This tree shows the affects of many years facing the ocean

Ramblin' Woman viewing the Pacific though a hole in a rock

Hi to all. It is good to be back on line after several months absence. As you probably notice in Ramblin' Man's entries that we have encountered numerous mechanical problems with long stays in the mechanic's parking area. In addition I was having some physical malfunctions. All of this to explain my silence. When Ramblin' Woman is silent there is definitely some major stuff going on. The motor home and I seem to be functioning on all of our cylinders now which is GOOD.

It has been almost five days since the motorhome was discharged from the care of the mechanic with a good prognosis. Again, I am beginning to experience the grandeurs of this country and see the rewarding experiences in full-time rving. In the past several weeks I had some doubts about these feelings returning.

The two photos included in this entry are very symbolic of the past few months . This splendid tree that has been shaped by the forces of nature has "hung in" and continues to bring forth new growth. Viewing the sea through human eyes brings visions of beauty and hope that will be experienced. All is well!

Thank you Ramblin' Man for the beautiful photography!

Can you find Ramblin' Woman?

We arrived in Crescent City, CA yesterday afternoon and spent time exploring the local waterfront. We parked at the VFW for the evening. Delightful weather!

Ramblin' Woman looks like an elf in a horizontal forest

Yesterday we drove through Old Town Eureka and along several miles of waterfront. We came upon this huge pile of logs about 50 feet high and several hundred feet long.

That tiny little green thing in the bottom center of the photo is my Ramblin' Woman!

Preparing to lift out the damaged engine right along US Hwy 101

Superman ( my mechanic Kenny) and his nephew/assistant Matt arrived about 10 PM Thursday night. The slept in their truck and at 7 AM went to work.

First they had to tow me about 250 feet to get out of the busy parking area I was parked in, then up onto my wooden leveling blocks. The attacked the engine at 7:30 AM and by 7:30 PM the new engine was running. Another 1.5 hours to take care of the odds and ends and clean up the work area, they departed for their return trip to Prunedale, CA 305 miles away. They arrived home at 3 AM.

This morning as I was preparing to hit the road, I discovered 4 leaks, 3 water coolant and one oil leak. Of course, it wouldn't have leaked while my mechanic was still here! The three water coolant leaks were quickly resolved by tightening hose clamps a little more. The oil leal was in the oil coolant line going to the radiator which cools the oil. It was really awkward to get my hands and tools into such a confined area. After more than one hour, I finally to tighten the fitting a little more and the leak stopped.

I drove 75 mile north to Eureka where Ramblin' Woman was visited her son and awaiting my arrival. The engine ran cool and smooth with lots of power! Thank heaven!

One more time.....If you are in the Central California area and need mechanical assistance,
contact:

Ron Coleman, the owner of Prunedale Lube and Auto Care Center at 831-663-9400 and tell him that Jim J, The Panama or Bust guy referred you to him. His younger brother Kenny was my mechanic and I now affectionately refer to him as Superman!

Well, I'll be towed again!

I thought my towing days were done for a while. Wrong!

Yesterday about 11am, from out of nowhere my new engine started making a clanging sound and just stopped running. Fortunately, I was able to guide to a safe place off of the pavement. I was on US Highway 101 in Northern CA, kinda sorta out in the middle of nowhere. I even had to raise my cell phone antenna on the roof of my motorhome to get a one-bar signal.

I called the mechanics who installed the engine and told them of my situation. They said they would send a large truck to haul my motorhome back to their garage 305 miles away. A few blog entries back, I gave these mechanics the "REALLY GOOD GUYS AWARD". Keep in mind, they could have said "find a away to get it back here and we'll take care of it.

In the meantime, I called my emergency road service and they had me towed to a safe spot at a tiny burg 4 miles up the road to await my rescue truck.

At about 6pm last evening, Ramblin' Woman's son John arrived after an 80 mile drive from Eureka north of my location. He took her home with him and they will spend some time together while I deal with the motor situation.

At 6:45am this morning, I got a call from my mechanic Kenny indicating it was too cost prohibitive to haul my motorhome 305 miles back to their garage. He informed me the the only other alternative was for him to come to my location. He told me he would drive the 305 miles with a truck and parts for every possible contingency, including installing a new motor. Can you believe it? What a guy!

He said he would arrive this evening and get to the repairing of the engine first thing in the morning. What a guy!

