Date:         Fri, 5 Jul 1996 21:35:19 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Eddiehintz@aol.com
Subject:      Trip report-how the west was fun...

Howdy all!
     It's been rather fun since we last talked... Sam, myself and Indra (the
dog) have had adventures. After the kind hospitality of my sister and her
husband and roommate, we headed west on rt. 84, and I took a nap. Sam missed
the turn to continue on 84 to I 40, and woke me up just before Yeso NM, with
the news that she thought she'd missed the turn. OK, says I, we just take rt.
60 out to 285, thence to I 40 (look at a map, it'll make more sense). So we
pull over so I can take over driving, and the oil light starts to flash. No
big deal, I add the extra Qt., and make a note to myself to pick up more oil
in the next town. Well, 45 minutes later, the oil light flashes again. This
is not a good thing. So, I go investigate, lo and behold, I have bit myself.
I checked the Valves in Clovis NM before we left my sister's house. When I
put the left side valve cover back on it didn't seat properly. So we dumped
oil at the rate of 1 qt. per 50 or so miles. No es bueno, especially on rt.
60, in NM, on 4th July, at 4:45 AM, 10 miles shy ofVaughn NM. So we waited.



     And waited.



     Finally, at about 5:30 a fellow comes by that stops when I flap my wings
at him. He doesn't have oil. Says there's a couple of cars and a truck behind
him. Offers a ride to Vaughn, but I refuse, not wanting to leave Sam and
Indra in the middle of nowhere. So I flag down a nice old couple in an
American (ugh!) mini-van, and they offer to go back to Vaughn and get us some
oil. So they go. Then, 5 minutes later, the 1st fellow shows up-he decided to
get us some oil! And he refuses payment. Nice guy. So I dump in the oil, and
off we go, waving down the folks in the mini-van to get my change back and
thank them for having gone out of thier way. Karma is a good thing to build
up, dontcha know.
     So, on through NM. A very scenic place. The sun rising over the hills,
and the neatly trimmed grass, painstakinly maintained by a herd of cattle.
The tan ground stretches off to the distance, accented by the green of scrub
bushes, much like the desert of California I grew up camping in. And it
didn't hurt matters that I had to wear a jacket. Nice to have a low below
73-hasn't happend for a few months in Austin. The Cibola National Forest was
a real treat for the eyes, and we snapped the neccessary photo as we crossed
the continental divide. A later stop in Gallup was the opportunity to
purchase some Castrol to replace the cheap stuff so kindly provided by our
early morning saviour. And AutoZone refused to take my Traveller's
Checks-said they only take American Express. A bronx cheer to AutoZone-what's
wrong with MasterCard Traveller's Checks anyway? 
    And now, if you'll excuse me, we're pulling up Winslow Arizona. I think
I'll go stand on a corner and see if it really is a fine sight to see a girl
in a flatbed Ford slowing down to take a look at me...   ;-)   Somehow I
think Sam may not like this idea...
Peace,
Eddie