Adventures of an Air_Cooled

Day 12

A beautiful sight: The Cascade Mountains!

The final drive home, yipee! Oregon was cool and there were no winds to constantly battle.

Mt. Hood in the distance.

See where the road ends at the top of the hill? That's about 14 miles away.

On the drive down along the Umpqua river my left rear axle bearing started squaling and letting me know it wasn't happy. To keep it quiet I would suddenly let off the gas, let the noise stop, then gently apply throttle to get back up to speed. The transaxle had a growl in it and my flasher relay would randomly start buzzing unless I had the emergency flasher pulled out about a 1/16 of an inch. My car was tired and she let me know.

Stark contrast to south Wyoming, eh?

We got to Brian's house and breathed a sigh of relief. 30 or so minutes later we had my engine out of the cargo area and on his engine stand. I topped up the tranny as it was weeping oil as well. With a lighter load I was ready to head home.

The ride home was basically me in auto-pilot. When I was a couple of miles from my destination I opened both side windows and pulled back my rag top. The Oregon air was clean, cool, and crisp. I smelled various plants in bloom and a wood-burning fireplace. Pulling into my neighborhood and into my driveway I could smell the Douglas Fir trees and feel the ever so slightest kiss of humidity. Such a sureal feeling, everything seemed different even though nothing had changed. The contrasts of Oregon versus the other four states I traveled through gave me a reminding appreciation of home.

My baby, unloaded and tired, but safe in her bed now.

I was greeted by the excited screams from my kids, "Daddy's home! Daddy's home!" They were so excited to see me, it felt weird but in a good way. Ronin looked taller and more filled out. Bella was all smiles and happy. My Sweetie came out and I just melted in her arms, ran my fingers into her thick, soft hair, and nuzzled her neck. It felt so good to be home.