Here, There, and Everywhere

24 May, 2012

Corvair road trip - Final Chapter: Yellowstone and my favorite Idaho scenic routes

‘Yeah, I thought ya might have a problem with that,’ said Rick in his easygoing Idahoan way.

We had been back in Idaho for a couple of days after our road trip, and the series of circumstances that led us to be standing once again in Rick’s shop were frustrating at best. We had just finished pushing our Corvair fifty yards up the road to the shop, and it was not the first time we had pushed it that day. It wasn’t even the second.

‘Yep, once it gets to this point, there’s no startin’ it unless you’ve got an ice pack. Probably shoulda just put a new pump in for ya in the first place.’

Awesome.

Several days later the Corvair had a brand new electric fuel pump. This meant that no matter how hot it became, no matter how stubborn it felt, the car would have to start. I did not have a problem with that.

Soon after the upgrade, we decided a test was in order--another road trip perhaps? Yellowstone National Park was an obvious choice, and as we had just driven nearly 2,000 miles without the electric pump, a little jaunt to Yellowstone seemed like a piece of cake. The Yellow Bomb purred like a happy cat as we zipped east on I-84.

Random fact: U. S. Route 30 is the third longest route in the United States. It runs from Astoria, OR to Atlantic City, NJ. Just out of Glenns Ferry, we abandoned I-84 for a section of US 30 known as Thousand Springs Scenic Byway.

Thousand Springs

The Thousand Springs Scenic Byway is a great way to see some of Southern Idaho’s ancient volcanic terrain. From Bliss to Buhl, it winds through the best of small town Idaho as well as part of the Snake River Canyon. Especially stunning in a wet spring, the Snake River Aquifer seems to gush magically from the canyon wall in numerous (maybe a thousand?) locations. It was a thoroughly enjoyable and worthwhile byway. We reconnected with I-84 at Twin Falls then stopped for the night in Pocatello where it just so happened that a longtime friend of MHH's from Denmark was working on a wind farm.

The next day we continued on I-84 out of Pocatello to Idaho Falls, a rather dull stretch of road, but things picked up as we turned east on US 26 toward Wyoming. I had not been on this particular highway segment in more than ten years, and I was excited to show MHH this spectacular part of the American West.

But forget MHH, I was excited for myself. I knew what was coming and how worthy it was of the delicious anticipation that was building with the elevation gain, that was increasing as the air cooled, and that was singing at the appearance of pine trees. Pine trees! Then there was that first glimpse of the Tetons, those towering peaks of grandeur whose soaring pinnacles bring to mind ‘purple mountain majesties.’ All of this, and we had not even reached our destination.

Ah yes, our destination. I remember back in 1988 when Yellowstone burned. It seemed so devastating and permanent, but when we visited the area with family in June 1989, I stood among the charred trees and photographed little yellow flowers growing out of the blackened earth. They were little yellow beacons of hope for a nine year old who thought that fire meant only destruction. If only there had been hope for my fashion sense.

Grand Tetons, 1989

Jackson, WY, 1989

Grand Tetons, 2011

Yellowstone, I think, needs to be told in pictures. Any words I have will certainly not do it justice, though my pictures might not either. We saw quite a few animals but sadly no bears, moose, or bighorn sheep.

Camping at Grant Village

Yellowstone Lake, West Thumb

Idaho Potato

Water levels throughout the park were extremely high

Beautiful bull elk in velvet

Nice photo, MHH. Next time, though,
could you get a little closer?

It's not a visit to Yellowstone without Old Faithful

Just as I remember it from 1989

Old Faithful Inn and original tour bus

Little calf elk

Mammoth Springs

Hotdogs and chili

Random fact: U. S. Route 20 is the longest route in the United States. It runs from Newport, OR to Boston, MA. On the way, it just happens to pass through both Yellowstone National Park and Nampa, ID, providing a convenient and scenic route for us to get home. As with US 30, US 20 cuts through some amazing scenery, notably the Craters of the Moon National Monument. Also visible are the mountains in the south of Sawtooth National Forest. US 20 was the perfect finish to a breathtaking tour of the Northwest.

A few short days later we were tucking the Corvair in for winter hibernation and bidding my family farewell.

Coming up: MHH's parents visit Singapore, and we all visit Borneo.

23 April, 2012

Corvair road trip: The smell of pine, how to roll-start your car, and Bend on a budget

Somewhere in the desert of Oregon, at some point before the Lakeview Incident, our odometer turned 14,000 miles. It turned 15,000 as we puttered out of Bandon on Hwy 42, and I cannot think of a better way to put miles on a car than a drive up to Crater Lake. Except for maybe a drive through Yellowstone, but that is a story for a different time.

Camping at Diamond Lake c. 1995

Smell is a strong trigger of memory. I have a candle that reminds me of my college dorm, some lotion that reminds me of living in Beijing, a fishy backpack that will always and forever bring back that bus ride in Cambodia (talk about a story for a different time!). I tell you, though, that there is nothing in the world quite like the smell of a Northwest pine forest. Except for maybe a sagebrush plain… I might be slightly biased having grown up camping in the forests of Oregon and Idaho, but the smell of pine always transports me to a better place.

I was transported to just such a place as we entered the Umpqua National Forest on Hwy 138. Oh, what glorious air, so fresh and clean, dry and fragrant—all the things I love from my past, and all the things air in Southeast Asia is not.

