Life in Florida - Time for a new car?

 With a new job in Fort Myers and a dependent family in Jacksonville, I've been driving my car 7 hours each way, taking the side roads.  (I'd get angry motorists on the Interstate; best and most gas efficient speed is 50mph.)  So, I'm using my car on long highway trips, and clearly my car is not a highway machine, especially since I don't have overdrive.  In the last ten miles of the most recent Christmas journey, I started hearing strange noises in third gear.  

The car has needed tuning for a while and a good lube job.  I've got it on stands and am finding all the nibs with the help of my owner's manual. 

I'm going to spend the next few days following the lubrication instructions in the owner's manual until a nearby repair shop opens for the new year.  (They're on vacation.)  Let's see if I can find the source of the noise as I lube and tune.  With God and Tech on my side, it's a loose body panel or something simple.

My Adventure Across the U.S.A. - Seattle to Sanibel (3400 miles)

Maybe I'm a little optimistic, five days for a 3400 mile trip from Seattle, WA to Sanibel Island, FL.  If I mentioned my plans to anyone, most people thought I was daft from long isolation and Covid-imprisonment.  Perhaps so, but I'd rather die on an adventure than suffer another minute with the Seattle paranoiacs.  There are definitely far easier ways to transit the country in aid of my family.  

Yet, I strongly believe that I'd miss an opportunity to see the greatness of our country and its good people if I were to choose the easy path.  Today, I've laid out a course for Pocatello, Idaho, 751 miles through mountains to the Harkness Hotel.  

Two hours out of Seattle, I decided to fill the tank more often through the mountains and stopped at Cle Elum, WA (+86 miles).  I'm probably burning more fuel.  

One of the few pleasures ... Planning a trip!

 Planning the Seattle-Sanibel Run has been one of the few pleasures during the plague.  Naturally, there are other things that kept me busy, but I actually enjoyed the anticipation and preparation of the trip. 

During winter of 2010, I crossed the U.S. from Chicago and reaching Los Angeles on New Year's Day of 2011, but that was nothing in comparison to the absolute diagonal from the craziest northwest corner to the warmest southeast corner.  I've got it broken up into five days:

DAY 01  Seattle (06:00) - Hermiston, OR - Nampa, ID - McCammon, ID (22:30)
DAY 02  McCammon, ID (08:00) - Rock Spring, WY - Cheyenne, WY - Walsenberg, CO (23:00)
DAY 03  Walsenberg (07:00) - Vega, TX - Wichita Falls, TX - Paris, TX (21:00)
DAY 04  Paris (08:00) - Arcadia, LA - Hattiesburg, MS - Destin, FL (21:00)
DAY 05  Destin (08:00) - Tennille, FL - Sarasota, FL - Sanibel Island, FL (18:30)

I admit some of the days are harsh.  My car is not a highway driver (No Overdrive), so I'm going to need frequent stops.  I've packed some caffeine and Lucky Strike cigarettes.  Though I don't smoke, I'll set aside the long-term health issues from smoking for the short-term gain of remaining mentally active on the road.  Besides, five days of occasional nicotine does not an addiction make.

No Garage...but I gotta get ready

 Circumstances changed.  The world has changed.  I need to get ready to leave Seattle, and it'll have to be ready to cross the country.  Brakes, electric, and tuning...  One way or another, we're going to be ready.

     

New Seattle Home with GARAGE!

I have returned to the United States and even found a garage in my new home city of Seattle!  I will resume my blog now.

I'm out of the country, and my Chrysler has gone into Pasadena hibernation.  When I've passed through this purgatory of dust, heat, and sand, I may return triumphant a new man or reduced to a cinder.  Won't that be exciting?

A fresh breeze blows gently into my life...

A long period of quiet waiting appears nearing its end.  Resuming my blog means the resumption of automobile care and study.  Very soon...