August 25
Today was a day with little to recount. We were in Hayward, CA for one purpose and one purpose only: to have the van properly serviced. By the time we reached Hayward, I had driven it 3600 miles (5800 km). I had a list of problems I wanted to bring to their attention. I was told to be at the Road Bear distributorship at 8:00 AM and to ask for Thomas. He would take care of everything and return the van to me at the end of the same day. Thomas was not there at 8:00 AM. He arrived about a half hour late, but when I met him I was disarmed by his eagerness to solve every problem on my list, if possible. We discussed at length all the quirks and malfunctions that this specific van has in particular, and that all vans of this make have – across the board – in general. The problems included air-conditioner, brakes, headlights, wheel balancing, oil change, engine-function warning light, gas cap, unknown interior light switch, windshield stone chip, wiper blades.
While I waited for a ride back to my motel a family of German speaking tourists came in and returned their motor home. All kinds of unused articles were piled in the corner of the waiting area by the vending machines, the remains of tea boxes, pepper shakers, insect repellent, and paper-pack books in German that had served this family well until their trip was completed. Thomas drove me back to my motel himself and said I should call around 4:30 PM so they could pick me up and bring me back to receive my van.
The remainder of the day was spent in the motel room. I had a lot of blog entries to catch up on. Razelle never left the room during the day and I was only out long enough to take care of the van.
At 4:00 PM I walked back to the Road Bear location. It only took 20 minutes, but I didn't see others walking as I might have in other countries I've been to or now live in. I'm not sure if it is due to laziness, insecurity, lack of time, or heat of day. I found what looked and smelled like wild dill growing along the sidewalk. I ate one of its seeds, then thought better of it and ate no more of them. What if I had misidentified this plant?
I reached my destination and found that the van repairs were still not done. Lynnette, the receptionist who'd greeted me this morning, looked different this afternoon. She'd had long hair woven into her own. We talked about this procedure to pass the time. Eventually, Thomas came into the room and took me to see the van. He had diagnosed the warning light. It was a misfiring timer in the engine that was a minor thing; it was not about the gas cap, so the cap remained. The headlight lenses were polished and clear now instead of milky and translucent. There were new bulbs behind them. The wheels had been balanced and the tires properly inflated. The steering was as tight as it could be; the air-conditioning was as good as it could be. These are design flaws with these Dodges. Thomas thought that Chris of Adventures on Wheels should consider replacing his Dodges with Fords, as Road Bear had. The brakes were also as good as they could be; the wheels are small so the pads have less surface to grab when stopping such a large vehicle. That's another design issue. The tires had been balanced so now they shouldn't vibrate at higher speeds. The oil was changed and good for another 5000 miles (8000 km). There are new wiper blades on the windshield, whose chip isn't bad enough to fix. Under the hood I saw that the fluid levels were all topped up and the engine was clean and sprayed with an oily polish. I was given back a van that had been given the loving care I would have given it myself if it were mine. I guess I couldn't have asked for more. I have a long road ahead of me. I'll just have to accept the fact that this van is as good as it can be and that I have the backing of Thomas at Road Bear in Hayward, Chris's most trusted mechanic, that this is so. Thomas also explained the unknown switch: it turns on a converter that enables use of the 110-volt outlets (powered by the van's battery) within the van whenever it is parked where there is no electric hook up. That's a bonus I am pleased to know now.
I drove back to our motel and worked on the blog some more the rest of the day. That is a summation of how we spent this day.
No comments:
Post a Comment