Ramblin' Woman is hugged by a tree

While on a walk around Thousand Trails RV Resort, we came upon a great old tree that appears to have be struck by lightning a long time ago. Linda stepped inside an was hugged by the tree! A neat experience!

Our RV site at Russian River

Yesterday we drove about 150 miles to Cloverdale, CA. We traveled traveled through San Francisco and crossed on the Golden Gate Bridge. The scenery was very pretty, but the traffic was still crazy even on a Sunday morning.

The new engine ran just fine. We now have 200 miles on it.

It's really pretty here and we will spend two nights before continuing our journey on Tuesday.

Me and my rigs

The following material comes directly from my book, PANAMA OR BUST - A 343 day adventure in a motorhome.
Copyright - Jim Jaillet 2008
For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com

PERSONAL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to take this opportunity to thank two personal friends who assisted me greatly in accomplishing this book describing my "once in a lifetime adventure."

First is Sandy Jones, who is an ex-member of the WIN RV singles group. During the trip, Sandy acted as my Central Collection and Disbursal Agency for the Trip Reports. Because of the limitations of the hand-held Pocketmail e-mail device, I sent the Trip Reports to Sandy, she relayed them to more than 50 family, friends, and acquaintances. Due to the poor communication conditions during the trip, this relieved me of a great many problems. After our return, she assembled all the Trip Reports on a CD, as well as in printed form, and forwarded the package to me. These formed the first draft of this book. A really neat lady!

Second is Barbara DeLaFuente, my Spanish teacher. Barbara is a member of my WIN RV singles group. Prior to spending my first winter in Baja California, Mexico, I attended her "Speedy Spanish" class. In this three day class, she taught me everything I needed to know about speaking Spanish for the trip. Since returning from the Central America trip, she continues in assisting me in the further study of the Spanish language. She also assisted me GREATLY in the review and comment process throughout the completion of this book. She a delightful person with a heart of gold!

I'm most pleased that I can count these two nice people among the best of my friends.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT MY CHOICE OF VEHICLES

On the Panama or Bust trip, I had the oldest-aged vehicles. People occasionally ask me why I elect to drive older vehicles. The primary reason is people tend to choose vehicles in line with their style of RVing and I am no different. My general style of RVing is one of seeking out places of PEACE AND QUIET! This frequently involves getting off of the paved roads and going out into the toolies in order to escape the noises of civilization. Usually the further out one goes, the worse the condition of the roads. I frequently find myself on very rough roads with many bumps, dips and ruts. I'm particularly fond of going out into the desert country of the Southwestern United States where at night there are millions of stars and the beautiful cries of coyotes! I really have no desire to be near cities where all one hears are the noises of civilization and the loud, wailing sirens of various emergency vehicles. Finally, I believed that for a lot of reasons, there was a 50/50 chance I might have to abandon my vehicles during this trip. For your general information, find listed below some of the other reasons why older vehicles are appropriate for my style of RVing.

* To get out into the toolies, shorter wheel-base and higher clearance are best.

* If I should scratch or dent my vehicles, who cares?

* I want vehicles that do not have engine computers. I like to do all my own mechanical work. I like the comfort of knowing that by hook or by crook, that I will always be able to get my engines started. With engines that have computers, frequently if the engine refuses to start, you are out of business and at the mercy of the mechanics. I'll have my engines with no computers, thank you very much!

* If I should need mechanical assistance, all mechanics generally can do the work.

* Parts are usually inexpensive and easy to find.

* I believe older vehicles have more built-in quality.

* I've got better things to do than washing and waxing vehicles. Like going for a walk or reading a good book, for instance.

* Licensing and insurance is relatively inexpensive.

* RV's are depreciating assets. I prefer that someone else other than myself eat the depreciation. 50% depreciation on a new RV in five years is the general rule-of-thumb.

* I have never been a materialistic person.

* Now that the trip is history, roughly only one-in-a-million vehicles have done what my motorhome and Bronco II have done. It's really neat and fun to drive unique vehicles! In addition, I have tentative plans to return to Mexico and Central America if the future.

$409.9 for regular gas in Felton, CA. It's the first time I've seen over $4.00 per gallon.

Linda watching a herd of Sea Lions

Linda and I enjoyed a delightful day. First we crossed the Santa Cruz Mountains at Saratoga Gap, then onto the Santa Cruz area. We visited Natural Bridge Beach State Park, the Santa Cruz Municipal Pier and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk also known as "The Atlantic City of the Pacific Coast. Sunny, 70 degrees and a gentle breeze made for a great day!