April 8, 2005

April 8, 2005

Cape Lookout to Tillamook, Oregon

DAY 294

 

Today was cloudy and cool, with a bit of light rain in the morning.

We got a very early start this morning. We wanted to have the truck at a repair shop fairly early in their work day. Just as we were about to pull out of our campsite, the campground host in the site next to us came over with a local phone book she borrowed from the park ranger station. It was extremely helpful. Before pulling out of the state park, we made a bunch of phone calls, to find a suitable repair shop, and a suitable campground nearby. We succeeded in both, and left the state park with a bit of a sense of relief, knowing where we were taking the truck for repair, and where we were going to park the trailer in the meantime. We drove gingerly along the 11 miles curving up and over and around ( we're getting pretty used to that ! ) to Tillamook. We found our way through town, and out onto Hwy. 6 leading to Portland. A couple of miles out of town, we came to Wilson River RV Park. I had ascertained by phone that they had a pull through site available, which meant I could pull in, unhitch Harvey, and drive Dee-Dee away without ever having to go into reverse. As soon as I got the trailer unhitched, I left Joanne to register and finish setting up the trailer ( electricity, water, and sewer connections, extend the slides, etc. ) while I headed back to the edge of town, to Mechtronics, a local auto and heavy equipment repair shop. They were expecting me, and were able to begin diagnosis of the transmission problem as soon as I arrived. When it became apparent after an hour or so that it was not a really simple problem, they drove me back to Wilson River RV Park, and told me to phone them at 3:00. Hopefully they would know more by then.

We had lunch, then I took a long, well deserved nap. It's now 3:00 P.M. and I've just phoned Mechtronics. They have the transmission pan lowered, and haven't yet figured out what the problem is. Phone back in an hour. < sigh > When I phoned back at 4:00 P.M. they had ascertained that the problem was not the servo motor, or the rear transmission band, so the problem is internal. The options they gave me were to order and install a rebuilt transmission, or allow them to lower the transmission and begin disassembling it to identify the problem, and what would be required to repair / rebuild it in their shop. Option 1 is likely to cost $2500 and the truck will be ready next Wednesday. Order a rebuilt transmission on Monday, receive it and install it Tuesday, be ready to go Wednesday. Option 2 is likely to cost $2000 and the truck will be ready to go next Friday ! Lower the transmission and disassemble it to identify the exact problem on Monday, order the necessary components Tuesday, receive the components and rebuild the transmission on Wednesday, reinstall it into the truck on Thursday, be ready to go on Friday. < sigh > While I'm worried mostly about this transmission problem, and its cost, Joanne is fretting about our return to Canada. We left Canada on October 15, and should be crossing back into Canada on or before April 15. U.S. Homeland Security only allows us to remain in the United States as visitors for 6 months. I don't perceive that being late due to a mechanical breakdown is a problem, but Joanne thinks it is. Maybe she can do some research on Monday, and make some phone calls, and figure out how big a problem it is, if any, if we're late returning.

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening trying rather unsuccessfully to cope with the stress we're feeling.

DSK