Day 10
Short report. Just drove today. 446 miles to Omak, Washington, U.S.A. Total of 3,971 with 847 to go.
The higher fatigue level is starting to hit - the "endurance, survival, grit your teeth and keep pushing on to the finish line" phase of the trip. The scenery we drove through was very nice - nothing better than we've seen. Many times I had the thought, "That's pretty. I really should stop and take a picture." But then, as Rhett Butler said to Scarlet O'Hara, I said to myself, "Frankly, my dear, I don't . . . a . . .
have the energy" or something to that effect. So, hope all of you back there in the back got a nice long nap. You really didn't miss anything.
I've got to share my experience crossing the border back into the good old U.S. of A. Even though I'd only been gone for just over a week, less the hour or two in Alaska, I had building anticipation to get back as I got nearer and nearer to the crossing. I was, frankly, a bit surprised when I finally crossed, stopped and changed my GPS system back into miles, and had my speedometer read right again, the strong feelings of just being home again. Although Canada is just as civilized as we are and nothing bad at all about it, other than making my speedometer read wrong, it was still good to be home again and feel at home again. I love this country, even with all of its faults. It is my home and I'm glad to be back.
I did actually get real tools (not my "magic hammer") out of the tool box and worked on the car today. It as a 1/2" end wrench to loosen the lock-nut on the vacuum brake adjustment on the distributor, and a long screw driver to screw the adjustment screw down to get rid of the annoying ping on climbs. Worked great, mostly. In the morning I'll retard the timing some to get rid of the pinging that still lingers.
I've got 472 miles to get to my daughter's in Meridian, Idaho tomorrow night to stay overnight and go to church with them in the morning then 386 miles to finish getting home that night.