Not much could have spoiled my piney ecstasy. However, there was a constant niggling in the back of our minds that the increasing inland heat along with the steady climb up to Crater Lake would cause our little car to balk.

Diamond Lake

Mt. Thielsen

Sure enough, at a rest stop near Diamond Lake and Mt. Thielsen, we almost did not get it started again. But then it did start. So we drove straight through to the first viewpoint at Crater Lake.

Drive to the rim

I think it is difficult not to be impressed by Crater Lake. It still impresses me, though I am probably not the best barometer for such things. MHH, on the other hand, is more difficult to impress, but I knew he would love it, which he did. I even thought I had better warn him not to wreck the car as he pulled up to the rim, which he did not.

MHH takes in the beauty

I just had to add this one of my
grandparents at Crater Lake

After the requisite exclaiming and excessive snapping of photos, we decided to make a move for the visitor center, but the Corvair would have none of it and continued having none of it until I really felt quite awkward for all the people looking and snickering at the silly couple with the old car that would not start.

MHH poked around under the hood. Passing men offered their observations (vapor lock, huh?) and random bits of advice. The people parked next to us offered a jump.

The Corvair can't tear itself away from the crater

But the Yellow Bomb simply refused to start. It had a premium view of Crater Lake, and it wanted to stay. Lovely though it was, we did not want to stay, so our final and fairly brilliant plan was to ditch the visitor center, get the car rolling back down the road toward the north entrance, achieve a speed of 20-25mph, and hope that the owner’s manual was right about being able to push-start at speeds of 20-25mph.

I would like to talk momentarily about the expectation I had on first reading the term ‘push-start’ in the context of starting the Corvair. My expectation was that a reasonable number of average people on an average road would be able to push a Corvair to the eventual end of a started car. As you might recall from the Lakeview Incident, in which two people pushing a Corvair on a flat road were most definitely not able to achieve a ‘push-start’, my reasonable and average expectation turned out to be very inaccurate. I dearly hoped that a ‘roll-start down an 8,000 foot mountain’ would be more successful.

If you are the people who very graciously attempted jump-starting a yellow Corvair, helped get that Corvair rolling down Mount Mazama, and then followed in your own car that very same Covair as it coasted in neutral until the occupants joyously waved and honked and gave you enthusiastic thumbs up, to you we are ever so thankful—the plan worked!

Then, not wanting to risk any more funny business, we drove straight to Bend where we ate burgers and used a monstrosity called a phone book to find a room for the night.

Turns out that trying to find mid-range lodgings at late notice on a summer evening in Bend is very difficult, so when we found one remaining room at Budget Inn for $27.50, we hesitated only slightly to consider what we might get for that price before we took it. I will not be writing a five star review about it anytime soon, but we left in good health with our car intact, so I consider it money well spent, or maybe money well saved.

Our road trip came full circle when we hit Burns again on Hwy 20. The Corvair had been running perfectly for a full day. We were happily exhausted. Nampa was only a few more miles down the road, and all I could think was, ‘When is the next road trip?’

07 April, 2012

Corvair road trip: Les Schwab continues to fix my flats and I get up early for golf

Washing Walter c. 1999

Did you know that Les Schwab offers free flat-repair for users of their tires? I did. In high school, I experienced their free flat-repair service first hand following the decision to take my 1979 Oldsmobile Delta 88 called Walter mud bogging on the flooded dirt road between our llama pasture and the onion field.

What I did not know is that our Corvair has Les Schwab tires.

Okay, so I lied ever so slightly in my last post when I said we had no car trouble. We had the most minor of troubles keeping air in one of the rear tires, but admitting as much would have ruined my title. Never mind though, it was just a matter of topping up the air now and then and ultimately getting a nail puncture repaired at the Crescent City Les Schwab--for free. Who knows where we picked up the nail, but I can assure you there were no flooded roads involved.

Having completed our redwoods checklist, fixed the flat, and given the car a bath, the M & M road trip turned back to Oregon, this time continuing up the 101 along the coast. The Corvair was running like a champ on full tires, and the weather couldn't have been better.

Port Orford

If you are ever driving through Port Orford around lunchtime and aren't sure where to eat, just take my advice and go to The Crazy Norwegian's Fish & Chips. We went on advice of the man in the information center are were not disappointed. We got seats even though the small dining room was packed, and the lone waitress busted out order after order of tasty fish in an amazing display of fast and friendly service.

Now I love the Oregon coast, but I would be hard-pressed to say that I love golf. Combine the two, however, and you get something that is not altogether unpleasant. Add a cozy room at the Lighthouse Bed & Breakfast in Bandon where the quirky and vivacious owner makes a mean breakfast, and you have something downright splendid.

MHH painstakingly researched courses and chose the highly ranked Bandon Dunes, one of its big draws being the incredible location on the windy bluffs just outside charming Bandon. He had to book his tee time several months in advance to ensure himself a slot.

Of course he had booked an early tee time, but aversion to morning activities aside, I chose to walk the front nine with him. The sky was an amazing shade of blue, but the coastal winds were frigid, so even with the windbreaker MHH's tee-mate loaned me, I was numb by the ninth hole. I did see some deer and a few pelicans, however, and the clubhouse made great hot chocolate.

A post-golf stroll around the Bandon downtown followed by dinner at Edgewaters was a great way to end our time on the coast.

If you overlook the incident in which I very confidently reversed into a parking space at the golf course and ran the tailpipe into a grass bank causing the muffler to droop threateningly, this stretch of trip was also car trouble-free.