November 9th – 11th
The nights are growing colder, with the outside temperatures hovering around 5°C. Too cold to have the windows open more than an inch, condensation still forms around the glass. It’s too cold to sleep in the rooftop tent, so we’re all snug together in the camper box.
When the kids were younger and much smaller, sharing the dinette bed, top and tailing, was less of an issue. Now twice the size, the inevitable squabbles about personal space are escalating. Barely manageable, but the alternative is much less comfortable, so the choice is theirs. We’ll be in warmer climates soon enough. The days are shorter, night falls earlier. Its always a tough time of year for me—dark by 5pm, dark again when we wake up.
Truck parts
We’ve been in touch with Jim Ince, a Mercedes Unimog specialist who’s helped us out with some truck parts in the past. He’s ordered some for this trip, but unfortunately, they haven’t arrived yet, but will ship them on to us somewhere before we cross into Mexico. The good news is he does have a fuel cap, so we make a quick side trip off the highway, Jim lives out in the middle of nowhere in Oregon on an acerage of farm land that’s shrouded in a dark history. Back in the 70s, a neighbouring feud played out, one not far from the ‘Hatfield and McCoy’s’. A bit of a Wild West story—shots fired, cattle and dogs lost, property damaged and business halted by bitter rivalry. Those neighbours long gone, and all is well. With a temporary fuel cap in place, we retrace our line back to the highway.
Klamath falls, Oregon
Finding a spot for the night amongst a grove of old Ponderosa pines, we’re not far from Klamath Falls. Dinner tonight is Costco roast chicken. Served on fresh pita bread with tzatziki, lettuce, and tomato, easy! Calling it a night, everyone is asleep quickly. Tim first, driving Bruce is tiring, travelling is tiring. But for now we’re aimed at pounding out the miles, so we can later slow it down.
We woke up at dawn. Hot drinks in hand & oatmeal for breakfast. My Dad will get a kick out of this, he’s also travelling, currently somewhere in Chile —every day he cooks oats for breakfast. His blog often talks of the eternal quest for oats. Turning wheels by 7:45am, the landscape continues to change from green trees to dry brown desert. No more madness of the I5, these smaller, quieter roads are much nicer.
We pulled over for a second breakfast after just a couple of hours. A quick snack of chopped veggies, tzatziki, pita bread, pretzels, and mixed nuts keeps them fuelled for the next stretch. The three of them are burning through a staggering amount of food. Today, we drove nearly 600km, crossing back and forth between Nevada and California. We pass the time discussing and explaining world events, history, politics and listening to podcasts.
a new sound
Bruce has developed a whistle. It sounds like the air tanks are venting every few minutes, which is a bit concerning. We pulled off at a soccer field, so the kids could run around and kick the ball, while Tim investigated. He discovers it’s a broken pin/stud that’s attaching the turbo to the exhaust manifold, of the four, one has broken, one loose and the other two snug. It’ll need to be fixed.
Stopping for the night on the edge of a shrinking lake. The wind was relentless, howling through the night, making it hard to sleep.
Yosemite National park
On Monday the 11th, we celebrated Tim’s dad Mike (Grandpa)’s 88th birthday! A big milestone! The kids wrote him letters & sent via email. We were making our way into Yosemite National Park via the East entrance, and lucky for us, entry was free that day for Remembrance Day. Had I done a bit more research, though, I would have realized that the main sights are all on the west side of the park, and the drive to get there involves more than 50 steep winding miles. An absolutely stunning corner of the world. Unfortunately about half way we decided to turn around. We had hoped to see El Capitan, but with snow in the forecast and the East gate closing at 4pm, we figured it was best. Promising to return with more deserving time.
Stopping by a lake for lunch. The wind was biting, and just too cold to enjoy eating outside. As we continued south, the valleys between the mountain ranges grew larger and larger, and the landscape grew even more dramatic. Yosemite was clearly having its own weather system, with dark, moody clouds gathering above. We’d left at the right time.
The kids are slowly adjusting to waking up at the crack of dawn. As we travel further south, it’s clearly getting lighter earlier—down here in California, sunrise is at 6:23am, compared to the 7:30am sunrise back home. The nights are warmer, but the wind is still causing problems, keeping us all in the camper box together for now.
Tomorrow, we’re heading off to explore Death Valley National Park.