On the Road to Inuvik: Dispatches

Eddie Hintz, July 18^th

Crossed over into OR yesterday, in a rainstorm. A happy note-my hard work at sealing the engine compartment paid off. 2 hours into driving in the rain, I popped the back lid, and the engine was still dry and dusty from yesterday's off road adventures.

I forgot to mention in my last trip report that we had our first mechanical failure of the trip in Fort Bragg. When I got into the bus at Payless drugs and shut the door, the driver's side rearview mirror fell down and broke.

Anyway, the rain continued. And continued. And continued. We checked out the mailboat rides at Gold Beach, but at $30/ea they were out of our budget for this trip. We'll do it next time. We got to go through Brookings OR, where my great grandmother lived, and through Bandon, where my quasi-step-dad was stationed in the Coast Guard. And of course the scenery was wonderful. Much like that of PCH in northern CA, where the forests dip down to the cliffs and the shore, and rocks stick out in defiance of the unrelenting Pacific surf, to be engulfed at hightide. Beautiful it was, but too wet to camp. So we headed inland at highway 38, and found a motel just off I5 in Cottage Grove. It was cheap, and they let us fire up the BBQ in back, so we could cook up our campfood. And send all my email... ;-)

We are now on I5 just north of Eugene, heading for Portland and my step-sister's residence. From there I will establish a home base to find a new rearview mirror, and perhaps a few westy knick-nacks from a local junkyard. Our next stop after Portland should be Tobin & Christa's in Vancouver, to start off the Crazy VW Top of the World Tour... Northaward Ho!!

Peace,
Eddie