Autopendium :: stuff about old cars

Tags: bus shasta volkswagen vw

I have an interesting time looking back at this leg of the journey. Already my mind is starting to gloss over the reality of just how damaged and frazzled our spirits were. And it would be an injustice not to address that and just say that we powered on, determined to get to Shasta.

Quite honestly, I feel no shame in saying that our spirits were hurt and there was a large part of me who was ready to throw in the towel and head home. Everyone who has been on the trip before was going on about how this was the most challenging trip yet and frankly David had been up since 5am driving, the bus was definitely losing power, we were falling behind from the group and feeling quite miffed about it. Maybe that's whining, but that's genuinely how we felt. I also knew that if I bailed on the trip, my co-pilots were gonna bail on me and find other rides.

So we motored up highway 162 into Covelo, CA...a very small town, flat, in a valley of sorts certainly. We caught up with the group and we all got gas at the town's one gas station. To give credit to the rest of the group we were with, they were all happy we'd made it that far and we doing their best to reassure us that indeed the bus (and we) could make the trip successfully.

The next stop was a miniscule dot on the map called Kettenpom. There's something now about that name that haunts me. Probably because it was the toughest part of the trip. It didn't seem all that far, maybe 25-30 miles, on the map. The road passed through the Round Valley Indian Reservation (no, we weren't besieged by natives...just snow) and I knew there were a couple alternate routes out of that town if we decided.

So we motored on, sounding very tractoresque, and I took some time to sit in the back of the bus and rest up a little. I knew that I could take over driving at any time. Naturally, the road wound its way up in elevation and naturally we started falling behind again. And before we knew it, we were chaining up. Onward and upward we went...until shhhump! We'd slid somehow into a snow bank! Still not sure if we hit ice or just what, but we were stuck. Thankfully, it just took myself and Graham to push ourselves out and get going again.

We could hear chatter on the CB from up ahead about a couple of snow plows on the road and we hoped beyond hope that it would make the trip easier for us. We knew by that point that we needed to get to Kettenpom and assess any repairs we needed to make in order to continue on. Eventually, we came across the plow boys and they hopped down to our CB channel to see if there were other buses coming. Well, we were the end of the line, so we talked with them a bit and let them know we were the end of the line.

Not too long after, we made the decision to dechain (mistake #1) and continue on. Well, we managed to lose enough power to not even gain enough purchase to get ourselves up a small hill. Well, along came the plow boys (Scott and Jesse, as we got to know them) and, blessedly, they took a liking to us and our plight. So the large plow got in front of us and the smaller one (basically a Ford F-150 with a plow) got behind us and pushed us up the hill. There was one point where we got a gap between us and bumped. Oh, I started to freak that I had some major dent in the bus, but I just had to tell myself that it was a dent or the end of the trip! Thankfully, he chose to stay behind us the rest of the way in case we needed another push.

Long story short (surely it's too late for that), the big plow powered ahead to clear the pass to Kettenpom. He did a great job because we were able to make it up with the smaller plow following us. They took their leave and we headed toward Kettenpom, calling out on the radio to see if anyone was waiting for us.

Thankfully, they were and as soon as we came up the one market/gas pump that is Kettenpom, the main part of the group just took off! Shrilly, we called out to them saying we NEEDED to stop for repairs. And again, blessedly, two buses stayed behind. Team Idaho loaned us a timing light and Team Surf City stuck around to help us replace the distributor with one of theirs. The bus was definitely sounding better, but we'd lost some time. Had to be nearly 3pm at this point...so we headed into the market to get some gas for the camper and hopefully some good directions.

Thank whatever deity you choose to thank, but we got very clear and certain directions from the lady running the market (I am actually planning to call her and thank her today) about which way to go and which way to steer clear of. Oddly enough, the way everyone else went...that's the one she said definitely don't take.

Next time: From Kettenpom our spirit rise dramatically and we make it to Shasta!

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