the trip, the good news, is that the weather, while wet, so far is less wet than anticipated. We’re starting to feel hopeful we will make it through northern California OK.
Tom Keasting · January 15, 2023 at 3:26 pm
Sorry that you had the unexpected delay, but better to find the issues before the trip commences than somewhere on the road. Enjoy your latest adventure!
Gail · January 17, 2023 at 8:40 am
Thanks! Pollyana here…the delay and reroute helped us avoid some rain, AND let us have lunch at Taylor Sausage in Cave Junction, Oregon!!!
Mary · January 16, 2023 at 2:10 pm
Did you review & rate self storage on yelp?
How could this happen if only a couple of employees
have access to stored items???
Gail · January 17, 2023 at 8:38 am
OOPS! Misunderstanding. The cut brake line was from running over some branches or something, on the road. The last time Mark did that level of inspection, was before we left on our Rockies trip in June. In fact, in retrospect, he thinks it occurred before we even got to Salt Lake City on that trip, and we’ve been driving with only 3 working brakes, ever since. He’s now procurred a new “toy”, an infrared thermometer, to regularly check the brakes while we are on the road, so we don’t do THAT again! Also, when he and Mike got into replacing the brake, he discovered that the other line on the old one was sheared. So we must have snagged the lines on something “big”. The design actually seems strange. All the brake lines, which are just electrical wires, hang down a bit. It’s kind of surprising this never happened before, in 5 years of travel.
Gail · January 17, 2023 at 9:56 am
OH! And thanks for the question. I’ve now updated the original post, to explain that a bit. It was NOT obvious!
Also, just an FYI…we LOVED that storage place. They had GREAT security!
mary · January 17, 2023 at 8:37 pm
Thanks for the update.